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Christian Ceremonies, Cults & Pagan Rites
Historians, writers and researches have written of many Christian practices that were taken from other religions and cults which are paganistic in nature, which, of course, the faithful would either be surprised to know or would not want to accept. Sears wrote of some:
"Cicero speaks of the Corn of Ceres and the Wine of Bacchus. Ritual cakes and grains were eaten in the worship of Osiris, and were identified with his body. They were said to possess mystic powers. Demeter and Dionysius were worshipped in the form of Eucharistic ritual. The same is true with Attis.
A much closer parallel can be found in the cult of Mithras with its sacramental meal. Renan and Sir James Frazer both spoke of it in their works. Durant writes, "In the mysteries of Mithras the worshippers were offered consecrated bread and water." He adds that the Spanish conquistadores were shocked to find similar rites "of a form of the sacred meal among the Indians of Mexico and Peru."
Christ's Words were Misunderstood
"In fairness to the early Church, it must be pointed out that the Church did not deliberately set out to imitate pagan rites and superstitions. It had its hands full trying to control pagan ideas. The dilemma of the early church arose partly from a misunderstanding of the meaning of Christ's words, and partly from a compromise made with pagan ideas in order to win popularity among the masses of people.
The Christian form of worship was perhaps too simple to impress the Greeks or Romans. The pagans felt it was atheism because it had no images. The absence of priests proved to the pagans that there was no dignity in the Christian worship. Furthermore, the pagans felt that there could be no legal authority if there were no "sacrifices."
Priests & Rites added to Christian Worship
"Near the end of the second century priests and rites were added to Christian worship. In spite of its persecution of the Christians, the State ultimately was favourably impressed. Christian saints and images gradually replaced the multitudinous gods of everyday pagan life. Sacrifice came with the sacred meal as offered by the priest."
The Making of Christian Mass
"Durant (the historian) states: "By the close of the second century these weekly ceremonies had taken the form of Christian Mass. Based partly on the Judaic Temple services, partly on Greek mystery rituals of purification, vicarious sacrifice, and participation through communion, in the death-overcoming of the deity, the mass grew slowly into a rich congeries of prayers, psalms, readings, sermons, antiphonal recitations, and above all, that symbolic atoning sacrifice of the 'Lamb of God' which replaced, in Christianity, the bloody offerings of the older faiths. The bread and the wine, which these cults had considered as gifts placed upon the altar before the god, were now conceived as changed by the priestly act of consecration into the body and blood of Christ, and were presented to God as a repetition of the self immolation of Jesus on the Cross. Then in an intense and moving ceremony, the worshippers partook of the very substance of their Saviour. It was a conception long sanctified by time; the pagan mind needed no schooling to receive it; by embodying it in the 'mystery of the Mass', Christianity became the last and greatest of the mystery religions."
"A Christian Bishop has written, "Now we are so accustomed to these ideas that they seem to many Christians to belong to Christ's teaching. It comes as a shock to them to learn that at the bottom such ideas are pagan, not Jewish." (The Rise of Christianity, p. 45)
Practice of the Zoroastrians
"Zoroaster's Faith, well before the time of Christ, suffered the same infiltration of ideas from pagan beliefs. Reinach and Rawlinson both comment upon it. Zoroaster disapproved and detested the old Aryan custom of offering the juice of haoma plant to the gods, yet these ancient custom was gradually adopted into Zoroastrian belief after His death. The priest drank part of the liquid, and then shared the " remaining haoma to the faithful in the holy communion."
Practice of the Essenes
"The Essenes also before Christ, had a similar ritual meal. This sect of Judaism, according to Philo of Alexandria, Pliny the Elder, Josephus the Jewish historian, as well as the accounts of the Dead Sea Scrolls, not only had a sacred meal, but a rite of cleansing by water. The Essenes (Holy Ones) bathed in water as a "sacrament of purification". Then they partook of a sacred meal presided over by a priest who pronounced a "blessing with the first portion of the bread and the wine".
Church Rites & Ceremonies
Researches of history of religions reveal that the rites and ceremonies that priests, religious leaders and the "faithful" come from pagan beliefs that infiltrated the Christian religion. They were introduced for popular acceptance among the masses for conversion purpose. They were accepted by followers blindly and became a custom. Breaking off from the practices is difficult because they were followed for centuries without question. They have nothing to do at all with the teachings of Jesus Christ.
"The inability to perceive and accept the simple beauty of Christ's meaning of the bread and the wine led to such centuries of such confusion with many quarrels and misunderstandings. It also led to new rites, which were introduced in order to resolve the problems which arose because of the development of the old rites."
Church took the Words Literally
Let us now read what Durant wrote on the invention of the 'transubstantiation of wafers and other items done in the Mass. Is this pleasing to Christ and to His Father? Are the practices really divine? Have they been the instructions and teachings of the Christ? Are they done because of blind imitation? Are they in accord with reason. Let us think about this.
"As Durant says, in The Age of Faith, "The church took literally the words ascribed to Christ at the Last Supper: of the bread, 'this is my body'; and of the wine: 'this is my blood': The main feature of the mass was the 'transubstantiation' of the wafers of bread and a chalice of wine into the body and blood of Christ by the miraculous power of the priest; and the original purpose of the Mass was to allow the faithful to partake of the 'body and blood, soul and divinity', of the Second person of the triune God by eating the consecrated Host and drinking the consecrated wine. As the drinking of the transubstantiated wine risked spilling the blood of Christ, the custom arose in the twelfth century of communicating through taking only the Host; and when some conservatives (whose views were later adopted by the Hussites of Bohemia) demanded communion in both forms to make sure that they received the blood as well as the body of the Lord, theologians explained that the blood of Christ was 'concomitant' with His blood in the wine. A thousand marvels were told of the power of the consecrated Host to cast out devils, cure diseases, stop fires, and detect perjury by choking liars. Every Christian was required to communicate at least once a year; and the First Communion with the young Christian was made an occasion of solemn pageantry and happy celebration."
Durant used the word "pageantry." Pageantry is synonymous to flashy display, extravagance, fanfare, grandiosity, and pomp. Worship is not pageantry. It is deep respect. It is reverence exercised by the heart and spirit. Spiritual-affairs, that is, church and religious forms of "ceremonies" or formalities such as weddings must be simple as much as possible and solemn. It is not the flashy display that God wants. He looks at the heart -- upon virtues that are open to Him. Christ had a simple homespun cloth for a robe. He did not wear golden or silver embroidered robe. He did not have a golden crown studded with emeralds and diamonds. He had a staff not a bejeweled scepter. He did not sit on a physical throne. He did not look like an entertainer in a pageant. His immediate physical needs were simple.
I believe that in this Radiant Century, the age of reason, when mankind is coming to its maturity, man should search for what is right, and practice what is reasonable; man must acknowledge the harmony of science and religion; must use the intellect to know wrong from right and avoid rites and ceremonies that are fertile grounds for superstitions.
English translators of the Bible:
They were not able to understand the inner significance of the teachings of the Christ who spoke "spiritual words" which needed to be "spiritually perceived". The translators agreed upon what the words and teachings should mean, and the followers, "ate" and "drank" and became accustomed to the practice.
In our age these words of the Christ have new meaning. Must we continue to turn teachings into superstition and continue following what man has made?
"Delight in the Lord and He Will Give You The Desires of Your Heart" (psa 37:4) see
Ask and it will be given to you.
Seek and you will find
Knock and it will be opened to you. " (mat 7:7) see
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