WHY THE BIRTHDAY OF JESUS IS CELEBRATED ON DEC 25 It is well known that Dec 25 is not the birthday of Jesus Christ and that Easter is not the time of his death and resurrection. The history of Xmas and Easter originate from the worship of the ancient Babylonian sun and moon gods called Baal and Ishtar. The sun god Baal was worshipped at the time of his rebirth at the winter solstice each year and his wife the moon goddess Ishtar, called the Queen of Heaven was worshipped as the goddess of love sex and fertility at the time of the March equinox, when the Spring vegetation returns to the northern hemisphere and animals produce their young. The Egyptians and other nations also held feasts and worshipped the returning sun at this time of the winter solstice in December. In about 500BC the Saturnalia was celebrated by the Romans (Livy, Book 2) and was dedicated to the god of agriculture called Saturn on Dec 19, this is also thought to have been a solstice festival of unrestrained enjoyment and when clay dolls and wax tapers were given as presents, this was followed by the Brevissma "the briefest day" or solstice. The clay dolls were symbols of human sacrifices to the god of fire. (Varro, EB Vol 24, p231) The Indian or East Persian version of the sun-god was called Mithra, Mithras or Mita the bull slayer, and dates from at least 1400BC where the first creation of Varuna or Ahura Mazda is a wild bull from a rock which is dragged into a cave by Mithras, who was also born from a rock. The bull escapes and when Mithras with his dog catch it, he kills it. This supposedly brought life and light to the world, and the sun knelt to Mithras and made him king. (Religions of the Roman Empire and Chambers Ency') Ptolemy said "-the Persians worship Saturn as Mithras Helios." Saturn was seen as the sun of the night. (Ancient Astrology, T.Barton) "Mithra was the god of the heavenly light." The Persians called him Mithras the Mediator (Plutarchs Lives, Pompey, Loeb Vol 5 p113) He was titled Helios, and was referred to as Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun (Ency' of Heresies and Heretics p96-97) According to Plutarch who lived from AD46-125 the pirates from Cilicia who had gained control of the Mediterranean Sea, "celebrated there [in Olympus in southern Asia Minor] certain secret rites, among which those of Mithras continue to the present time, having first been instituted by them." (Plutarch Lives, Pompey, Vol 5, Ch 24-25.) It was these pirates that Pompey captured in 67BC who brought the Persian sun-god Mithra with them into Rome. The use of the Zodiac was associated with the worship of Mithras, and the worship of this mystery god with "insistence on unswerving duty" became very popular in the Roman empire, especially among the Roman soldiers, and his birthday, the birthday of the Invincible Sun, was celebrated on Dec 25. (M,p5) Mithras birthday was celebrated on Dec 25 at the time of the winter solstice on the Roman solar calendar (Epiphanius, Panarion Ch 51:22) Mithraism and Christianity appeared deceptively similar but the Lord Mithra or Baal (the lord) was worshipped on Sun-day which was called the "Lords" day. Mithraism was an unofficial secret cult, while Sol was the state cult.The Emperor Domitan officially accepted Mithras into Rome before his death in AD96. The Emperor Commodus (AD180-192) was initiated into the mysteries of Mithraism. (Chambers) In AD218 the Emperor who was the hereditary priest of the sun-god of Emesa made Sol Invictus Elagabal the state religion of Rome. Elegabalus was the "name under which the Romans worshiped the sun in the form of a black conical stone, which they believed had fallen from heaven." (G.Jobes, Dict' of Myth, Folklore, and Symbols, p500) By AD240 Mithras who is pictured with the sun shining behind his head like a halo was being called Christos. (Orange, p4) See "Nimbus" in the Oxford Dictionary. In AD274 the Emperor Aurelian introduced the nativity of Deus Sol Invictus on Dec 25. Later the Emperor Constantine had coins inscribed with "soli invicto comiti", the Unconquered Suns comrade. Julian the Apostate was initiated into Mithriasm before he died in AD363. (Ency' of Heresies and Heretics p97).
HOW DEC 25 WAS INTRODUCED INTO THE CHURCH The early Christians wrote about the idolatrous Roman celebrations. Tertullian (AD145-220) ridiculed the idea that the apostle Paul kept the Saturnalia or New-Years day, saying that Christians "have no right of communication in matters of this kind with strangers, how far more wicked to celebrate them among brethren." (On Idolatry Book 2, Ch 14, Ante-Nicene series, Vol 3, p69-70) "oh, how much more faithful are the heathen to their religion, who take special care to adopt no solemnity from the Christians." (The Two Babylons p93) Origen (AD185-254) said in about AD230 "It is an awful thing to join in idol festivals..it has been clearly shown that we are forbidden to take part in these festivals." He mentions the four days observed by those he said were Christians, 1) The Lords Day, 2) The Preperation, 3) Passover and 4) Pentecost. His list does not mention Xmas or Easter. (Against Celsus 8:22, Ante-Nicene, Vol 4 p647-8) Irenaeus (cAD130-200) does not mention Xmas or Easter either. When the Israelites were on their way to the promised land they were warned not to adopt the idolatrous practices of the people of the land, and were instructed not to add any of the heathen forms of worship to the way they had been given (Deut 12:32). Jeremiah 10:2 later adds "learn not the way of the heathen." The Mishna includes the Saturnalia as a festival of the gentiles which was not to be celebrated. (Abodah Zarah, Danby p437) but like Aaron in Exodus 32:5 who gave into public opinion and declared an unauthorised feast, the Israelites and also later the church gave in to social pressures and adopted heathen festivals. The earliest mention of Jesus birthday being on Dec 25 is in a passage of Theophilus of Antioch who wrote in about AD183 but this is believed to be spurious. The first valid mention of Jesus being born on December 25 is found in the Commentary on Daniel (4:23) written by Hippolytus of Rome between about AD222-236. (Cat:230.1SOU) "The first coming of our Lord, that in the flesh, in which he was born at Bethlehem, took place eight days before the kalends of January, a Wednesday, in the forty-second year of the reign of Augustus, (3BC) 5500 years from Adam. (Finegan p325), this is the correct day of the week on the corrected Julian calendar but due to the Pontiffs error the 25th was 2 days later, on Friday, so Wednesday was the 23rd of December, later the Philocalian calendar of AD336-354 says that Jesus was born on Friday, Dec 25 in AD1. It was the Roman bishop Julius 1 (AD337-352) who introduced the pagan feast of Sol Invictus on Dec 25 into the church, claiming that this was the birthday of Jesus, and not content with this, shortly afterwards in AD354, bishop Liberius ordered the Romans to observe Dec 25. A Syrian writer said the reason for the establishment of celebrating the birthday of Jesus on Dec 25 was because the Christians were inclined to participate in the pagan rites of the festival of the rising sun, and so the Teachers established this day as the festival of the true rising. (S.Bacchiocchi, Sabbath to Sunday, p257). Jerome (AD342-420) denigrated this celebration (Dictionary of Bible Tradition p141), while Augustine of Hippo (AD354-430) omits it from his list of Christian observances. (PL 33:200) but the worship of the sun and moon at Xmas and Easter continues today behind the disguise of being a Christian tradition.
HOW DEC 25 BECAME "CHRISTMAS" The word "Christmas" is not mentioned anywhere in the bible, far less does any scripture command or teach anyone to observe it and Dec 25 should not even be called "Christmas". Who's mass is it? In Ezekiel 20:39 God says he does not want anyone polluting his name by connecting it to idolatry as those do who call the pagan birthday of the sun god or the mass for Mithras, with Christ's name. The first mention of the "Mass of Christ" is found in England in about the 11th century AD when some writer, as recorded in the Oxford dictionary decided to call the annual pagan festival of the nativity or rebirth of the sun god held on Dec 25 which the church had adopted and had falsely called the feast of the Nativity of Jesus as "Xpes Maessan", falsely calling it "Christ's" mass the very thing we are told in Ezekiel not to do. "Xpes" is from the Greek word Kristos meaning the "anointed one", the Hebrew word is Messiah. This is the name which Jesus called himself. (John 17:3) Maessan comes from the Latin word Missa, and was used by Hippolytus in about AD236 (A-N Vol 5 p256-7) and was used by Ambrose in AD385. It was first introduced into church ordinances in AD394. (John Brady, Clavis Calendaria, Vol 2, p329), it was also used by Augustine (AD354-430) and it is in the Acts of the council of Carthage in AD398 "the service is at an end, let the dismissal be made". "It arose from the formula of dismission at the close of each part of the service". (P.Schaff, History of the christian church, Vol 2, Footnotes p481). Those who were preparing for their baptism were "solemnly dismissed before the Eucharist proper began." (Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, Catechumens) The missa was an innocent word for the dismission of those not about to receive the Catholic communion (Ante-Nicene, Vol 5, p256). Afterwards missa came to designate exclusively the communion service. (Schaff). The word "mass" describes the service held to celebrate the Eucharist, which is done in remembrance of the death of Jesus. In an article called "Is Christmas Christian?" by David Smith, he points out how the word "Christmas" is in fact a contradiction in terms, that the "Mass of Christ" is held in remembrance of the death of Jesus and not the celebration of his birth. That is the origin of the word "Mass". The first record of these two words being joined together is in AD1495 where Dec 25 is called "Cristmas". There is no record of any such word before then. The first record of the modern spelling of "Christmas" did not exist until AD1568. Later the Greek letter "chi" (X), which is the first letter of Christ (Xpistos), replaced the name to form the abbreviation, "Xmas".
THE EPIPHANY The earliest celebration of the birthday of Jesus was called the Epiphany which is used by Paul in 2 Timothy 1:10 to describe the time when Jesus "appeared" in the flesh. This was celebrated on an Egyptian festival called Udreusis held on January 6. (Epiphanius 51) or the festival of Kore "between the evening of Jan 5 and the morning of Jan 6". (Finegan p250-258, 1998-p325). These festivities around the time of the winter solstice became the first celebrations for the baptism or spiritual birth of Jesus and may have been based on the historical time of the conception of Jesus around 5-6 January, as this festival celebrated the time when Core the virgin engendered Aeon, (51:9) indicating the "only begotten-" was born nine months later, around October 5-6. Clement of Alexandria (AD150-215 Universal Ency', AD153-217) says, "And the followers of Basilides hold the day of his baptism as a festival, spending the night before in readings. And they say that it was the fifteenth year of Tiberius Ceasar, the fifteenth day of the month Tubi; and some that it was the eleventh of the same month. (Stromata, A-N, Vol 2, Book 1, Ch 21,p333) The eleventh of Tubi on the Egyptian calendar is the 6th of January on the Julian (O/S) calendar. The date of the Epiphany according to the Coptic calendar is Tubah 11. (Coptic Ency'-Calendar, Vol 2, p441). On the Egyptian calendar today Tubi or Tubah begins on Jan 9 (N/S) and so because the Egyptian Coptic calendar is like the Julian calendar which has an unbroken 4 year leap cycle and only varies slightly because in leap years the extra day is August 29, which is 6 months before it is added to the Julian calendar, so the Epiphany on Tubah 11 which is Jan 6 (O/S) is presently celebrated in the Coptic church on Jan 19 (N/S) or Jan 20 (N/S) in leap years. This is the coldest month of the year when the water of the Nile river has a fresh taste that was likened to wine. It was an ancient pre-Christian custom to store this water which was thought to be given this special quality because it came from God. It was thought that because Jesus was baptised when he was about 30, that his birth and baptism co-incided and sometime in the first century AD the celebrations for when Core the virgin conceived "Dusares,- only begotten of the Lord", were considered as celebrations for the baptism or spiritual birth of Jesus. This was called the Feast of the Baptism and was called the Epiphany, or the "appearing". By the fourth century the 6th of January was called the Feast of the Nativity and some called it the Theophany, not to be confused with the giving of the law at Sinai, which is also called the Theophany, and to the Greeks the Theophanies was a festival at Delphi in which the statues of the gods were displayed to the people. (Finegan p251). In the "Teaching of the Apostles" it says "Celebrate the day of the Epiphany of our Saviour, which is the chief of the festivals of the Church on the sixth day of the latter Canun", (A-N, Vol 8, p668). Canun posterior or latter Canun is the name for January on the Syrian calendar. (p666) In AD325 Emperor Constantine is said to have decreed the 6th of January. After Bishop Julius transferred the Epiphany celebrations to Dec 25 in about AD337, some continued to celebrate the Epiphany on Jan 6. The Syrians and Armenians accused those who transferred from Jan 6 to Dec 25 of sunworship "contending that Dec 25 may well have been an invention of the disciples of Cerinthus-" (The Untold Story p7) Epiphanius says that Cerinthus, Merinthus and Ebion were early Gnostics who invented their teachings in competition with each other. (Sect' 2:31, Brill p152-3) The apostle John met Cerinthus in Ephesus, so he lived near the end of the first century. (Irenaeus, Book 3:3 and in Eusebius, Book 3, Ch28) Cerinthus is said to have taught that Mary was not a virgin and Joseph was the physical father of Jesus. (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 1:26, A-N Vol 1 p352) Hippolytus of Rome (AD170-236) said the same thing. (Refutation of Heresies, Book 7, Ch21, A-N, Vol 5 p114) In "The Constitutions of the holy Apostles" it says "Brethren, observe the festival days: and first of all the birthday which you are to celebrate on the twenty fifth of the ninth month; after which let the Epiphany be to you the most honoured, in which the Lord made to you a display of his own Godhead, and let it take place on the sixth of the tenth month" (Book 5, Section 3, A-N Vol 7 p443) (This Julian calendar began with April.) Epiphanius (AD315-403) Bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, maintained belief in the Epiphany date, "When these were the consuls (I mean Octavi[an]us for the thirteenth time and Sil[v]anus), Christ was born on the sixth day of January after thirteen days of the winter solstice and of the increase of light and day. This day [of the solstice] the Greeks, I mean the Idolaters, celebrate on the twenty fifth day of December a feast called Saturnalia among the Romans, Kronia among the Egyptians and Kikellia among the Alexandrians". (Panarion Haer' Ch 51:22, quoted from, "Did Jesus Live 100BC", p408). During the time of Theodora (c AD503-547/8) the night of the 6th of January was called the "Twelfth Night", which is the name of a play written by William Shakespear. The 12th night following Dec 25 supposedly celebrated; 1) Christ's baptism 2) The miracle at the marriage feast at Cana. 3) The adoration of the Magi. It was also called the New Year Candle which was an old Roman fire festival when evil spirits were expelled. (Paul I Wellman, The Female City p403). The Armenian Apostolic Church continues to observe Christ's birthday on the Epiphany, held on Jan 6 (N/S) and use the expression "Shenorhavor Dzenount" (SMH 7 Jan 99) meaning "congratulations, he is born" while the Russian, Macedonian, Serbian, Ukrainian and other Orthodox groups keep the Epiphany on Jan 6 using the Julian calendar which is January 19 (N/S). The Orthodox Church observes the first Sunday after Jan 6 (N/S) to mark the time of his baptism.
THE PERPETUATION OF DEC 25 It was also during the time of Theodora that the Roman monk Dionysius Exiguus (c500-550) drew up his "Easter" tables. He believed that Jesus was born on December 25 in what we now call 1BC so the following year, AD1, beginning with the first of January was considered to be the first year "anno domini", the first year of the Lord. The reason for there being no year zero is said to be because few people in the ancient world used a numeral to represent 0 (zero) so they began with 1, (Adams, Latrobe), 0 was an Indian invention (O'Neil, Time and the Calendar, p38) but according to The Sun Herald Sept 6, 1998, p56, "An Arabian innovation, zero was not introduced into Western mathematics until centuries later." According to Zechariah Sitchin the Olmecs had developed the concept of zero around 3,000 BC, ("The Earth Chronicles", p76) The English or Anglo Saxon church historian Bede (AD673-735) following the churches tradition, called Dec 25 "natali Domini" or "the Lords nativity" (Letter to Egbert Ch 15) this is mistranslated in the Penguin edition as "Christmas" instead of "nativity". He said it was "holy". (Facts, p18) In Germany since about the 11th century Xmas eve has been called "Weihnacht", (holy night), which is a total lie, just because some say that it is holy, does not make it so. It has been falsely labeled and is really a totally pagan celebration. In Lithuania kale'dos was "log evening" which is closer to the truth. Dec 25 is not holy or sacred, it is not Christ's birthday or Christ's mass at all, and those who say it is, are plainly lying. On May 2nd in 1582 the Scotch General Assembly proceeded to abolish Xmas and impose penalties. (P.Schaff Vol 3 p164) In 1643-4 the Puritan government in England banned the celebration of Xmas. They "issued a series of ordinances forbidding all such church services and festivities, which carried over into America but only lasted until the nineteenth century." (Colliers Ency', p404) Catholic practices were rejected and some preachers were jailed for giving Xmas sermons. This continued until about AD1660. Xmas was not celebrated by the early settlers in the USA until gift giving was promoted in American trade magazines as a means of increasing business, and has been called "the greatest marketing effort of all time" (AJN, 11 Dec 1998 p18). Dec 25 in the USA "did not become a national holiday - until 1887" (The Journal, Dec 1997, p12) "Should we ban Xmas?" "No says spokesman for the Catholic church" (Sydney Morning Herald, Dec 24 1994 p39) The adoption of pagan practices has already been banned but people ignore what the bible says about this worship service. Deuteronomy 12:30-32 says not to adopt pagan worship but some would rather follow the crowd and do what seems right than what is right. Complaining about the commercialisation of Xmas cannot change the fact that if it had not been for the commercialisation of Dec 25 this heathen celebration of Mithras' birthday may not have returned to prominence, and may have resulted in the more likely time of the birth of Jesus being on the Feast of Tabernacles, or "dwellings" "-and dwelt among us" (John 1:14) being spared the same fate. It is bad enough for "christians" to celebrate Jesus' birthday on the wrong day and call this mass to Mithras, "Christ's mass" without "exploiting his name for the Almighty dollar" as well, yet today governments have laws making it a holiday and councils waste millions of dollars of ratepayers money decorating public streets and buildings with the ancient pagan symbols of sunworship, human sacrifice, tree worship, sex rites, St Nicholas, reindeer etc. The Sydney City Council alone wasted $500,000 on the 1997 decorations to the Sydney town hall. Its a pity with overpopulation and the world in such need with about 35,000 children dying of starvation each day in countries like Ethiopia, Sudan, India, North Korea, Bolivia etc that they don't spend the same time, money and effort to help the aged and the disabled, feed the needy, reduce rates, clear debts and promote the truth, instead of promoting the lies and beliefs of false Christianity. Not only do the false Christian leaders say little or nothing about this pagan idolatry, but they also help perpetuate it. The third commandment says "you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain" (Ex 20, Deut 5) Would you like having something you hated connected to your name, or named after you? Of course not, and according to Ezekiel 20 neither does God, he does not like his name being misused and especially by those who know better. Wishing others a "Merry Xmas" is taking Gods name in vain. Its about as meaningful as parrot talk and breaks the third commandment and is why we should not do it. 2 John 9-11 says "he that biddeth him God speed is partaker in his evil deeds", in other words, applied here, Christians should not help people to disobey this by encouraging others to engage in the observance of an idolatrous feast by wishing those who break the first and third commandments that they have a happy or merry occasion. When people wish you a merry Xmas, you can say "yea" or "thanks" but why not try to explain that its really Mithras birthday, (Mithras not Xmas) or the Yule season, and refuse to repeat this lie of calling it "Christmas". You could reply to friends that you hope they make it safely through the silly season. When an archbishop was asked that seeing the church openly admits that "Christmas" is not Christ's birthday, why don't they do something about it, he said that it would cause a riot. It is the responsibility of ministers to show people their errors, not to help perpetuate them. If only church leaders would "obey God rather than men". The feasts of the bible are found in Leviticus 23 and "Christmas" is not amongst them. True Christians do not celebrate Xmas. Why should anyone call this unbiblical, man made but satanically inspired celebration "Christmas", when Christ has nothing whatever to do with it? Some "assume that the "first Noel" refers to Jesus birthday but the word noel comes from "novo" (new) and "hel" (sun). It meant `new sun', or the winter solstice,-" (GTA, The Untold Story, p9) The word solstice means the "stopping of the sun". (Solinsky, p12) Natalis and novella are other sources. Ezekiel 20:39 says; "Go you, serve you every one his idols, and hereafter if you will not listen to me; but pollute you my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols." If people want to celebrate on Dec 25 like the ancient idolaters thats their choice, but it was Rome that falsely attached the birth of Christ to Dec 25 so lets be honest enough to leave Christ's name out of it. We should take the name of Christ out of Xmas and not try to make out that Dec 25 is Gods holiday when it is in fact a totally pagan solstice sunworship celebration, promoted by a self appointed false church giving a counterfeit date for the birthday of the one they pretend to follow and is directly contrary to what the bible teaches. Xmas comes from the celebration of the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the return of the sun god Baal, called Mithras, Sol Invictus, the Unconquered sun-god. It is not holy and it is not Jesus Christ's birthday.
CHRONOLOGY
753BC There was no "December 25" before the introduction of the Roman calendar in
753BC..
496BC The Saturnalia is instituted on Dec 19 by the Romans (Livy, 2:21)
67BC The Sun-god Mithra is introduced into Rome
45BC Julius Caesar introduces his new "Julian" calendar.
? BC Augustus extends Saturnalia to three days (17-19) and later a week, (Universal)
followed by the Brumalia (Varro 6:8) from Brevissima, the shortest day, referring to the
winter solstice and the return of Sol Invictus, (The "thirteenth" day
before the Kalends of January)
4BC Birth of Jesus (5-6 Oct) nine months after the Epiphany. Not December 25.
AD37-41 Caligula added the Juvenalis to the Saturnalia, (Suetonius, Caligula 1:4:17, Loeb
p492)
AD81-96 The emperor Domitan and later
AD98-117 Trajan formally introduce Mithras into Rome.
AD218 Sol Invictus Elagabal was made the state religion of Rome.
AD170-236 Hippolytus of Rome said in his Commentary on Daniel that the Lord was born on
December 25th, others say Hippolytus in "De Pascha Computus" computed Christ's
birth as March 28. (Facts p17)
AD243 De Pascha Computus includes the calculation of Hippolytus, which was later
understood to have been the date of the conception of Jesus.
AD254 Death of Origen who lists the Feasts of the church with no mention of Xmas. (Celsus
8:22)
AD274 Emperor Aurelian introduces the feast of the Nativity of Deus Sol Invictus on Dec 25
into Rome.
AD325 The Council of Nicea adopts the Julian calendar as the official calendar of the
"christian" church.
AD326 St Nicholas (Santa Claus) archbishop of Myria dies on Dec 6. Wace says AD342,
the patron saint of Russia, later moved to Dec 25.
AD336-354 The Chronograph records Christ's birth as Friday Dec 25, AD1.
AD337-352 Bishop Julius 1 transfers Jesus' birthday from Epiphany Jan 6, to Dec 25.
AD354 Bishop Liberius orders Rome to observe Dec 25.
AD373-80 Dec 25 being kept at Constantinople.
AD375-388 Dec 25 introduced into Antioch
AD385 First use of Missa (mass) in church ordinances.
AD400 Imperial law forbids theatres and circuses from opening on Dec 25.
AD410 Jerome opposes celebrating Jesus' birthday.
AD430 Alexandrians adopt Dec 25.
AD431 Council of Ephesus legalises celebration on Dec 25.
AD439 Dec 25 kept at Jerusalem by bishop Juvenal, some kept Jan 6 until AD 549.
AD534 Justinian code included Dec 25 as legal holiday.
AD700 Bede refers to the Nativity celebrations on Dec 25.
AD1038 First mention according to some of "Cristes" Maesse.
AD1123 First record of Dec 25 being called Xpes Maessan (Xmas)
AD1223 Nativity scenes began in Italian churches.
AD1575 Scotch General assembly may abolish Xmas and impose penalties.
AD1643 Puritans forbid the celebration of Xmas.
AD1818 Franz Gruber and Joseph Mohr write Silent Night, "Holy" Night.
HOW DID XMAS AND EASTER BECOME THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT "CHRISTIAN" CELEBRATIONS. It didn't begin 2,000 years ago as some assume, these celebrations began in the northern hemisphere in Mesopotamia, also called Chaldea which is between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what we now call Iraq. Shinar is the name used in the bible for this area of Babylonia and Sumer, where December and January are the cold winter months. The tale of Nimrod and his wife, who is Ishtar of Uruk in Babylonian mythology and who is called Semiramis in later history, with her son called Tammuz can be traced back to a short time after the story of the flood over 4,000 years ago in about 2200BC. Noachs youngest son was called Ham, which means warm, brown or black. He is said to have discovered the magical act. He married Neelata-Mek (Jubilees 7:12) According to Hippolytus she was called Zedkat Nabu. (Fragments, A-N Vol 5, p196) They had four sons Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan. (Gen 10:6) Hams son Mesraim also followed magical practices and after his death was called Zoroaster "living star", his brother Cush had a son called Nimrod. (Gen 10:8) The Greeks called Nimrod, Ninus "from whom the city of Nineveh took its name" (Recognitions of Clement, Book 4 Ch 27-29, A-N, Vol 8, p140-1) Nineveh was built by Asshur the son of Shem. (Gen 10:11,22) "Ashur built Nineveh, Resen, Calach and Rehobother" (Jasher 10:33) According to Diodorus who takes his account from Ctesias, Ninus built Nineveh in about 2182BC. (Dict' of Greek and Roman Biography and Myth', Vol 3, p711-17) King Hammurabi of Babylon restored a temple in 1700BC (Colliers) Plaut's Modern commentary says Calah was founded by Shalmaneser 1, 1274-1245BC. (1276-1257BC Colliers-Nineveh) Micah (c730BC) mentions "Assyria--the land of Nimrod" (5:6) maybe Asshur built it and Nimrod conquered it then rebuilt it or perhaps Diodorus was wrong. Questions abound ! Nimrod began to be a mighty one in the earth. (Gen 10:8) The first city was Babylon and Erech and Accad and Calneh in the land of Shinar. And their king was called Nebroth (Nimrod). (Theophilus AD115-181 to Autolycus Book 2 Ch 31) According to The Hertz Pentateuch, Babylon was founded in 2300BC. (p403-4) Philo of Alexandria says "to Nimrod Moses ascribes Babylon as the beginning of his kingdom, for Babylon means 'change' a thing akin to desertion both in name and fact. (The Giants, 15:66, Classics p70) Nimrod married Semiramis "the most renowned of all women of whom we have any record," (Diodorus, Book 2:3:4, Loeb, p357) she "far surpassed all the other maidens in beauty". (p361) Babylon was founded and made the royal residence by Semiramis and Nineveh by Ninus (Nimrod). (The Geography of Strabo book 1, Loeb p319) Ovid (43BC-AD17) said Babylon was "the city which Semiramis is said to have surrounded with brick." (Metamorphoses, Book 4:58, Loeb p183) Pliny (AD62-113) mentions the hanging gardens constructed by Semiramis. (Book 19:49) In Roman History by Dio Cassius he says she ruled the Assyrians (Ch62) and Semiramis--built - a city (Babylon) having a perimeter of 400 stades (Ch 68 - Loeb p93 & p411) Diodorus says 365 stades; (about 40 miles) Herodotus (c490-425BC) says that there were two Queens of Babylon called Semiramis. The earlier Semiramis built embankments to control the river Euphrates. (Ch 2, Penguin p115) She was also called Ashtoreth "The woman that made the encompassing wall." and was later known as Diana or Tauropolos the tower maker. (The Two Babylons, p308) Josephus said, that Berosus said, that the Greeks had no foundation for saying that Babylon was built by Semiramis, Queen of Assyria. (Against Apion, Book 1, Ch 20) Berosus was a Chaldean priest, and the father of the Sibyl. (Justin to the Greeks Ch 37) He was born in the time of Alexander and was a priest of Belus. (Tatian to the Greeks, Ch 36, A-N Vol 2, p 80) He wrote his History of Babylon in about 260BC. (Universal Ency') The subjects and princes of Nimrod called his name Amraphel (Jasher 11:6) Halley says Amraphel is identified with Hammurabi. (p97) According to Josephus, Nimrod kept every one together and ruled them with tyranny so that they followed him. (Ant 1:4:2) Together they built the tower of Babel, which means the gate of God. (Chambers) Those who built the tower "imagined in their hearts to war against him (God) and to ascend to heaven. (The Book of Jasher 9:25) The Book of Jubilees says it took 43 years to build the tower and they said "We will ascend on it into heaven". (Ch 10:16-7) One legend says that Nimrod made an imitation of Gods throne and called himself god. (Legends of the Jews, Ginzberg) Nimrod is said to have rebelled (marad) against God. (Sifra, Behuqqotay 2:2, BT 94b, Targum, Pseudo Jonathan.) Note 57, p329. The Babylonian Talmud (Passover Ch 10) and Jashar 12:23 say that Nimrod had Abraham thrown into a fiery furnace because he wouldn't worship fire. In the days of Peleg who it says was born 101 years after the flood and died 340 years after the flood at 239 years of age, God "confounded their language, -and scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel;" (Gen 11:7-9) "In the seventeenth generation Nimrod 1 reigned in Babylonia, and built a city, and thence migrated to the Persians, and taught them to worship fire" (Recognitions of Clement, Book 1, Ch 30, A-N, Vol 8 p85-6) "-Nimrod the son of Cush the Ethiopian- -was an originator of wrong teaching, astrology and magic." (The Panarion of Epiphanius, Section 1:3:2-3) Nimrod is said to have been killed by a wild boar. (Int' Standard Ency') Nimrod lived - two hundred and fifteen years and he died. (Jasher 27:15) He was known as Bel or Baal, (Lord) who was the storm-god and sun-god, the king of the host of Heaven. Hislop shows that Baal (The Lord) and Bel (The Confounder) were originally distinct. (The Two Babylons p26-7) According to the Clementine Homilies, it was Nebrod who the Greeks called Zoroaster who was worshipped as a god after his death. (Hom 9, Ch 5, A-N Vol 8 p275-6) and the magicians assigned feasts for the people to observe. (Ch 7) "the lines of evidence all converge, so as to demonstrate that Ninus and Nimrod and Zoroaster were one." (Hislop Appendix p314) Zoroaster or Zaratas "generic denomination for philosopher by the Orientals." There are "no less than six individuals bearing this name-". (A-N, Vol 5, p12, Footnote 11) "men in other places built temples, set up statues, instituted mysteries and ceremonies and sacrifices, to those whom they had admired,--to hand down their fame to posterity- -to these they add also certain solemnities, and drunken banquets, in which men might with all freedom indulge;" (Recognitions of Clement Book 4, Ch 30, Ante-Nicene, Vol 8, p141)
SEMIRAMIS:
Diodorus Siculus of Sicily (80-20BC) gives us some of the story of Semiramis as recorded
by Ctesias of Cnidus in Caria. (Loeb p359-419) The name Semiramis is said to have come
from a Syrian tale about the daughter of the fish goddess Derceto, who was fed by the
doves of Ishtar and raised by "the keeper of the royal herds, who's name was
Simmas" who called her Semiramis.(Diodorus, Book 2, Penguin p359) "probably the
same who was worshipped at Ascalon under the name of Astarte or the Heavenly Aphrodite.
(Smiths, Vol 3) "About her in the course of the centuries gathered many attributes of
the Babylonian goddess Ishtar." (Note in Diodorus, Book 2, Loeb p357) Ishtar was
"a complex image of the multiple possibilities of womanhood- -the mother- -the ever
virgin warrior- -the wanton, constantly plotting to find a new lover- -judge-counselor-
(Monaghan p174) Semiramis is said to have become pregnant to her own father but she
claimed the sun-god had impregnated her and her new child Tammuz, was the return of the
sun-god. Some say Tammuz was her brother-husband. "Almost all the Tartar princes
trace their genealogy to a celestial virgin, impregnated by a sun-beam,- In India the
mother of Surya, the sun-god - is said to have become pregnant in this way, a beam of the
sun having entered her womb, in consequence of which she brought forth the sun-god."
(Hyslop p305) A similar parallel is when "Zeus has intercourse with his own daughter,
who becomes pregnant by him." (Tatian to the Greeks, Ch 8, A-N Vol 2 p68) In one
story Ninus allows Semiramis to rule for one day on which she then has Ninus killed.
(Plutarch Moralia 9, On Love, LCL p333-5) Ishtar or Semiramis is said to have
concocted a story about a dead stump sprouting over-night and that this new growth
represented the return of Baal or Tammuz on the winter solstice (in December) each year
when they celebrated his rebirth or resurrection and worshipped the returning sun which
was followed by the new spring vegetation and fertility. Some believe that this was the
origin of the Xmas tree and the leaving of gifts under it each year. Tree worship has a
long history involving sacrifices in groves and on mountain tops, with phallic carvings,
idols and gift giving. "In Egypt it was the Palm tree in Rome it was the fir; The
palm tree denoting the pagan messiah, as Baal-Tamar, the fir referring to him as
Baal-Berith." (Untold Story, p18) Baal-berith means "Lord of the Covenant"
and is only one letter different from Baal-bereth "Lord of the fir tree." (2B
p98) Diodorus says she reigned for 42 years before handing the sovereignty over to her son
Ninyas (Tammuz), and flying off to heaven as a dove. The name Tammuz means to purify by
fire. (tam, to perfect, muz, to burn) (Hyslop, Appendix p315) Tammuz is said to have
reigned for 100 years and his mother Semiramis, who was called Ishtar (Easter), and later
known as Aphrodite, was his lover. Tammuz was also killed by a wild boar sent by Mars,
which is symbolic of winter and was associated with the shortening of the days, the
seasonal dying of the vegetation and animal sterility. In Syria he was worshipped as
Pal in summer when the vegetation died during the summer heat following the new moon in
the month called Tammuz. (Oxford) He "was the god of vegetation who each year
came to life and died again" (Ency' of Myths and Legends of all Nations, Ward, p11)
"Throughout all the ancient world, the resurrection of the god Sol, under different
names, was celebrated on March 25th,-." (Doane, Bible Myths, p495) Tammuz was an
Akkadian fertility god, - called Duma-zi in Sumerian meaning the producer of healthy young
ones. (Ency' of Religion & Ethics) known as Damu the child, Amaushumgalana, Alla,
Adad, Gilgamesh, Merodach, Marduk, Ninurta, Ninazu, Ningishzida, Lusiranna, Lugal-shudi,
Lugal-gis-gisimmar, (king of the date palm), Lugal-gis-a-tu-gab-lis, (king of the mulberry
tree) Nergal, (the god of vegetation from the lower regions, the great city of the
underworld) Lugal-kes-da, (king of the underworld) (HUCA Vol 28). Other names for Baal or
Tammuz were Belus, Shamash, Chemosh, Moloch (the king), Melkart, (Sidonians) Hadad-Rimmon,
(Aramaic) Ishtaran, Orion, Sol (Africans), Usire son of Ra, (Egyptian) Osiris, Hathor who
was the father of Horus, the falcon, sky and sun god (Greek-Egyptian), Baal the lord, was
Adonis or Dionysus in Greece. Apollo, Apollon or C(h)ronus, Mars who was Ares (Greek),
Phoebus, (Roman), Saturn (in Latin) Remphan, Chiun or Kaiwan, (Amos 5:26). The Norse sun
god was Balder. The Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics has 18 variations to the story,
and Nimrod is said to have over 5,000 names. Nimrod was worshipped as the sun-god,
King of Heaven, and his wife Ishtar as the moon-goddess, Queen of Heaven. She became the
Lady of 10,000 names. (The Book of Goddesses and Heroines, Monaghan p177). She was the
dark queen of the underworld, Ninana, Inanna, Irnina, Nana, Nintur, Sarbanda, (Sumerian),
Kilili (Akkadian), Istar(u) or Ishtar, Ashera, (Canaanite), Ashtaroth, (plural), The
Lady of the Gods, Light giving mistress of Heaven, (Babylonian), Daughter of the Moon god,
Sin. Beltis, Baalat, (The Lady), Kedeshet, (the holy one), the Morning and Evening Star,
Anunit, Tanit, (Carthaginian), Anath, Athar, (Arabian), Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena,
(Greek), Venus, (Roman, Astarte, (Syrian), Cybele and Hera, sister and wife of Zeus,
(Greek), daughter of Zeus, Daughter of Derceto, Minerva, (Roman), Diana or Diviana, Luna,
Noctiluca (Night-Shiner), Juno Lucina, (Roman), (Varro, Book, 5, Loeb p65) Rhea
daughter of Uranus, Demeter or Thesmophoria, Esit, Esther, Frigg, Hanata, Ashdar,
and Astar. Herodotus (c490-425BC) says the Assyrian name for Aphrodite is Mylitta,
the Arabian, Alilat, the Persian, Mitra. (Book 1:130) The story of Ishtar visiting Tammuz
in the underworld is believed to be the oldest story recorded and can be found in the
International Library of Famous Literature, Vol l, or a condensed version can be found in
the Ency' of Myths and Legends by Ward. The oldest Babylonian records are said to have
been written in about 3500BC. (The Biblical Archaeologist, Vol 7, No 2, p24, Fisher
Library, 220.93/97) Tammuz was persued by Aphrodite, like Venus is seen to follow the sun
into the underworld in the evening, as the "Evening Star" and is seen again the
following morning as the "Morning Star". This is because the planet Venus, like
Mercury, is an interior planet that spins between the Earth and the Sun in front of us in
a smaller orbit, while the other planets orbit behind us. Mercury was called Hermes the
messenger which combined with Venus who was called Aphrodite is the origin of the word
hermaphrodite. Venus orbits the sun in 224.7 days. She was known as Dilbah in the morning
and as Zib in the evening. (Monaghan p176) Pliny said Venus was called Lucifer in
the morning and called Vesper at night, and that "some having called it Juno, others
Isis, others the Mother of the Gods." (Natural History, Book 2 Ch 36, Loeb p191-3)
The Ency' of Religion and Ethics under Tammuz shows a gender reversal where Venus is
described as male in the morning, while Tammuz is called the peerless mother of heaven.
Semiramis is also called "King of the Four Quarters of the World". (Dict' of Non
Classical Myth' Dutton) Gender changes are not uncommon. "After the struggle Ishtar
urged Gilgamesh to be her consort. Gilgamesh replied to Ishtar in scorn. She had brought
sorrow upon Tammuz, her first love. Many later lovers had she had. And which one of them
had escaped sorrow?" (Ward p14) The Epic of Gilgamesh (700BC, Arlin Baldwin, p5) is
220.082/SAN and 899.951032/GEO etc. Some of the flood story is in Alan Millards book
called, Discoveries From Bible Times on p42. (Moore Library, 220.93/MIL) Tammuz is the
name of the Babylonian tenth month which falls in mid-summer and was named after him, in
which they began his annual seven day festival celebrating the death of Du'uzi (Tammuz)
"who perished in the summer sun.", "the Sumerians broke bread at the
funeral feast for the dead god." "-this month was known as the feast of the
breaking of bread for the god Ninazu," one of the names for Tammuz. "in his
decline the sun god was known as Nergal, `Lord of the vast city of the dead.'"
(Babylonian Menologies, Langdon p19-20)
IDOLATRY IN THE CHURCH TODAY The worship of the sun and moon was closely linked together and there are many varying stories about them. Over the centuries the myths grew and merged. In Mesopotamia they were known together as Baal and Ishtar, in Ugarit, which is the north Syrian coastal town of Ras Shamra, they were known as Hadad and Astarte, in Egypt they were called Osiris and Isis, which comes from Au Set, Exceeding Queen. (Monaghan, p177), in Greece as Adonis and Aphrodite, Orotalt and Urania, Zeus and Hera, Pluto and Persephone, who in Roman were known as Jupiter (Jove) and Juno, Dis (rich) and Proserpine (to creep forward) Liber and Ariadne, in Norse as Odin and Nanna, in Anglo-Saxon as Wodin and Frea, and they are portrayed in the constelations as Orion and Virgo. "it was Nimrod who was deified after his death by the name Orion, and placed among the stars." (Hyslop p57) This was done by Diana who is called Phoebe (moon) or Trivia (three ways). In Hebrew Orion is Kesil, the foolish or impious and later Nimrod was known as Gibbor. (Richard Allen, Star Names p308) Virgo was the mother-goddess who was worshipped in the ancient Near and Middle East - a symbol of summer fertility. (S&T, Oct 1995 p31) "The winged and sometimes haloed Virgo, wheat spike and palm frond in either hand, was identified in the middle ages with the Virgin Mary." (The History of the Zodiac, Search Vol 5, p434, 1974, and also in Star Names, p463) The perpetuation of this idolatry continues today. The Queen of Heaven, or moon goddess holding her child Tammuz, can be identified in Egypt with the mother child image of Isis nursing Horus and in Rome with Venus holding Cupid, which was adopted by the church as the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus. This is where the Madonna and Child originated. Madonna comes from the Latin mea/donna, "my lady", Donna is the feminine of dominus or Lord. Even though the link between these ancient practices and their modern counterparts is not always clear, the similarities show the same design. The worshippers of Tammuz held a feast prior to their fasting, like the modern "Mardi-Gras" or Shrove, (Fat) Tuesday, which comes from the French custom of parading a fat ox through Paris on this day which is followed by Ash Wednesday when the 40 days of weeping and fasting began, which is called Quadragesima, (Latin), or Tessarakoste (Greek), meaning to count 40, which is today called Lent, which comes from an old English word meaning Spring. The 40 days of fasting for Lent that starts on Ash Wednesday and end on Easter Sunday does not include any of the intervening Sundays. In the Syrian Didascalia (Ch 21) it says it is not lawful to fast on the first of the week because of the resurrection. Catholics do not eat meat on Ash Wednesday or on any of the Fridays during Lent. The eating of fish on Fridays came about because "back in the Middle Ages the fishing industry run by the church in the British Isles, was having a very hard time. So to give it a real boost, they ENFORCED THE EATING OF FISH at certain times." (Burnside, Origin of Lent p9) The name Ash Wednesday comes from the ashes of the burnt palms from "Palm Sunday" of the previous year and are used on Ash Wednesday to put a mark on the forehead of the participants. The Thursday before Easter is called Maundy Thursday, meaning in Latin the "commandment", (mandatum), to love one another when back in the dark ages people gave baskets of food and money to the poor and a footwashing service was held before the poor attended the Last Supper. There was also a service, now obsolete, for the recognition of the penitant who had been excluded from the church during Lent. Before the reformation it was called Chare, Sheer or Shere (pure, clean, guilt free) Thursday, when the participants cut their hair and beards as a sign of rejoicing. Some begin "Holy Week" from "the day of preparation", or "Good Friday" (Apostolic Constitutions, Book 5, Sect' 3, Ch 13, A-N Vol 7 p443) while some say "holy week" begins on "resurrection" Sunday, saying the Saturday before Easter is not Easter Saturday but that "holy week" ends on the following Saturday. (The Australian, Tue, Dec 3, 1996 p3) In the second century AD there were arguments about what day this fast should end. The Syrian Didascalia claims that Jesus said to fast on two days, Wednesday and Friday, but says the fast of the Passion is for six days. (Ch21) "Originally, even in Rome, Lent with the preceding revelries of the Carnival, was entirely unknown; and even when fasting before the Christian Pasch was held to be necessary, it was by slow steps that, in this respect, it came to conform with the ritual of Paganism." (Hyslop p106) "In regard to the Western Church, at a somewhat later period - the age of Constantine - fifteen days seem to have been observed-" "the week before and the week after Easter Sunday-", but Eusebius said at this time there was a "forty-day period of asceticism" before the Pascha. Socrates said in about AD450 "Those who inhabit the princely city of Rome fast together before Easter three weeks, excepting the Saturday and Lord's-day." (The Two Babylons, p106) At the Council of Aurelia - about the year AD519 it was "decreed that Lent should be solemnly kept before Easter." (Hyslop p107) In the fictitious "Teaching of the Apostles" it says "Forty days before the day of the passion of our Saviour fast ye, and then celebrate the day of the passion, and the day of the resurrection: because the Lord himself also, the Lord of the festival, fasted forty days;" (A-N, Vol 8, p668) The forty day fast before Jesus began his ministry was not at "Easter" but at the very opposite time of the year, and the fast of Lent did not come from the bible but was adopted from paganism into the church. "It ought to be known" said Cassianus, the monk of Marseilles, writing in the fifth century, and contrasting the primitive church with the Church in his day "that the observance of the forty days had no existence, so long as the perfection of the primitive Church remained inviolate." "Whence, then came this observance? The forty days abstinence of Lent was directly borrowed from the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess." (Hyslop p104) It seems the practice of sun and moon worship has remained the most persistent form of idolatry since the beginning of history until todays modern professing "Christianity" Even though the Israelites had been told not to worship the sun and moon (Deut 4:19, 17:3), "they forsook the Lord and served Baal and Ashtaroth" (Judges 2:13). "Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites." Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites on the mountain east of Jerusalem. (1 Kings 11:5-7,33) Ahab served Baal (1 Kings 8:21,16:31) King Manasseh reared up alters for Baal. (2 Kings 21:3, 23:4-20) Cruddens says "the sun has been the object of worship and adoration to the greater part of the people of the East. It is thought to be the sun that the Phenicians worshipped under the name of Baal, the Moabites under the name of Chemosh, the Ammonites by that of Molech, and the Israelites by the name of Baal and by the king of the host of heaven. They did not separate his worship from that of the moon whom they called Astarte, the queen of heaven." (Nu 21:29, Judges 11:24, Jer 48:7,13,46.) Over 2,500 years ago in about 600BC Ezekiel 8:14-16 shows sun-worshippers "weeping for Tammuz"- they "worshipped the sun" (Tammuz) at sunrise, and so they were facing east just as many professing Christians do today at Easter. Tammuz was also called Bacchus, from bakhah, to lament or weep. Jeremiah 7:16-20 says "- do not pray for this people - do you not see what they are doing - the fathers kindle fire and the women knead dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven - therefore - my anger and my wrath will be poured out. In Ez 44:19 it continues "we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out libations to her, was it without our husbands approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image -" These cakes were offered by Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and others, to the horned moon goddess and were marked with a pair of ox horns and called ox (bous) buns. Arnobius says they came in various shapes. (Against the Heathen, A-N Vol 6, p527) The celebration of Easter is like a counterfeit of the Passover and often takes place during the same time as the Feast of Unleavened Bread when Exodus 13:7 says that anything that is leavened, like "hot" cross buns, are not to be seen or eaten. The temple wafers were anointed "In the form of Chi" (Menahoth 6:3) When adopted into the apostate church the buns were marked as they also were in Mithraism, with this pre-christian symbol of a cross. The ankh, "a cross with a looped top was the Egyptian sign for life". It was used in the time of Tutankhamen (1333-1323BC) There are photographs of this life sign in The National Geographic, March 1977, p305-307. It was held in the hand of the sun god Ra as a symbol of dominion. (Lila Perl, Mummies, Tombs and Treasures p37, Ancient Egypt, p95, Ency' Brit, Ankh) This "Sign of Life" was borne by Osiris and all the Egyptian gods; the ansa or "handle" was afterwards dispensed with. Plato in the Timaeus says the son of God was impressed "in the form of the letter X (Chi) upon the universe. The ancient Hindus also used a broken cross or swastika as a symbol of love. "Now, this Pagan symbol seems first to have crept into the Christian Church in Egypt,-" (Hyslop, Two Babylonss p201) Jesus was not nailed to a "cross" which is a mistranslation from the Greek word "stauros" meaning in Greek, a pole tree or stake and mistranslated into Latin as "crux" which in English means a "cross". The Companion Bible also points out that Homer in the Iliad, 24:453 and in the Odyssey 14:11 (14:14) uses "stauros" to mean "an ordinary pole or stake". The Greek-English Lexicon by Liddell and Scott, p1635, (Moore, R483.23) has a list of where "stauros" is used by other Greek writers. Thucydides uses "stauros" to describe "wooden towers" (7:25:6, LCL, p44-5) In Herodotus 5:16, (LCL p15) it is translated as "piles". In Xenophon (430 to 354BC) it is used and translated as "ramparts" and "palisades". (Anabasis 5:2:19-21, LCL p362-3) Plutarch (AD46-125) lived at the same time that the bible accounts were written and uses "stauron" for "stakes". (Artaxerxes 17:5, LCL Vol 11 p167) Josephus uses "staurois" in Wars 5:452. (p340) In Ant' 18:64 (18:3:3) LCL p51) "stauro" is translated as "crucified" meaning fixed to an upright timber rather than upon a "cross". Dio Cass' 49:22 uses "stauro" in the same way. There is another Greek word used in Acts 5:30, 10:39, 13:29, Gal 3:13 and 1 Peter 2:24 which is "xulon" which means timber, wood or tree which describes what Jesus was nailed upon instead of "stauros". The serpent in John 3:14 was "on a pole" (Nu 21:9) not on a "cross". Melito a eunuch and bishop of Sardis in about AD170 said "nailed upon the tree" (A-N Vol 8, p756-7) Irenaeus (AD182-188) said "-whom they slew, hanging him on a beam of wood". (Against Heresies, 3:12:4-7, A-N Vol 1, p431-2, p577) The Epistle of Barnabas (Ch 9, A-N Vol 1, p143) which was written around AD100 refers to the shape of the "beam" as being in the form of the Greek letter "T", representing the number 300 which was not a "cross". Some drawings show the jutting wood under the crotch taking the weight of the hanging body. The Talmud describes a hanging "They put a beam into the ground and a piece of wood jutted from it. The two hands [of the body] were brought together and [in this fashion] it was hanged. - The beam was made to lean against a wall and one hanged the corpse thereon as the butchers do." (San 6:4, Danby p390) Note, "the two hands were brought together", not spread out like a "cross". "A winged phallus was worn by the women of Pompeii as an ornament, for which Christian women substituted a cross." (Note 13, A-N Vol 5, p67) and the use of a cross upon the right hand and forehead was superstitiously believed to be a counter to the "mark of the beast". (Hippolytus Ap' A-N Vol 5, p249) The later vision of Constantine of an X was the Greek letter Chi and stood for the first letter of the name of Christ not of a cross, (Hyslop p197-203) it also included a loop which is said to have represented the second letter of the name Christ, the Greek letter for r, which is "P". To venerate the pagan symbol of a cross is a continuation of this ancient idolatrous superstition. Herodotus mentions the women moon-worshippers of Ephesus who in about 500BC were celebrating the Thesmophoria after dark. (Penguin p394). According to Gilbert Murray in the book "Five Stages of Greek Religion" the Thesmophoria formed the great festival of Demeter and her daughter Kore- (p15) "The earth is the mother - in spring she is maiden or Kore, but a maiden fated each year to be wedded and made fruitful" (p29-30) "Kore of Ephesus, strangely called Artemis, a shapeless fertility figure, covered with innumerable breasts" (p52, 58) "The simple Kore or Kouros was a figure of indistinct outline with no history or personality. Like the Roman functional gods, such beings were hardly persons; they melted easily one into another." (p64) "She forms a divine triad with the father and the son:" (p137) "The rites are performed about the vernal equinox,-" (p205). Diodorus also mentions these "mysteries". (23:31:1, LCL Vol 5 p205) Arnobius says these ceremonies had "mysteries - holy vigils and solemn watchings - consecrated to the goddess by the Athenians-" When the Queen of Heaven was adopted into the worship of the Roman church, they renamed her Mary the mother of Jesus, but Jeremiah 7:18, and 44:17-25 condemns this idolatory by those who worship the Queen of Heaven. Jeremiah 44:3-4 says God hates the worship of other gods. Just as renaming rat poison doesn't make it okay to eat, so renaming these pagan superstitions as representing the truth, results in a sick society of lies, false values and false religion. "One may claim a pig is a duck hundreds of times, but the pig is a pig, nevertheless." (The Untold Story, p11) In the book by Alexander Hislop called The Two Babylons, he says that instead of Christianizing idolatory, they paganised Christianity. The main point about the history of Nimrod and his wife is that regardless of any time wasting arguments about whether or not certain stories are true, and how much of the facts of history have been mixed up with fables, it has resulted in the false beliefs and practices of todays mainstream "Christianity" being built upon this mythology which derives from ancient Babylon. How crazy it is for people to waste their lives believing these meaningless lies as though they have some worthwhile meaning or value for Christians or anyone else for that matter. We shouldn't be nasty to people who keep Xmas and Easter but rather hope that they soon recognise that it is really the perpetuation of futile idolatrous sun and moon worship which the bible so very strongly condemns, which is deceptively hidden behind the guise of "Christianity". The image described in Daniel 2:31 shows the course of this Satan led system from neo-Babylon until its final destruction with modern Rome. (Rev 18)
THE XMAS TREE The use of
trees to make idols and phallic symbols in the worship of Baal and Ashtaroth by the
Israelites is mentioned after they entered into Canaan before 1000BC, They were erected as
part of pagan worship and "by the edict of Theodosius (AD392), pagan shrines were to
be dedicated as Christian churches." (ACBCC, 40, 1965, p15) and so the custom of
erecting these phallic obelisks as domes, spires and steeples on churches continued on, as
they still are today. The NSW Government contributed $5m of the $9m for the erection of
two of these on St Mary's Church in Sydney (Sun-Herald, 30th May AD1999) and these erotic
public displays show the hypocrisy of both Church and Government who condemn and punish
other less confronting shows and exhibitions. (Isa 20:2-4) In June 1999 the Catholic
church attacked a soccer players $75 million transfer fee as "an insult to the
poor" later as an "offence against the poor" (June 20) and said "The
Catholic Church could build a lot of churches in the Third World with this sort of
money." (The Daily Telegraph Saturday June 12, 1999) this was said shortly before it
was revealed that "The Vatican secretly sent the Croation Government $A62 million
worth of bearer bonds to buy weapons during the (1992-95) Bosnian war," (Sydney
Morning Herald, Nov 20, 1999 p19) The one-eyed Norse god called Odin or Wodin is said to
have lived with his wife Frigg in his heavenly palace called Valhalla. In Germany the oak
tree was dedicated as sacred to Odin, the god of war. One of Odins sons was called Thor
whose chariot wheels sounded like thunder, (Norse Legends, CB, p94) In November AD722
Winfred or Winfrith who was an English missionary, also called St Boniface, (pretty face)
was sent by bishop Gregory II to France and Germany to reach the heathen. In about AD730
at Geismar in Hesse he entered a grove of some worshippers of Thor with an axe and stopped
the sacrifice of prince Asulf to the god Thor under the great thunderers oak which he
chops down and immediately the oak or a fir tree sprouts which the worshippers are told
represents Jesus, and should be "adorned in honour of the Christ child" (The
Christian Calendar, p22) The custom of chopping down an evergreen and decorating it with
orbs, which represent eggs as fertility symbols and burning its stump or Yule log, was
done at the time of the winter solstice. "Anciently our Saxon ancestors as well as
others of the northern nations, kept a festival in honour of their great idol Thor, at the
period of the year when the sun was on his annual return which they universally called
Juul" (Clavis Calendara, p341) Some say the word yule comes from the festive
noise or clamor, others from the disc representing the sun, Hyslop derives it from the
Babylonian name for an infant or little child, the son of Isis who was born about the time
of the winter solstice, (Hyslop p93) and some derived it from the shepherds who told the
wise men, "You'll be sure to find him in a manger" (Clavis Calendara p344) Some
of the heathen festivals were celebrated with a bon-fire night, but the Yule log was burnt
indoors from the unburnt part of a log saved from the previous year "to assist the
revival of the sun" during the twelve days of the Yule-feast of the Norsemen. (The
Christian Calendar, p22) The Druids and Odinists used Holly and Mistletoe or Goldenbough
to decorate their temples and shrines. The Germans are said to have been the first to have
brought the tree indoors. "When Paganism gave place to Christianity - they changed to
the honour of the Nativity, from that of Thor but suffered it still to be denominated the
Juul-tide; which by progressive degrees became a term synonymous with that of
Christmas". (p342)
The lighting of candles on the tree is said to have begun with
Martin Luther (AD1483-1546) and "were in general use in Strassburg by the 17th
century". Candles were used in Babylon thousands of years earlier. (Hyslop p97)
"The mother of Adonis, the Sun-God - was mystically said to have been changed into a
tree, and when in that state to have brought forth her divine son." (Ovid Metam') and
this entirely accounts for the putting of the Yule Log into the fire and the appearance of
the tree the next morning. (The Two Babylons p97) A Syrian writer in the 5th century
AD said "It was the custom of the heathen to celebrate on the same 25th of December
the birthday of the sun, at which [time] they kindled lights in token of festivity, (When
Was Christ Born, by Ernest Martin, Radio Church of God, 1961, p1) "figurines and
masks-called "oscilla" -were hung on the tree - a relic of human sacrifice...
!" (ACBCC 40, 1965, p8) "the custom of the decorated - tree was brought to
Canada by Baroness von Riedesel - who lived in Quebec in the 1770's when her German
soldier husband was serving with the British during the American Revolutionary war"
(The Journal, Jan 1998, p4). The first official record of tree decorating in America was
by a German at Harvard College in 1832. Xmas trees were "not introduced into England
until the 1840's, via the Prince Consort." (Dictionary of Bible Tradition in English
Literature, p141) "In 1856 President Franklin Pierce was the first to keep Xmas
in the White House and an annually decorated tree has been a custom since."
(Mansager)
SANTA CLAUS Originated from Nimrod the hunter with additions and embellishments. Some think Santa was another name for Nimrod while others an abbreviation of saint. There are some who refer to Zagg Dar as the first emperor of Sumeria and where the names Caesar, Czar, Shah and Kaiser derive. (Truth at Last, 417, p5) There was also a clay tablet written in Aramaic around the 13th century BC that was found in Damascus with the name "SNTNKLS". (Diggings, Dec 1995 p5) Some derive the name Claus, from Nicolas the conqueror also as another name for Nimrod and that the Nicolaitanes were followers of Nimrod. (AC, p12) Alan Knight connects the Nicolaitans with the Gnostics and says "The sect of the Nicolaitans was founded by one Nicolas, who is believed to have been a deacon in the Jerusalem church, the same one mentioned in Acts 6:5. (The Journal, March 2000, p8) A note to Ignatius to the Trallians Ch 11 says "It seems to be here denied that Nicolas was the founder of this school of heretics." (A-N, Vol 1, p71) Nimrod is regarded as the founder of Babylons man-made state religion that enforced compliance by human sacrifice and which is represented by the "Beast" numeric 666 as in the 36 x 36 x 36 triangle. Many of the names of the Roman leaders who have followed similar practices also add up to 666 including one of the titles "Vicarius Filii Dei" used by the head of the Roman Catholic church. Odin had a red beard and rode on a horse with eight legs and was the father of Thor and Balder. Odins brother Loki killed Balder with a dart made of mistletoe. "the fireplace was sacred to Thor and he drove a chariot across the sky and came down the chimney." (Explaining Xmas, p16) This tale merged with the story of the bishop of Myra who was born in Lycia and died around AD342 and also with a Greek bishop around AD1000 and was first related by Methodius. (Life of St Nicholas by Wace, Fisher; 841/12) The bishop St Nicholas of Myra provided the three daughters of a peasant with dowry money that he left for them in their wooden shoes. Saint Nicholas was the patron saint of sailors. The image of Nimrod as the gift giver, was replaced in name by this saintly figure which was modified by the commercial interests of Coca-Cola who in 1931changed the serious looking Nimrod or St Nicholas into the smiling Santa Claus of today. Why do people want to continue to perpetuate these myths and show such double standards when they lie about these things to innocent trusting children and others while they pretend that it's "Christian" or "fun", especially when they know the real truth and then expect children to be honest and tell the truth, while they themselves set this hypocritical role model. If people want to perpetuate these pagan beliefs, thats their choice, but perhaps having this behind us you can better understand why some no longer wish anyone a merry "Xmas". Some more
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