"Pagan Holidays: Christmas & Easter" eCourse - World's Last Chance


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"Pagan Holidays: Christmas & Easter" eCourse "Pagan Holidays: Christmas & Easter" eCourse Index {4 Lessons: 100 points} The King James Version (KJV) is mostly used in these lessons. Click here to access the KJV online. Lesson #1 {25 points} Christmas: Pagan to the Core! Lesson Quiz (online) Lesson #2 {25 points} Easter: Pagan Counterfeit! Lesson Quiz (online) Lesson #3 {25 points} The Resurrection: When was it? Lesson Quiz (online) Lesson #4 {25 points} Come out of her, My people! Lesson Quiz (online)

Pagan Holidays: Christmas & Easter 1. Christmas: Pagan to the Core! Go to Lessons Index

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"Holiday." For most people the word is applied to one celebration in particular . . . Christmas! The definition of the word "holiday" reveals a religious element of which many people are unaware. Holiday: "a religious festival; [a] holy day." (Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary) Christmas is a religious holiday. Despite all the commercial trappings of the modern celebration, Christmas remains, at heart, a religious festival. It is a time when a deity is remembered and honored. Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas time. They exchange gifts in honor of the "greatest gift ever given." They say: "Jesus is the Reason for the Season!!" and speak of putting the Christ back into Christmas. The problem is, Yahushua the Saviour was never "in" Christmas to begin with! While Scripture does not supply the Saviour's birth date, most scholars agree that He was born in the fall, not December 25! To discover the god being honored at Christmas, it is necessary to trace its pagan origins. Celebrations on December 25 began shortly after the flood with the birth of Tammuz as the reincarnation of Nimrod. Today's Christmas traditions come directly from ancient Babylon and pagan Rome. The pagan Romans honored the god, Saturn, with a week-long festival in December called Saturnalia. Saturn was the Roman god of time and of the harvest, so he was usually depicted holding a scythe. He was the cruelest, most evil of all the pagan gods. He demanded child sacrifice. The Romans were not alone in worshipping this evil god. Worship of Saturn was prevalent in the ancient world. Even the Israelites worshipped Saturn when in rebellion against heaven. The god Israel most frequently worshipped when in apostasy, was the god Saturn, (referred to in the Bible as Chiun, Molech, or Remphan.) Even the Israelites offered their children in sacrifice to this vile, blood-thirsty god.

Saturn, with child victim

"Saturn had become the champion of African paganism [as well] . . . indeed as BaalHammon in Phoenician Carthage, he was the object of child sacrifice . . . . Although a fertility god, Saturn-Baal . . . was nonetheless ruthless in the sacrifices he exacted." (Quodvultdeus of Carthage, translation and commentaries, Thomas Macy Finn, pp. 14 & 115.)

Although the Romans quit offering human sacrifice early on, blood was still spilled by the gladiators during the Saturnalia celebrations in December. Saturnalia was a religious celebration and all understood that the blood shed by gladiators was a sacrificial offering to Saturn.

"The gladiatorial shows were sacred [to Saturn]." (Johann D. Fuss, Roman Antiquities, p. 359) "The amphitheatre claims its gladiators for itself, when at the end of December they propitiate with their blood the sickle-bearing Son of Heaven [Saturn]." (Ausonius, Eclog, i. p. 156) "The gladiators fought on the Saturnalia, and . . . they did so for the purpose of appeasing and propitiating Saturn." (Justus Lipsius, tom. ii. Saturnalia Sermonum Libri Duo, Qui De Gladiatoribus, lib. i. cap. 5) "The principle on which these [gladiatorial] shows were conducted was . . . [that] they were celebrated as propitiatory sacrifices . . . when such multitudes of men were 'Butchered to make a Roman holiday.' When it is remembered that Saturn himself was cut in pieces, it is easy to see how the idea would arise of offering a welcome sacrifice to him by setting men to cut one another in pieces on his birthday, by way of propitiating his favor." (Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, p. 153) Despite the violence and bloodshed, Saturnalia was a time of feasting and merry making. The various ancient celebrations honoring this most blood-thirsty god have come down to today as the much-beloved Christmas traditions celebrated the world over. These traditions include:             

the Twelve Days of Christmas treats left out in the evening Christmas trees decorated with lights (originally candles made from the fat of the burned bodies of child sacrifice victims) Christmas trees hung with balls (anciently decapitated heads of sacrificial victims) parties with noise-makers gift exchanges kissing under the mistletoe holly berries (the food of the gods) evergreen boughs caroling from house to house (originally done by naked singers engaging in licentious behavior) "Advent" candles Christmas cards . . . and many more.

Even the imagery of Father Christmas, or Santa Claus, bears a striking resemblance to Saturn: an old man, with a long beard, surrounded by children. Saturn, the evil, child-sacrifice demanding old man, appears in modern society in two more guises. Every December, Saturn, the god of time, reemerges as "Old Father Time." Baby New Year is a symbol of the child-victim. A chilling representation of Father Time with Baby New Year can be found in this illustration from the 19th century (below). Father Time, (Saturn, as the god of time), is standing in front of a large clock, holding

his scythe. The old years are passing away as full-grown bodies wrapped in burial shrouds. The New Year is coming in as a young child. While the picture is quite dark, light from the fire is lighting the little boy while on either side are swirls of smoke. The new years still to come are portrayed as children ready to be sacrificed. Victims of child sacrifice were always heavily veiled so that their parents would not recognize when their child was burned. All the grotesque elements of this hideous god are contained in this picture.

Saturn also emerges in modern society as the Grim Reaper, gathering in his bleak harvest of souls. Very few in modern society have recognized that Father Christmas, the Grim Reaper and Old Father Time are none other than this most loathsome of all the gods. However, an ancient would immediately recognize them all as being none other than Saturn. The emblems which identified Saturn are the same which identify Old Father Time and the Grim Reaper: scythes and something to mark the passage of time. There are many excuses given by sincere people today for clinging to pagan holidays honoring Saturn: 

"Christmas is a wonderful time for spending with family. We are so busy throughout the year this is really our only chance to get together."



"Christmas is a great time to witness! People are more open at this time of year so I use it as an opportunity to share."



"Christmas is the only holiday that really focuses on Jesus!"



"I know that Jesus was not really born then. I am not deceived. Besides, I am not worshipping any pagan gods, so it is alright for me!"

The pagans were ignorant of Yahuwah, the Creator. They worshipped demon gods because they did not know any better. The same cannot be said of Christians today. Scripture teaches: "The times of this ignorance . . . [Yahuwah] winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent." (Acts 17:30, KJV) To know that Christmas is a pagan holiday, to know that the modern rituals are identical to the ancient pagan rites that honored Saturn, and yet to claim exemption from sin because one knows, is extremely inconsistent. Christmas is truly a holiday: a religious festival. By honoring the evil god, Saturn, DIShonor is given to Yahuwah, the Creator of Heaven and Earth. The Saviour Himself stated a divine principle when He said: "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve . . . [Yahuwah] and mammon." (Matthew 6:24) Saturn, more than any other false god, had attributes most similar to Satan himself. Christmas is his religious festival. Participation in Christmas celebrations gives honor to this evil, satanic deity. The words of a loving Father to backsliding Israel resound with force for Christians today: "Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel, saith . . . [Yahuwah.] . . . for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten . . . [Yahuwah their Covenant Keeper]. Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings." (Jeremiah 3:20-22) Participation in pagan traditions dishonors the Creator. Return to your loving Redeemer. "For what accord has Christ with Belial [evil]? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of . . . [Yahuwah] with idols? . . . Come out from among them and be separate, says . . . [Yahuwah]. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you." (2 Corinthians 6:15-17) Come out from among them! Do not touch what is unclean!! Will YOU come out?

Pagan Holidays: Christmas & Easter 1. Christmas: Pagan to the Core! Go to Lessons Index

Go to Lesson #1

QUIZ 1. Christmas is a religious holiday. o

True. It is a time when a deity is remembered and honored.

o

False. It is purely secular. 2. Many sincere Christians, today, speak of putting the ''Christ back into Christmas.'' The problem with this is... o

they are not diligent in carrying this message to the secular world.

o

they are not ostentatious enough in their celebration of Christmas.

o

they are neglecting to incorporate the nativity scene into their worship.

o

Yahushua, the Saviour, was never in Christmas to begin with! 3. Celebrations on December 25 began shortly after the flood with... o

the anticipation of Yahushua's birth.

o

the birth of Tammuz as the reincarnation of Nimrod.

o the birth of Noah's grandson, Arphaxad. 4. Today's Christmas traditions come directly from ____________. o

the Prophets

o

the Patriarchs

o

the Apostles

o

ancient Babylon and pagan Rome 5. The pagan Romans honored the god, Saturn, with a week-long festival in ____________ called Saturnalia. o

January

o

June

o December 6. The god Israel most frequently worshipped when in apostasy, was Saturn. o

True

o

False 7. Saturnalia was ____________. o

a secular celebration

o a religious celebration 8. Saturnalia was a time of ___________. o

feasting and merry making

o

sadness and mourning

9. The various ancient celebrations honoring this most blood-thirsty god (Saturn) have come down to today as the much-beloved Christmas traditions celebrated the world over. These traditions include: o

the Twelve Days of Christmas

o

treats left out in the evening

o

Christmas trees decorated with lights

o

Christmas trees hung with balls

o

parties with noise-makers

o

gift exchanges

o

kissing under the mistletoe

o

holly berries

o

evergreen boughs

o

caroling from house to house

o

Advent candles

o

Christmas cards

o All of the Above 10. Saturn was often depicted as an old man, with a long beard, surrounded by children. o

True

o

False 11. Saturn emerges in modern society as ____________. o

Santa Clause

o

Father Christmas

o

Father Time

o

the Grim Reaper

o All of the Above 12. Legitimate reasons for continuing to observe Christmas include: o

''Christmas is a wonderful time for spending with family. We are so busy throughout the year this is really our only chance to get together.''

o

''Christmas is a great time to witness! People are more open at this time of year so I use it as an opportunity to share.''

o o o

''Christmas is the only holiday that really focuses on Jesus!'' ''I know that Jesus was not really born then. I am not deceived. Besides, I am not worshipping any pagan gods, so it is alright for me!'' None of the Above

o All of the Above 13. To know that Christmas is a pagan holiday and yet to claim exemption from sin because one knows is extremely inconsistent. o

True

o

False

14. Christmas is truly a holiday: a religious festival. By honoring the evil god, Saturn, DIShonor is given to Yahuwah, the Creator of Heaven and Earth. o

True

o False 15. According to Matthew 6:24, no man can serve ____________. o

two masters

o

Yah alone

o in the church without being ordained 16. Participation in pagan traditions honors the Creator. o

True

o

False 17. Participation in pagan traditions dishonors the Creator. o

True

o

False

Pagan Holidays: Christmas & Easter 2. Easter: Pagan Counterfeit! Go to Lessons Index

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Spring is the best season of the year for many people. Warm sunny days; the earth, springing forth with new life. Flowers, budding trees, baby animals: all seem to joyfully announce that the long cold winter is over. No other Springtime custom encapsulates these celebrations of new life quite like Easter. From baby animals, to Easter eggs and Easter egg hunts, to sunrise Sunday services and more, Easter is a beloved tradition to many people. Easter Sunday is the highlight of the Roman Catholic liturgical year when the resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated. According to their Catechism: Easter is not simply one feast among others, but the "Feast of feasts," the "Solemnity of solemnities," just as the Eucharist is the "Sacrament of sacraments" (the Great Sacrament). St. Athanasius calls Easter "the Great Sunday" and the Eastern Churches call Holy Week "the Great Week." The mystery of the Resurrection, in which Christ crushed death . . . . (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part 2, Sec. 1, Chapter 2, Article 1, #1169.)

The origins of Easter, however, reveal that it flows directly from ancient paganism. Shortly after the flood, Nimrod reestablished idolatry in the earth. After his death, Nimrod was promoted as the original sun god. His widow, Semiramis, was called the "queen of heaven." Various cultures continued the idolatry of these original pagans under different names. To the Egyptians, Semiramis was Isis. To the Babylonians, she was Beltis, consort to the god, Bel. To the Cannaanites she was Astarte. The Assyrians called her Ishtar. Artemis of Ephesus (Semaramis in one of her many guises). 1st century CE Roman copy of the cult statue of the Temple of Ephesus. Statue in the Museum of Efes (Turkey). Note: She is clothed with eggs.

The worship of these goddesses involved occult fertility practices. These degrading rites were practiced even by the Israelites when in apostasy. Yahuwah clearly denounced any Israelite involvement in these pagan celebrations. "Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger." (Jeremiah 7:17-18, NKJV)

"And He said to me, 'Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.' So He brought me to the door of the north gate of . . . [Yahuwah's] house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz." (Ezekiel 8:13-14, NKJV) Modern Easter has no basis in the pure religion of Heaven. All of its traditions are pagan.   



Rabbits and dyed Easter eggs symbolize fertility. Hot cross buns were the "cakes" offered to the queen of heaven. The forty days of weeping for Tammuz are now the 40 days of Lent leading up to Easter. Sunrise services were performed by pagan priests to honor the sun god.

Celebration of Easter does not honor the death and resurrection of the Saviour. Participation in pagan practices honors Satan. No amount of renaming it by Christian names can purify Easter of its pagan origins. Easter is much more than a pagan imposter pretending to be Christian. Lurking behind the pretty facade, Easter is a cover-up for the greatest fraud of all time: a calendar change which hides the true day of the resurrection and the true seventh-day Sabbath. As the years passed and the first Christians died, paganism began to corrupt the once-pure faith. The Church in Rome, greedy of ever greater power, sought ways to increase her influence.

Easter (Ishtar) Eggs

http://commons.wikimedia.org

"To conciliate the Pagans to nominal Christianity, Rome, pursuing its usual policy, took measures to get the Christian and Pagan festivals amalgamated, and, by a complicated but skilful adjustment of the calendar, it was found no difficult matter, in general, to get Paganism and Christianity - now far sunk in idolatry - in this as in so many other things, to shake hands. . . . This change of the calendar in regard to Easter was attended with momentous consequences. It brought into the Church the grossest corruption and the rankest superstition . . . ." (Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, pp. 105-106.) This change of calendar also changed the day of worship. This is admitted by Roman Catholics who point to it as the sign of their authority. "Sunday . . . is purely a creation of the Catholic Church." (American Catholic Quarterly Review, January 1883)

"They [the Protestants] deem it their duty to keep the Sunday holy. Why? Because the Catholic Church tells them to do so. They have no other reason . . . The author of the Sunday law . . . is the Catholic Church." (Ecclesiastical Review, February 1914) One Catholic bishop went so far as to state: "It was the Catholic Church which made the law obliging us to keep Sunday holy. The church made this law long after the Bible was written. Hence said law is not in the Bible. The Cath[olic] Church abolished not only the Sabbath, but all the other Jewish festivals." (T. Enright, Bishop of St. Alphonsus Church, St. Louis, Missouri, June, 1905, emphasis supplied.) The Jewish festival which was outlawed in favor of Easter was Passover. All early Christians kept the feasts of Yahuwah as outlined in Leviticus 23. Paganized Christians still wanted to celebrate Easter while apostolic Christians, still clinging to a pure faith, observed Passover. "Since the second century A.D. there had been a divergence of opinion about the date for celebrating the paschal (Easter) anniversary of the Lord's passion (death, burial and resurrection). The most ancient practice appears to have been to observe the fourteenth (the Passover date), fifteenth, and sixteenth days of the lunar month regardless of the day of the [Julian] week these dates might fall on from year to year. The bishops of Rome, desirous of enhancing the observance of Sunday as a church festival, ruled that the annual celebration should always be held on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday following the fourteenth day of the lunar month. . . . This controversy lasted almost two centuries, until [the Emperor] Constantine intervened in behalf of the Roman bishops and outlawed the other group." (Robert L. Odom, Sunday in Roman Paganism, p. 188, emphasis supplied.) "The point of contention appeared deceptively simple: Passover versus Easter. The issues at stake, however, were immense. The only way to determine when Passover occurs is to use the Biblical luni-solar calendar . . . " (eLaine Vornholt & L. L. Vornholt-Jones, Calendar Fraud, p. 49) "These contentions had agitated the churches of Asia since the time of the Roman bishop Victor, who had persecuted the churches of Asia for following the '14th-day heresy' as they called it, in reference to the Passover. . . . The future Easter observance was to be rendered independent of Jewish calculation." (Grace Amadon, Report of Committee, Part V, Sec. B., p. 17.) Here is the real significance of Easter. Sunday is kept as a day of worship because of Easter Sunday! It is claimed that the Saviour was resurrected then. Consequently, it is assumed that the day before Easter Sunday, Saturday, is the seventh-day Sabbath. Jews today worship on Saturday, rather than the Biblical seventh-day Sabbath. However, Jewish scholars admit that the calendar in use for worship today is not the same as was used in Bible times: "The New Moon is still, and the Sabbath originally was, dependent upon the lunar cycle." ("Holidays," Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 410.)

The Jews point to the extreme persecution following the Council of Nicea's decision to set aside Jewish time calculation as the reason for why they no longer use the Biblical calendar. "Declaring the new month . . . can only be done by the Sanhedrin. In the time of Hillel II [4th century C.E.], . . . the Romans prohibited this practice." ("The Jewish Calendar; Changing the Calendar," www.torah.org.) Jewish scholars understand that Christianity stepped free of its Biblical roots when the pagan Easter was substituted for the true Passover. "At the Council of Nice [Nicæa] the last thread was snapped which connected Christianity to its parent stock. The festival of Easter had up till now been celebrated for the most part at the same time as the Jewish Passover, and indeed upon the days calculated and fixed by the Synhedrion [Sanhedrin] in Judæa for its celebration; but in future its observance was to be rendered altogether independent of the Jewish calendar. "[Emperor Constantine stated], 'For it is unbecoming beyond measure that on this holiest of festivals we should follow the customs of the Jews. Henceforward let us have nothing in common with this odious people; our Saviour has shown us another path. It would indeed be absurd if the Jews were able to boast that we are not in a position to celebrate the Passover without the aid of their rules ([time] calculations).'" (Heinrich Graetz, History of the Jews, The Jewish Publication Society of America, Vol. II, pp. 563-564, emphasis supplied.) The truth is, Easter is a fraud. It is not the day upon which the Saviour arose from the grave nor is Saturday the seventh-day Sabbath of the Bible. Easter is and has always been a pagan holiday celebrating fertility. It was substituted for Yahuwah's Passover at the Council of Nicæa in the fourth century when the Church of Rome decided to set aside Hebrew calculation of time. Now, in this last generation, truth is to be restored. All who wish to express their gratitude for the death of their Saviour will commemorate it on the day upon which He died: Passover. This can only be calculated by the original calendar of Creation. Any other observance gives honor to Satan, the one who has set himself up in opposition to Heaven. Today you can choose which day represents your beliefs - Passover or Easter. You can choose to which power you wish to give honor and worship: the Saviour or His enemy, Satan. You can choose on which day, calculated by which calendar, you offer that worship. The choice is yours.

Pagan Holidays: Christmas & Easter 2. Easter: Pagan Counterfeit! Go to Lessons Index

Go to Lesson #2

QUIZ 1. Easter Sunday is the highlight of the ____________ year. o

Roman Catholic liturgical

o

Scriptural luni-solar year 2. The origins of Easter reveal that it flows directly from ____________. o

Apostolic Christianity

o

ancient paganism

o

the feasts outlined in Leviticus 23 3. ____________ was promoted as the original sun god. o

Nimrod

o

Shem

o

Abraham

o

None of the Above 4. ____________ (his widow, #3) was called the ''queen of heaven.'' o

Ruth

o

Semiramis

o

Deborah

o

Anna

o

None of the Above 5. The Assyrians referred to the ''queen of heaven'' as ____________. o

Beltis

o

Isis

o

Ishtar

o Marta 6. The worship of the ''queen of heaven'' involved ____________. o

reciting Scripture

o

singing Hymns to Yahuwah

o

unleavened bread and grape juice

o occult fertility practices 7. Easter is rooted in Scripture. o o

True

False 8. Modern Easter has no basis in the pure religion of Heaven. All of its traditions are pagan.

o

True

o False 9. Some of Easter's pagan traditions include: (4 answers) o

foot washing (as a sign of humility)

o

rabbits and dyed eggs (symbolizing fertility)

o

hot cross buns (''cakes'' offered to the queen of heaven)

o

reading from the torah (in the pursuit of Yah's righteousness)

o

40 days of lent leading up to Easter (actually the 40 days of weeping for Tammuz)

o sunrise services (performed in ancient times by pagan priests to honor the sun god) 10. The celebration of Easter honors the death and resurrection of the Saviour. o

True

o

False 11. Easter is a cover-up for a calendar change which hides the true day of the resurrection and the true seventh-day Sabbath. o

True

o

False 12. ''____________ . . . is purely a creation of the Catholic Church.'' (American Catholic Quarterly Review, January 1883) o

Sunday

o

Scripture

o

The Lunisolar Calendar

o

The Seventh-Day Sabbath 13. ''It was ____________ which made the law obliging us to keep Sunday holy. . . . long after the Bible was written.'' (T. Enright, Bishop of St. Alphonsus Church, St. Louis, Missouri, June, 1905, emphasis supplied.) o

Protestant Reformers

o

the Catholic Church

o

the Epistles of Paul

o None of the Above 14. All early Christians kept the feasts of Yahuwah as outlined in Leviticus 23. o

True

o

False 15. ''The New Moon is still, and the Sabbath originally was, dependent upon____________.'' ("Holidays," Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 410.) o

the lunar cycle

o

the solar calendar

o

the Roman Gregorian calendar

o

the calendar of the Roman Republic 16. Christianity stepped free of its Biblical roots when...

o

the pagan Easter was substituted for the Feast of Tabernacles.

o

the pagan Easter was substituted for the Feast of Trumpets.

o

the pagan Easter was substituted for the Day of Atonement.

o the pagan Easter was substituted for the true Passover. 17. Easter Sunday is the day upon which the Saviour arose from the grave. o

True

o False 18. Saturday is the seventh-day Sabbath of the Bible. o

True

o False 19. Easter is and has always been a pagan holiday celebrating fertility. o

True

o False 20. Easter was substituted for _____(A)_____ at the Council of Nicæa in the fourth century when the _____(B)_____ decided to set aside Hebrew calculation of time. o

(A) the Feast of Tabernacles; (B) Church of Rome

o

(A) Yahuwah's Passover; (B) Protestant Reformers

o

(A) Yahuwah's Passover; (B) Church of Rome

o

(A) Feast of Trumpets; (B) Church of Rome

Pagan Holidays: Christmas & Easter 3. The Resurrection: When was it? Go to Lessons Index

Go to Quiz (online)

Easter Sunday is the highlight of the religious year for many people. Many dearly beloved traditions are associated with this holiday. Easter Sunday is foundational to modern Christianity. It is the reason why the majority of Christendom worships on Sunday. Entire theologies have been built on the belief that the seventhday Sabbath was nailed to the cross and the sanctity of Sabbath was changed to Sunday. Easter, as the traditional day of Yahushua's resurrection, is the reason given for worshipping on Sunday. “The Lord's Day — as Sunday was called from Apostolic times — has always been accorded special attention in the history of the Church because of its close connection with the very core of the Christian mystery. In fact, in the weekly reckoning of time Sunday recalls the day of Christ's Resurrection. It is Easter which returns week by week, celebrating Christ's victory over sin and death, the fulfilment in him of the first creation and the dawn of ‘the new creation’.” (Pope John Paul II, Dies Domini, Prologue, 1, p. 1.) Protestants are quick to follow Roman Catholics in worshipping on Sunday. "Sunday, the day of Christ’s resurrection and of the appearances to the disciples by the crucified and risen Christ, is the primary day on which Christians gather to worship. Within this assembly, the Word is read and preached and the sacraments are celebrated." (The Use of the Means of Grace, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.) The problem is, Yahushua the Saviour was not resurrected on the Sunday of the modern calendar! The confusion has arisen over two facts: 1. Sunday is the first day of the Gregorian week. 2. Scripture teaches that Yahushua was resurrected “upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning.” (Luke 24:1, KJV)

Because the Bible is clear that Yahushua was resurrected on the first day of the week, and since Sunday is the first day of the modern week, the assumption that Yahushua was resurrected on Sunday seems conclusive.

However, the modern calendar was not used by the Israelites of Yahushua’s time. It was devised by a Jesuit astronomer, named Christopher Clavius, in 1582. Before that, Europe used the Julian calendar. No days of the weekly cycle were lost when the calendar transitioned from Julian to Gregorian. However, this still does not prove that Yahushua was resurrected on Easter Sunday. The Julian calendar was devised by the pagan astronomer, Sosigenes, in 45 B.C. It had an eight day week. The days of the week were designated by the letters A through H. Yahushua and the Israelites of His day did not use the calendar of their Roman conquerors. They did not calculate the Sabbath or holy feast by the pagan eight-day week. The Israelites used the ancient “mosaic” calendar – the method of time keeping established by Yahuwah at Creation, and reaffirmed to Moses at the Exodus. On the Creator’s calendar, the weekly cycle restarts every month with the New Moon. Thus, the dates of every month always fall on the same days of the week. Leviticus 23 provides the date for Passover:

An example of a Julian calendar dating from the time of Augustus (63 B.C. – A.D. 14) to Tiberius (42 B.C. – A.D. 37), is preserved on these stone fragments. The eight-day week is clearly discernible.

“In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is . . . [Yahuwah’s] passover.” (Leviticus 23:5, KJV) The fourteenth of every lunar month always falls on the sixth day of the week. In the first month, the Passover is immediately followed by the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. “And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread . . . .” (Leviticus 23:6, KJV) This is called a “High Sabbath” because the first day of the feast falls on the weekly seventh-day Sabbath. Yahushua was crucified on the Passover, the sixth day of the week which was called the “Preparation day” for the Feast of Unleavened Bread. “The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was a high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.” (John 19:31, KJV) The dates given in Scripture for the crucifixion clearly give dates from the ancient luni-solar calendar. It does not say that the Jews wanted to get the bodies off the cross because it was Day F (the sixth day) of the Julian week. Nor does it say that the next day was Day H – the last day of the eight-day Roman week.

Yahushua was resurrected on the 16th of the first month, called the day of First Fruits. This was also the first day of the lunar week. Paul acknowledged the symbolism of resurrection on the Feast of First Fruits when he stated: But now is Yahushua risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. . . . For as in Adam all die, even so in Yahushua shall all be made alive. . . . Yahushua the firstfruits; afterward they that are Yahushua’s at His coming. (See 1 Corinthians 15:20, 22-23.) Easter was a pagan festival, celebrating the goddess of love and war, Ishtar. Spelled ISHTAR, her name was pronounced EASTER. The heathen rites practiced when celebrating the goddess of love and fertility were among the most degrading in paganism. The Easter Bunny and colored eggs are ancient fertility symbols that still honor this corrupt goddess. The pure religion of the early Christians never observed the pagan festivals and they certainly never used them as the basis of when to worship. Apostolic Christians always worshipped on the ancient seventhday Sabbath, calculated by the luni-solar Reconstruction of the Babylonian Ishtar Gate in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. calendar. It was not until the fourth century that the Council of Nicaea, convened by the pagan emperor, Constantine, passed decrees outlawing the observance of Passover. “At the Council of Nice [sic.] the last thread was snapped which connected Christianity with its parent stock. The festival of Easter had up till now been celebrated for the most part at the time of the Jewish Passover, and indeed upon the days calculated and fixed by the Synhedrion in Judæa for its celebration; but in future its observance was to be rendered altogether independent of the Jewish calendar . . . .” (Heinrich Graetz, History of the Jews, Vol. 2, p. 563.)

Paganism fully triumphed over the Apostolic Ekklesia when the ancient Sabbath was set aside with the acceptance of Easter. “The Christian [Roman] emperors forbade the Jewish computation of the calendar, and did not allow the announcement of the feast days.” (Grace Amadon, “Historical Basis, Involvements, and Validity of the October 22, 1844, Position, p. 17.) “This change of the calendar in regard to Easter was attended with momentous consequences. It brought into the Church the grossest corruption and the rankest superstition . . . .” (A. Hislop, The Two Babylons, p. 106.)

Sadly, many Christians do not even question the pagan traditions that they practice.

From ancient times, Easter had been celebrated on the first full moon after the Spring equinox. “Easter Sunday” is now celebrated by millions on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring equinox. This transfer of worship from the Bible Sabbath to Sunday in honor of “Easter Sunday” is admitted by Roman Catholics: “The Sunday...is purely a creation of the Catholic Church.” (American Catholic Quarterly Review, January 1883) “Sunday...is the law of the Catholic Church alone...” (American Sentinel (Catholic), June 1893) “Sunday is a Catholic institution and its claim to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles...From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first.” (Catholic Press, Sydney, Australia, August, 1900) All who worship on Sunday in honor of “Easter Sunday” as the day of the Saviour’s resurrection are honoring a Roman Catholic institution which itself is based upon ancient pagan fertility celebrations. “They [the Protestants] deem it their duty to keep the Sunday holy. Why? Because the Catholic Church tells them to do so. They have no other reason . . . The observance of Sunday thus comes to be an ecclesiastical law entirely distinct from the divine law of Sabbath observance . . . The author of the Sunday law . . . is the Catholic Church.” (Ecclesiastical Review, February 1914)

There is no Biblical record of the apostles or early Christians celebrating Yahushua’s resurrection except as a fulfillment of the Feast of First Fruits. They commemorated His death on Passover, the 14th of the first lunar month. They worshipped Yahuwah on the seventh-day Sabbath, the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th days of the each lunar month. “Easter Sunday” remains what it has always been: a pagan fertility celebration. No renaming of it with so-called “Christian” names cleanses it of paganism. All who wish to gratefully acknowledge Heaven’s gift of Yahushua will do so on the anniversary of His death: Passover. They will worship on the seventh-day Sabbath, calculated by Heaven’s ordained system of time-keeping: the luni-solar calendar. Verily My Sabbaths you shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am Yahuwah that sanctifies you. You shall keep the Sabbath . . . to observe the Sabbath . . . for a perpetual covenant. (See Exodus 31:12-17.) There is no Biblical record of the apostles or early Christians celebrating Yahushua’s resurrection except as a fulfillment of the Feast of First Fruits.

Today heaven’s call to every sincere Christian is to renounce paganism. Worship the Creator on His appointed day, the seventh day Sabbath.

Pagan Holidays: Christmas & Easter 3. The Resurrection: When was it? Go to Lessons Index

Go to Lesson #3

QUIZ 1. The majority of Christendom worships on Sunday because... o

it is clearly stated in Scripture that the sanctity of the seventh-day Sabbath was transferred to Sunday.

o

it is inferred in Scripture that the sanctity of the seventh-day Sabbath was transferred to Sunday.

o

they believe that Yahushua was resurrected on ''Easter Sunday.''

o

they despise the ''Jews'' who worship on Saturday. 2. Scripture teaches that Yahushua was resurrected upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning. o

True

o

False 3. Yahushua was resurrected on the Sunday of the modern calendar. o

True

o False 4. The modern calendar was used by the Israelites of Yahushua’s time. o

True

o

False 5. The modern calendar was devised by... o

Yahuwah Elohim at Creation.

o

Moses at the Exodus.

o

a Jesuit astronomer in 1582.

o the Apostles following Yahushua's resurrection. 6. The calendar used in Europe prior to the adoption of the modern calendar was... o

the Augustine calendar.

o

the Julian calendar.

o

the Clavius calendar.

o None of the Above 7. This calendar (#6) was designed by... o

the pagan astronomer, Sosigenes, in 45 BC.

o

Christopher Clavius in 70 AD.

o

Moses in 1500 BC.

o

Yahuwah Elohim at Creation. 8. This calendar (#6) had...

o

8 days designated by planetary names

o

7 days designated by planetary names

o

8 days designated A through H

o 7 days designated A though G 9. Yahushua and the Israelites of His day did not use the calendar of their Roman conquerors. o

True

o False 10. The Israelites used the ancient mosaic calendar – the method of time keeping established by Yahuwah at Creation, and reaffirmed to Moses at the Exodus. o

True

o

False 11. On the Creator’s calendar, the weekly cycle restarts every month with... o

the New Moon.

o

Sunday at its head.

o

the Full Moon.

o

The weekly cycle is continuous and never restarts. 12. The dates of every Biblical month always fall on the same days of the week. o

True

o False 13. The fourteenth of every lunar month always falls on the ____________ day of the week. o

first

o

third

o

sixth

o

seventh

o It can fall on any day of the week. 14. Passover always falls on... (2 answers) o

the fourteenth day of the first lunar month.

o

a different day of the week.

o

the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

o

the sixth day of the week.

o

the fourteenth of day of the seventh lunar month.

o the first day of the week. 15. Passover is immediately followed by... o

the Feast of Trumpets.

o

the Day of Atonement.

o

the Feast of Weeks.

o

the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

o

Easter

16. Yahushua was crucified on... o

Good Friday

o

Passover

o

Easter Sunday

o

Feast of Trumpets 17. The dates given in Scripture for the crucifixion clearly give dates from... o

the modern Roman Gregorian calendar.

o

the ancient Julian calendar.

o

the ancient luni-solar calendar.

o the ancient Roman Republic calendar. 18. Yahushua was resurrected on... (2 answers) o

the fourteenth day of the first lunar month.

o

Easter Sunday.

o

the sixteenth day of the first lunar month.

o

the day of First Fruits.

o

the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

o Passover. 19. Easter was a Biblical festival, celebrating the Resurrection of Yahushua. o

True

o

False 20. Easter was a pagan festival, celebrating the goddess of love and war, Ishtar. o

True

o False 21. The Easter Bunny and colored eggs are... o

harmless traditions.

o

rooted in Scripture.

o

an excellent way to honor Yahushua, the Redeemer.

o ancient pagan fertility symbols. 22. Apostolic Christians always worshipped on the ancient seventh-day Sabbath, calculated by the luni-solar calendar. o

True

o False 23. Sunday... (3 answers) o

is purely a creation of the Catholic Church.

o

is the day that the Apostles worshipped on.

o

is the law of the Catholic Church alone.

o

replaced the seventh-day Sabbath as the day of worship immediately following Yahushua's crucifixion.

o

is a Catholic institution and its claim to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles.

o

is the day that Scripture instructs us to keep holy. 24. All who worship on Sunday in honor of ''Easter Sunday'' are honoring an unbiblical Roman Catholic institution based upon ancient pagan fertility celebrations. o

True

o

False 25. The Apostles commemorated Yahushua's death on... o

Easter.

o

the Day of First Fruits.

o

Passover.

o Good Friday. 26. The Apostles celebrated Yahushua's resurrection on... o

Easter.

o

the Day of First Fruits.

o

Passover.

o Good Friday. 27. ''Easter Sunday'' remains what it has always been: a pagan fertility celebration. No renaming of it with so-called ''Christian'' names cleanses it of paganism. o

True

o

False

Pagan Holidays: Christmas & Easter 4. Come out of her, My people! Go to Lessons Index

Go to Quiz (online)

Yahuwah is abundantly clear that He does not want to be worshipped in the same way that the pagans worship their false gods. Scripture forbids us to incorporate pagan customs1 into the worship of Yahuwah. Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of Yahuwah thy Elohim. When Yahuwah thy Elohim shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto Yahuwah thy Elohim: for every abomination to Yahuwah, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. (Deueronomy 12:28-32) Those who persist in clinging to pagan customs and holidays, while insisting that they are doing so in the service of Yahuwah, are walking in the footsteps of Nadab and Abihu, who thought it would suffice to offer to Yahuwah something other than what He had instructed. And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before Yahuwah, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from Yahuwah, and devoured them, and they died before Yahuwah. (Leviticus 10:1-2)

"Those who persist in clinging to pagan customs and holidays, while insisting that they are doing so in the service of Yahuwah, are walking in the footsteps of Nadab and Abihu."

Nadab and Abihu made a very grave mistake in assuming that Yahuwah would be pleased with their haphazard decision to offer worship in a manner contrary to His revealed will. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (Proverbs 16:25) We are continually admonished throughout Scripture to wholly separate ourselves from error, from uncleanness, and from the ways of the heathen.

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? . . . Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith Yahuwah, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith Yahuwah Almighty. (2 Corinthians 6:14, 17-18) And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if Yahuwah be Elohim, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. (1 Kings 18:21) [Note: Christmas, with all of its pagan traditions and accoutrements honors Baal, not Yahuwah.] The final invitation of mercy ever to be given mankind is preserved in the last book of the Bible. This is earth's final warning, the world's last chance. There will never be another given so it is of the utmost importance that everyone living hear and give heed to this solemn warning. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (Revelation 18:4) Rather than compromising with the idolatrous ways of this fallen world, we must separate ourselves; we must make a distinction between the clean and the unclean, the holy and the profane. Yahuwah's faithful in these last days must worship Him in spirit and in truth, in accordance with His revealed will.

Yahuwah's Feasts: Perpetually Binding

Thus saith Yahuwah, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your

souls. . . . (Jeremiah 6:16) Let us, as His peculiar people, not only shun Babylon and her counterfeit worship days, but let us with sincerity and zeal return wholeheartedly to Yahuwah and worship Him according to His revealed will upon His holy days. Yahuwah's Feasts are listed in Leviticus 23. They are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Seventh-day Sabbath Passover Feast of Unleavened Bread Wave Sheaf Pentecost Feast of Trumpets

7. Day of Atonement 8. Feast of Tabernacles New Moon Day is also a worship day and, along with the seventh-day Sabbath, will be observed throughout eternity. For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith Yahuwah, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith Yahuwah. (Isaiah 66:22-23) For more on the Feasts of Yahuwah:   

Sabbath (Content Directory) Annual Feasts (Content Directory) Creator's Calendar (Content Directory)

(Note: Many today teach that the Feasts ceased to be binding after the Cross. The fallacy of this understanding is easily illustrated, though, in that the Apostles continued to keep the Feasts after Yahushua's resurrection.) Yahuwah, in His infinite mercy, has overlooked our ignorance in erroneously celebrating the adversary's counterfeits (e.g. Christmas and Easter) in times past, but is now calling His people to repentance. And the times of this ignorance Yahuwah winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent. (Acts 17:30)

The Final Call: Come out of her [Babylon], my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (Revelation 18:4) Time is short. Will you come out?

1

Christmas and Easter are inexorably saturated in paganism and have nothing whatsoever to do with Scripture.

Pagan Holidays: Christmas & Easter 4. Come out of her, My people! Go to Lessons Index

Go to Lesson #4

QUIZ 1. Yahuwah is abundantly clear that He does not want to be worshipped in the same way that the pagans worship their false gods. o

True

o False 2. Scripture forbids us to incorporate pagan customs into the worship of Yahuwah. o

True

o

False 3. ''Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee forever, when thou doest that ____________.'' (Deut. 12:28) o

which is good and right in your own eyes

o

which is good and right in the sight of your neighbors

o

which is good and right in the sight of your family

o

which is good and right in the sight of Yahuwah thy Elohim 4. Regarding the inclusion of pagan practices/traditions in the worship of Yahuwah, Scripture says: o

''Thou shalt do so unto Yahuwah thy Elohim.'' (Deut. 12:31)

o ''Thou shalt NOT do so unto Yahuwah thy Elohim.'' (Deut. 12:31) 5. ''What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt ____________.'' (Deueronomy 12:32) o

add to it according to the traditions that you inherit

o

add to it or take away from it as you see fit

o

not add to it unless your pastor says it's okay

o

alter the commands that your family and friends do not like

o

not add thereto, nor diminish from it 6. Those who persist in clinging to pagan customs and holidays, while insisting that they are doing so in the service of Yahuwah, are walking in the footsteps of Nadab and Abihu. o

True

o

False 7. Yahuwah was well pleased with Nadab and Abihu's offering, even though it was not in harmony with His revealed will. o

True

o

False 8. ''There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of____________.'' (Proverbs 16:25) o

life

o

death 9. We are continually admonished throughout Scripture to go along with what others are doing, so as not to offend anyone. o

True

o

False 10. We are continually admonished throughout Scripture to wholly separate ourselves from error, from uncleanness, and from the ways of the heathen. o

True

o

False 11. ''And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? ____________. And the people answered him not a word.'' (1 Kings 18:21) o

Let us all unite on the points we have in common

o

If Yahuwah be Elohim, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him

o

Yahuwah will understand if you want to worship Him in the same way that others serve Baal

o

Simply do what feels right to you 12. ''And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, ____________, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.'' (Revelation 18:4) o

ye heathen

o

ye pagans

o

My people

o

None of the Above 13. Yahuwah's faithful in these last days must worship Him____________, in accordance with His revealed will. o

in spirit and in truth

o

according to the ways of the world

o

according to the traditions of our fathers

o however our pastor tells us 14. Yahuwah's Feasts include: (9 answers) o

Seventh-day Sabbath

o

Passover

o

Easter

o

Lent

o

Feast of Unleavened Bread

o

Wave Sheaf

o

Pentecost (Feast of Weeks)

o

Mass

o

Feast of Trumpets

o

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

o

Day of Atonement

o

All Saints' Day

o

Halloween

o

Feast of Tabernacles

o

New Moon Day 15. Both New Moon Day and the seventh-day Sabbath will be observed throughout eternity. o

True

o False 16. The Apostles quit keeping the Feasts after Yahushua's resurrection. o

True

o False 17. ''And the times of this ignorance Yahuwah winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to ____________.'' (Acts 17:30) o

continue doing whatever they are doing

o

say that they are sorry

o

uphold the traditions of their fathers

o repent 18. Christmas and Easter are inexorably saturated in paganism and have nothing whatsoever to do with Scripture and the pure religion of Heaven. o

True

o

False