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Hebrew prophet
leremtah
wrote in
strongest terms that we should not
notice how pagans worship their gods
and "inquire about their gods, say–
ing, ' How did these nations serve
their gods?- that 1 also may do
likewise.' You shall not do so to the
Lord your God.... Everything that
l
command you you shall be careful to
do; you
sha/1 nor add to it or
take
from it" (Deuteronomy 12:30-32,
Revised Standard Version).
Let us consider sorne other
"Christian" customs that have been
adopted from heathenism.
Lent and Easter Sunrise Services
One of the many gods of the pagans
who has influenced present-day reli–
gious practices was Tammuz.
lt
was
believed that he died and was resur–
rected. He was a counterfeit messiah.
To mourn his death a period of
weeping with intermittent rejoicing
was held annually- a kind of Lenten
season.
"Among the pagans this Lent
seems to have been an indispensable
preliminary to the great annual festi–
val in commemoration of the death
and resurrection of Tammuz, which
was celebrated by alternate weeping
and rejoicing" (Hislop's
The Two
Babylons,
p.
105).
That's where Lent carne from.
There certainly are no instructions in
the Bible that Christians should
observe it. Nor is there any biblical
authority for the practice of attend–
ing Easter sunrise services either. In
fact, the Bible shows just the oppo–
site!
God pointed out to Ezekiel sorne
of the customs practiced by the
sinful ancient nation of Israel.
Ezekiel wrote: " He [God] said also
to me, 'You will see still greater
abominations which they com–
mit' .... and behold, there sat
women weeping for Tammuz [a
period of "Lent"!]. Then he said to
me, 'Have you seen this, O son of
man? You will see still greater
abominations than these. ' .. .
(There] were about twenty-five
men, with their backs to the temple
of the Lord, and their faces toward
the east, worshiping the sun toward
the east" (Ezekiel 8:13-16, RSV) .
What Ezekiel saw was the obser–
vance of a Lenten period and a
sunrise service. Such heathen prac-
16
tices God called "abominations." He
doesn't want us to imitate them.
Hot Cross Buns and the
Easter Ham
"The traditional foods of Easter sup–
per are also steeped in ancient
Jegend. The hot cross buns, believed
by many to be a purely Christian
emblem, were baked with crosses- a
pagan symbol- long before it had
any H oly Week significance. The
first crosses appeared on cakes asso–
ciated with the worship of the Greek
goddess Diana. Let us not forget the
pig, which offers its ham as a tradi–
tional Easter dish. This animal has
always been a symbol of good luck
and prosperity among Indo-Euro–
peans"
(News World,
March 26,
1978).
There is nothing Christian about
hot cross buns! (See Jeremiah 7:18,
where God once angrily comp1ained
to Jeremiah because His peop1e were
engaged in family activities involving
pagan religious cakes.)
As far as what God has to say
about eating ham on
Easter~r
on
any day, for that matter-refer to
Leviticus 11:7 (also see the article
that appeared in last month's
Plain
Truth
entitled " ls All Animal Flesh
Good Food?").
The Easter Parade
Even the Easter Parade has suspi–
cious origins.
"To imitate Nature's emergence
in her own gorgeous new attire of
delicate green, in ancient times,
when Easter was New Year 's Day,
people cast off their old clothes to
start the new year right. Therefore
the custom of wearing a new outfit
on Easter is a holdover from this
time.
" The custom of wearing new
clothes prevailed also in northern
Europe as it was considered discour–
teous and therefore bad luck to greet
the Scandinavian goddess of Spring,
or Eastre, in anything but a fresh
garb, since the goddess was be–
stowing one on the earth. Needless to
say, the Easter Parade on Fifth Ave–
nue, New York, is the most famous
survival of this old custom.
"There is an o1d superstition that
wearing three new things on Easter
assures good luck throughout the
(Continued on page 39)
Jesus kept
the Passover.
Millions today
keep Easter.
Does it
matter?
What do Easter eggs, sunrise
services and Lent have to do
with Christ's resurrection?
Do you know what the Bible
commands Christians to ob–
serve? God's commanded ob–
servances reveal a fabulous but
little understood master plan
involving
your
awesome human
potentia!.
Read the fascinating story of
how God's Truth was sup–
pressed nearly two thousand
years ago. You'll also discov–
er:
• The mysterious Cbaldean origin
of Easter
• Lent observance began centuries
before Christ
• How Easter crept into the
church
• Why early Christians kept tbe
Passo~er
after
Christ's death
• How and when to observe the
Lord's supper-God's way
Req uest your free copies
today of the booklets: "The
Plain T ruth About Easter" and
"How often should we partake
of THE LORD'S SUPPER."
Return the reply card today or wnte: THE
PLAIN TRUTH, BOX 111. Pasadcna , CA
91123 .
The
PLAIN TRUTH