Many aspects of traditional Christianity – holidays, practices and doctrines – didn’t come from the Bible, but from ancient pagan religion.
Christmas
What is today viewed as a celebration of the birth of Christ began as a pagan midwinter festival. The Druids in ancient France and Britain staged a 12-day festival at the time of the winter solstice, believing it was the high point of an annual battle between an ice giant, representing death, and the sun god, representing life. They built bonfires to assist their champion, the sun. (L.W. Cowie and John Selwyn Gummer, The Christian Calendar, 1974, p. 22). Decorating with green plants in late December through the beginning of January was one of the ways Druids “honored and encouraged” the sun god at the time of the winter solstice. Families commonly cut down an evergreen tree to bring into their home, where they decorated and displayed it in a prominent place. In the Middle Ages, this pagan ritual persisted and was eventually given a Christian label, as Roman Catholic missionaries worked to convince people to worship the Son of God rather than the sun god. (See Bible Insights Weekly: Was Jesus Born on Christmas Day?)
Easter
Easter, which many assume was instituted to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, is steeped in pagan connections and symbolism. The name “Easter” derives from the name of an ancient Chaldean goddess Astarte, who was known as the “Queen of Heaven.” Her Babylonian name was “Ishtar.” (See Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1985, New Testament Section, p. 192, “Easter” and Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 509, “Gods, Pagan.”) As the goddess of love and fertility, Ishtar’s symbols were eggs and rabbits. She was worshipped during an annual spring festival to ask her blessing of fertility on the crops being planted at that time of year. (See Bible Insights Weekly: Why Some Christians Don’t Celebrate Easter.)
Halloween
The observance of Halloween has been around for centuries as part of an ancient Celtic celebration at the start of winter. The Druids believed that at this time of year the barriers between our world and the supernatural were weakened. Expecting the souls of the dead to roam the land, they built large bonfires to frighten them off and slaughtered animals—or even people—to appease the evil spirits. (The Encyclopedia of Religion, 1987, p. 176, “Halloween”).
Halloween is still looked to by some as All Hallows’ Eve—the night before the Catholic All Saints’ Day, a supposedly holy occasion. Yet with all its ties to the occult and dark forces, Halloween is anything but holy. And it’s now shunned by many professing Christians. They see no value in celebrating a holiday that clearly originated from polytheism (the worship of multiple gods) and animism (belief in spiritual forces in inanimate objects). (See Bible Insights Weekly Is Halloween Harmless? )
The Immortal Soul
The idea that people have immortal souls was first taught in ancient Egypt and Babylon. The Greeks likewise taught that at death the soul would separate from the physical body (Jewish Encyclopedia, 1941, Vol. 6, pp. 564, 566, “Immortality of the Soul”). That idea was merged into Christianity from Greek philosophy. It did not come from inspired Scripture. (See Bible Insights Weekly What Does The Bible Say About The Immortal Soul?)
Going To Heaven When You Die
The ancient Egyptians developed the concept of going to heaven. In their mythology, the god Osiris was killed but then raised back to life, whereupon he went to a distant heavenly realm. The Egyptians concluded that if he could do this, then human beings could follow (Lewis Browne, This Believing World, pp. 83-84). This heavenly reward was a central teaching of several ancient mystery religions—but not the religion of the Hebrews or early Christians. (Download the free study guide: Heaven And Hell – What Does The Bible Really Teach?)
The Mother And Child
Babylonian mythology taught Ishtar had a son named Tammuz, who died each year and was reborn again in the spring. This Babylonian veneration of the mother and child influenced later versions of Christianity that deified Jesus’ mother Mary as much as Jesus Himself (Sir James Frazer, The Golden Bough, 1993, p. 326). This stands in contrast to Scripture, which honors Mary, but reveres no ordinary human being—only Christ.
The Symbol For Tammuz
The Chaldean symbol for Tammuz was the letter tau, which appears as a san-serif “t” and is commonly considered a cross (Babylonian Mystery Religion, p. 51; Vine’s, “Cross, Crucify”). While the Bible teaches Jesus was crucified there is no record of the shape of the crucifix. At that time, Romans used various forms of upright stakes, some with crossbeams and some without. The Bible gives no indication the early Church ever used the cross as a religious symbol, but several pagan religions had been doing so for centuries before Christ was born. (For additional information see: Where Did The Symbolism Of The Cross Originate? and Why Shouldn’t We Wear A Cross As A Sign Of Being A Christian?)
When God gave the ancient Hebrews instructions about how to worship Him, God told them not to borrow or copy the practices of pagan cultures around them: “Do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I will also do likewise.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way” (Deuteronomy 12:30-31). God defines how He should be worshipped, not man, and warns: “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it” (verse 32). The Apostle Paul warned the Colossians: “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8).
