It is that time of year again in Church of God land and some of the leadership and members are working overtime in trying to expose Christmas as pagan. God forbid if anyone found some joy in this time of year. Everyone needs to be a Debbie-downer like many in the church. Because they are miserable, everyone else should be too.
The sad fact is that more people around the world are exposed to who Jesus is and his story at this time of year than you will ever hear in a Church of God. Considering the COG claims to be the "true church" that is pretty sad. Just take a look at a typical yearly list of preached sermons, articles in magazines, and their list of booklets. Jesus is hardly ever mentioned and is certainly NEVER the main focus of their gospel message. The law trumps every thing, including Jesus. Grace, mercy, justice, and freedom are anathema in the church, while rules, regulations, doctrines that border on demonic, and idolatry are the main focus. Apparently, the more miserable they can make themselves the more holy and righteous they think they are.
And more craziness that some COG members post:
Christmas Trees symbolize Nimrod sprouting from the grave:
Have some angels on your tree? If you do, you are hanging dead babies on your tree in honor of NimrodNimrod the mighty hunter against God!!! Nimrod married his Mother. Nimrod was killed. The evergrowing tree sprouted from his grave. The first Christmas tree.
Nimrod was shown as a baby. With the pine tree representing Nimrod. Babies were burnt alive as gifts to Nimrod. Angels on trees represent dead babies - MURDERED Babies.
Have some tinsel on that tree? You are decorating it with Satan's snake. I won't even venture to think what they mean by "snake". :-) Knowing the preoccupation of so many Armstrongites with sex, it could mean a couple of things.
The strings of tensile on the tree symbolize the snake/satan.
The balls on the tree are Nimrods Testicles.
I do not recall how the founder of all of this worlds religions died. I remember that he was cut up and they could not find his balls which is why they put balls on the trees, An evergreen tree was supposed to have sprouted from his grave which is why an evergreen tree is used.
Did you have a picture of your child on Santa's lap?
To celebrate Nimrods birthday they used to feed babies to the fire. All those angels on the tree represent dead babies that were murdered for Nimrod. Why he wears a red suit- it represents fire so any one putting a baby on a fat mans lap wearing a red suit is making their baby pass threw the fire!!!!
Santa is an anagram for Satan
The ironic thing is when these Armstrongites start spitting this stupidity it brings no one to the god they claim to follow. It turns people off. They are not performing a witness, they are not drawing anyone to Jesus Christ. They are doing nothing other than making themselves look stupid. But, maybe that is the current COG normal.....?
32 comments:
Count the ornaments on that tree. If each represents one of Nimrod's testicles, Nimrod TRULY WAS a mighty man!
Following Armstrong-logic to its natural conclusion, aren't evergreen trees SCOFFING at the sacrificial death of Jesus? Even if you don't hang stuff on them, by keeping evergreen trees in your yard you are BLASPHEMING the true Christ!
At Christmas you could always find out if someone was ticklish by handing them an ornament and thus giving them a test-tickle. Sorry.... :) I let Satan's Claws get into me there for a second...
Well, being one that most on here consider an Armstrongist, though I've been independent for nearing three decades, I can say that I went to a SDA service last Sabbath and though I hadn't been there for about a year all was glad to see me. We sang Angels We Have Heard On High (I love that song) and The First Noel (I had to laugh when it came to the three wise men verse but yes, I sang it). Afterward I told them all that I was going across town to a WCG splinter, they didn't care, they all wanted me to come back soon. Wonder what the splinter people would think if I told them that I was just at SDA and sang "Christmas" carols? (said sarcastically)
Then yesterday I had to go to the local laundromat to wash a comforter which wouldn't fit in our machine. When leaving, the lady manager wished me a merry Christmas and I told her to have a merry Christmas as well.
Damn those closed minded Armstrongists!
How do you purify sin? Only one way. Jesus Christ. December 25 was co-opted and overwritten to glorify Jesus over 2,000 years ago. Nobody even thought about Nimrod or the pagans at this time of year until HWA and others brought up the old pagan origins in the twentieth century.
They taught in the WCG that nobody knows when Jesus' birthday was, and the Bible doesn't give us Nimrod's birthday either! Historians can't identify who Nimrod actually was, but the candidates all lived in a different century from Semiramis. Yet, he is supposed to have authored all of these horribly evil things, and is even speculated as having been a black man.
BB
Talk about everyone bringing their own perspective to these issues. I guess it makes sense that a bunch of puritanical prudes would be so obsessed with sexual images and symbolism. Unfortunately, as with things spiritual, Herbert Armstrong did not have a good understanding of anything related to history (be it the history of Europe, the church or cultural traditions).
The FACT is that the Armstrong narrative about Christmas is misleading and largely false! While a FEW of the elements of our modern celebration of this holiday can be traced to ancient pagan practices, the vast majority of them belong to the Christian era and have NOTHING to do with sex.
For instance, while it is true that pagans attached religious beliefs to evergreen trees, the association of them with Christmas began in Germany - according to one legend, with Martin Luther himself. From there, the practice spread to Britain and the United States.
https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas-trees
Santa Claus, on the other hand, has absolutely NOTHING to do with Nimrod or Satan. The Santa Claus of the Twenty-First Century is based on the Fourth Century Christian Bishop of Myra. The truth is that there were many legends and stories associated with him and gift giving. Our modern images of a jolly Santa who slides down chimneys and wears a red suit date from the Nineteenth Century!
https://www.biography.com/religious-figure/saint-nicholas
In fact, if you bother to do a little checking, you will find that many of the music, characters, stories and images which we associate with Christmas originated in the Twentieth Century! So, for all of my Armstrongite friends, it's time to lighten up on the pagans and get your mind out of the gutter and have a Merry Christmas!
December 25
Recently I read (maybe even on this blog) that Dec 25 was Mithra's birthday. And a Protestant pastor told me someone gave him a coin with Constantine on the obverse and Mithra on the reverse. I told him Mithra's "birthdate" was Dec 25, he was born of a virgin, in a cave, was resurrected, etc. He thought that was cool because it was "just like Jesus".
And there is the old IT joke that Christmas = Halloween, because DEC 25 = OCT 31 (decimal 25 is octal 31).
Maybe he was haplogroup J like me :)
Somehow CALENDAR CONFUSION messes up all the Holy Days, but every civilization back to pre-Flood Mesopotamia always nails Dec 25th, Hislop and his offspring would have us believe?
The acog's are bothered by Nimrod's testicles but they aren't bothered about Herbie fucking his daughter. What's wrong with this picture???
X-MASS >>> WINTER FAMILY X-MASS WEEKEND
Now that Herbert W. Armstrong is dead and his Worldwide Church of God is gone, the LCG, UCG, and COGWA splinter groups all rush to have their Winter Family X-mass Weekend custom.
People in LCG, UCG, and COGWA missed out on X-mass for so many years and are now so very happy to be able to observe X-mass again simply by renaming it and tweaking some of the traditions a little bit.
All their own past preaching and writing against X-mass and about how evil it supposedly was did not seem to convince anyone at all, not even their own selves.
Now, LCG, UCG, and COGWA will all argue--exactly like the rest of the Christian professing world--that there is nothing wrong with what they are doing at the time of the Saturnalia when they observe their Winter Family X-mass Weekend custom. Exactly like the Catholics and Protestants with their X-mass custom replacing Saturnalia, LCG, UCG, and COGWA will argue that they have replaced X-mass with their Winter Family X-mass Weekend custom.
LCG, UCG, and COGWA are all full of the deceptive nonsense of flimflam men.
In my area, "Santa" may be on the way out - with the Grinch appearing either with Santa more and more, or posing for pictures solo.
How will COGs explain this?
When Constantine fought with his rival Licinius for control of the empire it was Licinius who marched under the banner of Mithras not Constantine.
We have a Dec 25th date for the birth of Christ because the Jews thought an important prophet died on the date of his conception.
The Roman winter solstice festivities were set-up as a rival to the christian observance.
Like Miller said, much of what some here even accept as having pagan origin, didn't have pagan origin. Saturnalia never fell on Dec. 25 for instance. Dec. 25 was calculated by a Christian before the celebration of the unconquerable sun. A lot of refutations out there. All these Christians seem to be interested in showing how they are far removed from pagan culture in their Christmas practices and yet the COGs try to teach that they are introducing paganism into their lives and that is just opening the floodgate. Maybe the COGs are the ones getting all wrapped up in paganism and finding a pagan behind every door. Meanwhile Christians celebrate that Christ was born. Silly COGs.
334 noted: "Now, LCG, UCG, and COGWA will all argue--exactly like the rest of the Christian professing world--that there is nothing wrong with what they are doing at the time of the Saturnalia when they observe their Winter Family X-mass Weekend custom."
Go deeper into the human experience and recognize that the approaching Solstice, when humans figured out that their world is getting dark longer and sooner every day and there was some instinctive concern that light might not return if they didn't do something. That something, for tens of thousands of years, perhaps a couple hundred thousand, was to light fires, find rituals, call on the gods, tell birth stories of their sun gods and hope that the sun returned. The fear of the dark is the ultimate reason for the season.
When in WCG and instinctively, though we didn't keep Xmas with religious intent, that old program ran in the background of needing to do something as the shortest and darkest time of the year drew near. It's probably in our DNA by now. The human brain and mind functions on light. It takes 10,000 lumens of light in the eye (not on the skin) every day to keep the chemistry of the brain in order. Office lighting provides about 300 as it is not the right frequency of light as the sun. We all know depression and SADD are common in the dark of winter. We sell lighting of the right solar frequency to help us out and to get through it.
Winter family weekends in the church are a very old need that has nothing to do with religious belief. It ultimately has to do with community, the feeling of safety in a hostile dark world and the primitive hope that the sun will return to "take away the sins" (darkness) of their world. It's why we also celebrate "Easter".
Easter is ultimately not about religion. It is about the conquest of the sun over the darkness of winter when the sun now rises due East and goes on to dominate the calendar days with its light. Equinox means equal nights. It must have been at the Equinox when Jesus is said to have said "Are there not 12 hours in the day?" That only happens on the Equinox in Spring and Fall. Generally the answer is always "no, not really" But then it is correct.
So aside from keeping Xmas as most do to celebrate Jesus birth dayh, which of course it is not, or Saturnalia or any such thing religiously, remember, most religion is based on astronomical phenomenon that puzzled and produced fear in humans for a very long time. The celebrations, waffling around actual meaning and origins, story telling about such events and religious fables attached to them are all about the darkness. It's all about will the light return to us. And so it is to this day no matter how sophisticated we think we are or how far we have come from those times of fear and wonder long gone.
Ultimately, the Churches aren't compromising or falling into the paganism they sought to come out of. They are running on a very ancient program that the long dark nights of winter have cause in the human mind and psyche. Whether it is the birth of Jesus or any other "god" that is celebrated, it is ultimately the birth of the Sun on December 25th that was noticed as it now began to move one degree North and gave the hope that it would over the next three months or so, take away the fearful darkness of winter without the benefit of Thomas Edison to fall back on.
So forgive them. They know not the deep reasons why or what they do and it is harmless and probably better for them than taking offense at reality.
and too... If a religion forbids the keeping of celebrations, customs and rituals associated with those deep needs for the shallow, often made up reasons, given by their clergy as they hunt and peck through their holy books for proof of their views, people will find a way to meet the deep need for community and ritual quietly as that very old program about fear and darkness runs in the background. They just won't mention it to the clergy. The clergy might do the same thing. They just won't mention it to member. Perhaps the best solution is to all mention it to each other, admit the need and stop majoring in the minors and making mountains out of molehills. No God in heaven, well except the "behold the Lord YOUR God is a jealous God" is going to ding you for that.
Church members and ministry would be better off teaching the need for community and ritual as the seasons of the come and go rather than seek to find "pagan" reasons not to. It goes against the human grain and eventually a church that forbids will find duplicity, quiet "don't tell the church" practices and Winter Family Weekends on or about the Winter Solstice.
And also, their kids will grow up to keep Christmas rituals with all the pretty lights and hopeful birth stories telling everyone that "my parents were kinda weird and I had a strange childhood" on the way to hear Handel's Messiah.
Merry "Sun Stand Still (Sol-stice) no more. Yay!" to all and to all a good riddance too much night! :)
I really enjoyed the latest postings by Dennis on "deep insight, the role of the sun and the role of sense of community."
It is through the "philosophy" of hwa/wcg, (who smashed through all "basic traditions") that I came to learn on a deeper level as well.
For instance regarding the issue of "insight, sun, sense of community" and our former associations belief system I can now think of solving the worlds energy problems as solvable by just covering an area as big as Spain with solar panels and all will be solved.
We only need to convince Spain of its necessity.
World hunger is even easier to solve (after convincing a few others).
Indeed, the world needs a sense of community centered around the sun.
nck
I'll spare us the annual Christmas message but for those so inclined:
https://armstrongismlibrary.blogspot.com/search?q=diehl++sun+solstice
Dennis, stick with massage!
Byker Bob
Nobody even thought about Nimrod or the pagans at this time of year until HWA and others brought up the old pagan origins in the twentieth century.
America was founded primarily by Christians being persecuted in England and Europe. The Christmas celebration was against the law in certain early colonies because they knew it wasn't biblical.
Proving Christmas is pagan is a no brainier. You can't blame HWA for what's easily tracked down in history.
8:10
Are you referring to Oliver Cromwell's support and 1644 parliamentary act of the abolition of the pagan catholic practice of christ mass.
The 13 year rule of the puritans who abhorred Christmas that was only named in Britain for the first time as a former saturnalia celebration AFTER 400 ad.
If so. I like it especially the old Mariah Carrey videoclip. Wham I like not so much.
Nck
Yes, so pagan...
Celebrate the birth of Christ.
Spend time with the family.
Teach children about Christ.
Give gifts.
Decorate your house in the grayness of winter.
Thank God for sending His Son as our Savior.
String up lights in the winter darkness.
Sing Carols and Christian songs.
Invite others to your home.
Make charitable donations.
Yes, such things should be condemned as pagan. Silly COGs
Rod Meredith (and his formerly/situationally gay son, now cured by marriage) must have been awfully triggered by "Don we now our gay apparel."
Anon 6:20 AM wrote:
Dennis, stick with massage!
I imagine there are times on this board when Dennis would like to massage with stick a few of the posters here.
6:07 Fa la la la la la la la la
Joe Tkach once said "Don't just hum the Christmas tunes! My favorite one for humming is What Child is this aka Greensleeves
Sex sermons aplenty at the ACOGe? Truly It IS the Most Wonderful Time of the UeaY
I don't want to be in any Kingdom if I cannot go on a sleighride with Amy Grant anyway!
Nck
Article stated, "Why he wears a red suit- it represents fire so any one putting a baby on a fat mans lap wearing a red suit is making their baby pass threw the fire!!!!"
Doesn't the Santa that we know of today wear a red suit because it was Coca Cola who came up with this as part of their advertisement campaign about a hundred years ago? After all, red and white are Coke colors. So does this mean that having a Coke is pagan then? Well I guess it would be great to have a cold beverage as one is being passed through the fire.
Craig
The Mormons apparently think that Coke and all other sodas, and even caffeinated beverages are pagan. Personally, red has always been my favorite color, though. My vehicles and musical instruments are red, as well as my couches. Drapes and rugs also have generous portions of red. And my flatware and cuttlery. It is nearly impossible to be in a downer mood if you are surrounded by red.
BB
I don't want to be in any Kingdom if I cannot go on a sleighride with Amy Grant anyway!
Nck, don't you think her husband should have a say in this? Or are you itching for a slay-ride?
Post a Comment