Compromise and accomodation

A summary of the Bible Hour presentation at the Christadelphian Hall, Blackpool Street, Burton-upon-Trent on Sunday 5th December 2010 on the compromise and accommodation between Christianity and the religions and philosophies of the world can be found in: The Trinity: paganism or Christianity?

What had once been a simple faith which could be understood by the man in the street, became a complex system of theology which was the preserve of an educated elite. The Christian church became an establishment with political influence and political power. It also became divided.

You also can find more about the historical developments how the Trinity came in to Christianity at the Belgian Biblestudents in the continuation from the articles:  The First Century of Christianity & Positioning of those in power, in Power and position and to be published later Early days of Christianity: Minimizing the power of God’s Force the Holy Spirit; Second Century; Hellenistic influences; Politics and power first priority; Blending of Jewish, Oriental, and Hellenic thought; a.o.

Christmas, Saturnalia and the birth of Jesus

The days are shortening already for some a time.  It always becomes quicker dark and there is now not many light during the day. 

Over a few days a celebration would take place in many houselholds, by which trees are decorated and one not only in the tree extra lights are brought in, but also around the houses.  Extra light and atmossphere bringers can be welcome now.  But we must be conscious that we focus us rightly. 


Christmas as generally celebrated today is one of many carry-overs from Roman Catholicism
that survived the Reformation. Historian Will Durant reminds us that Roman Catholicism grew out of the merger between paganism and Christianity that took place under Constantine in the early 300s. Commenting upon the resulting "Christianization" of the Roman Empire, which Reconstructionists such as Coalition on Revival (COR) director Jay Grimstead look back to fondly as a model of what they hope to achieve, Durant wrote:

Paganism survived...in the form of ancient rites and customs condoned...by an often indulgent Church....Statues of Isis and Horus were renamed Mary and Jesus...the Saturnalia [Festival of Saturn in celebration of the winter solstice] was replaced by Christmas celebration...[ I]ncense, lights, flowers, processions, vestments...which had pleased the people in older [pagan] cults were domesticated and cleansed in the Ritual of the Church....

In spite of its pagan/Roman Catholic origins and crass commercialization, we can perhaps rejoice that Christmas annually brings a reminder of the Savior's birth. Unfortunately, however, Christmas festivities generally perpetuate the confusion concerning who Jesus Christ really is, why He came, and what He accomplished.
This is not surprising, considering the misunderstandings even among His own disciples at the first advent--and the far greater confusion that the Bible warns will precede His second coming.

 

Christmas is only a few weeks away, and it's meant to be a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, but how many people celebrate Christmas in ignorance of who Jesus actually is?
I'm sure you know who Jesus is, but download it anyway and forward it to your friends who might not know. This is a great time of the year to tell people about God and his plan for the earth as many are often more willing to listen because of all the Christmas celebrations going on around them. Use every opportunity possible to make the saving name of Jesus known to those around you this Christmas!

Free eBook - Who Is Jesus?

Dutch version / Nederlandse versie:Kerstmis, Saturnalia en de geboorte van Jezus

Heidense invloeden op het trinitarisme

Op Redeneren vanuit de Geschriften (Reasoning from Scripture) is er een artikel geplaats dat de invloeden bespreekt van de heidense gebruiken bij de Egyptenaren, waar Drie-eenheid een van de belangrijkste bezigheden was van de godgeleerden uit de vroegere tijd. Er wordt gekeken hoe Osiris, Horus en Isis een drie-eenheid vormden: het drietal van Abydos.
Voor de verdere bespreking  van de theocratia ga naar de website:
> Trinity and Pagan influence

Read furhter about: a trinity consisted of the god Serapis (= Osiris + Apis), the goddess Isis (= Hathor, the cow-moon goddess), and the child-god Horus.
+ Ancient Hindu trinity, existing "from about 300 B. C. = Vishnu, Brahma, and Siva

+ Babylonians their major trinity of Anu, Enlil, and Ea

+ * "If Paganism was conquered by Christianity, it is equally true that Christianity was corrupted by paganism. The pure Deism of the first Christians (who differed from their fellow Jews only in the belief that Jesus was the promised Messiah) was changed by the Church at Rome, into the incomprehensible dogma of the trinity. Many of the pagan tenets, invented by the Egyptians and idealized by Plato, were retained as being worthy of belief." - The History of Christianity, (Preface by Eckler).

* "Christianity did not destroy Paganism; it adopted it .... From Egypt came the ideas of a divine trinity, …. the adoration of the Mother and Child…." - p. 595, The Story of Civilization: vol. 3, Simon & Schuster Inc., by noted author and historian Will Durant.

How did the Trinity Doctrine Develop

Excerpt taken from the Trinity Bochure in the chapter, "How did the Trinity Doctrine Develop?":    

"THROUGHOUT the ancient world, as far back as Babylonia, the worship of pagan gods grouped in threes, or triads, was common. That influence was also prevalent in Egypt, Greece, and Rome in the centuries before, during, and after Christ. And after the death of the apostles, such pagan beliefs began to invade Christianity.

    "Historian Will Durant observed: "Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it. . . . From Egypt came the ideas of a divine trinity." And in the book Egyptian Religion, Siegfried Morenz notes: "The trinity was a major preoccupation of Egyptian theologians . . . Three gods are combined and treated as a single being, addressed in the singular. In this way the spiritual force of Egyptian religion shows a direct link with Christian theology." Thus, in Alexandria, Egypt, churchmen of the late third and early fourth centuries, such as Athanasius, reflected this influence as they formulated ideas that led to the Trinity. Their own influence spread, so that Morenz considers "Alexandrian theology as the intermediary between the Egyptian religious heritage and Christianity."

  "In the preface to Edward Gibbon's History of Christianity, we read: "If Paganism was conquered by Christianity, it is equally true that Christianity was corrupted by Paganism. The pure Deism of the first Christians . . . was changed, by the Church of Rome, into the incomprehensible dogma of the trinity. Many of the pagan tenets, invented by the Egyptians and idealized by Plato, were retained as being worthy of belief."

  "A Dictionary of Religious Knowledge notes that many say that the Trinity "is a corruption borrowed from the heathen religions, and ingrafted on the Christian faith." And The Paganism in Our Christianity declares: "The origin of the [Trinity] is entirely pagan."    "That is why, in the Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics, James Hastings wrote: "In Indian religion, e.g., we meet with the trinitarian group of Brahma, Siva, and Visnu; and in Egyptian religion with the trinitarian group of Osiris, Isis, and Horus . . Nor is it only in historical religions that we find God viewed as a Trinity. One recalls in particular the Neo-Platonic view of the Supreme or Ultimate Reality," which is "triadically represented."'