Catholic Rites and Ceremonies: Reproduction of Pagan Creeds
During my early days on earth, I never complained on the rituals and ceremonies that we’d done, because I really believed that those were the teachings of the Apostles and of Christ.
But a Reverend O’Leary revealed something about these rites and ceremonies. Did you know the truth about the Catholic Rites and Ceremonies that we’re doing?
On his book, “The Externals of the Catholic Church” he revealed that Catholic rites and ceremonies are reproduction of Pagan creeds:
“It is interesting to note how often our Church has availed herself of practices which were in common use among pagans, and which owed their origin to their appropriateness for expressing something spiritual by material means… and she has often found that it was well to take what was praiseworthy in other forms of worship and adapt it to her own purposes, for the sanctification of her children. Thus it is true, in a certain sense, that some Catholic rites and ceremonies are reproduction of those pagan creeds but they are taking of was best from paganism, …” (p.226)
And it was even clarified by Carl Adam on his book, “The Spirit of Catholism” on page 166:
“She does not hesitate even to take over pagan rituals and pagan symbols, whenever such things can be Christianized and reformed.”
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True. They were adapted, but there is a whole new intention and symbolism about them. And that is where our Lord looks at, in the intentions behind the actions, otherwise these are merely empty practices and rituals in whatever religion that is. For our God is not like us who only, at times, look at the actions. For example, there are people who do good things, some do it for God, others do it for others to praise them or for pride/vanity. I think you haven’t traced back yet our Catholic Faith from the Apostles (from the disciples of St. John the Apostle) to the Early Church Fathers to us. There is such continuum from them to us as in the promise of Our Lord that the gates of hell shall not prevail against His True Church. Otherwise it would be unimaginable to say that that promise failed, there was a ‘break’, and Christianity was only re-established in the birth of Protestantism, the Reformation.
Well, atleast you admitted that pagan ritual and festival are adapted by Roman Catholic Church.
I really wonder if you’re aware that true Christians are taught to avoid pagan festival and rituals.
Roman Catholic Church is just claiming to be the church founded by Christ but actually it’s not.
Catholic Faith came not from the Apostles of Christ but from the Roman Pagan.
Yes they are but first you need to define ‘pagan’ because something which has been adapted by Christians with a ‘new intention’ is no longer pagan. Remember the vision of Peter when the blanket containing unclean creatures came down from heaven.
If we say Christian activities it simply refers to the activities that are in accordance to the teachings of Christ.
If we say Pagan festival then these are festivals that are not only celebrated by pagan but are also against the doctrines of Christ.
If Christ taught the true Christian to worship God in Spirit and in truth and forbid us to worship images, then adapting pagans way of worshiping clearly contradicts the doctrine of Christ.
Read Romans 1:19-22
FYI, I think also that this may be of help to you. This is about Divine Tradition. The book My Catholic Faith says: “Not all the truths revealed for us by God are found in the Bible. The Bible itself states that it does not contain all that God revealed [Jn 21:25]… The truths of Divine Revelation which have not been written down in Holy Scriptures have come down to us by the Tradition of the Church… (’Hold the teachings that you have learned, whether by word or by letter of ours’ – 2 Thess 2:15)… Several years passed before the Gospels were written down. In the meantime, Christians had to depend on Tradition solely… Did Christ intend the Gospel to be proclaimed by the circulation of the Bible? No; it was mainly by preaching that He intended to convert the nations. (’Preach the Gospel to every creature’) God did not intend Holy Scripture to be our rule of faith independently of a Living Voice [the True Church]… Why cannot the Bible be the sole guide to salvation? It cannot, because it is not within the reach of every one…, difficult to understand, frequently full of obscurities and difficulties, even for the learned. It was the Catholic Church that in the fourth century declared which books were inspired by God and which were not.”
It is true that that not all things happened during Christ’s time was recorded in the Bible. But it’s stated that what was recorded is enough for us to believe Christ.
In other words, the truth about Christ and about His Church are recorded in the Bible and they are enough.
The fact that Catholic Church accepted the Holy Scriptures as inspired ONLY on the fourth century proves that the Roman Catholic Church is NOT the true Church founded by Christ.
If you’ll examine the Bible, Christ and the Apostles (the first century Church of Christ) were already using the Holy Scriptures in teaching the first century Christians.
You are mistaken, I think you misunderstood. “It is important to note that it is the Catholic Church who, through Her early Councils (393 & 397), originally confirmed which books of the Bible were considered inspired, and which books were to be included in the Canon of the Bible itself. This was essential to assure copies of Scripture had in those days agreed with the originals, and also to weed out books which contained heretical doctrine in them” (www.protestanterrors.com). It is not that she doesn’t accept the Bible as inspired. There are various defections arising in the Church then and the Church has the Authority to choose the books because she knows what books are inspired. And who chose the books you are using right now? Can any individual choose those books? Remember that there are books which were not included like the ‘Gospel of Thomas’ and others. Martin Luther and followers even rejected the book of Revelation, Letter to the Hebrews and of Jude. That means that one cannot just take any book and say that it’s inspired by the Lord.
Another is that if any individual will interpret the Bible, there will be several interpretations. That is why in these latter days there are many (thousand) sects due to misinterpratations. That is against the unity that Christ is praying for. Like what is said above “it is not within the reach of every one…” The Lord knows that there must be an authority linked to Him to interpret the Bible and that is the Catholic Church thru Peter as its earthly head. If Our Lord wanted the Bible to be our sole rule, why did He not write rather of founding a Church.
“The Bible does not contain all the truths necessary for eternal salvation. For example, every Christian is obliged to sanctify Sunday. But nowhere in the whole Bible, is there one word authorizing the sanctification of Sunday” (My Catholic Faith). And why not Saturday or any other day of the week. Remember that the Sabbath of the Jews is not Sunday. That means that some kind of authority is needed to direct people.
The Roman Catholic Church successfully collected the Holy Scriptures used by Christ and the Apostles including the book and letters of the Apostles, but the Roman Catholic Church failed to follow the teachings of Christ and the Apostles recorded in the bible.
Romans 1:19-21
I wonder what church you belong and who founded your church. I thought the true church was founded on the ‘rock’ meaning ‘cephas’ meaning ‘peter’. FYI, rock and peter are actually interchangeable in the original language. Therefore, the true church should be traced back from Peter if you are truly linked to the true church of Christ and that is not a matter of just ‘believing’ in Jesus.
The true Church is founded by Christ on Himself as the Rock, not on Peter. Peter is just one of the stones that would stand on the Rock who is Christ.
It is true that Jesus is the Solid Foundation. But in every edition of the Gospel of St. Matthew (16, 18) we read that the Lord Jesus said to Peter: ‘ You are Rock, and upon this Rock I will build my Church.’ You interpret this text, having first translated it thus: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.’ The Sacred Scripture was not written in English, but only translated into English. Now Jesus did not speak in English but in Aramaic which is a dialect of Hebrew. In that language the words ‘Peter’ and ‘rock’ are entirely the same, namely ‘kefa’ (cephas). Hence, the Lord Jesus said: “You are ‘kefa’ and on this ‘kefa’ I will build my Church.” And why did He spoke to Peter like that and gave the Keys to him and not to others, if the True Church is not to be linked to Peter who is linked to Christ? Christ Jesus knew that various defections from the Church would take place, hence by saying that He gave a clear norm by which we might recognize His Church.
Christ did not say “You are Peter and upon you the Rock, I will build my church”. If that’s how Christ say the words then I will not argue with you anymore because that’s clear that what was referred to as Rock where the church would be built is Peter.
But that’s not the case. It is clear that Christ said “You are Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church”. Take note of the term “THIS” which means Christ is pointing to the place where he was standing or to something he was holding with. But since Christ is Rock as attested by the Apostle Paul and Apostle Peter, then it is already clear that Christ when speaking with the term “THIS” is pointing not to Peter but to Himself.
Got few articles about it:
1. The Foundation Rock in Mat 16:18
2. The wisdom of God on the Rock Foundation
3. The Rock foundation of the church in Mat 16:18
4. The foundation of the church according to Apostle Paul
5. No place for peter to become the rock foundation
6. Worship of demon
I don’t think so. What’s the use of the Lord saying “You are Peter” and then suddenly turning to Himself. Remember that the next sentence is that He’s giving him the ‘keys,’ therefore He is referring all the time to Peter. And remember what the keys are for. This is the reason why He changed Simon’s name to ‘Peter’ (Rock).
You can read the articles I mentioned on my previous comment….
If you’ll examine the verse, you’ll notice that Christ is not telling Simon to be the rock foundation but is simply calling him Peter as Simon’s name, “You are Peter”. When Christ mentioned “You”, He is pointing or referring to Simon.
But the next clause begins with the “on THIS” and the term “THIS” is obviously not referring to Simon because if Christ really referred Simon, then the term “THIS” would not be used here but would be the term “YOU” as what he used when he said “You are Peter”.
The term “THIS” can be used to refer the place Christ was standing, or it can be used to refer the thing he was holding. However, the place Christ was standing and the thing Christ was holding couldn’t be the foundation of the church because it was explained by Peter himself and by apostle Paul that the rock foundation of the church is Christ himself. So when Christ mentioned “THIS” he was pointing to himself.
Haven’t you still remember when Christ said, “Destroy this temple and in 3 days I will raise it raise it up”?
The term “THIS” on that statement is not referring to the temple which is the house of worship or a building or a structure. It was used by Christ to refer to his body.
First, paganism is defined as something that you do with ‘pagan intention’ and the Lord doesn’t look on appearances. The Catholic Church wants to sanctify everything that God created. We worship Him in spirit and truth. We don’t say that we kneel on an image of Jesus with the intention to worship a stone or Buddha.
On my second comment, and who assures you that the canon of books that the Church collected is really inspired, assures you that they are inspired and you’re using it. Why not use the ‘Gospel of Thomas’ or any other book you may find at that time. Who has authority to choose the books? Can anyone just say that the book that he is reading is inspired? And who chose the books of the King James Bible? Are they linked to Christ. And why do they rejected the Deuterocanonical Books? The Lord founded His Church and He preserves it from error thru the Authority He has given Peter to bind or to loose. If your point is to be considered, anyone may choose any book that he ‘feels’ inspired and that is against “that all may be one.” I hope that you don’t call me “vain in reasoning, having a senseless and darkened mind” without looking at what you’re saying first. What authority assures you that you’re interpretations of the Bible is true and not erroneous?
On my third comment, still, I don’t think so. Matthew would have mentioned anything of what Jesus is standing on and anything that He may have been holding if that’s the very case. And He may have not began what He was saying with “You are Peter” but ommiting this and only beginning His sentence with “Peter, upon this rock…” like in the other parts of the Gospels. Another is He would have said only Peter’s name when He was giving him the keys namely, the sentence should be: “Upon this rock I will build my church. And you are Peter and I will give you the keys…”
Last, I just thought you are Catholic who is just looking for answers because of your post. Forgive me if I offended you with my comments. This is eating-up yours and my time and even I have answers to you, I think you will not listen and we’re going round the bush. You will easily find other resources to enlighten you before you judge the Catholic Church. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for spending time in answering to my posts. I cannot blame you because in the Philippines the Catholic Faith had been very mixed with superstions called ‘pamahiin’ or dwarves or lucky charms called ‘anting-antings’ which eclipsed the true teachings of the Church. Very many Catholics in the country is ignorant of their spiritual practices.
If you’ll examine the teachings of Christ recorded on the Holy Scriptures, you’ll notice that Christ wanted his follower to follow his teachings because his teachings is not his own but is of God. You’ll even notice that Christ hate to see his followers doing the pagan ways like praying in a pagan way (rosary, novena, etc.), worshiping in pagan way (worship through images), etc.
You claimed that Catholics are worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth. However, it was just a claim because what really Catholics do is worshiping God through the images of Saints.
Catholic are asking God for his blessings but they are serving the images of the Saints. Every time they received grace they thank the images of the Saints.
Here’s in the Philippines, when the homes of the Catholics got burned, the first thing they did was saving all the images of their Saints. But then in the end, they’re thanking the images of their saints because for them they were saved by those images. What a fool thinking.
Inspired Books?
Just like what I said, Catholics successfully collected the Holy Scriptures used by Christ and his apostles, including the writings of the Apostles. However, not all books collected by the Catholic and included them into the Bible are inspired in fact Catholics are using some books that contains doctrines not of God because those books clearly contradicted the teachings of God in the old testament and the teachings introduced by Christ in the new testaments.
You consider the Catholic church an authority on this but then it failed to follow the teachings of Christ. In fact, Catholic introduced doctrines that contradicts the truth recorded on the Holy Scriptures. Purgatory is one of these teachings.
Rock Foundation
Just like what I said, if Christ has said “… and upon you, the rock, I will build my church” then I will not be arguing with you because it is already clear that the church would be built on Peter. But that’s not the case and besides, Peter himself explained that it’s Christ who is the Rock Foundation and this is even attested by Apostle Paul. So who should I believed with, your conclusion or the explanation of the Apostles?
And another thing, it is not Peter alone who have given the keys to heaven. Check your bible about it.
Finale
Actually, I am not offended by your comment. I replied to your comment because I have answers to your argument.
Well, I am listening. In fact I replied your comment because I am reading your comment and I understand what you are talking about.
I am checking the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church and compared them to the teachings of Christ in the Bible and I found out that almost all doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church go against the teachings of Christ recorded in the Bible.
And you couldn’t blame me but blame the authorities of the Roman Catholic Church for teaching doctrines that contradict the teachings of Christ recorded in the Bible.
Do you know the The Lord’s Prayer? It is one of the best known prayers in Christianity. The first line says “Our Father who art in Heaven”. We say this prayer sometimes facing an altar, statue or a picture depicting Jesus. Is this a pagan ritual? We say “who art in heaven”? not “who is in the altar”? Right? Having some statue doesn’t mean we worship that statue, it is like having a picture of you love ones in your pocket. As simple as that.
They say Christmas is based on a pagan feast, who cares? At least we remember that our Saviour was born in this Earth in the past. Though the date is not accurate.
I even have some friends from other religion that celebrate it. Though they don’t believe that Jesus is a God, they beleive that He is a prophet but it doesn’t pose a problem celebrating Christmas in their country. They only want to be part of our Tradition to bridge the gap between these to Religion.
Also we respect theirs to the point of not having to eat or drink in front of them during their Holy Month though we are not restricted to.
It is just respect my friend.
The Lord’s Prayer that you are praying is really a prayer to the true God, yet the way you are reciting this prayer is in pagan way.
Christ did not tell you to memorize that prayer. And He did not tell you to recite it in pagan way.
You said that statues are there to remember your savior not to worship it. However, your action contradicts what you’re saying. Besides, Christ’s teaching is clear that in worshiping God, you should worship Him in Spirit and in Truth not through images.
Christmas
So, you agreed that Christmas is based in pagan feast. But didn’t you know that Christ forbid his followers to take part of the pagan rituals and feast?
We are not worshipping God through images. Just what i have said “pictures of your loved ones in your pocket” When you miss someone you love and you see her picture and said “i miss you”. Are you telling the picture that you miss her? Of course not right?
Got my point?
Just like what I said, you are just saying you are not worshiping God trhough the images, yet what you are doing is a worship through images.
If you’ll examine the Bible, God is spirit, and the Spirit has no flesh and bones. Now, why are you using the images of the Saints when in fact you want to worship God. And the teaching of Christ is clear that to worship God, you need to worship him in Spirit and in Truth not by the use of the images.
I used to be a devout roman catholic until I found Christ as my Saviour and God and
disovered the true meaning of salvation the biblical way. In revelation 17 the Catholic
Church no doubt is the ‘ whore of babaylon’ because catholic doctrines and practices
originated from the pagan mystery babylon religion. As i study the bible the more
I discovered the truth and the Truth has set me free from the idolatrous system of
catholicism.