On March 17, millions will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with parades, green attire, shamrocks, and festivities. Originating in Ireland, it’s now popular worldwide, particularly in the U.S. Yet, beneath the fun lies syncretism—merging pagan rituals with Christianity. St. Patrick, though venerated as a Catholic saint, used syncretism to blend native Irish customs into his teachings. These included symbolic nods to sun worship and Celtic superstitions….
Story Tag: Paganism
A Right Christmas – Edwin Stepp & Robert Boraker vision.org
Steven Orchard
3 years ago in Paganism, Christmas
The early Christian Church didn’t keep Christmas. Christ wasn’t even born in winter. However, a solar feast commemorating the Persian god Mithra, whom the Romans also worshiped, was historically observed on December 25th around the winter solstice. Gift-giving and unrestrained revelry were also features of the Roman Saturnalia, another solstice festival that anchors modern Christmas traditions. Roman emperor Constantine saw the tension between emerging Christianity…
Valentine’s Day – Steven Orchard thefatherscall.org
Cathy Pridmore
4 years ago in Valentine's Day, Paganism
Valentine’s Day is a ubiquitous global tradition accepted as a celebration of love and endorsed by Christianity and commerce alike. However, the origins of the custom are sordid. St. Valentine apparently existed only in legend. The day was likely named for a popular Gnostic heretic who blended pagan ideas into Catholic doctrine and promoted eroticism as a way to connect with the spirit realm. In…
Cupid’s Disheartening Past – Alice Abler vision.org
Ryan Welsh
4 years ago in Valentine's Day, Paganism
Cupid, that winged Valentine’s Day mascot with a sordid past. “From a lusty shepherd-king who died annually, causing weeping of women throughout the known world, to the incestuous sun god who is the bringer of life, his tale spans eons and outlive entire civilizations with variations in names and lore. This intertwined history of Cupid and his mother, the traditional mother/son/spouse deities of sexual love…
Does Paul Condemn the Holy Days? – Earl Henn cgg.org
David Grabbe
4 years ago in Holy Days
Galatians 4:9-10 is a favorite crutch of those who claim Christians no longer need to observe God’s holy days. Many believe that Paul reprimands the Galatians for returning to Old Testament observances that were a form of ‘bondage.’ However, Paul would never refer to instructions coming from the holy God as ‘weak and beggarly.’ In addition, the Galatians were Gentiles; they did not come from…