FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:
WHAT MITHRAISM, CHRISTMAS, AND SUNDAY WORHIP HAVE IN COMMON
Yes. you read it right: not Communism, Socialism, Fascism, jingoistic Nativism, Federalism or Feudalism, but MITHRAISM, the earliest form of universal (or “catholic”) RELIGION of sun-worship!
Now read on and be better informed; for the choices and decisions we make are only as sound and enduring as the information and knowledge we have on the matter.
As the Bible says, “My people are destroyed because of lack of knowledge [of truth].” Consider the following carefully as we approach the traditional holidays, particularly Christmas, under this unprecedented period of national and global anxiety and uncertainty, in the advancing light of the end-time prophecies of Daniel and Revelation:
“MITHRAISM, an outwardly refined sun worship, invaded the ROMAN EMPIRE in B.C. 67, and made way for itself by gathering under its wing ALL THE GODS OF ROME, so that ‘in the middle of the third century [A.D.] Mithraism seemed on the verge of becoming the universal religion.” – Encyclopedia. Britannica, Vol. XVIII, art. ‘Mithras,’ p. 624, 11th edition, 1911.
“That which made Mithraism so popular was the fact that the Roman Caesars adopted it, and the [Roman] soldiers planted its banner where ever they went [remember what Cestius did in the prophesied first invasion of Jerusalem in A.D. 70?].
The higher schools of GREEK learning also adopted it, so also did the NOBILITY, or the better classes of society which gave it great PRESTIGE. Its ‘Mysteries’ had a bewitching and fascinating influence on the people (general populace). And SUNDAY, called ‘the venerable day of the sun,’ was the popular HOLIDAY [not yet ‘holy’ day] of Mithraism.
“On the other hand, the PRIMITIVE Christian religion appeared to the learned Greek scholastics and their followers of eminent nobility as ‘foolishness’ (see 1 Cor. 1:18-23), and the Romans looked down upon the Christians with disdain and utter contempt. After the Jews had rebelled against the Roman government [see Josephus’ ‘Antiquities’] (Jerusalem and its Temple were destroyed by Titus, A.D., 70, and multitudes of the Jews were sold as slaves), hatred and contempt for them had become quite general among the Romans, and everything Jewish was despised. Thus Sunday, in the Roman world, stood for what was eminent ans popular, while the SABBATH, kept by the Jews, stood for what was despised and looked down upon. The temptations placed before an aspiring man, therefore, lay all in one direction.” Facts of Faith, p. 97.
More following tomorrow, God willing, NMF.