Since the whole concept of not celebrating Christmas is a thinly veiled attempt to remove any focus on the incarnation, and thus deny the Holy Trinity, the Eucharist, the relevance of Mary's "fiat" in the Salvation story and basically all of the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, which have been passed down to some degree through tradition to the other mainline protestant ecclesial communities.
I've asserted here in the last few weeks that the "actual" spiritual authority that the Roman Catholic Church has established via the authority Christ gave Peter and his successors to do things like determine a feast and require that Christians observe it enables us to do something like require people of Christian faith to observe Christmas... after all, we are the Church, and doctrine is "what we do." So it is not at all surprising to us Catholics that we might be "required" to observe Christmas. Many protestants, however, in keeping with their longstanding tradition of 'questioning authority,' have in recent years begun to vehemently attack Christmas, basing their argument on the idea that Christmas was not "historically" December 25.
To set minds at ease, however, I will say that no one in any official capacity within the Catholic Church has ever asserted that this was the "actual" date of Christ's birth, etc. We do not disagree with modern historians if they discover that Christ was born some time in the summer. We simply claim that we OBSERVE and commemorate His birth on the day of Christmas.
Having addressed this previously, I will then avoid that discussion and move into directly addressing the following questions:
"If a holiday has apparently pagan "roots" should we cease to observe it?" and
"Isn't it true that the Roman Catholic Church is Pagan in Origin?"
This covers Christmas, Easter, and Birthdays, among other things which people object to in traditional Christianity in their attempt to be "more biblical." (For a discussion on why this attempt to be "more biblical" than "traditional" is a trainwreck waiting to happen, see next week's Theology Thursday.)
My first answer would be that it is wrong to assert that ANY of our traditional Catholic Holidays have "pagan" roots. We observe events in the life of Christ, period, and these events and the way we celebrate them are in no way "pagan" since our object of worship is the Holy Trinity, the ONE God who created us, whereas paganism is the worship of a pantheon of false gods and an attempt at universal manipulation for a particular outcome. It will be useful here to define paganism. The dictionary defines it thus:
Perhaps a more Catholic definition of the word would be:1. An adherent of a polytheistic religion in antiquity, especially when viewed in contrast to an adherent of a monotheistic religion.2. A Neopagan.3. Offensivea. One who has no religion.b. An adherent of a religion other than Judaism, Christianity, or Islam.4. A hedonist.
Paganism, in the broadest sense includes all religions other than the true one revealed by God, and, in a narrower sense, all except Christianity, Judaism, and Mohammedanism. The term is also used as the equivalent of Polytheism (q.v.)
So we see that paganism is not one particular religion but rather a demonic amalgom of all that is false.
This is what we are accused of, over and over, and yet the "proofs" offered as usually misplaced in context or completely misunderstood. Having studied the mormon religion's similar claims and being fully convinced of the non-Christianity of the Mormon religion, despite the LDS Church's assertions otherwise, I understand completely the need for further explanation.
So why, for example, does it happen that two such events on the Catholic and Christian Calendar, Christmas and Easter fall on or near "pagan" celebrations? Surely the Catholic Calendar must be pagan! And yet, no.
The calendar is not religious in origin but secular-- it existed under the Romans and was reformed under Julius Caesar. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII reformed it again and it was named the Gregorian Calendar. Today, the entire world uses it.
Within the framework of this calendar, the Church, over the years, instituted feasts and fasts, celebrations and periods of penance during which we observe the rhythm of Catholic life. These were sometimes placed on or near cultural celebrations to drive home a point. An example from this month, for instance, is the observation of the feast of St Lucia, who is the patroness of the blind and the "light bringer," due to her devotion to Christ. It is appropriate, then, to observe her feast at a time when darkness turns to light, in particular when pagans were already celebrating this day for that reason, deepening the converted pagan's understanding of Christ's role.... and so we do so on December 13. As I said in a post a few days ago--everyone observes a calendar and goes by a set of "markings" to note the rhythm of life. To mark time according the the rhythm of the heartbeat of Salvation History is.... breathtaking. Each year we are taken through events in the life of Christ and his followers, which renders these events and people more meaningful to us as we meditate more deeply on their significance each passing year. One could hardly classify this as a pagan practice.
Catholics have prayed the rosary for thousands of years,and this, too, is a cyclical prayer through which we meditate on a series of events in the life of Christ. It does not get "old." People who have prayed the rosary for fifty years will tell you it only gets deeper. Likewise, the Catholic Calendar grows in significance as we observe it corporately and individually. It adds universal meaning to the "concepts" of these feasts.
So it is with Christmas and Easter... I don't think anyone can argue when I say that that during these times everyone, even non-Christians, are placed face to face with the realities of Christ's birth and Christ's death and resurrection. Even if the world does not recognize the rest of the feasts of the Church that depict our Salvation in time, these two feasts stand out among the secular universe and - indeed-- even force some families to come out of the world and into the Church, if only for just a day. For some, this "one day" can turn into a lifetime of seeking and following after God. It did for me one Christmas eve!
So the history of the Gregorian Calendar, as you can see, is one of continual re-adjustment, rendered "useful" by the Church, useful also to evangelize the world, and certainly not based on any pagan form of anything. If we want to talk pagan, however, with our brothers and sisters who are convinced that we must instead observe the Jewish Calendar, I would remind them that the Jewish Calendar is based on the ancient Babylonian Calendar. Could it possibly be any MORE pagan? As with the Talmud, which is not "biblical" in any sense of the word, but rather a "sacred tradition" which mirrors our "Catholic tradition" in that it interprets scripture FOR the people... close examination of the talmud, then, demonstrates that there are many problematic and "pagan" and "babylonian" points of interest worth noting. However, I am here to reconstruct Christianity in your minds, not to deconstruct modern Judaism.
I would ask also.... if we stop observing the gregorian calendar, shall we then cease to pray at all? For the pagans did these things long before "Christianity" or "Judaism" was an established religion. Shall we cease to "observe" the days of the week? For these were certainly named after pagan gods and goddesses. In fact, it is in the very days of the week that we see God's redemption at work, for while they were certainly named after pagan gods, we observe the Lord's day on "Sunday," the day of the Son, the day of redemption, the day that, as we Catholics recite every morning in the Liturgy of the Hours:
In the tender compassion of our LordWith a little examination, we can make some observations that shed light on why these accusations of paganism are absurd and based solely on a Satanic plan to divert people who are authentically drawn to God to move away from His Church and thus separate themselves from the sacraments, the surest means of acquiring grace.
The dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness
And the shadow of death,And to guide our feet into the way of peace.
I have heard people say that the Catholic practice of having statues around, for example directly violates the statute to avoid "carved and graven images" of the commandments from Sinai.
"You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." (RSV Exodus 20:3-6).Interestingly enough, he then proceeded to give moses a "graven image" of those very commandments, on tablets of stone which he later struck on human hearts. This is why protestant are ok with "writing," I suppose. :P I've seen endless youtube videos and websites with pictures of a pope kneeling before a statue, plastered with this verse for the compelling "shock value" it creates. But what is really going on here?
St John of Damascus' apology "On the Divine Image," is a work in which he attempted to argue his way through the iconoclastic controversy begun by the Byzantine Emperor, Leo III and later by Constantine V.
We see from his work that in the Bible itself, God exhorted humans to use such carvings: for example the graven images of the cherubim over the Ark of the Covenant in Exodus 25:18-22, which God directly ordered Moses to make. There are also, as examples, the embroidered figures of cherubim which God told Moses to make on the curtain which separated the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle tent in Exodus 26:31, and most interestingly the Bronze serpent from the book of Numbers 29:19.
"That may be," say the naysayers, "but I've seen Catholics bow before these images and kiss them!" I would hope that people who have these concerns wouldn't place their hand over their heart when they, for example, see an American Flag being honored!
But to be fair, most of them don't. However, I think it is clear, in examples such as Genesis 33:3 when Jacob bowed to the ground before the tip of his son Joseph's staff, and before Esau, his brother, that bowing to show honor is an acceptable practice.He bowed down, after all, but did not adore. Millions of Easterners "bow" to one another in greeting. Shall they cease immediately? (This reminds me of the exhoration protestants always give to "call no man Father," thus refusing to accept that we call our priests "Father." And yet, they have no problem with calling their OWN fathers "Father." :D)
In Joshua 5:14, Joshua, the Son of Nun, and Daniel bowed in veneration before an angel of God... not in adoration, but to honor. St Basil asserted that "the honour given to the image is transferred to its prototype." Thus we honor the American Flag, because of what it represents, not because of what it IS, a piece of fabric. Similarly, we honor the statues and images of the Lord and His Saints, because of who they are, not because of what we behold before us, which is wood and stone.
The Catholic and Orthodox church teach that ADORATION, latria, the veneration due God, is reserved for God alone. However, we reserve dulia, (honor and respect) for icons and images and statues which represent His Kingdom. We teach the difference between the two in our catechism and through various traditions we have maintained throughout the liturgical year. Thus, no Christian can say that we are "unbiblical" in the visible honor we give to the Lord and His Saints via icons or statues.
A fabulous Catholic article that demonstrates the relationship between Catholicism and Judaism in opposing paganism says:
"Let no one imagine that the temptation to idolatry and paganism is a matter of the distant past when primitive peoples offered sacrifice to the sun or prayed to stone outcroppings and golden calves. Paganism is a permanent threat. The worship of false gods, a constant temptation.Fervent Catholics are well aware that the present situation of the world today is simply a continuation of the problem of old-- the pagans are everywhere, worshipping false gods (such as Mamon) and demanding ritual sacrifices to these false gods, the greatest example of which is the demonic act of Abortion, which is why we so greatly oppose it. Yet today, many fervent protestants are more concerned with ousting the perceived paganism in Roman Catholicism than with eradicating abortion, an obvious pagan practice and a clearly demonic stronghold that thrives in our nation today.
How, then, can we know that it is an idol, a false god, and not the true God, that is being worshipped? I submit to you that there is a foolproof test: False gods always demand the blood of innocents. A pagan culture is always, in the end, a culture of death. Where the innocent and just are slain, there the god being worshipped is not the God of Israel, the Lord of Life, but rather Moloch in one or another of his protean disguises." (Robert P George, the New Paganism and the Culture of Death)
At this point, you might be interested to hear my own personal experience with "returning to" sacred images in my worship of God. As a protestant, I had left statues and icons behind with my Catholicism as I left the Church.
However, one of the first things I did upon returning to the Church was to place a crucifix in my home. I had had crosses before, all over the house, and crosses are certainly "symbols" we use, which could be defined as idolatrous to persons who think that ANY image is a pagan practice. Setting aside the whole "Catholics think Jesus is still on the cross" thing, which we can discuss another time, the simple practice of putting a crucifix up in my home made my protestant friends extremely uncomfortable, judging by their varied reactions to it as it went up.
However, the practice deepened my "daily acceptance" of taking up my own cross. Just by having an image of Our Lord on the Cross in my home that I passed regularly by, his life and sacrifice was made present to me in an amazing way. I couldn't "escape" remembering him. Likewise, having a family altar and icons on our walls did the same for us. My kids suddenly "saw" the reality of heaven around their house and it became real to them. I noticed it's harder to argue and lack charity in your living room when you are surrounded by the constant visual reminder- and thus, presence- of Christ and His Holy ones.
 | |
| This is the image of Divine Mercy, given to St Faustina in a vision |
And there was Jesus, rays of blood and light immersing me in His love and sacrifice, beckoning me to Trust in Him, overpowering the darkness that retreated behind Him in the painting. Eyes gazing lovingly at me, a sinner, and oceans of love in His sacred eyes.
I wept, as I knelt and kissed His sacred feet and touched His hands. This Jesus, the one I saw, seemed only a portal-- a doorway-- through which I had walked into a deeper understanding of God's infinite mercy for me. I never worried about idolatry in the Catholic Church again. I had been touched by His divine mercy, because I had venerated an image of His mercy.
You see, the early Church understood that ALL creation is capable of praising Him. We do not remove our senses from the experience of praise. We worship Him as in the psalms... with bells, with drums, with horns and voices. When we light sacred incense, we watch our prayers rise to heaven. This is not idolatry, for we do not believe that the incense in and of itself is God or will sway God. However, we believe the scriptures:
Revelation 8:3-4
'Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. A large quantity of incense was given to him to offer with all the prayers of the saints on the golden altar that stood in front of the throne; and so from the angel's hand the smoke of the incense went up in the presence of God and with it the prayers of all the saints.'
Malachi 1:11'From farthest east to farthest west my name is honoured among the nations and everywhere a sacrifice of incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering too, since my name is honoured among the nations, says the Lord Sabaoth.'
Psalm 141:2'Let my prayer rise before you like incense
And my hands like an evening offering.'
The incense is a physical reminder of a spiritual truth. It speaks to us at the core of our understanding. It moves us, not God, who is only moved by our fervor and desire to please Him.
Many Christians oppose the use of "pagan" symbols in our worship and in our lives. A Christmas tree is a perfect example. And yet the Jesse Tree, an advent tradition of the Roman Catholic Church, and traditionally what we use as a "Christmas tree," is the decoration of a tree with symbols from scripture to represent the history of the story of salvation... it is the very root of our idea of decorating the tree.
Many Christians decorate their trees with round balls for ornaments and think nothing of it, but Catholics will decorate with cards or statues of the saints in heaven, with symbols and imagery that represent the story of salvation: an apple for the fall, a shepherd's staff for King David, etc etc. and with ornaments that represent their family's own personal walk with God-- symbols of sacraments received, pilgrimmages undertaken, and blessings given, for example.
We open advent calendars each day that read back to us the scriptures which prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ. We hear proclaimed each day in Mass the Word of God as we listen for the coming of Our Lord.
These are just a few examples of how these allegedly pagan traditions (which are not pagan at all) have birthed faith into families around the globe.
Another example is the easter egg, which causes much concern among American Christians. However Catholics and Orthodox have no problem with easter eggs, knowing that we use them to remind each other of the new life which they represent, and of the bursting from the tomb. "Christos Anesti," we say as we exchange colored eggs... Christ is risen! "Alithos Anesti," they respond... He is Risen indeed! (if you're a protestant reading this who is still convinced that the Catholic Traditions are steeped in pagan idolatry, you might want to stop using that tradition, then, the famous call-and-return of annunciation, when you celebrate the Risen Christ!)
We often color the eggs red to remember the story of Mary Magdalen, who had the opportunity to feast with the Emperor Tiberius after the resurrection. "When she met him, she held a plain egg in her hand and exclaimed "Christ is risen!" Caesar laughed, and said that Christ rising from the dead was as likely as the egg in her hand turning red while she held it. Before he finished speaking, the egg in her hand turned a bright red, and she continued proclaiming the Gospel to the entire imperial house." (wiki)
We believe the egg turned red to represent the blood of Christ, through which our "New Life" comes. In iconography, Mary Magdalen is often represented holding a red egg for that reason.
All this to say that for every allegation of paganism in the Roman Church, there is an equally "biblical" and reasonable, historically accurate explanation for the observation of these things and the reason we celebrate them. Further, close examination shows that these acts not only honor God and draw Him near to us in our homes in a special way, but they also reflect the sacred mysteries of heaven revealed to us on earth.... they are true light from the darkness, dimly lit representations of spiritual mysteries which we have only begun to understand. They ARE the redemptive work of Christ and the feasts of His Kingdom, of which earth is not yet wholly part, since it is "in the power of the Evil One." (1 John 5:19)
Lest we forget that Christ came for ALL men, all sinners, of whom pagans are certainly a part, I leave you with the words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church which depict this most sacred event of His coming with regards to the pagan understanding of life:
522 The coming of God's Son to earth is an event of such immensity that God willed to prepare for it over centuries. He makes everything converge on Christ: all the rituals and sacrifices, figures and symbols of the "First Covenant".195 He announces him through the mouths of the prophets who succeeded one another in Israel. Moreover, he awakens in the hearts of the pagans a dim expectation of this coming.
523 St. John the Baptist is the Lord's immediate precursor or forerunner, sent to prepare his way.196 "Prophet of the Most High", John surpasses all the prophets, of whom he is the last.197 He inaugurates the Gospel, already from his mother's womb welcomes the coming of Christ, and rejoices in being "the friend of the bridegroom", whom he points out as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world".198 Going before Jesus "in the spirit and power of Elijah", John bears witness to Christ in his preaching, by his Baptism of conversion, and through his martyrdom.199
524 When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming.200 By celebrating the precursor's birth and martyrdom, the Church unites herself to his desire: "He must increase, but I must decrease."201
The Christmas mystery
525 Jesus was born in a humble stable, into a poor family.202 Simple shepherds were the first witnesses to this event. In this poverty heaven's glory was made manifest.203 The Church never tires of singing the glory of this night:
526 To become a child in relation to God is the condition for entering the kingdom.205 For this, we must humble ourselves and become little. Even more: to become "children of God" we must be "born from above" or "born of God".206 Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us.207 Christmas is the mystery of this "marvelous exchange":
- The Virgin today brings into the world the Eternal And the earth offers a cave to the Inaccessible. The angels and shepherds praise him And the magi advance with the star, For you are born for us, Little Child, God eternal!204
- O marvelous exchange! Man's Creator has become man, born of the Virgin. We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share our humanity.
For a further examination of this question, please see:
http://www.davidmacd.com/catholic/were_catholics_pagan.htm
For a brief biblical apologetics cheat sheet on the use of statues, icons and relics (which we have no discussed much in this post but which certainly apply,) see below:
Ex 25:18-22, 26:1,31; Num 21:8-9 ... God commands that images be made.
1 Kings 6:23-29, 35, 7:29... Solomon's Temple; statues and images
Acts 19:11,12 ... Paul's handkerchief and aprons.
2 Kings 13:29-21 .. Elisha's bones
Acts 5:15-16 ...Peter's shadow
Matt 9:20-22 ... Jesus' garment cures a woman
Sorry, the only calendar mentioned in the Bible (King James) is the Hebrew calendar (Holy Days in Old/New Testaments. The Bible is the only authority for the Church of God (true Christianity). not the Catholic Church.
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