Nataly Arenas
English
March 28, 2011
Every year, about two billion people celebrate the birth of Christ spending all their money buying gifts which are delivered by a roly-poly red-suited American (St. Nicholas Center). And about a hundred-thousand celebrate the resurrection of Christ by hunting colored eggs and chocolate bunnies in baskets. Any connections? True, it is our duty as Christians to celebrate essential holidays such as Resurrection Sunday thanking God for his unconditional love; however, we must not allow syncretism to plague our faith or become an obstacle that detracts from the true significance of Christianity's holiest days. Instead we must “put everything to the test, hold on to the good and avoid every kind of evil,” that we may not be deceived and sin as a result.
The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, edited by Dr. Elwell, defines syncretism as "the process by which elements of one religion are assimilated into another religion resulting in a change in the fundamental tenets or nature of those religions."
Syncretism concerning the Christian church in most cases develops when the message that we learn and now pass on to others, that Jesus came in the flesh and died for our sins in order to save us, loses its attractiveness to the world and ceases to impact the lives of those that are currently lost (Missiology). Therefore, the church, lacking faith and memory of what God has already done, takes action. As runoff picks up pesticides as it flows through a harvest, so does the church adopt new pagan customs and traditions appealing for non-believers. In a short while, our vision is completely clouded and deviated from the truthful ways.
Whether the church allowed syncretism to sneak in somewhat unconscious of the fact or in complete awareness, this has slowly but steadily led to heresies in the faith and has caused thousands of people to stumble through the ages.
There is a one and only reason why we must fight syncretism in our faith: because God detests it. God sent the Israelites to fight into what they called “holy wars” and destroy the people from all the surrounding nations, including all women, children and even cattle. God’s main purpose for demanding this was that they might not contaminate themselves and adopt the other nations’ sinful customs. God wanted the Israelites for himself, and he would not share Israel with other gods; the LORD was and still is a jealous God (Ex 20:5).
However, Israel’s disobedience was almost immediate after they agreed to God’s statutes. For example, while Moses spent forty days with God receiving the commandments from God’s own hand, Aaron, the high priest fell under the trap of syncretism. Aaron was persuaded by the Israelites to make a golden calf, and he attributed to this deaf and blind, man-made idol all the wonders they saw in Egypt. Even though Israel repented after a massive slaughter, they kept returning to their sin, just as a dog returns to its vomit. God, not tolerating that Israel was always selling herself away to other gods like a prostitute, banished North Israel into Assyrian captivity and Judah into Babylon for 70 years (Missiology). But eventually, this did not work either because of Israel’s stubbornness and hardness of heart.
Naturally, we must be aware of the fact that syncretism is something the LORD detests, and therefore we must do everything to avoid not only future blending of beliefs but also uncover these falsehoods that are hidden throughout Christian history.
The threat of syncretism is not an issue that has been discovered recently. In fact, in 1517 Martin Luther started a movement (sparked by his ninety-five theses) known as the Reformation, whose purpose was eradicating syncretism. I believe Luther understood well what Jesus says in Matt 18:6: “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” During these times, peasants had to hear mass preached in Latin (of which they understood but little) and they were denied access to the scriptures. Only the priest could read the Bible; therefore the peoples were forced to have a blind faith and believe unquestioningly everything they were told. Consequently, people such as Luther and Calvin were severely concerned about false doctrines in the church like indulgences and the selling of ecclesiastical offices; another evidence of the tremendous corruption. The uncovering of these scandals resulted in the further division of the church between Protestants and Catholics, which succeeded the previous split between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church (when Emperor Leo III prohibited the worship of images.) Certainly Luther’s efforts were not only rewarded by men (in his popularity amongst Christians), but also by God. So what makes us think that God will not reward us for fighting for the truth about the gospel and avoiding syncretism?
Furthermore, statistics say that 20% of Protestants and 28% of Catholics believe in reincarnation, and similar percentages also believe in yoga as spiritual practice, astrology and energy flowing from the environment (Ethics Forum). In Africa, about 69.9 percent of all Christians still believe in ancestral spirits that “protect” them and “bring them fortune” (Congdon 1985, 297). Nevertheless, even after knowing these facts, we might still be tempted to think that since we do not believe in astrology or the reincarnation, then we should not worry about syncretism too much. Well, consider the origin of Christmas. Most of us at least have heard that there is something controversial about it, but perhaps we never dug more into the issue for fear that we might not like the outcome of this research.
When I first read about the origin of Christmas, my heart sank. The truth is that the traditions usually held during Christmas existed long before the birth of Jesus Christ. The 25th of December was suggested as the date for Jesus’ birth because it was four days after the winter solstice. In ancient cultures, the 21st of December was considered as the sun’s death because it was the shortest day of the year, (due to the 23.5 degree tilt of the earth’s axis.) Three days after the 21st, the sun would be born again. The Roman Catholics began saying things like Christos Sole or “Christ the sun” in order to make the connection between Jesus’ and the sun’s birth (Last Trumpet Ministries). However, it has been agreed on by scholars that the 25th of December was by no means Jesus’ birth because The Scriptures say that shepherds were out with their sheep the night Jesus was born. If it were winter, the snow would not have allowed the shepherds to do so; most would agree that Jesus was born sometime in September (which really does not matter.)
And furthermore, where does the Christmas tree come from? Naturally it was a pagan symbol too. What we call now “Christmas tree” made part of the Yule festivity celebrated in Germany. This was a fertility festival where evergreen trees were decorated and gifts shared during a large feast. Also, pagans hung holly and mistletoe on the doors of their temples and homes in order to invoke fertility powers (Last Trumpet Ministries). Jeremiah 10:3-4 says “For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter.” We cannot pretend to approach God when we are filled with pagan rites; he does not approve us in his sight.
There is an even scarier rite, Easter. Easter’s practices are even more ancient than Christmas’; they emerged shortly after the flood. The scriptures say after the account of Noah’s ark, that there was a man named Nimrod, a great warrior who founded many cities, including Babylon and Nineveh. After Nimrod’s death, his wife Semiramis convinced people of his divinity and he later became known as Baal. However, this wasn’t the only trick queen Semiramis played on the ignorant people. Semiramis assured the people that her illegitimate son Tammuz, was actually Nimrod reborn and he was supernaturally conceived. Semiramis also persuaded them that Tammuz was the savior; since people had already been looking for the promised one. In the long run, people did not hesitate to worship her too as the fertility goddess, who had “hatched” from an egg. Semiramis was then propagated through the world with several different names, some of which are Ishtar, Ashtur, and finally, Easter (All about Jesus Christ). Adding to the imagery, rabbits are also involved in this aspect because as a matter-of-fact, they have always been considered very fertile animals because they produce lots of offspring every year. From there we get the symbolism in Easter, or better known as the fertility festival.
There is no doubt that syncretism has defiled the celebration of Christ’s resurrection and reduced it to a meaningless diversion involving egg-and-bunny hunting. But now that Easter’s pagan origin seems evident, we need to trace it to church history. In order for the church to prevail, it collected all pagan rituals and deities assigning them a Christian name. Only then the peoples would pledge loyalty to the church and submit under its authority. For example, Catholic saints are simply the Greek gods also adopted by the Romans under a different name, i.e.: Athena and Diana, Zeus and Jupiter.
It seems that Christians strive for celebrations such as Christmas and Easter simply to commemorate what they first intend it to, such as the birth and resurrection of our LORD; but at the end it is just another pagan worship. And if all of this makes us feel disappointed and sad, we must also remember what the LORD says in Hosea 6:6: “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” If we really want to worship God, we must do it in spirit and in truth. When we understand this, we will not long for these pagan rituals anymore but experience the joy that comes from obeying God’s commandments.
At last, we know that if we are people after God’s own heart, we must love what he loves and hate what he hates: syncretism (Deut 7:25-26). We have no excuse, for in modern times, we do not have the same difficulties such as those experienced by the ones living during the Dark Ages. God has disposed wonderful tools such as Bible study softwares and websites which we can dig to find revelation about hidden mysteries, and I also encourage you to use the available communicating methods to help our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to come out victorious from darkness and the threat of syncretism.
Sources
§ “St. Nicholas Center” stnicholascenter.org. Accessed 26 March 2011. Available http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=35
§ “Worldview and Syncretism” Missiology.org. Accessed 26 March 2011. Available http://www.missiology.org/mongolianlectures/worldviewandsyncretism.htm
§ “Worldview and Syncretism” Missiology.org. Accessed 26 March 2011. Available http://www.missiology.org/mongolianlectures/worldviewandsyncretism.htm
§ “Christian Syncretism on the rise” Ethics Forum. Accessed 26 March 2011. Available http://college-ethics.blogspot.com/2009/12/christian-syncretism-on-rise.html
§ (Congdon 1985, 297). Congdon, G. Dal. 1985. An investigation into the current Zulu worldview and its relevance to missionary work. Evangelical missions Quarterly 21 (July): 296-99.
§ “Origin of Christmas” Lasttrumpetministries.org. Accessed 26 March 2011. Available http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/tracts/tract3.html
§ “Origin of Easter/ Resurrection Day” allaboutjesuschrist.org. Accessed 26 March 2011. Available http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/origin-of-easter.htm
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