Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, ...For the customs of the people are vain: Jeremiah 10:2-3
Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: and the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants. Leviticus 18:24-25
Take
heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that
they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after
their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will
I do likewise. Deuteronomy 12:30
Ye
shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do
them: that the land, wither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not
out. And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast
out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I
abhorred them. ...I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from
other people. Leviticus 20:22-24
Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? ...But he (Jesus) answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? Matthew 15:2, 3
Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. ...This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Matthew 15:6, 8, 9
Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. Mark 7:9
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Colossians 2:8
Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. Galatians 4:9-11
We ought to obey God rather than man. Acts 5:29
Halloween
Part of a religious observation of Allhalowtide, which includes All Hallows Eve, All Hallows Day (known as the Feast of All Saints in the Catholic Church), and All Souls Day, Halloween (a contraction of All Hallows Evening) was the assigned vigil for All Souls Day originally celebrated May first but eventually moved to November 1, making it coincide with the Celtic pagan festivals of Samhain in Ireland and Calan Gaeaf in Wales.
Prayer
Prayer beads/rosary. Praying to the dead/intercession of the dead/Mary as co-mediator. Prayer in public schools.
Should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? Isaiah 8:19
The dead know not anything, ...His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Ecclesiastes 9:5, Psalm 146:4And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray unto thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. Matthew 6:5-8
Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. John 16:23
Easter
Tammuz
was the consort of Inanna/Ishtar, known as the Queen of Heaven. Death
of Tammuz mourned, especially by women, meanwhile cakes were prepared
for Ishatar by these same women. Tammuz associated with shepherds as
well as agriculture.
Ēostre or *Ēastre In Anglo-Saxon England, her springtime festival gave its name to a month (Ēosturmōnaþ, West Saxon Eastermonað),[7] the equivalent of April, then to the Christian feast of Easter that eventually displaced it.
Many Puritans saw traditional feasts of the established Anglican Church, such as All Saints' Day and Easter, as an abomination.[107] The Puritan
rejection of Easter traditions was (and is) based partly upon their
interpretation of 2 Corinthians 6:14–16 and partly upon a more general
belief that, if a religious practice or celebration is not actually
written in the Christian Bible, then that practice/celebration must be a
later development and cannot be considered an authentic part of
Christian practice or belief—so at best simply unnecessary, at worst
actually sinful.
Christmas
The Biblical description of Christ's birth indicate that it was likely not in winter. Shepherds would not be tending their flocks in the fields in winter, and the census being conducted would have been during warmer weather when travel would be easier for all citizens to return to the towns of their birth to be counted.
Church tradition holds that Pope Julius I selected December 25 as the date for the birth of Jesus speculating that Julius was looking to create a Christian alternative to Saturnalia which occurred during the fourth week of December. Saturnalia was a popular pagan festival that celebrated the Roman god Saturn. Saturn was the god of the harvest and Saturnalia was celebrated with feasting and the exchanging of gifts. Both public spaces and homes were decorated with evergreens and holly and candles were lit the mark the days of the festival as it transpired.
December 21 to January 1 also marks the Germanic pagan festival of Yule. where various peoples and tribes in northern Europe celebrated the winter solstice and the return of the sun and the lengthening of daylight. Pre-Christian Yule customs include the Yule log, Yule goat, Yule boar (today's Christmas ham), Yule singing (wassailing), and sun wheels (made by decorating interwining branches of evergreens resembling modern wreaths).
Decorating trees and mistletoe are other customs
with pagan roots.
Besides being the traditional birth date of several pagan deities, December 25 was declared by third century Roman Emperor, Aurelian, as the birth date of Sol Invictus, (Latin for "Unconquered Sun"), long considered the official sun god of the latter Roman Empire.
Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, ill of God. Romans 12:2