THE TRINITY– An edict produced by the emperor of the Roman Empire during the Counsel of Nicea concerned the addition of two more gods to the church’s extensive list of deities, beliefs and customs that had been borrowed from various heathen religions. One, possibly more, of the nations conquered by the Romans worshiped a god that had three heads. Needing to slip that god into the church’s growing god-mix, Constantine decreed that the empire and the church would adopt the three-headed pagan deity and combine it with established beliefs about the church’s original god. Thus, the belief in a “trinity” was born nearly 300 years after the Church of God was established in 31 A.D. For almost 300 years the church had not so much as mentioned a supposed “trinity.”

That all changed during a church-state conclave in 325 A.D. when a three-part god was invented on the spot. But what to call this religious entity was a problem that had to be solved in order for the new three-gods-equals-one-god being to be accepted. The new version of god would need to be comprised of three separate individuals which, spiritually, were in fact one god. The solution was to turn one god into three, give each god a name, then unite them spiritually into one god. That proved not to be a problem. When the church can overrule God, nothing is impossible.

Originally, the once three-headed-deity-now-a-three-bodied deity was identified as Joseph, Mary and Jesus. Later, the personages involved were changed to God (the father), Jesus (the son) and Mary. Finally, the “three-in-one” union came to be identified as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I have heard that Mary was recently identified as the Holy Spirit, but that might be just a rumor. However, I recently saw an internet call for Mary worshipers to pray to her parents. Read Simon of Samaria: The Legacy. Key word–Legacy.

CHRISTMAS– Following the Sunday Sabbath and the three-in-one godhead on the list of revered church beliefs and customs is Christmas. Christmas is especially venerated due to its popularity among children. Having for many years enjoyed the holiday, I understand its popularity. However, if one is truly serious about obeying God and spending eternity with Him, one must study His Holy Scriptures and learn the Bible Truth about this religious concept.

The religious observance called Christmas was borrowed from sun worshipers who had been forced into the Catholic Church by Roman Emperor Constantine. Needing to smoothly insert the belief into her catechisms, the church hierarchy simply named December 25th as Christ’s birthday and called it Christmas. Problem solved. Why December 25th? As many as seven heathen deities were supposedly born on that date or had their annual observances on that day. The explanation for choosing December 25 is as follows. Because on or near that date the sun begins to rise higher and higher into the sky each day, making the days brighter and warmer. Being sun worshipers, the people equated the sun’s rising with its “birth.” Therefore, December 25 was the “birthday” of the sun–their god. For this reason the “yule” became a Christmas feature.

The yule was a circle of logs which, when set ablaze, represented the sun with its light and heat. The practice was popularized by the Irish Druids in days gone by. But the use of a circle of light to represent one’s god did not stop there. In fact, it is even more popular today that it was anciently. The problem is that those who use the bright, shiny circle do not know its history. And when I mention it to religious people, the reaction is not positive. But that is always the reaction to Bible Truth. The last thing a church person wants to hear is God’s Word. Any other word from any other source is welcomed. As I have said before, the church wishes that God would sit down and shut up. But He is not ready to do that. The day is coming when men will “run to and fro in search of God’s Word, but will not find it. Until that time I will put forth His Word.

In days of old when people openly worshiped the sun, the use of shiny, circular wedding bands signified that the couple were united in their worship of and service to the sun god. Not long after our marriage, I lost my beautiful, gold and silver wedding band. Looking back, I believe the Lord was sending me a message in that “loss.” Several customs evolved from the Christmas–lights–sun (Son)–birth connection, among them was the practice of decorating houses with lights. The lights, along with circular wreaths on doors, proclaimed that those who lived inside the lighted houses were sun worshipers.

A number of different societies conquered by the Roman Empire worshiped different gods who were called by different names and required different acts of obedience. Another heathen custom embraced by the church was the exchanging of gifts on December 25th.–the product of worshiping the sun god named Tammuz who is written about in Ezekiel 8:14. What came to be known as Christmas was celebrated in a variety of ways. All groups, their gods and customs were accommodated by the Catholic Church by interweaving them into the church’s all-encompassing belief system. Different groups venerated the same god but by different names. Not surprisingly, their birthdays all fell on December 25th.

During the annual celebration several of the groups would sacrifice their children to their god in order to entice him to send them good gifts. The gifts the people desired would be presented to him on a list. Sound familiar? One sun god, called Tammuz, was known to return during the night and leave gifts under trees that had been erected in the homes of his followers and decorated in bright colors. It is the mother of Tammuz whom the church world continues to revere on Easter Sunday with colored eggs, etc. See Part 1 of this series. Over time the custom changed from sacrificing one’s child to one’s god to giving gifts to one another. However, in the Western World Santa still leaves gifts under the tree. There is too much money to be made for that custom to end.

The Lord warns salvation seekers about the celebration of Christmas in Jeremiah 10 where He commands that we “Learn not the ways of the heathen …. For the customs of the heathen are vain, for they cut trees out of the forest …., decorate them with gold and silver and fasten them down with nails and hammers (vss 2-5). For those who play down the Old Testament, let us not forget that the New Testament Church was founded on the teachings of the Old Testament PROPHETS and the New Testament apostles (Eph. 2:2), and that God’s dealings with ancient Israel were recorded and preserved to be used as teaching tools for the New Testament Church (1 Cor. 10:11), and that the early apostles had only the Old Testament from which to teach the church. The New Testament did not come into being until all of the apostles but John had been martyred. Recall that Jesus told people to believe what Moses wrote, “For He wrote about Me” (Jn. 5:46). L.J.