Paganism in Christendom

Do you believe that the bible is the Word of God?
Do you believe that idol worship goes against God's commandments?
Do you believe that you should reject idol worship when found within your own life?
If you are a Christian, I assume that you answered "yes" to all three of those questions...
It's easy to say.

Imagine a hypothetical scenario for a moment (at least I hope it's hypothetical).
Imagine that you are making love you your wife/husband on your wedding anniversary and at the most intimate moment of your relationship, she/he calls out the name of someone else.
How would that make you feel?
I would imagine that's how God feels when you celebrate "Easter" in remembrance of His most intimate and triumphant moment.

Easter was a goddess of fertility who went by several names over the centuries. Methods of worship have varied but generally have centered around fertility and the renewal of springtime, e.g. eggs, rabbits, sexual acts (including ritual prostitution), and child sacrifice.
A few of the names this fertility goddess went by:
- Ēostre (Germanic)
- Ishtar (Babylonian)
- Inanna (Sumerian)
- Astarte (Phoenician)
- Ashtoreth (Canaanite) (1 Kings 11:4-6, Judges 2:11-14)

There are literally bible verses condemning this goddess and yet Christians celebrate a holiday in her name.

What I find particularly bizarre about the celebration of Easter, is that the bible contains such a detailed set of instructions for a holiday that perfectly symbolizes the sacrifice Jesus made. It provides amazing context for the most important aspect of the bible. Passover was originally a sacrifice of a perfect lamb to protect the followers of God from the destroyer (Exodus 12:23). According to the Gospels, Jesus fulfilled all of the requirements to be that sacrificial lamb, even dying during the time of Passover, thus preforming that same protection (Romans 6:23). The observance of Passover "throughout your generations" was directed by God (Exodus 12:14). Jesus even instructed his disciples to "do this in remembrance of me", as he celebrated Passover at his Last Supper (Luke 22:14-20).

WHY would you want to celebrate this event by any rituals other than those that are explicitly in the book you profess as the divinely written Word of God? I cannot fathom a valid reason.

The reasoning this has been accepted by the church, was (in my opinion) entirely political; it was easier to convince pagans to convert to a monotheistic religion if you excuse their holidays... or blend your beliefs into the pagan rituals. This may be true. It probably IS easier to convert people that way. But is that how you want to worship? Through (thinly veiled) pagan rituals? Because it was convenient for previous church leaders? Wouldn't you rather worship your God in the way he asked you to?

There are powerful lessons to be learned from the Passover story. Children can learn about Jesus's sacrifice thru acting out the holiday that foreshadowed it. Passover can teach them the meaning of the sacrifice from a more obtainable perspective... and it is biblically consistent! Not to mention it was God's decree.

In all openness, I described my objections with Easter, only because it is a clearer problem to lay out than that of the Trinity.

First, the word "Trinity" is not in the bible... but neither is there any clear statement that "the Father", "the Son", and "the Holy Spirit" are all the same being, or all God, or "co-equal", "co-eternal", or "consubstantial". Every single scripture that has ever been presented to me as being evidence of the trinity has required reading something into the text... or the translation is in dispute. I've heard many analogies meant to explain how the one-ness of God can work with the distinction between the 3 entities; besides them not being biblical, they still don't make sense when compared to the bible.

What does the bible actually say?
1 Corinthians 8:4
There is no God but one.
Luke 1:35
And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy -- the Son of God.
John 19:7
The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.
Matthew 26:39
he fell on his face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will."
1 Timothy 2:5
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

The bible says that "there is one God", that Jesus is "the Son of God", that his detractors accused Jesus of claiming to be "Son of God" (not of being God himself), that Jesus had a perspective that disagreed with his father's will but chose to submit himself to his father's (God's) will regardless, and that the man Jesus is a "mediator between God and men". There are MANY more verses that describe Jesus as the SON of God... There are a very few verses that have occasionally been translated to indicate that Jesus is God.

If you believe in a trinity already, it is very easy to read into the scripture what you expect to see. If you don't already believe in a triplicate god (or aren't told to look for one), it is very difficult to find evidence for such a concept when reading the Bible. I would expect that something so fundamental to the nature of God would have been made abundantly clear... not hidden in riddles. None of the other Abrahamic religions have any concept of a trinity or that God is a plurality of entities; Judaism and Islam believe that there is only one God... However.

There ARE many religions that believe in triple deities and triads. It is actually VERY common in polytheistic religions (aka, paganism) for gods to come in threes.
Just a few examples:
- Greek: Zeus, Athena, Apollo
- Roman: Jupiter, Juno, Minerva
- Egyptian: Osiris, Isis, Horus
- Norse: Odin, Freyr, Thor
- Hindu: Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva
- Taoism: Three Pure Ones

Why would Christianity believe in a triad when the Bible so often describes God as "one" and Jesus as the "Son of God"? It is basically the same reason Easter is celebrated instead of Passover, because it is easier for people to convert if they get to retain their old way of thinking. Perhaps it might be better said that even after becoming saved, they continued to sin in familiar ways. It's easy to turn the "Son of God" into "God the Son", and "God" into "God the Father"...

The idea of a trinity didn't come about until over 100 years after Jesus died. The first documented reference to a Christian trinity was after 180 AD in a document written by a former pagan intended to convert a pagan friend. It was done so as a means of analogy to be more relatable to Greek philosophy. It would be like saying that "The Father is liquid water, the Son is ice, and the Holy Spirit is steam," as a metaphor to describe the trinity. We know that God isn't literally water. In the same way, the Father isn't Nous (mind) the Son isn't Logos (reason), and the Holy Spirit isn't Sophia (wisdom). These 3 were put together to help pagans understand... 150 years later, at the Council of Nicea in 325 called by the Emperor of Rome, the tradition was cemented politically, the dissenters were exiled, and evidence supporting their position was burned. Yet the most important document remains without support for the concept of a Christian trinity.

From where does your belief originate? The bible or church tradition? From the one god or from the many?

Beyond the fact that there is scant support for the idea of a trinity in scripture, beyond the fact that it is more akin to the beliefs of the pagan converts than it is to the traditions of God's (previously) chosen people... it doesn't make sense! Not just to me, I often hear believers in the Trinity excuse their own inability to understand the concept while they attempt to convince me to believe in it. It's actually painful to watch the contortions that are made to defend the idea. The inability to understand simultaneous separate-ness and one-ness of the trinity is legendary... countless scholars have wasted their lives attempting to explain away the inconsistencies of the doctrine. On the other hand, I can state my interpretation of the topic in 3 sentences:
1. God is the one and only God, without equal. (1 Corinthians 8:4)
2. Jesus is the Son of God (Luke 1:35), not "God the Son", who was born without sin (like Adam) and died without sin (unlike Adam). (Romans 5:18-19)
3. The holy spirit is the new you... the spirit you receive when you are born again. (John 3:5)

Moreover, it doesn't make sense that Jesus is God. If he is God, and God is all-powerful, then Jesus merely has to use his omnipotence to do good works; there is no effort. He CANNOT fail with omnipotence, by definition. Therefore there can be no temptation (James 1:13 verses Hebrews 4:14-15). Also as God, he cannot sin, so how can it possibly matter that he refrained from sinning? If he's God, and God is perfect and incorruptible, then he had no option to sin; therefore, there was no sacrifice. e.g. It is not virtuous to refrain from murder, if you are alone on a deserted island. If Jesus is God, then there is no power in his story. I am FAR more impressed by the mere man (though Son of God) who was able to live a perfect life thru the strength his Father lent to him... strength that can be granted to me by believing and following his lead. Now, THAT is a powerful story! THAT is an empowering story! "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)

If Jesus IS God, then what's the point? Why should anyone care that he didn't sin? That he died? That he rose from the dead? He's God, of course he could do all those things!

I have never understood why any Christian believes in the trinity. Neither have I understood why they would celebrate Easter. Not, at least, after they have taken some time to look into it. I will accept ignorance as a valid excuse... but only until that ignorance becomes willful. However, once a Christian has been made aware of the fact that neither are actually represented in the bible, that person should investigate their belief more thoroughly.

My challenge to all Christians: When you're looking in your Bible for evidence of a trinity, don't come at it with the mindset of defending your existing belief; that will lead you to grasp at every hint and glimmer in a craze of confirmation bias. Instead, take off your existing belief and look at it from the perspective of one who is new to the scripture but is wanting to understand God's word. Could they find it if they weren't told what to look for?

Note: I have intentionally not cited any document other than Bible verses...

1 Corinthians 10:14 ESV
Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
Exodus 23:13 ESV
"Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips.
Exodus 20:3-6 ESV
"You shall have no other gods before me. "You shall not make for yourself a carved 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 on 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.
Psalm 16:4 ESV
The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply
Romans 1:22-25 ESV
Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
Deuteronomy 12:32-13:18 ESV
"Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it. "If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, 'Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. ...

Judges 2:11-14 ESV
And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth (aka Ishtar or Easter). So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them.
1 Kings 11:4-6 ESV
For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth (aka Ishtar or Easter) the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done.

Exodus 12:14
This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.

Exodus 12:23
For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Luke 22:14-20
And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood
1 Corinthians 8:4
Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "an idol has no real existence," and that "there is no God but one."
Luke 1:35
And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy--the Son of God.
Romans 5:18-19
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.
John 3:5
Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
James 1:13
Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
Hebrews 4:14-15
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.