The Origin of the Bible

1. Basic questions with serious implications

The question of where the Bible's teachings came from is an important one. If the God of the Bible actually exists, and inspired the Bible to be written and preserved, then it would seem like a good idea to obey Him and His instructions in the Bible. After all, if the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel)--the God who created everything and everyone--actually exists, then He certainly ought to know what is best for people. On the other hand, if the Bible is just a collection of myths borrowed from other ancient fibbers, then following its "wisdom" might not be so vital.

The origin of the Bible's teachings is one of those basic points upon which much else rests. Many people who imagine themselves to be Christians just assume that the Bible was inspired by God. Such people also tend to carelessly assume that whatever church they go to got its beliefs from the Bible.

Other people question the origin of the Bible. Over the years, various people who don't really believe in the God of the Bible have suggested that the Bible actually originated in paganism. Some authors even think that they have proven this beyond a reasonable doubt. They believe that the Israelites in Old Testament times just adopted the customs of other people, such as the Egyptians. They believe that the Christians in New Testament times likewise went to the pagans for their beliefs. Some authors even claim that Jesus was not an actual historical figure who really existed in the first century C.E., but merely a myth based upon the original pagan myths from a much earlier time.

2. God's ways different than the ways of Egypt and Canaan

In the Bible, it is recorded that God told the Israelites NOT to follow the ways of the land of Egypt, out of which God had just brought them under Moses. Neither were they to follow the ways of the land of Canaan, into which God was about to take them under Joshua. Rather, they were told to follow God's ways. This implies that God's ways are different than the ways of Egypt and the ways of Canaan.

"The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'I am the LORD your God. You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the LORD your God. Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the LORD"" (Leviticus 18:1-5, NIV).

3. The customs of God's people different from those of all other people

In 586 B.C.E., King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeated the Jews in Jerusalem, Judah and carried them away to the Babylonian empire for the prophesied 70 years of captivity. After Persia and Media conquered the Bablylonian empire, Xerxes ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush (the upper Nile region). When Xerxes' highest ranking leader, Haman, wanted to kill Mordecai and annihilate all the Jews, he complained to King Xerxes that their ways were different than everyone else's ways.

"Then Haman said to King Xerxes, 'There is a certain people dispersed and scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom whose customs are different from those of all other people and who do not obey the king's laws; it is not in the king's best interest to tolerate them'" (Esther 3:8, NIV).

Did the Jews really have different customs than all other people on earth, or was this just an exaggeration? Well, Jews still exist today, and the religious ones still try to obey the customs of God as documented in what is commonly called the Old Testament of the Bible. For example, Jews rest on Saturday [the seventh day of the week], which is the biblical Sabbath. Meanwhile, the rest of the world does something different. Each week, the Catholic church, and its Protestant daughter churches that broke away from it, like to observe Sunday [the first day of the week]. This is an estimated 1.9 billion professing "Christians" who believe in observing Sunday. About 1.0 billion Muslims around the world think that Friday [the sixth day of the week] is the day they should observe. And, atheists like to work seven days a week. So, the customs that the Jews learned from God are still different from the customs of almost everyone else on earth.

4. The World hates Jesus

In New Testament times, Jesus and the world did not seem to get along. Jesus told His disciples that the world hated Him and that the world would hate them too! Not a very friendly place for God's people, this old world.

"'If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you'" (John 15:18-19, NIV).

The world's hatred of Jesus and His true followers continues to this very day, even though many so-called Christians think that Jesus has become more popular over the centuries. Unfortunately, it is only their false Jesus of pagan origin that has become more popular. The real Jesus of the Bible is still despised and rejected by men, just like in the first century.

5. The whole World deceived by Satan

The idea of God's ways being different than the ways of everyone else on earth should not be totally surprising. The Bible indicates that the NATIONS and the WHOLE WORLD have been deceived by Satan, and that this deception will not stop until Jesus returns to rule the earth.

"The great dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him" (Revelation 12:9, NIV).

"And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time" (Revelation 20:1-3, NIV).

6. Table of religious confusion

Well, just how deceived are the nations and the people of the world at the present time? On top of all the atheists in the world, there are people with many different religions. A book called WORLD RELIGIONS -- The great faiths explored and explained, by John Bowker, gives some estimates of what people believe. The following figures are from page 210 of the revised edition published in 2003.

POPULATIONS OF WORLD RELIGIONS Numbers are uncertain, and can only give a rough guide to proportional comparisons. Not all religions have been considered in this book, although some are important and numerous: e.g., the Bahais number about 5 million. Religion Christianity Islam Hinduism Buddhism Native Followers 1,900,174,000 1,033,453,000 830,000,000 338,621,000 96,581,000              Religion Sikhism Judaism Confucianism Jainism Shintoism Followers 20,204,000 13,451,000 6,334,000 3,987,000 3,387,000

Many people today assume that Christianity has made some progress over the past two thousand years in converting the world to the truth. It is assumed that the number of believers has grown from the 120 people mentioned in Acts 1:15 to 1.9 billion believers today. The Roman Catholics and Protestants today who consider themselves to be Christians tend to assume that the other religions on earth--such as Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Native, Sikhism, Confucianism, Jainism, Shintoism, etc.--are wrong and deceived, but that the estimated 1.9 billion so-called Christians on earth are right, have the truth of God, and are not deceived. However, the facts about just how thoroughly Satan has deceived the whole world will come as a great surprise to many of these people. The so-called Christians in the Catholic and Protestant churches have not escaped from Satan's deceptions.

7. The Pagan Christ by Tom Harpur

In 2004, a writer by the name of Tom Harpur published his umpteenth book, called THE PAGAN CHRIST -- RECOVERING THE LOST LIGHT. The dust cover on this book says that he is a columnist for the Toronto Star, Rhodes scholar, and former Anglican priest and professor of Greek and New Testament at the Univeristy of Toronto, and a writer on religious and ethical issues. Other sources aren't impressed by Tom Harpur, call his book "recycled garbage," and say that he "writes all manner of squishy New Agish columns for the Toronto Star."

Tom Harpur and this latest book of his, called The Pagan Christ, were influenced by the writings of Godfrey Higgins (1771-1834), Gerald Massey (1828-1907), and Alvin Boyd Kuhn (1880-1963), three self-appointed experts on mythology, religion, and ancient Egypt. Tom did not seem to be able to find any contemporary Egyptologists to quote in support of his claims.

Tom Harpur now believes that Jesus was not an actual historical figure, but merely a myth based on earlier pagan myths. There are other authors who share this view.

8. Tom Harpur's error

Tom Harpur's book will be quoted from a bit below, and commented on. So, let the quotes begin.

"Ironically, centuries later the Church was finally forced to turn to the 'Pagan' Aristotle and his teacher, Plato, to save its theological bacon. The monumental work of St. Thomas Aquinas--which is the foundation of Roman Catholic theology and is based upon the writings of Aristotle, including his whole theory of natural law--testifies to that" (Author's Note at beginning of The Pagan Christ).

Notice right away that it is actually the Roman Catholic church, and not the Bible, whose theological foundation is based on the teachings of the pagan philosophers. Throughout his book, Tom Harpur ignorantly, and wrongly, assumes that the Catholic church got its traditions from the Bible. In fact, the Catholic traditions did not come from the Bible, and the position of the Catholic church is that its traditions are more important than the teachings of the Bible.

Some people (like Tom Harpur, for example) look at the teachings of the Roman Catholic church, and its Protestant daughter churches that came out of it during the Protestant Reformation, and carelessly assume that these churches got their teachings from the Bible. When they discover that the teachings and customs of these churches are similar to the teachings of the ancient pagans, they ignorantly conclude that the Bible was derived from paganism. The problem with such people is that they know what the Catholic church teaches, and what the ancient pagans taught, but they do not know what the Bible really teaches.

9. Catholics plagiarise Egyptian mythologies

"I was aware of Sigmund Freud's harsh-sounding dictum that the Bible was a 'total plagiarism' of the Sumerian and Egyptian mythologies, but I had dismissed this as a gross distortion typical of the founder of modern psychiatry's well-known bias against all religion" (Page 5, The Pagan Christ).

"Egypt and its peoples had knelt at the shrine of the Madonna and Child Isis and Horus for many long centuries before any allegedly historical Mary lifted a supposedly historical Jesus in her arms. ... Kuhn puts it tersely when he says that the entire body of Christian doctrine is simply a revamped and mutilated Egyptianism" (Page 10, ibid.).

"In the catacombs of Rome are many pictures of the baby Horus being held in the arms of his mother, Isis--the original Madonna and Child. Other images, supposed by some of the pious to be likenesses of baby Jesus, are actually of the infant Horus and include a solar disk" (Page 223, Notes at end of The Pagan Christ).

The fact that the Catholic church adopted some images, supposedly of Mary and the baby Jesus but actually of Isis and the baby Horus, does not demonstrate that the Bible came from paganism. It does suggest that the idea for another Catholic trinket came out of Egypt. These quotes really do not say anything about the origin of the Bible. It will be shown in this article that it is, in fact, the customs of the Roman Catholic church that are "a total plagiarism of the Sumerian and Egyptian mythologies." It is the entire body of Roman Catholic doctrine that is "simply a revamped and mutilated Egyptianism." It is true that the teachings of the Roman Catholic church and the teachings of the ancient pagans are very similar. But, the teachings of the Roman Catholic church and the teachings of the Bible are two completely different things. And the Protestant denominations got their teachings from the Catholic church that they came out of rather than from the Bible.

10. Catholic, and pagan, chi-rho symbols

"The cross, as we shall see, was a feature of ancient religion for a vast span of time prior to the Christian era. But imagine my surprise when I discovered that something universally believed to have been a purely Christian innovation--the Greek monogram comprising the first two letters of the word for christ (chi and rho), letters often superimposed on each other in church ornamentation--was also pre-existant to Christianity. It appears on the coins of the the Ptolemies and even those of King Herod the Great almost forty years B.C.E." (Page 11, The Pagan Christ).

This chi-rho stuff is not even mentioned in the Bible. It is just more stuff that the Catholic church adopted from unbiblical sources. The only real surprise here is how surprised Tom Harpur was by his discovery. Perhaps Tom was small man on the old pagan Totem pole--one of the last to know.

11. Trinity: A word not found in the Bible

"Not only did the early Christians take over almost completely the myths and teachings of their Egyptian masters, mediated in many cases by the Mystery Religions and by Judaism in its many forms, but they did everything in their power, through forgery and other fraud, book burning, character assassination, and murder itself, to destroy the crucial evidence of what had happened" (Page 12, The Pagan Christ).

"Elsewhere, speaking of Socrates (who antedated Christianity by about five hundred years), he [St. Augustine] said that he was as grand a Christian as any churchly saint or martyr. Indeed, he said that Socrates' Pagan brand of Christianity was as lofty and pure as the kind he himself knew. Few Christians are aware that Augustine himself received the Christian doctrine of the Trinity from the pagan philosopher Plotinus (c. 205-270 C.E.), who 'fed his mind on the attributes of the Pagan divinities and was steeped in Hellenistic rational religion and esotericism'" (Pages 27-28, ibid.).

The Roman Catholic Church, and its Protestant daughter churches that came out of it in the Protestant Reformation, consider the Trinity doctrine to be so very important that any group that does not believe in the Trinity doctrine is considered to be a cult. However, it cannot be emphasized strongly enough that the word Trinity cannot be found anywhere in the entire Bible, Old Testament or New Testament. In fact, the Trinity teaching is so hard to read into the Bible that some bad character actually had to add some completely spurious text to the New Testament to try to prove it. In I John 5:7-8, late manuscripts of the Latin Vulgate add to the original text of the Bible. The addition is shown below in square brackets.

"For there are three that testify: [in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And there are three that testify on earth:] the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement" (I John 5:7-8, NIV).

A footnote in an English translation of the Bible called the New International Version (NIV) says that the additional text [shown above in square brackets] is not found in any Greek manuscript before the sixteenth century. No such trick would have been necessary if the Trinity teaching really were already clearly taught in the Bible.

Whoever inserted these additional words into the text of the Bible obviously had no concern for the truth or for being honest. The ministers today who knowingly use this deliberate fraud to try to prove the Trinity doctrine likewise have no concern for the truth or for being honest.

The Roman Catholic church has intimidated the other churches of the world into thinking that they cannot be legitimate Christian churches unless they believe in the Trinity--no matter how unscriptural it might be, and no matter whether or not it makes any sense.

How did the Catholic church originally get stuck with the Trinity doctrine? The answer is that in 325 C.E. the Roman Emperor Constantine called the Nicene Council, at which the Trinitarian ideas were formally adopted. Notice that this happened well after New Testament times.

12. Supper Sunday morning versus Passover once a year

"Celsus, a famous Jewish philosopher with whom Origen waged a well-known, detailed debate, said: 'The Christian religion contains nothing but what Christians hold in common with the heathen; nothing new.' For this, Origen had no rebuttal. As well, Ammonius Saccas (c. 175-240), the great founder of Neoplatonism (born of Christian parents himself) and the teacher of Origen, stoutly maintained that Christianity and Paganism differed on no essential points" (Page 29, The Pagan Christ).

One writer said that Celsus was not a "Jewish philosopher" as Tom Harpur erroneously referred to him, but rather a thorough Gentile and pagan. This left him much doubt about his alleged (and undocumented) quote above.

"The evidence of close similarities between Christianity and other ancient world faiths is massive, detailed, extremely specific, and quite incredibly far-flung ... When the Abbe Huc became the first Christian to enter the region of Turkestan, he was filled with consternation when he found the Tartary natives celebrating the Eucharist with bread and wine. Francisco Pizarro was amazed when he found Aztec and Mayan rites and beliefs similar to those of the Roman Catholic system" (Pages 29-30, ibid.).

"Then I read what the otherwise esteemed Christian apologist Justin Martyr had to say about it. He described the Lord's Supper as told in the Gospels and then declared that 'the wicked devils have imitated [it] in the Mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same things to be done'" (Page 64, ibid.).

Again, notice that the Aztec and Mayan rites and beliefs were similar to those of the Roman Catholic system. No doubt, they were nothing like the beliefs in the Bible. What was described by Justin Martyr was not the "Lord's Supper as told in the Gospels," but rather the custom that the Catholics had learned from the pagans. Many people want to have their "supper" every Sunday morning. Some who don't do it that often still want to do it every few months. Very few people want to observe the Lord's Supper once a year in the evening on the proper Passover date like Jesus and his disciples did, as described in the Bible. Most people who profess to be Christians prefer to do things the way they were done "in the Mysteries of Mithras."

The customs observed by Jesus and his true followers were not based on pagan customs but rather on the Old Testament festivals that God had given, such as the Passover and the Days of Unleavend Bread.

"Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast--as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival [The Festival of Unleavened Bread], not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth" (I Corinthians 5:7-8, NIV).

Notice that the custom actually given in the Bible would "proclaim the Lord's death," not celebrate His resurrection.

"For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.' For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (I Corinthians 11:23-26, NIV).

The Passover was observed once a year. The anniversary of someone's death is likewise remembered once a year. But some people twist the phrase "whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup" to mean that it can be done whenever, and as often as, they please. And, interestingly, it just happens to please them to do it when, and as often as, things were done "in the Mysteries of Mithras."

13. Greek wise guys taught by Egyptians

"I remember once reading in Plutarch (c. 45-125 C.E.) that all the ancient Greek wise men--Solon, Thales, Pythagoras, and Plato--had in their day gone to Egypt and been instructed by the priests in the ancient wisdom. But the full impact of that escaped me at that time" (Page 35, The Pagan Christ).

Something was still escaping Tom Harpur at the time he wrote his book. This quote clearly says that it was the Greek wise guys who went to Egypt to get educated in the ancient Egyptian ways. And that is all it says. It does not say that the writers of the Bible went to that source for the Bible's teachings. It is a sign of Tom Harpur's incredible blindness that he would think such statements prove that the Bible was derived from these pagan sources.

"In their 1999 work The Jesus Mysteries: Was the 'Original Jesus' a Pagan God?, two British scholars, Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, examine the close parallels between the Greco-Roman Mystery Religions and early Christianity" (Page 38, The Pagan Christ).

"Freke and Gandy show that Christianity and the Mystery Religions of the preceding and contemporary periods share virtually all the same beliefs, doctrines, rituals, and rites" (Page 38, ibid.).

Something needs to be spelled out plainly right now. This sentence should say "the Roman Catholic church and the Mystery Religions." Terms like Roman Catholic church and Christianity should never be used as if they were interchangeable. In fact, they are the exact opposite of each other. True Christians get their teachings from God through the Bible. The Roman Catholics ultimately get their teachings from Satan through the ancient pagans. The Protestants inherited their customs from the Catholics. Think about it.

14. Observing Sunday instead of God's Sabbath

Sun Worship and Christianity

"Most Church members have no idea of the period of overlap between ancient "Pagan" sun worship and what was gradually developing as "orthodox" Christianity. Constantine, for example, generally recognized as the first Christian emperor, gave tolerance to Christianity in or about 313 in the Edict of Milan, after his victory at the Milvian Bridge, where he had his legendary vision of in hoc signo vince (conquer in this sign, the sign of the cross). But his coins continued to bear the inscription sol deus invictus (unconquwerable sun) for many years. He refused baptism until he was on his deathbed in 337 so that he could die having committed no fresh crimes. He had good reason to worry. Even though he had summoned some 318 bishops to Nicaea in 325 to solve the Arian controversy and thus achieve political and religious unity for the empire--the result was the still-repeated Nicene Creed--he remained a violent man. Having, he thought, settled the doctrine of the Trinity once and for all, he returned home from Nicaea and murdered or caused to have murdered his son, Crispus; his wife, Fausta (boiled alive and suffocated in her bath); his brother-in-law, Licinius, and his son (flogged to death); and several others."

"Constantine never quite gave up the hope of further uniting the empire in the adoration of the one sun god who combined in himself the Father-God of the Christians and the much-worshipped (solar god) Mithras. Significantly, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Pope Leo the Great (pontiff from 440 to 461) witnessed that in his day, it was the custom of many Christians to stand on the front steps of St. Peter's in Rome 'and pay homage to the sun by obeisance and prayers.'"

"The February 2003 issue of the prestigious archeological journal Bible Review carried an illustrated article, 'Faces of Jesus,' which described a famous ceiling mosaic of Tomb M, underneath St. Peter's in the Vatican. It dates to the third or fourth century C.E. The mosaic shows the vine of the Greek sun god, Dionysus, reinterpreted as the vine of Jesus Christ and surrounding a large image of Christ, as the sun God, riding in a sun chariot being pulled across the heavens by four white horses. Thus Jesus was quite literally the 'sun of righteousness' for many members of the Church for several centuries. The well-known Christmas carol 'hark, the Herald Angels Sing' has this line from Scripture: 'Risen with healing in his wings.' A common depiction of the sun in ancient times shows it as winged on two sides. The Christian Sabbath, Sunday, is a direct relic of this solar phenomenon. The Pagan name for it was dies solis (the day of the sun). The phrase 'Our Lord, the Sun' was used in prayer by Christians up to the sixth century, and was even embedded in the Church's liturgy until it was changed to 'Our Lord, the God.'"

(Pages 41-43, The Pagan Christ by Tom Harpur)

The previous quote shows that the Roman Catholics were into sun worship. Yet again, we see that the Roman Catholics got their teachings and practices from paganism. Naturally, this is not something that so-called Christians find easy to admit. So, many modern so-called Christians would like to believe that somewhere in New Testament times Jesus and/or his disciples changed the day of rest from Sabbath to Sunday. Of course, if this were the case, one would expect to find a clear record in the Bible of such a monumental change. Unfortunately for the Sunday-keepers, not a single verse exists anywhere in the entire New Testament to support their theories. All New Testament passages show that Jesus and his disciples observed the biblical Sabbath that had been created by God at the very beginning of human history.

One very common excuse used by modern Sunday-keepers to try to justify their sinful behavior is to claim that the resurrection of Jesus occurred on Sunday morning, and to say that they observe Sunday in remembrance of it. They try to pass themselves off as righteous people who observe Sunday for a good reason so that nobody can object to it. But, why would God's commanded day of rest that had been around for several thousand years suddenly change to some other day of the week just because something interesting supposedly happened on some other day of the week? The fact is that these mentally and morally bankrupt types are always full of nice-sounding excuses for why they utterly refuse to do the things that God commanded people to do. They also try to pass it off as good behavior when they absolutely insist on doing the things that God commanded people not to do. To top it off, they harshly judge anyone who does simply try to follow God's instructions in the Bible. To hear them explain it, you could use any pagan custom under heaven to honor God and He would be pleased. Apparently, the only customs that would not please God and that would be totally unacceptable for worshipping Him are the ones that He commanded in the Bible.

The Sunday morning resurrection excuse for Sunday-keeping really starts to fall apart when one realizes that the Bible does not even say that Jesus' resurrection occurred on Sunday morning. It had already occurred before sunrise Sunday morning.

"Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance" (John 20:1, NIV).

A careful study of the Bible indicates that the resurrection of Jesus actually occurred near the end of the weekly Sabbath that fell during the biblical festival called the Days of Unleavened Bread. If anyone really wants to observe the day that Jesus was resurrected on, they should remember the weekly Sabbath that falls during this biblical festival.

How did the day of rest really get changed from the Sabbath that God had given in the Bible to the Sunday that the pagans liked? The answer is that in about 365 C.E. the Catholic council of Laodicea wrote in one of its most famous canons that, "Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather, honouring the Lord's Day. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ." Notice that this happened well after New Testament times. This shows that even at this late date there were still followers of the biblical Christ who observed God's Sabbath commandment. A great false church tried to change this and force these true Christians to disobey God and do things the way the pagans did.

15. God's Sabbath in the Bible

The Bible does not teach that the first day of the week (Sunday) is anything special. The Old Testament, which was preserved by the Jews in the Hebrew language, certainly does not teach any such thing. And, to the surprise of many so-called Christians, neither does the New Testament, which was preserved in Greek. The real Christian Sabbath is the seventh day of the week (Saturday), and is observed from sunset Friday night to sunset Saturday night. The Christian Sabbath was given by God in the Bible and observed by Christians in the Bible, and is different than the Sunday observance that the Catholics and Protestants got from paganism.

Yet again, we see that the Bible teaches something different than the Catholics, and the Protestants, and the pagans. The biblical Sabbath is the seventh day of the week (Saturday). It is still remembered by religious Jews, and true Christians, and observed from sunset Friday night to sunset Saturday night. The Sabbath day was set apart by God right after He had created the first man, Adam. This means that the "sabbath was made for man" (Mark 2:27, NIV)--not against man--almost two thousand years before any Jews (descendants of Israel's son Judah) existed.

"By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done" (Genesis 2:2-3, NIV).

God had His Sabbath day mentioned in one of His Ten Commandments:

"'Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy'" (Exodus 20:8-11, NIV).

In New Testament times, it was Jesus' custom to observe the biblical Sabbath that had been given by God in the Old Testament:

"He [Jesus] went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read" (Luke 4:16, NIV).

Old Testament prophecies predict that God's Sabbath will still be around at a time that is currently still in the future. Then, the observance of it will have spread to include ALL MANKIND, which is what it was originally designed for.

"'From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,' says the LORD" (Isaiah 66:23, NIV).

It looks like a time will come when the Catholics, and the Protestants, and the pagans--the Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and all others--will be required by God to smarten up and change their behavior. They will have to start to do things God's right way, instead of stubbornly doing things their own wrong ways under the confusing influence of Satan. It seems reasonable to expect that the God described in the Bible will eventually expect everyone to listen to Him and do things His way.

16. More junk: Hippy on a cross

"The ankh, a cross with a circle or loop at the top, was widely used in ancient Egyptian culture as a sign of eternal life, but crosses of all types, from swastikas to the cross of Plato's mythical divine man 'stamped upon the universe,' are evident whenever so-called primitive religion is studied. (Incidentally, the swastika symbol, tainted forever by its appropriation by the Nazis, was found in ancient Hindu, Mexican, and Buddhist traditions, and many others..." (Page 43, The Pagan Christ).

Today, many people who consider themselves to be Christians like to wear crosses as jewelry. They need to realize the true pagan origin of such things, rather than assuming that their trinkets developed from the biblical account of the Romans putting Jesus to death on a stake.

"It needs to be better known that the true sign of Christianity for the earliest centuries of Church history was not a crucifix--a cross bearing the figure of Jesus--but either a bare cross or one with a lamb fastened to it. In the entire iconography of the catacombs, no figure of a man on a cross appears for the first six or seven centuries of the era. It will come as a surprise to many that the first known figure of a god on a cross is a likeness of the sun god Orpheus from some three centuries B.C.E. The crucifix on the amulet on the cover of The Jesus Mysteries, by Freke and Gandy, clearly depicts this image" (Page 45, The Pagan Christ).

Other writers point out that this "Orpheus on the cross" stuff that Harpur says was from three centuries BEFORE Christ was actually never dated earlier than three centuries AFTER Christ, and that it was declared a forgery by experts back in the 1950s.

"Not until 692, in the reign of Emperor Justinian II, was it decreed by the Church (through the Trullan Council) that the figure of the historical Jesus on the cross should supersede that of 'the lamb, as in former times.' Hence the erroneous--and to be quite honest, overly prominent--display of the crucifix throughout the Roman Catholic world today. The bare cross is a more accurate symbol of the original faith" (Page 46, The Pagan Christ).

So, the image of some hippy on a cross was an invention of the Roman Catholic church in 692 C.E., hundreds of years after the New Testament was written. The hippy pictures in some Bibles, and on the covers of others, are an addition of men. The original, inspired text did not have any of these images. Considering how the great false churches have portrayed Jesus, it is not so surprising that some teens have thought it was Christlike to be a drugged-out hippy hitchhiking down the highway to Lotusland.

17. Immortal souls in Egypt going to heaven

"The ancient Egyptians believed that a person consists of body, soul, and spirit. In spite of what some have taught about the meaning of mummification, the Egyptian texts are quite specific: the soul and the spirit of the righteous pass from the body and live with all the beatified and the gods in heaven. 'But,' Budge states, 'the physical body did not rise again, and it was believed never to leave the tomb.' In the fifth-dynasty inscription, about 3400 B.C.E., it says, 'The soul to heaven, the body to earth'" (Page 74, The Pagan Christ).

"The Egyptians believed in the immortality of the soul and of its final glorious, spiritual resurrection from the very dawn of time. The story of Osiris/Lazarus dominated not just their religious thinking but that of the entire Greco-Roman world prior to what we now call the Christian era" (Pages 135-136, ibid.).

The Catholic church, and its Protestant daughter churches that came out of it, teach that each person has an immortal soul that goes to heaven when they die. That is, they teach the same thing as the ancient Egyptians. However, notice that in the Bible Jesus taught something entirely different about 3400 years after the Egyptian inscription.

"'No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man'" (John 3:13, NIV).

The teaching of the Bible is that man is a soul, and that the soul is not immortal but that it can die.

"The soul who sins is the one who will die" (Ezekiel 18:4 and 18:20, NIV).

The Catholic church has also taught that certain types of people will first spend some time in a place called purgatory before they get into heaven. Go ahead and search the entire Bible to see if you can find the word purgatory in it anywhere at all. Purgatory is one Catholic teaching that even the Protestants did not fall for.

The Catholic church has also popularized the idea that the wicked will be eternally tormented in an ever-burning hell fire. Luckily, nobody seems to go to hell anymore when they die. Hell is now reserved for "really bad people like axe-murderers," as explained by one gross Catholic woman who also explained why it was all right for her spoiled daughter, age 15, to have an abortion to get rid of some of the results of her fornication. The woman reasoned that it was just like saying, "Thanks for the kid, God, but I'm not ready for it yet. Here, take it back." She implied that it was different than an axe-murderer saying, "Thanks for that person, but I don't want that person around. Here, take that person back." The conduct and mentality of the typical Catholic suggest that they are not interested in letting the Bible tell them what to believe or how to behave.

Being tormented for all eternity in an ever-burning hell fire that never quite burns one up would be a rather harsh punishment for a mere seventy years (more or less) of sinning. The religious people who expect this to happen to other people will be surprised one day to learn that they themselves are the wicked. At that point, they will be greatly relieved to learn that this is not what the Bible teaches about the fate of the wicked.

18. Observing Christmas and Easter instead of God's Annual Festivals

"At the winter solstice, the ancient Egyptians would parade a manger and a child through the streets of major cities and towns. The birth of the Persian sun god, Mithras, also was held to have occurred in a cave at the winter solstice, sometime between 3000 and 2400 B.C.E. His birthday was celebrated on December 25. Mithraism, a contemporary and keen rival of early Christianity, had a Eucharist-type meal, observed Sunday as its sacred day, had its major festival at Easter (when Mithras' resurrection was celebrated), and featured miracles, twelve disciples, and a virgin birth" (Page 81, The Pagan Christ).

"The evidence that Christianity was in its beginning firmly rooted in an Egyptian-style, equinoctial mode of thinking still abounds today. The birthday of Jesus Christ was first celebrated by the earliest Church in the spring of the year. But in 345, Pope Julius decreed that the birthday (nobody knew any precise date for it, suggesting again that the entire thing was pure myth) should thenceforth be held on December 25, three days after the 'death' of the winter solstice and the same day on which the births of Mithras, Dionysus, the Sol Invictus (unconquerable sun), and several other gods were traditionally celebrated. Few Christians today realize that in the fifth century, Pope Leo the Great had to tell Church members to stop worshipping the sun. The first ostensibly Christian emperor, Constantine, who converted to the new faith at the beginning of the fourth century, was still worshipping the sun god Helios many years later, as coins and other evidence reveal."

"But the birth of the Christian Saviour is not the only event tied to so-called pagan astronomical/astrological roots; the greatest Church festival of all, Easter Day, the moment of Christly Resurrection, is similarly linked. Easter occurs on different dates each year because, like the Jewish Passover, it is based upon the vernal equinox, that dramatic moment when the hours of daylight and the hours of darknessat last draw parallel and then the light finally triumphantly wins out. Thus Easter is always fixed as the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox. It's a cosmic, solar, and lunar event as deeply rooted in religious traditions originating from sun-god worship as one could conceivably imagine. Traditional Christianity, I have come to realize, has forfeited a great deal of its vital historical connection with the natural world and the cosmos as a whole by a deliberate downplaying of the significance of this solar--lunar connection."

(Pages 82-83, The Pagan Christ by Tom Harpur)

"Osiris also is said to 'die' at the winter solstice and be 'reborn' at the spring equinox, again as Horus, on the third day at Easter" (Page 106, ibid.).

So we see in Tom Harpur's book that the Roman Catholic church got its teachings about Christmas and Easter from the ancient pagans, and not from the Bible. The Protestant churches got their teachings from the Roman Catholic church, which they came out of, and not from the Bible. The Bible does not even directly mention customs like Christmas and Easter, much less command their observance. One English translation of the Bible, known as the King James Version (KJV), does say "Easter" in Acts 12:4, but it is a deliberate, flagrant mistranslation of the original Greek word Pascha, or "Passover." No attempt will be made here to detail how all the ideas about rabbits and Easter eggs developed and got associated with the biblical account of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Suffice it to say that the New Testament of the Bible foretold that a time would come when people would "not put up with sound doctrine" (II Timothy 4:3, NIV). It said that, "They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths" (II Timothy 4:4, NIV).

The Bible nowhere gives the date of Jesus' birth, though some indications are that it was in the fall. It would not have been in the winter time since there were still shepherd's out in the fields watching over their flocks at night. In fact, the only two clear mentions in the Bible of anyone ever observing any birthday are the story of the Egyptian Pharaoh in Genesis 40:20-22 (at which time he hanged his chief baker), and the story of Herod in places like Matthew 14:6-11, (at which time he beheaded John the baptizer).

Jesus was probably born in the fall in a manger, not on December 25 in a cave like Mithras. The idea that three wise men visited Jesus after He was born is traditional in Christmas plays put on in churches and schools. This is interesting as the Bible does not say how many wise men there were. The number three appears to be based on pagan stories. It is common practice today to take the biblical account of the birth of Jesus and to read into it all sorts of ideas based on old pagan myths. No attempt will be made here to detail how all the lies and nonsense about a Santa Claus living at the North Pole and delivering gifts with flying reindeer developed and got associated with the Bible and its account of the birth of Jesus. Suffice it to say that the New Testament of the Bible foretold that a time would come when people would "not put up with sound doctrine" (II Timothy 4:3, NIV). It said that, "They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths" (II Timothy 4:4, NIV).

"Seen in their new light, the rituals of Easter and Christmas, along with Christian symbols such as the cross and the Eucharist, glow with renewed significance and depth" (Page 4, The Pagan Christ).

Wow! After making such absolutely shocking discoveries about the pagan origin of his religion, Tom Harpur seems to be trying to salvage something of his lifelong beliefs by openly embracing paganism as if it were something rich with meaning. This way he can hold on to the customs that he has always practiced. The poor man probably does not know what else to do, and is just trying to make sense of it all. A better approach would be to read the Bible again to see what it really does say. Then, he might learn the real significance of the amazing facts that he has stumbled upon. Of course, the real significance is that these rituals have been foisted on people as Christian customs when in fact they really are not. Year after year, various churches read these stories into the Bible, and overlook the story that really is there. Year after year, Christmas and Easter plays put on in churches and schools read the Catholic ideas about Christmas and Easter into the Bible. Year after year, the festivals that really are taught in the Bible get rejected and ignored by the people who observe Christmas and Easter and pretend to be Christians.

Tom Harpur has been carried away by the idea that the gods in the ancient pagan myths were the original and better ones, and that the biblical story of Jesus was just an inferior later copy. The following quote from the Bible contradicts his view and claims that any previous "saviors" were not good.

"Therefore Jesus said again, 'I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them'" (John 10:7-8, NIV).

19. God's Annual Festivals in the Bible

For sure, the Catholic customs of Halloween, Christmas, Easter, etc. came from paganism. But, no evidence was given in Tom Harpur's book that the annual festivals that God gave in the Bible came from paganism. Most so-called Christians today have their heads so full of the unbiblical, pagan-based customs of the Catholic and Protestant churches that they really don't know anything about the teachings of the Bible.

In the New Testament, it is recorded that Jesus would go to Jerusalem to observe the annual festivals that were given by God in Old Testament times. These annual festivals that God gave can be read about in the Bible in places like Exodus 23:14-17 and Leviticus 23:1-44. There is never any mention anywhere in the entire Bible, Old Testament or New Testament, of any righteous people ever observing customs like Halloween, Christmas, Easter, etc. These are all customs that the Roman Catholic church got from the pagans, and modified, and read into the Bible even though they are not really there. Once again, the Bible teaches something completely different than the Catholics and the Protestants and the pagans.

The biblical annual festivals that were given by God in Old Testament times, and observed by Jesus and His followers in New Testament times, are listed in the table below. This is not just the idea of some obscure little cult. These are the annual festivals that are still observed today by the Jews--the very people who preserved what is commonly called the Old Testament of the Bible. These festivals are actually mentioned in the Bible, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, unlike the Catholic customs that need to be read into it.

The dates given are on the Hebrew calendar. Note that the festivals fall on different dates each year on the Gregorian calendar.

Annual Holy Day Calendar God's festivals, at three times of the year, with their seven annual Sabbaths, listed in Leviticus 23 in the Bible
NOTE: The dates given below are on the Hebrew calendar. These festivals fall on different dates each year on the Gregorian calendar.
First time of the year:
Festivals, etc.	Hebrew Date	Annual Sabbaths
First Day of the Year	1st month,  1st day	- - - - - - -
Passover (Observed evening before)	1st month, 14th day	- - - - - - -
Feast of Unleavened Bread (Lasts for seven days)	1st month, 15th day 1st month, 16th day 1st month, 17th day 1st month, 18th day 1st month, 19th day 1st month, 20th day 1st month, 21st day	1st annual Sabbath - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2nd annual Sabbath
Second time of the year:
Festivals, etc.	Hebrew Date	Annual Sabbaths
Pentecost or Feast of Weeks or Feast of Harvest or Feast of Firstfruits	Count off 50 days from the weekly Sabbath that fell during the Feast of Unleavened Bread	3rd annual Sabbath
Third time of the year:
Festivals, etc.	Hebrew Date	Annual Sabbaths
Feast of Trumpets	7th month,  1st day	4th annual Sabbath
Day of Atonement	7th month, 10th day	5th annual Sabbath
Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths or Feast of Ingathering (Lasts for seven days)	7th month, 15th day 7th month, 16th day 7th month, 17th day 7th month, 18th day 7th month, 19th day 7th month, 20th day 7th month, 21st day	6th annual Sabbath - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Last Great Day or Closing Assembly	7th month, 22nd day	7th annual Sabbath

Many hundreds of years after the festivals listed in the table above were given by God, Jesus was killed on the exact date of Passover one year in the first century C.E. while He was in Jerusalem with his disciples to observe the Passover festival. No doubt, many modern so-called Christians would like to think that the death and resurrection of Jesus put an end to the annual festivals that God had given in Old Testament times. However, fifty days after Jesus' resurrection, his followers were observing Pentecost--another one of the annual festivals that God had given in Old Testament times. In fact, it was on the exact date of Pentecost that year that the Holy Spirit was poured out on Jesus' followers, as told in Acts 2. Clearly, these festivals that God gave in the Bible have significant meaning, and major events in God's plan of salvation have occured on the exact dates of these festivals. Considering the things that happened in New Testament times on the exact dates of the festivals that occur in the springtime and early summer, it seems reasonable to expect that the autumn festivals will also be fulfilled in an amazing way at some point in the future. Some have even speculated that when Jesus returns to the earth, it might actually be on the exact date of the Feast of Trumpets that year.

Just as some Old Testament prophecies predict that God's weekly Sabbath will still be around at a time that is currently still in the future, so other Old Testament prophecies predict that God's annual festivals will still be around at a time that is currently still in the future. And, just as ALL MANKIND will be required to observe God's weekly Sabbath, so will ALL THE NATIONS be required to observe God's annual festivals.

"Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain. If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The LORD will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles" (Zechariah 14:16-19, NIV).

Again, it looks like a time will come when the Catholics, and the Protestants, and the pagans--as well as the Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and all others--will be required by God to smarten up and do things His way. The God who created all people might let them go their own ways for a while, under the confusing influence of Satan, but will eventually insist one day that they start to do things right.

20. Following a Fish instead of the Lamb

"Several of the early Christian Fathers refer to Christ also as Ichthys, or 'that great fish,' and the mitre worn by succeeding popes 'in the shoes of the fisherman' is shaped exactly like a fish's mouth. It's well known that the Greek word ichthys forms an acrostic meaning 'Jesus Christ the Son of God (Our) Saviour.' Having been in Rome numerous times during my dozen years covering religion around the world for the Toronto Star, I have seen first-hand how frequently the outline of a fish occurs in catacombs as a Christian symbol. It also doubled as a sign of the Eucharist" (Page 88, The Pagan Christ).

"Jesus, Horus, and many other 'gods' came as fish" (Page 106, ibid.).

Now this certainly sounds fishy. The Bible nowhere says anything at all about Jesus coming as a fish. This is more Catholic tradition inherited from the pagans. Those old catacombs seem to be a real hotbed of ancient pagan symbolism. The Bible just does not talk about the "Fish of God." The Bible refers to Jesus as the "Lamb of God."

"The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'" (John 1:29, NIV).

Old Tom Harpur just keeps on looking at the customs of the Catholic church, pointing out that they originated with the pagans, and then harping that the Bible came from paganism. He does not know that the idea for the fish symbol that so-called Christians put on modern automobile bumper stickers and refrigerator magnets did not come from the Bible.

21. When and how the Catholic church changed things

"I was quickly forced to realize that it was not by any means the same religion in the fourth century that it had been in the first" (Page 50, The Pagan Christ by Tom Harpur).

"I discovered in my research that like Massey and Kuhn, a host of other scholars have documented such a horror story of book burning, forgery, and deliberate fraud over the late second, third, and fourth centuries that anyone unfamiliar with it can scarcely take it all in" (Page 54, ibid.).

"Charles B. Waite, in his History of the Christian Religion to the Year 200, tells how Eusebius, whose Ecclesiastical History is the principal source for the history of Christianity from the apostolic age until his own day, was a most conspicuous liar. What's almost equally bad is that Eusebius frequently made many sloppy mistakes. 'No one has contributed more to Christian history, and no one is guilty of more errors,' Waite charges. 'The statements of this historian are made, not only carelessly and blunderingly, but in many instances in falsification of the facts of history. Not only the most unblushing falsehoods, but literary forgeries of the vilest character darken the pages of his ... writing.' I had heard not a word about any of this during my years of training for the Anglican priesthood."

"Waite cites authorities who confirm this scandal by asserting that Eusebius indeed had 'a peculiar faculty for diverging from the truth.' He was always ready to supply by fabrication what was wanting in the historical record. In other words, this great world religion actually rests on a foundation of falsehood and forgery" (Page 54, ibid.).

"Few mainline Church members today are aware of just how extremely critical Sir Edward Gibbon is in Decline and Fall of all these early Christian frauds, deceptions, and forgeries" (Page 54, ibid.).

"Anyone truly familiar with Gibbon's scrupulously careful account knows that he found everything about Christian 'history' until 250 totally untrustworthy and 'suspicious.' He wrote, 'The scanty and suspicious materials of ecclesiastical history seldom enable us to dispel the dark cloud that hangs over the first age of the church'" (Page 55, ibid.).

"In an article on evolution in the Catholic Encyclopedia, the historian Alexander Wilder says that men like Irenaeus, Epiphanius, and Eusebius (all early Christian apologists) 'have transmitted to posterity a reputation for such untruth and dishonest practices that the heart sickens at the story of the crimes of that period.' The duplicity, he notes, is all the worse since the whole Christian outline rests upon it" (Page 55, ibid.).

"The whole aim of these third- and fourth-century Machiavellian machinations was to obscure and conceal all traces of the deep connection between the 'new light' of Christian revelation and its Pagan past" (Page 56, ibid.).

"They in fact succeeded in reducing the first four centuries to total silence on all matters of the most vital importance for any proper understanding of the Christian religion" (Page 56, ibid.).

Notice in the quotes above that the lying, frauds, and forgeries occurred after New Testament times by the Catholics. The true Christians from those times did not behave like that.

Even in New Testament times, the original apostles had problems with people turning away from the truth. The problem was not merely that false preachers came around, but that people who should have known better liked these false preachers and were attracted to their false teachings. The apostle Paul wrote:

"But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough" (II Corinthians 11:3-4, NIV).

"What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching ... You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes" (II Timothy 1:13-15, NIV).

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths" (II Timothy 4:3-4, NIV).

That people would turn away from the truth of God and turn aside to MYTHS was all predicted in the Bible in New Testament times. That people falsely passing themselves off as Christians would turn away from the truth of God and turn aside to pagan MYTHS was all predicted in the Bible before it happened over the following centuries. It was all written before--in the Bible.

22. Conclusions

For sure, the Catholics and the Protestants inherited many of their customs and beliefs from the ancient pagans. But, no one should be too quick to be intimidated or dismayed by those who claim that they have proven that the Bible originated in paganism. Tom Harpur's book mentions all sorts of Catholic customs and beliefs as if they were biblical. At the same time, it shows a great ignorance of the things that really are in the Bible. Tom Harpur's current agenda is to try to discredit the Bible so that people will think that they don't have to take it seriously or obey God's laws. Therefore, he gives bad counsel on religious and ethical matters. It does not seem likely that he would have any interest in going along with the things that really are taught in the Bible.

"Altogether, Massey discovered nearly two hundred instances of immediate correspondence between the mythical Egyptian material and the allegedly historical Christian writings about Jesus. Horus indeed was the archetypal Christ" (Page 85, The Pagan Christ).

Nearly two hundred instances? Wow! But, on page 77 of Tom Harpur's book, the actual number of instances that Gerald Massey had discovered was given as 180, so almost 20 of the 200 were hot air. You can come up with a lot of points if you count every picky detail and use hot air for filler. You can come up with even more instances if you just carelessly make false claims. Of these 180 instances, only about 14 sets of points are listed on pages 83 through 85 of Tom's book. Presumably, Tom would have chosen what he thought were the best of the bunch. Yet, other writers completely disagree with, and take apart, these examples that were given of Massey's discoveries and conclusions. The points that were listed in Harpur's book show that some of Massey's points are simply careless errors. For example, one point said:

"Significantly, Horus was called the KRST, or 'anointed one,' from a word that was inscribed or painted on the lid of a mummy's coffin millennia before Christianity duplicated the story" (Page 84, The Pagan Christ).

Points like this one in Harpur's book could be troubling to people who don't realize that such claims are just being carelessly made up by ignorant people. In fact, KRST is the Egyptian word for "burial" ("coffin" is written KRSW). There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to link this with the Greek title Christ, or the Hebrew title Messiah, which both mean "Anointed One."

As for the rest of the 180 items, which were not listed, unless they are better than the major points that have already been discussed in this article, they would merely confirm how indebted the Catholic church is to the pagans for its teachings and customs. Most of Massey's unlisted points are probably similarities between the Roman Catholic writings and the writings of the ancient pagans. As already shown in this article, there are plenty of cases of that. The actual teachings of the Bible are a different matter.

It is true that the Catholics and Protestants have been following a false Christ, a pagan Christ! They need to repent and start following the true Christ of the Bible!! In fact, the Catholic church and its Protestant daughter churches have severely persecuted those who did believe biblical teachings and who did obey biblical commands. The Bible contains many teachings that the Catholics and Protestants have always strongly rejected and taught against. These are the true biblical teachings, which did NOT come from paganism. This is the TRUE LOST LIGHT that needs to be recovered!!!