In answering this question, let us first of all define what superstition is. Wordnik defines this as follows:

“1. An irrational belief that an object, action, or circumstance not logically related to a course of events influences its outcome.

“2. A belief, practice, or rite irrationally maintained by ignorance of the laws of nature or by faith in magic or chance.

“3. A fearful or abject state of mind resulting from such ignorance or irrationality.”

“Therefore, a superstitious person is one who relates to, or is swayed by superstition.

“Superstition is irrational as can be worked out when reviewing some of these actions that are taken by superstitious people:

“… crossing fingers for luck; touching [or knocking on] wood; not walking under a ladder (although it would be sensible if doing that to check that it was safe to do so); throwing salt over your shoulder; a black cat crossing your path; a broken mirror bringing seven years of bad luck; Friday the 13^th being an unlucky day. Some countries won’t have a 13^th level on an apartment block. Don’t open an umbrella inside a house. Finding a horseshoe is good luck.”

And there are more of course. Lucky charms are another source of superstition thinking that a ‘rabbit’s foot,’ a lucky horseshoe or a four-leafed clover can change one’s luck.  Because of its association with the Norse god Odin, the lowly acorn is also considered a symbol of luck. Odin hung himself from an oak tree to gain knowledge, so the acorn has come to symbolize wisdom.

Tempting fate is to invite bad luck or unpleasant situations by showing one’s confidence in something.

It is interesting that many football (soccer) players in the UK step on to the pitch with a variety of different things they do: crossing themselves, kissing their wrist, kissing the ground, looking up into the sky etc.   It could be that they think that it is part of their faith but the Bible nowhere states that such gestures have to be carried out.   It is more likely a ritual for superstitious players. 

One famous football goalkeeper for many years used to wear his socks inside-out during matches!

When a game is on a knife edge, many cricketers who are on the batting side and not on the field of play, will sit in the same position in the pavilion and not move until the outcome of the match is known.   One famous cricket umpire would dance on one foot when the score was on 87 or 111 as these are considered unlucky numbers.

One world famous tennis player goes through the same routine during every game. Before he serves, he places some of his hair behind each one of his ears and also tugs on his shorts and then touches several parts of his head just before serving.   Another champion tennis player always got up second from the chair and would also never step on the lines of the court. And a top female tennis player always brought her shower sandals to the court, tied her shoelaces a specific way and bounced the ball five times before her first serve and twice before her second.

Why?  Reuters reported some years ago that “psychologists say people often become superstitious when faced with unknown and stressful situations, which explains why so many athletes are superstitious and frequently bound to rigid preparation routines.  ‘When the stakes are high and there is a great deal of uncertainty – as in top-level sport – then people will try anything to get the outcome they want,’ Richard Stephens, a senior lecturer in psychology at Keele University, told Reuters.”

There can be references to the “sporting gods” as if they were real rather than just a figment of man’s imagination.

Astrology – looking at what the stars have in store for us – is a pastime, deemed to be harmless, that many regularly get involved with.  [This would also include consulting horoscopes to learn about our future.]  Deuteronomy 4:19 gives us God’s answer to such practices: “And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the LORD your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.”

The Bible is instructive when it teaches that “whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap” (see Galatians 6:7).   Such instruction reveals that actions produce good and bad results, depending on what they are and these are based on Godly wisdom, not just random or accidental events.

It has been said that because superstition is dependent upon unseen forces, atheists and agnostics often say that anyone who believes in God may well be superstitious.  Of course, this is erroneous thinking as those who truly believe in the great God are confident of, and can prove that, the Creation requires a Creator and there are spiritual unseen forces that must exist for this to have occurred.

We read in Colossians 2:8-10: “ Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.”

The Benson Commentary observes: “It seems some teachers had crept in among the Christians at Colosse, either of Gentile or Jewish extraction, who endeavoured to blend deceits of this kind with the gospel of Christ, and that this is what the apostle here condemns; 1st, Because it was empty and deceitful, promising wisdom, but giving none. 2d, Because it was grounded, not on truth, or solid reason, but on the vain and false traditions of men. 3d, Because, as the apostle here says, it was after the rudiments, στοιχεια, the elements, of the world — Such as the [unbiblical] Jewish ceremonies [being a product of human inventions], or the pagan superstitions.”

In 1 Samuel 5, we read about the Philistines taking the ark and putting it next to Dagon in the house of Dagon (verses 1-2).   In verses 4-5 we read: “And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon’s torso was left of it. Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.”  

The Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary states the following: “Therefore neither the priests … nor any … tread on the threshold of Dagon—A superstitious ceremony crept in, and in the providence of God was continued, by which the Philistines contributed to publish this proof of the helplessness of their god….unto this day—The usage continued in practice at the time when this history was written—probably in the later years of Samuel’s life.”

There is another excellent example in the Old Testament of superstitious beliefs.   In 1 Kings 18, we read about Elijah’s Mount Carmel Victory: “And Elijah came to all the people, and said, ‘How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.’ But the people answered him not a word” (verse 21).  Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal in verses 22-25 and they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon (verse 26).   As nothing happened, we read in verses 27-29, “And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, ‘Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.’  So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them.   And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.”

Again, reading from the Benson Commentary, it observes that: “The worship of idols being a most ridiculous thing, it is perfectly just to represent it so, and expose it to scorn. And nothing can be imagined more cutting and sarcastic than these words of the prophet, in which he ridicules, in the finest manner possible, their wretched, false, and derogatory ideas of the Deity. The two last notions of being asleep and not at home, how absurd soever they may be, when applied to the Deity, were certainly such as several idolaters conceived of their gods, as appears from various passages in Homer…”   These were superstitious, unproven practices that led to the downfall of these pagan priests as we read in verses 30-40.

We read in 1 Samuel 28, starting in verse 7, that King Saul consulted a witch at En Dor.   He should never have done this as God had said, “You shall not permit a sorceress to live” (Exodus 22:18), but he did this out of desperation and the end result was catastrophic as he died in battle the following day.   In Leviticus 19:31 we read: “Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.”   Today, witchcraft and superstition go hand in hand and they are not harmless.

Jeremiah 10:2 states: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.’”  Matthew Poole’s Commentary observes: “Learn not the way of the heathen: the Jews being to live among the Chaldeans in their captivity, where many of them were already, the prophet in this sermon admonisheth them against the superstitions of the Chaldean idolatries…..”

In Ezekiel 13:17-19, we read: “ Likewise, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart; prophesy against them, and say, ‘Thus says the LORD God: “Woe to the women who sew magic charms on their sleeves and make veils for the heads of people of every height to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of My people, and keep yourselves alive?  And will you profane Me among My people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, killing people who should not die, and keeping people alive who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies?”’”

Barnes Notes on the Bible has this to say about this passage of Scripture: “Most ancient interpreters and many modern interpreters have understood the ‘pillows’ (or charms) and ‘kerchiefs’ (or veils), as appliances to which the sorcerers had resort in order to attract notice. The veil was a conspicuous ornament in the east – women whatever their ‘stature’ (or height) putting them on – and it was worn by magicians in order to seem more mysterious and awful.”   Sorcerers and magic were condemned by God and were part of the superstitious nature that seemed to attract so many.

In Acts 17 we read of Paul and the philosophers at Athens.   The fact that they were superstitious is indicated in verses 22-23: “Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ Hill and said, ‘Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.  For as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription: “To the Unknown God”. Whom therefore ye worship in ignorance, Him I declare unto you’” (21st Century King James Version).   It seemed that they were “hedging their bets’ or “to avoid committing oneself; to leave a means of retreat open” (phrases.org.uk). Even those who were supposedly religious, were superstitious in this case.

(To be continued)

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

As members of the Church of God, we trust God because He is the great Creator and the source of all power.   He is the greatest being in the universe and knows all that is going on in our lives and what we need.   Human beings are fallible and make mistakes.   God does not.

Is it compatible to say that a man can trust both in God and man?  Let us start with Psalm 118:8 where we read: “It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in man.”

The explanations given by a number of Bible Commentaries on this verse are helpful.   Let us look at a few of these:

Barnes Notes on the Bible states:

“It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man – This is stated apparently as the result of his own experience. He had found people weak and faithless; he had not so found God. Compare Psalm 40:4; Psalm 62:8-9.  Literally, ‘Good is it to trust in Yahweh more than to confide in man.’ This is the Hebrew form of comparison, and is equivalent to what is stated in our version, ‘It is better’ etc. It is better,

“(1) because man is weak – but God is almighty;

“(2) because man is selfish – but God is benevolent;

“(3) because man is often faithless and deceitful – God [is] never;

“(4) because there are emergencies, as death, in which man cannot aid us, however faithful, kind, and friendly he may be – but there are no circumstances in this life, and none in death, where God cannot assist us; and

“(5) because the ability of man to help us pertains at best only to this present life – the power of God will be commensurate with eternity.”

The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary observes:

“Even the most powerful men are less to be trusted than God.”

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible states:

“It is better to trust in the Lord…. This, with what follows in Psalm 118:9, is the conclusion from the above premises and experience; it is good to trust in the Lord; such enjoy peace, are in safety, shall not want any good thing, nor ever be ashamed and confounded: the Targum [explanation of “Targum” below] is:

“‘it is better to trust in the Word of the Lord;’ than to put confidence in man; it is not good to put confidence in man at all [but note the previous comments above and subsequent comments below]; it is trusting to a broken staff, to a mere shadow, which can yield no support or relief: it is best to trust in the Lord; he is able to help, as well as willing; he is faithful to his word, and unchangeable in his promises; whereas man, though he may have a will to help, oftentimes has it not in his power; and when it is in his power, and has promised it, he disappoints, being changeable or unfaithful. Wherefore trust not in man, but in the Lord; yea, cursed is the man that trusts in man; see Jeremiah 17:5.”

Regarding the Targum, Wikipedia states that “The Targum is a term for various Aramaic versions of the Hebrew Bible or parts of it, dating from the post-exilic period. They were used for oral translation and exposition in synagogues, and later became written texts with commentary and interpretation.”

King David knew from personal bitter experience what it was like to be let down by another human being when he wrote in Psalm 41:9: “Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.”  In short, the Lord is a “refuge” who is totally dependable and reliable because He is perfect, whereas human beings called by God today must be striving to improve in everything they do and are not yet perfect; thus, they will make mistakes.   The instruction doesn’t say to never trust other human beings, but rather, trusting God is better – and by a very large margin!

Matthew Poole’s Commentary states the following about Psalm 41:9: “‘Mine own familiar friend’; he means either Ahithophel, or some other perfidious counsellor or courtier, who was a type of Judas, to whom therefore it is applied, John 13:18, as David was a type of Christ in being thus betrayed.  So these words were literally fulfilled in David, and yet the Holy [Spirit] which dictated them, looked further in them, even to Christ and Judas, in whom they received a further and fuller accomplishment.”   Even King David had those who let him down with their wrong type of behaviour and didn’t behave like a trusted friend.

King David’s son and successor, Solomon, wrote in Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”

One commentator wrote: “It is precisely because we know that God will never fail us that we can trust others. Our ultimate security is in Him, so we are free to trust others and experience the joy it brings. Trusting others is almost inseparable from loving others.”

Let us review Micah 7:5: “Do not trust in a friend; Do not put your confidence in a companion; Guard the doors of your mouth From her who lies in your bosom.” 

We read in Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible the following explanation (our emphasis underlined):

“‘Trust ye not in a friend’…. This is not said to lessen the value of friendship; or to discourage the cultivation of it with agreeable persons; or to dissuade from a confidence in a real friend; or in the least to weaken it, and damp the pleasure of true friendship, which is one of the great blessings of life; but to set forth the sad degeneracy of the then present age, that men, who pretended to be friends, were so universally false and faithless, that there was no dependence to be had on them.”

For many today, the same principle can easily apply.

Jeremiah 17:5 reads: “Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the LORD.” 

Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers states: “’

“‘Cursed be the man’… The words are vehement and abrupt, but they burst from the prophet’s lips as proclaiming the root evil that had eaten into the life of his people. Their trust in an arm of flesh had led them to Egyptian and Assyrian alliances, and these to departing from the Lord.”  

This passage looks at the emphasis on man’s ability and influence rather than the strength we can have through trusting God.  The emphasis was wrong and it also clearly shows the principle of “whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).

There is much to learn from God’s Word about the way that we must conduct ourselves as those who have been called to “the Way” by the Father.   We ourselves are less than perfect, and we will make many mistakes and errors of judgment throughout our lives, however well-intentioned we may be.   We will let others down at times, maybe unknowingly in some circumstances, but as we have not yet achieved perfection, mistakes will be made and trust may figure amongst those problems that will arise in our lives.

It is something well worth remembering that trust goes two ways.   We cannot expect that others will be perfect in this way because we ourselves are not perfect.

When we were called into the true Church of God, we learnt so many things that were previously a mystery to us.   Did we discount all of this information initially because when we didn’t yet fully understand all that we were learning or did we trust God that what He said was totally trustworthy?   For all those now reading and understanding these words, the answer is that we did trust God; otherwise, we wouldn’t still be an active member in His Church.   Of course, it should be much easier to trust God because we see His mighty creation and know that He is supreme over all, but some may still have “reasons” why that might not apply to them. 

Hebrews 11 is known as the “faith” chapter, and in verse 1 we read: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”   This is where our trust in God is shown, and we read about the benefits of such belief in Isaiah 26:3: “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.”

We know that we can trust God because He is perfect but man is not, but that doesn’t mean that we should not trust others as far as we are able and as far as they deserve such trust:

Christianity.com makes these excellent observations:

“If you are like me, there are a great many people you have come to trust in your life. Over the years, they have proven themselves trustworthy. People you can count on in a time of need. A great many others you have learned to never trust. They have let you down time and again — and again and again.

“The list of those who are trustworthy every time is quite likely far shorter than those who have proven unreliable and undependable.

“And it is not a restricted list: parents, siblings, friends, co-workers, bosses, teammates. Those people all make those who do prove trustworthy that much more of a treasure.

“A trusted friend is more precious than pure gold. Rarer too, perhaps. When we find that person, we tend to cling tightly.

“Trusting in people is not a bad thing — in fact, such a friend is to be appreciated and is truly valuable in a time of need.

“When that trusted friend also happens to be your spouse, it is a timeless treasure to be cherished.  Such healthy, trusting relationships can and will bear much fruit in our lives.

“Friends who trust can talk to each other; lean on each other; bear one another’s burdens — and be counted on to keep each other’s secrets.

“But… if we are honest, we also know that friends — human beings — can, and will, let us down. Whether intentionally or unintentionally.   We are all broken beings and all subject to mistakes. We know, too, the damage it can cause — both to the relationship, as well as our lives and the lives of others.”

In our Christian Way of Life, we are given the tools to do what we know is right, but it might not be that easy to ascertain and to act correctly when decisions have to be made. 

For example, we read in Proverbs 26:4-5:

“Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes.”  

We don’t just sit back expecting that God Himself will sort these things out for us, but He will certainly give us the wisdom to make such right decisions.   Likewise, He will also give us the guidance, if we request this from Him, in whether to trust other fallible human beings or not.

We must remember that when immorality defiled the Church in the early days of apostolic Christianity, the apostle Paul wrote, as recorded in 1 Corinthians 5:9-10:

“I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.”   Even in the early Church, there were some considerable problems.

There is a saying that no man is an island, and this was originally written by John Donne and is about the connection between all of humankind and the need for each other.

litcharts.com observes:

“Donne essentially argues that people need each other and are better together than they are in isolation, because every individual is one piece of the greater whole that is humanity itself. The paragraph isn’t actually a poem but a famous excerpt from Donne’s Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions. Written in 1623 when Donne was in the grips of a serious illness, the Devotions examine what it means to be a human being and the relationship between humanity and God.   An island is a piece of land surrounded on all sides by water; it’s entirely cut off from the mainland. In saying that nobody is an island, then, Donne is saying that nobody exists entirely cut off on all sides from the metaphorical mainland of humanity. In other words, nobody is completely isolated and alone.”

On the website biblestudytools.com, we read:

“Trusting people is not a bad idea, in fact, trusting people, certain people is wise and essential. The Bible makes clear from the Book of Genesis that God does not desire for any of us to be alone. God made Eve for Adam, and for each of us God desires companionship in some form.

“When we put trust in people, we can reap the fruits of a healthy relationship. A trusting couple experiences peace and calm in their relationship as a result. When questionable things occur, communication is had and all issues get resolved. Friends who trust will talk, share secrets, and bear one another’s burdens. Children who trust adults are more likely to share and seek support.

“However, people, unlike God, can damage trust, whether accidentally or intentionally. If we are accustomed to running to people every time we need help, and not God, we will find ourselves disappointed. Sometimes people don’t want to hear our problems, sometimes they are unavailable. There are times we put our trust in people only to receive bad advice, be lied to, or for someone to divulge our secrets. Not everyone engages in this, but trusting people can potentially have this result. That’s the risk we take when building a relationship.

“That is not the case with God. He is a trustworthy refuge, a permanent one, a person to run to and a place to reside. Humans cannot offer that for us and that is why we need to keep our focus on God. He is for us what people never can be, and for that, He will always remain trustworthy.”

There are many verses that talk about human relationships and the need for inter-acting with others.  When we trust others, it can lead to healthy relationships and partnerships which is the state of having shared interests or efforts.  But, most critical of all is our relationship with God which is of paramount importance and He is the One whom we can always trust.

God NEVER lets us down and unlike human beings, He doesn’t gossip. He always keeps His word, is totally reliable and is there for us at all times.   On the other hand, human beings live in a world which is under the sway of Satan the devil (compare 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2) which can prove troublesome for true Christians unless we are anchored to the great God.  

Trust, primarily and essentially in God, is vital to our spiritual well-being and trust within our human relationships is necessary for setting the very best example we can, particularly, but not exclusively, within the true Church of God.   We should strive always to be trustworthy and not let others down, and take note of the apostle Paul’s admonition as we read in Ephesians 4:1-2: “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to have a walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.”

We must always trust God in all things as He knows what is best for all of us, and we can ask Him to give us insight and wisdom about whom we can trust and, in the final analysis, trust God with the outcomes.   And we ourselves must work on being trustworthy to others at all times.

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

In part 3, we looked at the fact that paganism is the very opposite of belief in a supreme Creator God and is inextricably linked with occult practices.  We looked at a small selection of verses from the Bible to show its consistency in condemning such practices.

In the last part of this four-part series, we will look at a number of well-researched sources that show that paganism has been a part of mainstream Christianity for a very long time.  This practice is called syncretism—the mixture of godly and ungodly practices. Syncretism was extant in Old Testament times.   Let us look at just one section of Scripture outlining this in Deuteronomy 12:29-32:

“When the LORD your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD  which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.”

God gave the ancient Israelites clear instructions about not following what surrounding nations did, but they didn’t listen to and heed the warnings.  Elements of pagan worship were incorporated against the clear instructions from God not to do so – for their own benefit.

Moving on to the New Testament, we read in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1959, vol. 5, p. 642 the following about “Christmas”: “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the church…. Christmas customs are an evolution from the times that long antedated the Christian period—a descent from seasonal, pagan, religious and national practices, hedged about with legend and tradition.”

In an article, “Catholicism Confronts New Age Syncretism” by Bernard D. Green, we read the following interesting information:

“They recently ran a story about the possibility that the Catholic feminist movement known as Women-Church was losing all connection with Catholic tradition. The report said that an upcoming Women-Church conference would have, in addition to rituals by witches, rituals led by ‘Buddhists, American Indians, Quakers and Jewish leaders–as well as by Catholic nuns.’

“This syncretistic mentality is widespread in the Church today. Witness the following description of the program of a respected Midwestern Catholic center for spirituality: ‘Readings are selected every day from the sacred texts of Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, and Islam, as well as Christianity. On occasion, ancient festivals of the Celts or Saxons are remembered, and members dance around a maypole or fire-pit in the fields or forest…. The Chapel is visually stimulating and instructive…. Icons of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Risen Christ are placed side by side with statues of Buddha, Lord Vishnu and Moses.’”

The above details are quite shocking but hardly unexpected in today’s religious supermarket.  We know that modern Christianity has much syncretism within its structure; for example, Christmas and Easter and other worldly and non-biblical saints days are all derived from paganism.

Will Durant and his wife wrote the following in Volume III, titled “Caesar and Christ” (1944, p. 595: “Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it…. [T]he Greek mysteries passed down into the impressive mystery of the Mass. Other pagan cultures contributed to the syncretist result. From Egypt came the ideas of a divine trinity, the Last Judgment, and a personal immortality of reward and punishment; from Egypt the adoration of the Mother and Child…. From Phrygia came the worship of the Great Mother; from Syria the resurrection drama of Adonis…. The Mithraic ritual so closely resembled the eucharistic sacrifice of the mass that Christian fathers charged the Devil with inventing these similarities to mislead frail minds. [Nicaean] Christianity was the last great creation of the ancient pagan world.”

On another website, the question is asked “what do these two – Christianity and paganism” have in common?  The answer is given as follows: “The roots of Christianity are interlaced with ancient pagan traditions and elements, mainly because the Church gained power through conversion. In order to convert the people of Europe (and the world) from their pagan beliefs, the Church felt they had to turn them against their beliefs by fear or adopt the pagan beliefs into the Christian religion.”

We can see this in mainstream Christianity where the Roman Catholic Church has so much of this embedded in their “belief” system.  The true Church of God, down through the ages, has stayed with the Truth as outlined in the Word of God.  This approach which we read in the New Testament is very different from that which is practiced by the mainstream today where syncretism in the true Church of God has not been accepted, nor is it practiced.

When congregations of the true Church of God began, however, to engage in pagan practices, then they ceased very soon to be part of the true Church of God.

There are other books that have been written showing how apostolic Christianity survived but other forces were accepted into the apostate church from early on.  In the book “A History of the True Church,” the writers, Dugger and Dodd, make these comments on page 57 which discuss the period 100 AD to 200 AD.  They quote Hurlbutt in his “Story of the Christian Church” on page 41, as follows: “For 50 years after St Paul’s life, a curtain hangs over the church, through which we vainly strive to look; and when it at last rises, about 129 AD with the writings of the earliest church-fathers, we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St Peter and St Paul.”

“The Two Babylons” by Alexander Hislop is an interesting and well researched book quoting from hundreds of sources with 621 illustrations, showing the connections between the Roman Catholic Church and ancient paganism, and in his conclusion the writer states: “I have now finished the task that I proposed to myself.   Even yet the evidence is not nearly exhausted; but on the evidence which has been adduced, I appeal to the reader if I have not proved every point which I engaged to demonstrate.   Is there one, who has candidly considered the proof which has been led, that now doubts that Rome is the Apocalyptic Babylon?   Is there one who will venture to deny that, from the foundation of the topmost stone, it is essentially a system of paganism?”

In August 2017, a columnist in the Guardian newspaper wrote the following: “‘Five centuries after the Reformation triggered a series of long and bloody religious wars across Europe; modern-day Protestants and Catholics believe they have more in common theologically than they do differences, and most would be willing to accept each other as neighbours and family members. Theological differences that split western Christianity in the 1500s have diminished to a degree that might have shocked Christians in past centuries,’ says a report by the Washington-based Pew Research Center.” 

This commonality can be seen in the keeping of Christmas, Easter celebrations, belief in a trinity, Sunday keeping (not the true Sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset), the keeping of saints days and the ignoring of God’s commanded annual Feast Days, pouring or sprinkling in infant baptisms and other areas.  Both Roman Catholics and Protestants have accepted syncretism in their churches which is roundly condemned by God, and paganism concepts have been part of their journey.

In the book “The Golden Bough” by Sir James Frazer, a thick tome of over 750 pages, he writes the following: “Thus it appears that the Christian Church chose to celebrate the birthday of its Founder on the 25^th December in order to transfer the devotion of the heathen from the Sun to him who was called the Sun of Righteousness.   If that was so, there can be no intrinsic improbability in the conjecture that motives of the same sort may have led the ecclesiastical authorities to assimilate the Easter festival of the death of their Lord to the festival of the death and resurrection of another Asiatic god which fell at the same season.  Now the Easter rites still observed in Greece, Sicily and southern Italy bear in some respects a striking resemblance to the rites of Adonis, and I have suggested that the Church may have consciously adapted the new festival to its heathen predecessor for the sake of winning souls for Christ” (page 359).

“Taken altogether, the coincidences of the Christian with the heathen festivals are too close and too numerous to be accidental.  They marked the compromise which the Church in the hour of its triumph was compelled to make with its vanquished yet still dangerous rivals” (ibid, page 361).

Please see our booklet “Don’t Keep Christmas” for a very thorough explanation on this subject.

In the book “Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries,” historian Ramsay MacMullen writes, “The triumph of the church was one not of obliteration [of non-Christian beliefs] but of widening embrace and assimilation” (1997, p. 159).

In his book, “A Concise History of the Early Church,” author Norbert Brox wrote on page 14, after discussing the Roman Empire: “… emperor worship belongs with different degrees of emphasis to the official religion of the state, which mainly consisted in the divine cults of ancient religion.  Christianity was confronted with a paganism with religious vitality, not with morbid, played out religion.   Religion dominated private and public life.   People lived by the rhythm of religious festivals, and in a world full of divine and demonic powers.   Here the state looked after its sacral institutions, temples, priests and cults.   For as duty towards the gods, on whom the empire was dependent for its prosperity (salus publica) religion was primarily a state matter, on which the state could enforce.  This description of the pagan world has already indicated the problems which arose for Christianity and influenced its development.”

On page 15 of the same book is an admission that “Christianity had contacts with all these forms of alien religion: with the classic religion of antiquity, the cult of emperor and state, the mysteries or oriental religion.  This left deep traces of syncretism (= a fusion of different religious phenomena) in the theology, structures and self-understanding of the early church.”

One writer opined that “Syncretism continues to be a powerful tool to separate God from His people.”

The question was asked “What is Truth?” by Pontius Pilate, the fifth prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, during the illegal trial of Jesus, and he asked this question as recorded in John 18:37-38:

^“Pilate therefore said to Him, ‘Are You a king then?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.’ Pilate said to Him, ‘What is truth?’ And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, ‘I find no fault in Him at all.’”

In the previous chapter, in John 17:17, when Jesus was praying for His disciples, He said: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”

We have only scratched the surface of how much mainstream Christianity has accepted pagan influences in its practices—practices that God clearly condemns in His Word.   The true Church of God has down through the ages stuck with their understanding of apostolic Christianity which is a far cry from what mainstream has practiced for a very long time.

And that is where we finish up.  The Word of God is our guide to life and syncretism must be dismissed.   Paganism must not be part of our Way of Life as we follow the Ways of God as clearly expressed in the Bible.

No other way is acceptable to God!

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

In the second part of this series, we specifically looked at Deuteronomy 18:10 in some detail.   This section of Scripture showed that the practices mentioned were those which the people of God should not get involved with.

Let us now look at Deuteronomy 18:11: “(There shall not be found among you) one who conjures spells.”

J R Dummelow listed “this evil practice as the device by which one claimed to weave magic spells and curses by tying knots, etc.” By no stretch of imagination can this be related to “getting information from God”.  Consulter with familiar spirits” – such persons, pretending to speak with ghosts or spirits, “were probably ventriloquists who claimed to hold communications with subterranean spirits.”

They were in fact communicating with demons pretending to be communicating with the “ghosts” of departed ones.

Verse 11 continues: “(There shall not be found among you) a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.”

The Authorized Version translates “who calls up the dead” as “necromancer.”

Coffman’s Commentaries on the Bible observe: “‘Necromancer’—This referred to one who made inquiries of the dead, pretending to procure vital information by this device. Despite this evil, futile thing being condemned in the law of God, Saul, king of Israel sought out the witch of Endor in order to have a conversation, as he thought, with the deceased prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 28:7-25).  From the above, it is clear enough that this paragraph deals with a number of evils that having nothing whatever to do with ‘getting a revelation from God….’”

A necromancer pretended to speak with the dead. In reality, he spoke with demons pretending to be the dead relatives of loved ones.

As we read earlier “For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you” (Deuteronomy 18:12).

God’s judgment was upon the Canaanites because of these occult practices, and if Israel took up the same occult practices, they could also expect the judgment of God.

Interestingly, enduringword.com observed: “God did not take these occult actions lightly then, nor does He now. It is consorting with the power of darkness, and always to be rejected by Christians.

“Our culture is becoming more and more accepting of these occult themes and practices, while it is becoming more and more intolerant of Biblical Christianity. In 1991, a ninth grade Junior High Student in Dickson, Tennessee, sued the school board because his teacher wouldn’t accept a research paper written on the life of Jesus. Students were allowed to write on topics such as the occult, reincarnation and spiritualism, and the teacher originally only said that the topics must be ‘decent.’ The student was given a zero on her paper when the topic was declared unacceptable (from an August, 1991 news report).”

And the decline has speeded up in more recent years.  Astrology and Ouija boards are other occult practices condemned by God but tolerated, and maybe even encouraged in our “more enlightened society.”

In decades past, the word occult dealt with anything that was outside of “natural” thinking. It was a generic term that incorporated almost everything that we now view to be part of the non-traditional spiritual frontier.

We have long understood in the Church of God that there are only two sources of spiritual power.  God is the great Creator God who is love, and Satan who is the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). Satan has only the power that God allows him to have, but it is considerable, and he is currently the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2). God is allowing him some latitude at this time that is within His purpose for mankind. Satan is inevitably involved in the paganism of this world and all of the dark forces that emanate from that.

gaia.com, in its article, “What is paganism?,” gives the following list of books under the heading Paranormal and Occult:

“Tarot, the I Ching, cartomancy, or telling fortunes with regular playing cards, palmistry, numerology, phrenology, crystal gazing, clairvoyance, clairaudience, automatic writing and tea leaf reading. Also séances, astral projection out of body experiences, Ouija boards, mind-reading, auras, ghosts, haunted houses, vampirism, lycanthropy, fairies, brownies and sprites, herbalism, numerology, communicating with elemental forces, reincarnation, past lives, trances, spirit boxes, witchcraft, sorcerers and their familiars, and ritual magic. In addition, there were books on demonology, angelic communication, the dark arts, mind control, ESP for fun and profit…”

It just goes to show how much Satan and the demonic world have influenced so many people that such practices as listed above are accepted in society, and yet the Truth from the Living God can be seen as hate speech.

Paganism, the very opposite of belief in a supreme Creator God, is inextricably linked with occult practices. There are many verses condemning pagan practices in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, and looking at an Analytical Concordance of the Bible will reveal these.  Let us quote just a few of so many passages to show the Bible’s consistency in condemning such practices.

Exodus 22:18 says: “You shall not permit a sorceress to live.”

Leviticus 19:31 states: “‘Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.”

Leviticus 20:6 adds: “‘And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.”

2 Kings 17:17 states: “And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.”

2 Chronicles 33:6 says: “Also he [Manasseh] caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.”

Isaiah 8:19 states: “And when they say to you, ‘Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,’ should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?”

Jeremiah 27:9 says: “Therefore do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’”

Micah 5:12 states: “I will cut off sorceries from your hand, And you shall have no soothsayers.”

Nahum 3:4-5 says: “‘Because of the multitude of harlotries of the seductive harlot, The mistress of sorceries, Who sells nations through her harlotries, And families through her sorceries. Behold, I am against you,’ says the LORD of hosts…”

In the New Testament, in the book of Acts 8:9 and 13, we read about Simon the Sorcerer’s profession of the Christian faith.

^“But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great… Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.”

However, this turned out to be a false conversion, as we read in verses 18-21:

“And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, ‘Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’ But Peter said to him, ‘Your money perish with you [The Luther Bible 1984 writes: “… that you may be condemned with your money”] because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.’”

It was thought that this sorcerer had had a change of heart but that was not how it turned out to be. History tells us that he, as Simon Magus, went to Rome and continued his sorcery there; many think today that the Apostle Peter was in Rome, but it was indeed Simon Magus, and not Simon Peter.

Acts 19:19 states what Simon Magus should have done: “Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver.”

Galatians 5:19-21 adds: “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are:… idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies… those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Revelation 21:8 states: “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

However, in spite of the above instructions of God in His Word, mainstream Christianity continues to practice old pagan customs.

(To be continued)

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)