Page 270 - Foundations

(Note the symbol on the back of the priest’s garment is also the symbol of Tammuz.)

Nowhere in the New Testament do we read of Christ’s apostles or the early church engaging in such
rituals. These customs entered into the church through the Roman Catholic practice of syncretism.
When Emperor Constantine declared Rome to be a Christian empire, it was determined that some
accommodation had to be made for the millions of pagan citizens who were disingenuously declared
to be Christians. Rome’s solution was to “Christianize” the ancient pagan practices, providing
alternative explanations that made them less objectionable to true Christians. Instead of observing the
th
birth of the unconquerable sun on December 25 , the church would observe the birth of the Son of
God on the same date. Instead of forty days of mourning for Tammuz leading up to the observance
of Easter at the Spring Equinox, the church would observe a period of forty days of sober reflection
preceding the commemoration of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

There existed 2,000 years ago, as there exists today, significant numbers of professing Christians who
justify the practice of syncretism. Even when the pagan origins of their traditions and symbols are
pointed out, they cling tenaciously to them. Nevertheless, this unrighteous merging of the holy and
the profane is a practice that Yahweh condemns. Speaking of the role of the Levitical priests, the
prophet Ezekiel recorded the following words of God.

Ezekiel 44:23
“Moreover, they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the profane, and cause
them to discern between the unclean and the clean.”

The apostles of the New Testament also commanded all Christians to separate themselves from
idolatrous practices and all that pertains to Satan.

II Corinthians 6:14-18
Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness,
or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a
believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For
we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them;
And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be
separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. And I will be
a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” says the Lord Almighty.