Pagan Influences on Christianity
Jason McMullen
July 29, 2007
Axia College of University of Phoenix
COM 125
Chris Shevereve
Christianity is the largest religion in the world. With all the different types bundled into one it is possible that there are over one billion followers. Since its' beginning around two thousand years ago Christianity has underwent some major changes. In fact many of the first century followers of Jesus Christ would not even recognize what we practice and do today to be Christianity.
The influence of pagan customs and symbols has shaped the way we practice many of our Christian beliefs. This started back during the late first century with the early Christian church. In order to draw more Gentiles (pagans) into Christianity the church started to use and develop customs around pagan beliefs (Hinson, 1993). In fact the very symbol that we as Christians use to represent the death of Jesus Christ is based on pre-Christian worship of a pagan god.
In Exodus 20:4 of the King James Bible (1984) it is stated, "Thou shall not make for yourself a carved image." This is the fourth commandment given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. It goes on to explain that God told Moses that He wanted no images, be it in heaven, on earth or in the sea, to represent Him. So why do Christians use the cross as a symbol of their faith?
When asked this many Christians will answer, "Because it reminds me of our Savior Jesus Christ and that he died on this cross so that we may be forgiven of our sins and live in a paradise forever." Is this the way you would want your son remembered after such a tormented death? Would you wa ...