With the recent popularity of the book: Pagan Christianity, many scholars, among them Dr. Mark A. Snoeberger, professor of Systematic Theology at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary, believe it is time to thoroughly root out and purge Christianity of its false practices. Among these despicable rites is: tithe.
Archeology has uncovered the deep, sordid and surly practice of giving a tenth of one's income to false idols by ancient cultures. From time immemorial, back to the very primeval dark times of witchcraft and sorcery, tithing has been a part of man's demonic rituals.
Babylon.
We now know that the people of Babylon tithed to the Babylonian gods. And this sad tale of tithing spread across the world with ancient records showing that the ancient tithing rites of the Akkadians, Chinese, Egyptians, Greeks, Cretans--think about that for a moment. Ponder that the Cretans tithed! And tithing was even known during the time of the Romans. And that dear friends is why some, pagan-influenced Christians today tithe. It was introduced into Christianity by the Romans who got it from Babylon. Seriously? Do you want to be tithing as did the ancient Whore of Babylon?
Can you see the obvious connection between the roundness of the offering plate in church and the solar disk used by ancient pagans to worship the sun god? And when you place your offering of the U.S. dollar with its pagan symbols into the round solar disk offering plate, you are in essence committing idolatry by that offering to the sun god.
In Dr. Snoeberger's conclusion, he reveals, "the pre-Mosaic tithe did not originate with divine revelation. In fact, the evidence suggests identifying the practice of the patriarch's pagan neighbors as the basis for patriarchal tithing practices."
Wicked, wicked practices! Paganism. Time to cease and desist from continuing the ancient rites of Babylon of tithing.
World’s Goods [New York: Revell, 1939], p. 88). Cf., how- ever, Joseph M. Baumgarten, "On the Non-literal Use of ma'aser/dekate," Journal of Biblical Literature 103 (June 1984): 245-51. Landsell, Sacred Tenth, 1: 1-38; Arthur Babbs, The Law of the Tithe As Set Forth in the Old Testament (New York: Revell, 1912), pp. 13-24; E. B. Stewart, The Tithe (Chicago: Winona Publishing Co., 1903), pp. 7-13. Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal 5 (Fall 2000): 71-95 The Pre-Mosaic Tithes: Issues and Implications, Mark A. Snoeberger, Copyright © 2000 by Detroit Baptist Seminary.
15 comments:
Very interesting. What a revolution would happen if people would just stop tithing, but like obedient slaves, I seriously doubt that the practice of tithing will stop.
This is a hilarious post, lol. I read that book for my Church History class because it was more interesting than the other options and I actually enjoyed it but I do think that in many ways he goes too far. I wrote a post about it here:
http://www.jesusadventismandi.com/2012/12/pagan-christianity-book-review.html
Of course, as an Adventist my critique is quite different from what yours would be. Overall I thought it was a good book but found some aspects of it to be fanatical and questionable. Good conversation starter though!
Having been to Rome and actually saw myself some of the things the authors of Pagan Christianity said weren't around at the time…. I wasn't but a few pages into the book when I realized these guys had a huge agenda.
The truth is everything was at one time pagan. We shouldn't fear paganism. Fear God. Run from sin, but because pagans preached, kept Sabbaths and other days they thought were holy, had prophecies, prayed, gave offerings, etc. we shouldn't reject them.
I feel sorry for people who constantly dance with the devil over these things. Every time the Devil takes a step forward into Christianity-- "Oh don't decorate a tree, it's pagan!" We step back with a gasp. "Don't keep Christmas, its pagan." Many again are stepping back.
We need to fight back! Christianity is a warrior-religion. WE fight the evil with prayer and becoming saints. We fight the darkness with love and sacrifice. We do not allow the devil to take our holy gifts of God! Each day, each moment is GODS! No day is the Devil's. Each celebration should be given to God, even the pagan ones.
Everything is God's! Not the Devil's! Enough of cowering to his bullying.
I totally agree Teresa! In my book review I wrote:
"...my chief objections with Viola are that he seems to refer to pagan origin as enough reason to expel a practice from Christian life. If this is so then we should all stop using the names of the weekdays (except for Sabbath), get rid of our wedding bands, Hymns, stop shaking people’s hands, and forbid the celebration of Christmas and Easter (all of these have pagan origin). However, such a position is extremism at its best. Not everything of pagan origin is an abomination to God. A lot of it is good and useful because pagans are people first and pagans second."
And in a research paper I wrote on the relationship with old school Adventists and the wedding band I stated:
"...I stop short of making pagan origin a blanket reason for disapproval. In his book Adventist Hot Potatoes, Martin Weber states the reason when he says, “Lots of innocent customs in our Anglo-Saxon culture come to us from paganism!” (39). Take for example the origin of the handshake, which according to the book Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things, has its origin in paganism. The author Charles Panati states that “[i]n its oldest recorded use [2800 B.C., Egypt], a handshake signified the conferring of power from a god to an earthly ruler” (42). In addition to this is the origin of the days of the week. In his book Century Book of Facts, Henry Ruoff states that “[t]he names [of the week] were derived from Saxon idolatry”. If the wedding ring is to be rejected because of its pagan origin, then so should the handshake and the names of the weekdays. As a matter of fact, “Roger Coon of the Ellen G. White estate notes that in the earlier days of Adventism our pioneers refused to use the common names of the days of the week…. They felt that the… names possessed pagan connotations that devout Christians should eschew” (Weber 38-39). Today, many of us smile at such ignorance; however, it is the same reason that many devout and wonderful Adventists give for the rejection of the wedding band. In order to be consistent with this point of view we would have to reject many aspects of modern western culture which have pagan origins. Even SDA church prophetess Ellen G. White did not consider pagan origin a reason to discard a certain practice. “Mrs. White was most likely aware that the Christmas tree and spires and steeples had pagan origin, yet she voiced no concern over their pagan origins” (Coon).
I appreciate your statement: "I feel sorry for people who constantly dance with the devil over these things." I do too. The ones I feel sorry for the most though are the ones who not only feel this way but think it is their responsibility to convince everyone of how deceived they are as they celebrate Christmas. Anyways, I have ranted long enough!
Blessings,
Excellent rant Marcos,
Love casts out fear. The only one we are to fear is God. And that is a healthy, exciting fear--like holy fire! God is feared because He is a powerful mystery, an untamed lion. But HE is the one we are to fear not the Devil. Not paganism.
Not preaching to you, Marcos… just preaching to the intergalactic internet cosmos and abyss!
Tithing has it's roots in the Bible, not paganism. It should surprise no one that we find evidence that paganism borrowed heavily from what God has established, after all paganism is a counterfeit!
What we need to be careful of is as Christians are we borrowing practices that not only have pagan influences, but are these pagan influences encroaching on what God has established? Paul gives us some instructions on this matter with regard to eating food sacrificed to idols. Those strong in the faith know that an idol is nothing but we should ever be mindful of those who are weaker and not cause stumblingblocks.
Christmas and Easter certainly has it's origins in paganism, as does Sunday observance. If the "scholar" Mark Snoeberger really wanted to root out from Christianity its false practices, than I would think he could have started with these.
I am not saying it is wrong to observe Christmas and Easter per se, however there is a line that can be crossed that can infringe on God. Birthday celebrating is a pagan practice, yet it is not wrong to use this time to reflect on the birth of Christ, as with Easter to reflect the Cross.
Sunday observance is truly a man made institution, but that in and of itself is not an abomination. Where it crossed the line is when is usurped the Command of God to observe the Seventh Day. Calling Sunday holy and incorporating it into the Decalogue most certainly is an abomination to God. Jesus also gave us instructions on this matter; it is wrong to teach a tradition as the command of God. (Matt. 15:9, Mark 7:7).
Arik,
Right. Where something is of intrinsic evil, then we should not do it. Where something is neutral or good, we can certainly incorporate it into Christianity. I do hope you understood my post was a spoof, right?
i thought i would find a bible text here that would support tithing is of pagan origin. am an SDA, and returning the 10th of what's not mine.
Anonymous, the post is a spoof. I was showing that anything can be traced back to paganism if we look for something IN paganism. Tithing certainly isn't pagan. Continue…. (smile.)
Luke 20:25 He said to them, "Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." If you don't give tithes, who cares? Joshua 24:15 "..But for me and my house, we will serve the Lord".
It's just part of Satan's Twisting Campaigns. . . It's funny coz in a mere shape of a plate that was used in collecting tithes they right away concluded its the same shape as solar disk used by ancient pagans to worship the sun god. Isn't it funny? Jesus publicly recognized the importance of tithing. .
Leo the post is a spoof. Sorry you misunderstood.
Please note that I disclaim all connections to this article and view it as a superabundance of silliness.
---Mark A. Snoeberger, Detroit Baptist Seminary.
Dr. Snoeberger,
This was a satirical post meant to be amusing. I am glad you saw it as it was meant to be. Tying everything that is Christian to paganism is ridiculous.
Teresa,
It is OK not to be a Seventh-Day Adventist, because there are other churches who do what is logical and what the 4th Commandment says to do, rest on the LAST day of the week, i.e. the Church of God, Seventh day. God is logical, resting on the LAST day of the week after working the first six days (5 days for your employer and the 6th day for yourself). The Catholic church and Protestant churches do what is ILLOGICAL, resting on the FIRST day of the week. Do you rest BEFORE you work, or rest FROM your work? God is logical, man in illogical. God put us into a 7-day "biorhythm" cycle, and if you get out of that cycle it is HARMFUL to you. The Ten Commandments are for us to do what is BENEFICIAL to us to do, not only for ourselves but for each other. God wants us to ALL rest on the SAME DAY, the LAST day of the week. The Catholic church is a combination of true and FALSE teachings, and anything that is FALSE is not of God. Since there is NO LOGICAL reason to observe the first day of the week, it CANNOT be approved by God, and most churches teach that the resurrection occurred on Sunday, which it did NOT, it occurred right before sunset on Saturday, and the crucifixion did NOT occur on Friday, it occurred on Wednesday, he was in the tomb for three FULL days and three FULL nights, from Wednesday before sunset to Saturday before sunset. Since the Catholic church has many FALSE teachings, it CANNOT be God's true church, and nowhere in the scriptures doe it say that Peter ever went to Rome. It tells us that Paul went to Rome, so if God would have wanted us to believe that Peter went to Rome, he would have made sure it was in the scriptures, but it is not. In addition, Jesus never left ANY man to be the Head of the church on Earth, so the Pope cannot be.
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