GALATIANS AND DAYS — 4: 8-11

 TO ANSWER THE SECTION ON DAYS ETC. IN GALATIANS WE NEED TO READ THIS FIRST——

Babylon Mysteries #2

Mary and Saint Days

From the book "Babylon Mystery Religion" by Woodrow CHAPTER THREE MARY WORSHIP PERHAPS THE MOST outstanding proof that Mary worship developed out of the old worship of the pagan mother goddess may be seen from the fact that in pagan religion, the mother was worshipped as much (or more) than her son! This provides an outstanding clue to help us solve the mystery of Babylon today! True Christianity teaches that the Lord Jesus - and HE alone - is the way, the truth, and the life; that only HE can forgive sin; that only HE, of all earth's creatures, has ever lived a life that was never stained with sin; and HE is to be worshipped - not ever his mother. But Roman Catholicism - showing the influence that paganism has had in its development - in many ways exalts the MOTHER also. One can travel the world over, and whether in a massive cathedral or in a village chapel, the statue of Mary will occupy a prominent position. In reciting the Rosary, the "Hail Mary" is repeated nine times as often as the "Lord's Prayer." Catholics are taught that the reason for praying to Mary is that she can take the petition to her son, Jesus; and since she is his mother, he will answer the request for her sake. The inference is that Mary is more compassionate, understanding, and merciful than her son Jesus. Certainly this is contrary to the scriptures! Yet this idea has often been repeated in Catholic writings. One noted Roman Catholic writer, Alphonsus Liguori, wrote at length telling how much more effectual prayers are that are addressed to Mary rather than to Christ. Liguori, incidently, was canonized as a "saint" by Pope Gregory XIV in 1839 and was declared a "doctor" of the Catholic church by Pope Pius IX. In one portion of his writings, he described an imaginary scene in which a sinful man saw two ladders hanging from heaven. Mary was at the top of one; Jesus at the top of the other. When the sinner tried to climb the one ladder, he saw the angry face of Christ and fell defeated. But when he climbed Mary's ladder, he ascended easily and was openly welcomed by Mary who brought him into heaven and presented him to Christ! Then all was well. The story was supposed to show how much easier and more effective it is to go to Christ through Mary (Boettner - "Roman Catholicism, p.147). The same writer said that the sinner who ventures to come directly to Christ may come with dread of his wrath. But if he will pray to the Virgin, she will only have to "show" that "the breasts that Will gave him suck" and his wrath will be immediately appeased! (Hislop - "Two Babylons, p.158). Such reasoning is in direct conflict with a scriptural example. "Blessed is the womb that bare thee", a woman said to Jesus,"and the paps that thou has sucked!" But Jesus answered, "Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it" (Lk.11:27,28). Such ideas about the breasts, on the other hand, were not foreign to the worshippers of the pagan mother goddess. Images of her have been unearthed which often show her breasts extremely out of proportion to her body. In the case of Diana, to symbolize her fertility, she is pictured with as many as one hundred breasts! Further attempts to exalt Mary to a glorified position within Catholicism may be seen in the doctrine of the "immaculate conception." This doctrine was pronounced and defined by Pius IX in 1854 - that the Blessed Virgin Man "in the first instant of her conception... was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin" (Catholic Ency. vol.7,p.674 art, "Immaculate conception"). It would appear that this teaching is only a further effort to make Mary more closely resemble the goddess of paganism, for in the old myths, the goddess was also believed to have had a supernatural conception! The stories varied, but all told of supernatural happenings in connection with her entrance into the world, that she was superior to ordinary mortals, that she was divine. Little by little, so that the teachings about Mary would not appear inferior to those of the mother goddess, it was necessary to teach that Mary's entrance into this world involved a supernatural element also! Is the doctrine that Mary was born without the stain of original sin scriptural? We will answer this in the words of The Catholic Encyclopedia itself: "No direct or categorical and stringent proof of the dogma can be brought forward from Scripture" It is pointed out, rather, that these ideas were a gradual development within the church (Ibid.,p.675). Right here it should be explained that this is a basic, perhaps the basic, difference between the Roman Catholic approach to Christianity and the general Protestant view. The Roman Catholic church, as it acknowledges, has long grown and developed around a multitude of traditions and ideas handed down by church fathers over the centuries, even beliefs brought over from paganism if they could be "Christianized" and also the scriptures. Concepts from all of these sources have been mixed together and developed, finally to become dogmas at various church councils. On the other hand, the view which the Protestant Reformation sought to revive was a return to the actual scriptures as a more sound basis for doctrine, with little or no emphasis on the ideas that developed in later centuries. Going right to the scriptures, not only is any proof for the idea of the immaculate conception of Mary lacking, there is evidence to the contrary. While she was a chosen vessel of the Lord, was a godly and virtuous woman - a virgin - she was as much a human as any other member of Adam's family. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Rom.3:23), the only exception being Jesus Christ himself. Like everyone else, Mary needed a savior and plainly admitted this when she said: "And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my SAVIOR" (Lk.1:47). If Mary needed a savior, she was not a savior herself. If she needed a savior, then she needed to be saved, forgiven, and redeemed - even as others. The fact is, our Lord's divinity did not depend on his mother being some type of exalted, divine person. Instead, he was divine because he was the only begotten son of God. His divinity came from his heavenly Father. The idea that Mary was superior to other human beings was not the teaching of Jesus. Once someone mentioned his mother and brethren. Jesus asked, "Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?" Then, stretching forth his hand toward his disciples, said, "Behold my mother and my brethren! For WHOSOEVER shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and MOTHER" (Matt.12:46-50). Plainly enough, anyone who does the will of God is, in a definite sense, on the same level with Mary. Each day Catholics the world over recite the Hail Mary, the Rosary, the Angelus, the Litanies of the Blessed Virgin, and others. Multiplying the number of these prayers, times the number of Catholics who recite them each day, someone has estimated that Mary would have to listen to 46,296 petitions a second! Obviously no one but God himself could do this. Nevertheless, Catholics believe that Mary hears all of these prayers; and so, of necessity, they have had to exalt her to the divine level - scriptural or not! Attempting to justify the way Mary has been exalted, some have quoted the words of Gabriel to Mary, "Blessed art thou among women" (Lk.1:28). But Mary being "blessed among women" cannot make her a divine person, for many centuries before this, a similar blessing was pronounced upon Jael, of whom it was said: "Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be. ..."(Judges 5:24). Before Pentecost, Mary gathered with the other disciples waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit. We read that the apostles "all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brethren" (Acts 1:14). Typical of Catholic ideas concern- ing Mary, the illustration (as seen in the Official Baltimore Catechisms) attempts to give to Mary a central position. But as all students of the Bible know, the disciples were not looking to Mary on that occasion. They were looking to their resurrected and ascended CHRIST to outpour on them the gift of the Holy Spirit. We notice also in the drawing that the Holy Spirit (as a dove) is seen hovering over her! Yet, as far as the scriptural account is concerned, the only one upon whom the Spirit as a dove descended was Jesus himself - not his mother! On the other hand, the pagan virgin goddess under the name of Juno was often represented with a dove on her head, as was also Astarte, Cybele, and Isis! (Doane - "Bible Myths, p.357). Further attempts to glorify Mary may be seen in the Roman Catholic doctrine of the perpetual virginity. This is the teaching that Mary remained a virgin throughout her life. But as The Encyclopedia Britannica explains, the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary was not taught until about three hundred years after the ascension of Christ. It was not until the Council of Chalcedon in 451 that this fabulous quality gained the official recognition of Rome. According to the scriptures, the birth of Jesus was the result of a supernatural conception (Matt.1:23), without an earthly father. But after Jesus was born, Mary gave birth to other children - the natural offspring of her union with Joseph, her husband. Jesus was Mary's "firstborn" son (Matt.1:25); it does not say he was her only child. Jesus being her firstborn child could certainly infer that later she had a second-born child, possibly a third-born child, etc. That such was the case seems apparent, for the names of four brothers are mentioned: James, Joses, Simon, and Judas (Matt.13:55). Sisters are also mentioned. The people of Nazareth said: " . . . and his sisters, are they not all with us?" (verse 56). The word "sisters" is plural, of course, so we know that Jesus had at least two sisters and probably more, for this verse speaks of "all" his sisters. Usually if we are referring to only two people, we would say "both" of them, not "all" of them. The implication is that at least three sisters are referred to. If we figure three sisters and four brothers, half-brothers and half-sisters of Jesus, this would make Mary the mother of eight children. The scriptures say: "Joseph ... knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS" (Matt.1:25). Joseph "knew her not" until after Jesus was born, but after that, Mary and Joseph did come together as husband and wife and children were born to them. The idea that Joseph kept Mary as a virgin all of her life is clearly unscriptural. During the times of the falling away, as though to more closely identify Mary with the mother goddess, some taught that Mary's body never saw corruption, that she bodily ascended into heaven, and is now the "queen of heaven." It was not until this present century, however, that the doctrine of the "assumption" of Mary was officially proclaimed as a doctrine of the Roman Catholic church. It was in 1951 that Pope Pius XII proclaimed that Mary's body saw no corruption, but was taken to heaven.(Catholic Ency.vol.2,p.632, art, "Assumption, Feast of"). The words of St.Bernard sum up the Roman Catholic position: "On the third day after Mary's death, when the apostles gathered around her tomb, they found it empty. The sacred body had been carried up to the Celestial Paradise... the grave had no power over one who was immaculate... But it was not enough that Mary should be received into heaven. She was to be no ordinary citizen... she had a dignity beyond the reach even of the highest of the archangels. Mary was to be crowned Queen of Heaven by the eternal Father: she was to have a throne at her Son's right hand ... Now day by day, hour by hour, she is praying for us, obtaining graces for us, preserving us from danger, shielding us from temptation, showering down blessings upon us." All of these ideas about Mary are linked with the belief that she bodily ascended into heaven. But the Bible says absolutely nothing about the assumption of Mary. To the contrary, John 3:13 says: "No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven" - Jesus Christ himself. HE is the one that is at God's right hand, HE is the one that is our mediator, HE is the one that showers down blessings upon us - not his mother! Closely connected with the idea of praying to Mary is an instrument called the rosary. It consists of a chain with fifteen sets of small beads, each set marked off by one large bead. The ends of this chain are joined by a medal bearing the imprint of Mary. From this hangs a short chain at the end of which is a crucifix. The beads on the rosary are for counting prayers - prayers that are repeated over and over. Though this instrument is widely used within the Roman Catholic church, it is clearly not of Christian origin. It has been known in many countries. The Catholic Encyclopedia says, "In almost all countries, then, we meet with something in the nature of prayer-counters or rosary-beads." It goes on to cite a number of examples, including a sculpture of ancient Nineveh, mentioned by Layard, of two winged females praying before a sacred tree, each holding a rosary. For centuries, among the Mohammedans, a bead-string consisting of 33,66, or 99 beads has been used for counting the names of Allah. Marco Polo, in the thirteenth century, was surprised to find the King of Malabar using a rosary of precious stones to count his prayers. St.Francis Xavier and his companions were equally astonished to see that rosaries were universally familiar to the Buddhists of Japan (Catholic Ency. vol.13, p.185, art, "Rosary"). Among the Phoenicians a circle of beads resembling a rosary was used in the worship of Astarte, the mother goddess, about 800 B.C. (Seymour - "The Cross in Tradition, History, and Art, p.21). This rosary is seen on some early Phoenician coins. The Brahmans have from early times used rosaries with tens and hundreds of beads. The worshippers of Vishnu give their children rosaries of 108 beads. A similar rosary is used by millions of Buddhists in India and Tibet. The worshipper of Siva uses a rosary upon which he repeats, if possible, all the 1,008 names of his god (Ency.of Religions, vol. 3, pp, 203-205). Beads for the counting of prayers were known in Asiatic Greece. Such was the purpose, according to Hislop, for the necklace seen on the statue of Diana. He also points out that in Rome, certain necklaces worn by women were for counting or remembering prayers, the "monile," meaning "remembrancer." (Hislop - "Two Babylons" pp.187-188). The most often repeated prayer and the main prayer of the rosary is the "Hail Mary" which is as follows: "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of death, Amen." The Catholic Encyclopedia says, "There is little or no trace of the Hail Mary as an accepted devotional formula before about 1050" (Catholic Ency. vol.7, p.111, art "Hail Mary"). The complete rosary involves repeating the Hail Mary 53 times, the Lord's prayer 6 times, 5 Mysteries, 5 Meditations on the Mysteries, 5 Glory Be's, and the Apostles' Creed. Notice that the prayer to Mary, the Hail Mary, is repeated almost NINE times as often as the Lord's prayer! Is a prayer composed by men and directed to Mary nine times as important or effective as the prayer taught by Jesus and directed to God? Those who worshipped the goddess Diana repeated a religious phrase over and over - "...all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians" (Acts 19:34). Jesus spoke of repetitious prayer as being a practice of the heathen. "When ye pray," he said, "use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do; for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him" (Matt.6:7-13). In this passage, Jesus plainly told his followers NOT to pray a little prayer over and over. It is significant to notice that it was right after giving this warning, in the very next verse, that he said: "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven..." and gave the disciples what we refer to as "The Lord's Prayer." Jesus gave this prayer as an opposite to the heathen type of prayer. Yet Roman Catholics are taught to pray this prayer over and over. If this prayer was not to be repeated over and over, how much less a little man-made prayer to Mary! It seems to us that memorizing prayers, then repeating them over and over while counting rosary beads, could easily become more of a "memory test" than a spontaneous expression of prayer from the heart. CHAPTER FOUR SAINTS, SAINTS' DAYS, and SYMBOLS IN ADDITION TO the prayers and devotions that are directed to Mary, Roman Catholics also honor and pray to various "saints." These saints, according to the Catholic position, are martyrs or other notable people of the church who have died and whom the Popes have pronounced saints. In many minds, the word "saint" refers only to a person who has attained some special degree of holiness, only a very unique follower of Christ. But according to the Bible, ALL true Christians are saints - even those who may sadly lack spiritual maturity or knowledge. Thus, the writings of Paul to Christians at Ephesus, Philippi, Corinth, or Rome, were addressed "to the saints" (Eph.1:1, etc.). Saints, it should be noticed, were living people, not those who had died. If we want a "saint" to pray for us, it must be a living person. But if we try to commune with people that have died, what else is this but a form of spiritism? Repeatedly the Bible condemns all attempts to commune with the dead (see Isaiah 8:19, 20). Yet many recite the "Apostles' Creed" which says: "We believe ... in the communion of saints." supposing that such includes the idea of prayers for and to the dead. Concerning this very point, The Catholic Encyclopedia says: "Catholic teaching regarding prayers for the dead is bound up inseparably with the doctrine ... of the c o m m u n i o n of saints which is an article of the Apostles' Creed." Prayers "to the saints and martyrs collectively, or to some one of them in particular" are recommended (Catholic Ency." vol.4,p.653.655, art "Prayers for the dead" ). The actual wording of the Council of Trent is that "the saints who reign together with Christ offer up their own prayers to God for men. It is good and useful suppliantly to invoke them, and to have recourse to their prayers, aid, and help for obtaining benefits from God" (Ibid., vol 8, p.70, art "Intercession"). What are the objections to these beliefs? We will let "The Catholic Encyclopedia" answer for itself. "The chief objections raised against the intercession and invocation of the saints are that these doctrines are opposed to the faith and trust which we should have in God alone ... and that they cannot be proved from Scriptures..." (Ibid). With this statement we agree. Nowhere do the scriptures indicate that the living can be blessed or benefited by prayers to or through those who have already died. Instead, in many ways, the Catholic doctrines regarding "saints" are very similar to the old pagan ideas that were held regarding the "gods." Looking back again to the "mother" of false religion - Babylon - we find that the people prayed to and honored a plurality of gods. In fact, the Babylonian system developed until it had some 5,000 gods and goddesses (Hays - "In the Beginning" vol.2,p.65). In much the same way as Catholics believe concerning their "saints", the Babylonians believed that their "gods" had at one time been living here on earth, but were now on a higher plane ("Ency. of Religion" vol.2,p.78). "Every month and every day of the month was under the protection of a particular divinity" (Williams - "The Historians' History of the World" vol.1,p.518). There was a god for this problem, a god for each of the different occupations, a god for this and a god for that. From Babylon-like the worship of the great mother - such concepts about the "gods" spread to the nations. Even the Buddhists in China had their "worship of various deities, as the goddess of sailors, the god of war, the gods of special neighborhoods or occupations" (Dobbins - "Story of the World's Worship" p.621). The Syrians believed the powers of certain gods were limited to certain areas, as an incident in the Bible records: "Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they" (1 Kings 20:23). When Rome conquered the world, these same ideas were very much in evidence as the following sketch will show. "Brighit" was goddess of smiths and poetry. "Juno Regina" was the goddess of womanhood and marriage. "Minerva" was the goddess of wisdom, handicrafts, and musicians. "Venus" was the goddess of sexual love and birth. "Vesta" was the goddess of bakers and sacred fires. "Ops" was the goddess of wealth. "Ceres" was the goddess of corn, wheat, and growing vegetation. (Our word "cereal" fittingly, comes from her name.) "Hercules" was the god of joy and wine. "Mercury" was the god of orators and, in the old fables, quite an orator himself, which explains why the people of Lystra thought of Paul as the god Mercury (Acts 14:11,12). The gods "Castor" and "Pollux" were the protectors of Rome and of travellers at sea (cf. Acts 28:11). "Cronus" was the guardian of oaths. "Janus" was the god of doors and gates. "There were gods who presided over every moment of a man's life, gods of house and garden, of food and drink, of health and sickness" (Durant - "The Story of Civilization: Caesar and Christ, pp.61-63). With the idea of gods and goddesses associated with various events in life now established in pagan Rome, it was but another step for these same concepts to finally be merged into the church of Rome. Since converts from paganism were reluctant to part with their "gods" - unless they could find some satisfactory counterpart in Christianity - the gods and goddesses were renamed and called "saints." The old idea of gods associated with certain occupations and days has continued in the Roman Catholic belief in saints and saints'days, as the following table shows. Actors - St. Genesius - August 25; Architects - St. Thomas - ecember 21; Astonomers - St. Cominic - August 4; Athletes - St. Sebastain - January 20; Bakers - St. Elizabeth - November 19; Bankers - St. Matthew - September 21; Beggars - St. Alexius - July 17; Book Sellers- St. John of God - March 8; Bricklayers - St. Steven - December 26; Builders - St. Vincent - April 5; Butchers - St. Hadrian - September 28; Cab drivers - St. Fiarce - August 30; Candle-makers - St. Bernard - August 20; Comedians - St. Vitus - June 15; Cooks - St. Martha - July 29; Dentists - St. Appollonia - February 9; Doctors - St. Luke - October 18; Editors - St. John Bosco - January 31; Fishermen - St. Andrew - November 30; Florists - St. Dorothy - February 6; Hat makers - St. James - May 11; Housekeepers - St. Anne - July 26; Hunters - St. Hubert - November 3; Laborers - St. James the Greater - July 25; Lawyers - St. Ives -May 19; Librarians - St. Jerome - September 30; Merchants - St. Francis of Assisi - October 4; Miners - St. Barbara - December 4; Musicians - St. Cecilia - November 22; Notaries - St. Mark the Evangelist - April 25; Nurses - St. Cathrine - April 30; Painter - St. Luke - October 18; Pharmacists - St. Gemma Galgani - April 11; Plasterers - St. Bartholomew - August 24; Printers - St. John of God - March 8; Sailors - St. Brendan - May 16; Scientists - St. Albert - November 15; Singers - St. Gregory - March 12; Steel workers - St. Eliguis - December 1; Students - St. Thomas Aquinas - March 7; Surgeons - S.S. Cosmas & Damian - September 27; Tailors - St. Boniface of Credtion - June 5; Tax Collectors - St. Matthew - September 21; The Roman Catholic Church also has saints for the following Barren women - St. Anthony; Old maids - St. Andrew; Beer drinkers - St. Nicholas; Poor - St. Lawrence; Children - St. Dominic; Pregnant women - St. Gerard; Domestic animals - St. Anthony; Television - St. Clare; Emigrants - St. Francis; Temptation - St. Syriacus; Family troubles - St. Eustachius; To apprehend thieves - St. Gervase; Fire - St. Lawrence; To have children - St. Felicitas; Floods - St. Columban; To obtain a husband - St. Joseph; lightning storms - St. Barbara; To obtain a wife - St. Anne; Lovers - St. Raphael; To find lost articles - St. Anthony; Catholics are taught to pray to certain "saints" for help with the following afflictions: Arthritis - St. James; Epilepsy, nerves - St. Vitus; Bite of dogs - St. Hubert; Fever - St. George; Bite of snakes - St. Hilary; Foot diseases - St. Victor; Blindness - St. Raphael; Gall stones - St. Liberius; Cancer - St. Peregrine; Gout - St. Andrew; Cramps - St.Murice; Headaches - St. Denis; Deafness - St. Cadoc; Heart trouble - St. John of God; Disease of breast - St. Agatha; Insanity - St. Dympna; Disease of eyes - St. Lucy; Skin disease - St. Roch; Disease of throat - St. Blase; Sterility - St. Giles; St.Hubert was born about 656 and appeared on our list as the patron saint of hunters and healer of hydrophobia. Before his conversion, almost all of his time was spent hunting. On a Good Friday morning, according to legend, he pursued a large stag which suddenly turned and he saw a crucifix between its antlers and heard a voice tell him to turn to God. But why pray to saints when Christians have access to God? Catholics are taught that through praying to saints, they may be able to obtain help that God otherwise might not give! They are told to worship God and then to "pray, first to Saint Mary, and the holy apostles, and the holy martyrs, and all God's saints .... to consider them as friends and protectors, and to implore their aid in the hour of distress, with the hope that God would grant to the patron what he might otherwise refuse to the supplicant" (Catholic Ency. vol.4,p.173, art "Communion of Saints"). Everything considered, it seems evident that the Roman Catholic system of patron saints developed out of the earlier beliefs in gods devoted to days, occupations, and the various needs of human life. Many of the old legends that had been associated with the pagan gods were transferred over to the saints. The Catholic Encyclopedia even says these "legends repeat the conceptions found in the pre-Christian religious tales ... The legend is not Christian, only Christianized ... In many cases it has obviously the same origin as the myth ... Antiquity traced back sources, whose natural elements it did not understand, to the heroes; such was also the case with many legends of the saints ... It became easy to transfer to the Christian martyrs the conceptions which the ancients held concerning their heroes. This transference was promoted by the numerous cases in which Christian saints became the successors of local deities, and Christian worship supplanted the ancient local worship. This explains the great number of similarities between gods and saints" (Ibid.,vol,9,pp.130,131,art Legends"). As paganism and Christianity were mixed together, sometimes a saint was given a similar sounding name as that of the pagan god or goddess it replaced. The goddess "Victoria" of the Basses-Alpes was renamed as St.Victoire, "Cheron" as St.Ceranos, "Artemis" as St.Artemidos, "Dionysus" as St.Dionysus, etc. The goddess "Brighit" (regarded as the daughter of the sungod and who was represented with a child in her arms) was smoothly renamed as "Saint Bridget." In pagan days, her chief temple at Kildare was served by Vestal Virgins who tended the sacred fires. Later her temple became a convent and her vestals, nuns. They continued to tend the ritual fire, only it was now called "St.Bridget's fire" (Urin - "Festivals, Holy Days, and Saints' Day" p.26). The best preserved ancient temple now remaining in Rome is the Pantheon which in olden times was dedicated (according to the inscription over the portico) to "Jove and all the gods." This was reconsecrated by Pope Boniface IV to "The Virgin Mary and all the saints." Such practices were not uncommon. "Churches or ruins of churches have been frequently found on the sites where pagan shrines or temples originally stood ... It is also to some extent true that sometimes the saint whose aid was to be invoked at the Christian shrine bore some outward analogy to the deity previously hallowed in that place. Thus in Athens the shrine of the healer Asklepios ... when it became a church, was made sacred to the two saints whom the Christian Athenians invoked as miraculous healers, Kosmas and Damian" (Catholic Ency. vol.2,p.44, art "Athens"). A cave shown in Bethlehem as the place in which Jesus was born, was, according to Jerome, actually a rock shrine in which the Babylonian god Tammuz had been worshipped. The scriptures never state that Jesus was born in a cave. Throughout the Roman Empire, paganism died in one form, only to live again within the Roman Catholic church. Not only did the devotion to the old gods continue (in a new form), but the use of statues of these gods as well. In some cases, it is said, the very same statues that had been worshipped as pagan gods were renamed as Christian saints. Through the centuries, more and more statues were made, until today there are churches in Europe which contain as many as two, three, and four thousand statues (Hasting's Ency.of Religion and Ethics, art "Omage and Idols"). In large impressive cathedrals, in small chapels, at wayside shrines, on the dashboards of automobiles - in all these places the idols of Catholicism may be found in abundance. The use of such idols within the Roman Catholic Church provides another clue in solving the mystery of modern Babylon; for, as Herodotus mentioned, Babylon was the source from which all systems of idolatry flowed to the nations. To link the word "idols" with statues of Mary and the saints may sound quite harsh to some. But can this be totally incorrect? It is admitted in Catholic writings that at numerous times and among various people, images of the saints have been worshipped in superstitious ways. Such abuses, however, are generally placed in the past. It is explained that in this enlightened age, no educated person actually worships the object itself, but rather what the object represents. Generally this is true. But is this not also true of heathen tribes that use idols (unmistakably idols) in the worship of demon-gods? Most of these do not believe the idol itself is a god, but only representative of the demon-god they worship. Several articles within "The Catholic Encyclopedia" seek to explain that the use of images is proper on the basis of them being representative of Christ or the saints. "The honor which is given to them is referred to the objects which they represent, so that through the images which we kiss, and before which we uncover our heads and kneel, we adore Christ and venerate the saints whose likenesses they are" (Catholic Ency.vol.7,p.636, art "Idolatry"). Not all Christians are convinced, however, that this "explanation" is strong enough reason to bypass verses such as Exodus 20:4,5: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is underneath the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them." In the Old Testament, when the Israelites conquered a heathen city or country, they were not to adopt the idols of these people into their religion. Such were to be destroyed, even though they might be covered with silver and gold! "The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire; thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein; for it is an abomination to the Lord" (Deut.7:25). They were to "destroy all their pictures" of pagan gods also (Numbers 33:52). To what extent these instructions were to be carried out under the New Testament has been often debated over the centuries. The Catholic Encyclopedia gives a historical sketch of this, showing how people fought and even died over this very issue, especially in the eighth century. Though upholding the use of statues and pictures, it says "there seems to have been a dislike of holy pictures, a suspicion that their use was, or might become, idolatrous, among certain Christians for many centuries," and mentions several Catholic bishops who were of this same opinion (Ibid.,p.620, art, "Iconoclasm"). For people to fight and kill each other over this issue - regardless of which side they were on - was unmistakably contrary to the teachings of Christ. The pagans placed a circle or aureole around the heads of those who were "gods" in their pictures. This practice continued right on in the art of the Romish church ... St. Augustine is shown in Catholic books - with a circular disk around his head. All Catholic saints are pictured this same way. But to see that this practice was borrowed from heathenism, we need only to notice the drawing of Buddha which also features the circular symbol around his head! The artists and sculptors of ancient Babylon used the disk or aureola around any being they wished to represent as a god or goddess (Inman - Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism" p.35). The Romans depicted "Circe," the pagan goddess of the sun, with a circle surrounding her head. From its use in pagan Rome, the same symbolism passed into papal Rome and has continued to this day, as evidenced in thousands of paintings of Mary and the saints. Pictures, supposedly of Christ, were painted with "golden beams" surrounding his head. This was exactly the way the sungod of the pagans had been represented for centuries. The church of the first four centuries used no pictures of Christ. The scriptures do not give us any description of the physical features of Jesus whereby an accurate painting could be made of him. It seems evident, then, that the pictures of Christ, like those of Mary and the saints, have come from the imaginations of artists. We only have to make a short study of religious art to find that in different centuries and among different nationalities, many pictures of Christ - some very different - may be found. Obviously all of these cannot be what he looked like. Besides, having now ascended into heaven, we no longer know him "after the flesh" (2 Cor.5:16), having been "glorified" (John 7:39), and with a "glorious body" (Phil. 3:21), not even the best artist in the world could portray the King in his beauty. Any picture, even at its best, could never show how wonderful he really is! ............... With what we have learnt above about Saints and Saints' Days, we can now come to see what Paul was instructing and correcting the people of Galatia about, in Galatians 4:8-11. Verse eight, Paul talks to those who "knew NOT God, yet did service unto them which by nature are no gods." Paul is NOT addressing the Jews (who did know God, having a form of knowledge, but without proper understanding) - he is talking now to those who DID NOT know the true God, but who had served false gods, that were not gods in any form or shape. Verse nine, Paul says they HAD COME TO KNOW God, or God was knowing them, as now being called of God to His light and service, and true way to live and practice. Then he says, "how TURN you AGAIN to the weak and beggarly rudiments where you desire to be in bondage." They were TURNING BACK, and the Greek here is "back to" "again at first" "again anew" - it is indeed meaning "back again to" as doing something that they once did and were now returning to it once again. None of God's commandments of any kind, can be considered "weak and beggarly" - if they are from God, they are from HIM, and so have a purpose. God does not do anything that is "weak and beggarly." The Galatians (many of them) had returned to their former ways. The ones who at one time "knew not God" but had "served gods that were not gods" had again gone back to serving the weak and beggarly rudiments of the gods of this world, the false customs and practices and traditions, that belonged to the worship and service of false gods. In that service of bondage was the observance of "days, and months, and times, and years." Woodrow has brought out in some detail what many of those observance days etc. were. This section of Galatians HAS NOTHING TO DO with God's holy days, calendar, new month days, and the Festival observance that is ordained of God, BUT it has everything to do with people who have come out of false observances of false gods, that they once observed, coming to KNOW the true Eternal God and all His true ways, and then turning from them and turning back AGAIN to the bondage of the false customs and traditions and observances of the world of gods that are no gods - Keith Hunt