The infiltration of the church began around 200 AD or so. The council of Nicea and the council of Laodicea were pivotal events where paganism was melded with Christianity. You can thank them for the trinity doctrine, Sunday worship, Christmas, Easter, and Mary worship. All but the last one are common to most denominations.
Ezekiel 8 foretold the paganism and sun worship.
Daniel foretold that the church would seek to change the times and laws of God.
Wrong on all counts. Mary is not worshipped, but esteemed for her role, and sought as an intecessor to her son, Jesus. Catholics in fact, are the only ones fulfilling her spirit-filled prophesy, that "all generations will call me blessed". Christmas celebrates Jesus' birthday, and Easter celebrates his Resurrection.
I am curious what you make of Christ's promise to Peter, that the gates of hell would not prevail against Christ's Church...
Nowhere in the Bible is Mary mentioned as the intercessor. Christ is the intercessor to the father. You literally pray to Mary. That's the whole Hail Mary prayer. See Hebrews 9:15, 12:24, parts of Romans, Galatians, and other Epistles in the NT. Christ sits at the right hand of God, judges us in the end times (Revelation) and provides the blood that is our sacrifice for the remission of sin. Mary was a vessel for the birth of Christ but has no divine power at all. She, like the Apostles, is a good and Godly piece of Bible history but is no mediator and is not someone we are to beseech in prayer. We pray to the Father as outlined in Matthew and Luke in the Lord's prayer.
All generations call Mary blessed for her role as the bearer of Christ. We do not pray to her nor ask her for intercession.
Also, you literally pray to angels and saints. These beings are not intercessors or divine powers. The angels are servants and the saints are those who died in Christ. In Revelation John is told by an angel "see that you don't do that" when he mistakes the angel for God and prays to him. We are not to pray to angels or the dead.
As for Christmas, per the seasons described in the Gospels, Christ was likely born during one of the harvest seasons. The date of December 25th was picked long after the Apostles died. Do you know who else was born on December 25th? The Babylonian god Tammuz, a god of fertility. Tammuz worship was foretold in the OT.
Ezekiel 8
13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. 14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
Unlike Tammuz, Christ was resurrected three days after His death. Tammuz was dead 40 days. Ishtar wept for Tammuz in ashes for 40 days.
Then there's the matter of Sunday worship. Sunday. The day the Roman pagans and Babylonian pagans (Babylonian paganism informed Roman paganism) worshipped the sun. Sun worship is also foretold.
Ezekiel 8
15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. 16 And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
When does this occur? God provides us a clue.
Ezekiel 8
And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.
In the passage above the word "day" is added by the translators. A Jewish month is 30 days and a fifth of the month is the 6th day so in the 6th year, in the 6th month, in the 6th day. In the time of 666. That's a hint.
As for Peter and Matthew 16:18. The interlinear bible shows that Jesus is making a pun. Petros and petra. Two words. One means a pebble and one means a large boulder. Christ called Peter a pebble. The boulder upon which Christ built His church is the confession of faith, exactly what Peter said - Christ is the Son of God. This understanding is magnified in later passages where Christ makes clear He (and confession in Him) is the cornerstone of the church He establishes.
If you read the accounts of the "who do they say I am" discussion in Mark and Luke, they do not record any pun with regarding Peter and rocks. These are Mark 8:27-32 and Luke 9:18-22. In multiple accounts Christ rebukes Peter almost immediately after "Who am I" when Peter objects to "I have to die on the cross". "Get thee behind me Satan" isn't something one would normally say to someone who is to be the foundation of a church.
I was pretty clear that we do not worship Mary, nor the saints nor angels, and that they play the role of supporting us by their prayers. As well the "praying to them" is in no sense worshipping them, but simply asking them to pray for us. If that were wrong, then scripture itself is wrong, as it obviously encourages us to intercede for one another -- and even, if you have a Catholic Bible, for we on earth, to intercede for those who have died.
There is a pattern, among some non-catholics, to lock-on to one strict sense of a word, pretending that other senses do not exist, in order to score points. The fact is, each of us is called to intercede for each other -- if you want to use lower-case "i" on that use of the word intercede, to distinguish it from the most important, and unique way that Jesus is the Intercessor to the Father, that is fine. That is an important point, yet it would be quite sad if one were to conclude from that, that for any of us to intercede for one another in prayer is somehow displeasing to God, or diminishes in any way, Jesus' role in interceding for us to the Father.
Similarly, there is plenty of non-catholic hand wringing about Peter being the first pope (despite the fact most of them essentially set themselves up as their own pope). Jesus and his followers spoke aramaic, not greek, as their common language, as can be seen by the scriptural account transliterating the aramaic word, kefa (rock) into Cephas. This may not be an important point except that it helps simplify some seeming confusion over whom Jesus was calling the rock upon which he would build his church. <g> Of course Jesus was speaking of and to Peter, as he literally renames him from Simon, to Peter (!) And all the rest of the New Testament shows the name stuck. Yes, he rebukes Peter as often as is necessary, but not before acknowledging that Peter loved him "more than these others" and telling him to feed and lead his sheep. It is an enlightening exercise to see how many more times Peter's name is mentioned in the New Testament, as compared to all the other apostles -- he was being groomed, and yes, corrected as needed, for the important role he was to hold in the early Church.
You're close.
The infiltration of the church began around 200 AD or so. The council of Nicea and the council of Laodicea were pivotal events where paganism was melded with Christianity. You can thank them for the trinity doctrine, Sunday worship, Christmas, Easter, and Mary worship. All but the last one are common to most denominations.
Ezekiel 8 foretold the paganism and sun worship.
Daniel foretold that the church would seek to change the times and laws of God.
Wrong on all counts. Mary is not worshipped, but esteemed for her role, and sought as an intecessor to her son, Jesus. Catholics in fact, are the only ones fulfilling her spirit-filled prophesy, that "all generations will call me blessed". Christmas celebrates Jesus' birthday, and Easter celebrates his Resurrection.
I am curious what you make of Christ's promise to Peter, that the gates of hell would not prevail against Christ's Church...
Nowhere in the Bible is Mary mentioned as the intercessor. Christ is the intercessor to the father. You literally pray to Mary. That's the whole Hail Mary prayer. See Hebrews 9:15, 12:24, parts of Romans, Galatians, and other Epistles in the NT. Christ sits at the right hand of God, judges us in the end times (Revelation) and provides the blood that is our sacrifice for the remission of sin. Mary was a vessel for the birth of Christ but has no divine power at all. She, like the Apostles, is a good and Godly piece of Bible history but is no mediator and is not someone we are to beseech in prayer. We pray to the Father as outlined in Matthew and Luke in the Lord's prayer.
All generations call Mary blessed for her role as the bearer of Christ. We do not pray to her nor ask her for intercession.
Also, you literally pray to angels and saints. These beings are not intercessors or divine powers. The angels are servants and the saints are those who died in Christ. In Revelation John is told by an angel "see that you don't do that" when he mistakes the angel for God and prays to him. We are not to pray to angels or the dead.
https://www.catholic.org/saints/angels/angelprayer.php http://francismary.org/why-do-catholics-pray-to-the-angels-and-saints/
As for Christmas, per the seasons described in the Gospels, Christ was likely born during one of the harvest seasons. The date of December 25th was picked long after the Apostles died. Do you know who else was born on December 25th? The Babylonian god Tammuz, a god of fertility. Tammuz worship was foretold in the OT.
Unlike Tammuz, Christ was resurrected three days after His death. Tammuz was dead 40 days. Ishtar wept for Tammuz in ashes for 40 days.
Then there's the matter of Sunday worship. Sunday. The day the Roman pagans and Babylonian pagans (Babylonian paganism informed Roman paganism) worshipped the sun. Sun worship is also foretold.
When does this occur? God provides us a clue.
In the passage above the word "day" is added by the translators. A Jewish month is 30 days and a fifth of the month is the 6th day so in the 6th year, in the 6th month, in the 6th day. In the time of 666. That's a hint.
As for Peter and Matthew 16:18. The interlinear bible shows that Jesus is making a pun. Petros and petra. Two words. One means a pebble and one means a large boulder. Christ called Peter a pebble. The boulder upon which Christ built His church is the confession of faith, exactly what Peter said - Christ is the Son of God. This understanding is magnified in later passages where Christ makes clear He (and confession in Him) is the cornerstone of the church He establishes.
If you read the accounts of the "who do they say I am" discussion in Mark and Luke, they do not record any pun with regarding Peter and rocks. These are Mark 8:27-32 and Luke 9:18-22. In multiple accounts Christ rebukes Peter almost immediately after "Who am I" when Peter objects to "I have to die on the cross". "Get thee behind me Satan" isn't something one would normally say to someone who is to be the foundation of a church.
I was pretty clear that we do not worship Mary, nor the saints nor angels, and that they play the role of supporting us by their prayers. As well the "praying to them" is in no sense worshipping them, but simply asking them to pray for us. If that were wrong, then scripture itself is wrong, as it obviously encourages us to intercede for one another -- and even, if you have a Catholic Bible, for we on earth, to intercede for those who have died.
There is a pattern, among some non-catholics, to lock-on to one strict sense of a word, pretending that other senses do not exist, in order to score points. The fact is, each of us is called to intercede for each other -- if you want to use lower-case "i" on that use of the word intercede, to distinguish it from the most important, and unique way that Jesus is the Intercessor to the Father, that is fine. That is an important point, yet it would be quite sad if one were to conclude from that, that for any of us to intercede for one another in prayer is somehow displeasing to God, or diminishes in any way, Jesus' role in interceding for us to the Father.
Similarly, there is plenty of non-catholic hand wringing about Peter being the first pope (despite the fact most of them essentially set themselves up as their own pope). Jesus and his followers spoke aramaic, not greek, as their common language, as can be seen by the scriptural account transliterating the aramaic word, kefa (rock) into Cephas. This may not be an important point except that it helps simplify some seeming confusion over whom Jesus was calling the rock upon which he would build his church. <g> Of course Jesus was speaking of and to Peter, as he literally renames him from Simon, to Peter (!) And all the rest of the New Testament shows the name stuck. Yes, he rebukes Peter as often as is necessary, but not before acknowledging that Peter loved him "more than these others" and telling him to feed and lead his sheep. It is an enlightening exercise to see how many more times Peter's name is mentioned in the New Testament, as compared to all the other apostles -- he was being groomed, and yes, corrected as needed, for the important role he was to hold in the early Church.