ARE CHRISTIAN HOLIDAYS PAGAN?
A special interview with Gretchen Passantino by Dan Wooding

Gretchen Passantino has a passion for truth. With her husband Bob, she is co-director of Answers In Action, a Christian, non-profit, educational organization dedicated to informing the public about Christianity and to training Christians to adopt and promote a Christian world view in every area of their lives. The Passantinos are popular conference, church and leadership speakers and frequently address college, graduate and seminary classes. Gretchen has authored many books, including the best-selling Answers to the Cultist at Your Door (with co-author Bob Passantino), awarded the Gold Medallion Award for Excellence in Christian Education in 1981; Witch Hunt (also co-authored with Bob), named Book of the Year (1990) by Cornerstone magazine; and When the Devil Dares Your Kids. Gretchen also wrote The New Cults, (edited by Walter Martin); and Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon? Her newest book (with co-author Bob), Satanism (Zondervan, 1995), provides the best evangelical survey of both historical and contemporary satanism. She was managing editor of the thirtieth anniversary edition of the classic, Kingdom of the Cults. She contributes about a dozen articles annually to Christian magazines and journals and provides academic editorial consultation to Christian publishing companies.

The investigative article she and Bob wrote with Jon Trott, "The True Lauren Stratford Story" (Cornerstone, December, 1989), was awarded first place in reporting in the Higher Goals in Christian Journalism Awards from the Evangelical Press Association (May, 1990). The Passantinos are staff journalists and feature editors for Cornerstone. Their controversial article "Overcoming the Bondage of Victimization: A Critical Look at the Cult Mind Control Model" (Cornerstone, 1994) has appeared in other publications and anthologies as a significant representation of the view that individuals are responsible for their religious choices. She also teaches on an adjunct university basis in journalism, English, communications and literature.

The Passantinos are members of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church (AALC) in Costa Mesa, California, where they live with their three children.
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Dan Wooding: There are Christians who have doubts about celebrations such as Christmas and Easter, because some of the traditions associated with these holidays have their roots in ancient paganism. What comments would you have to help these Christians?

Gretchen Passantino: When you stop to think about it, everything human in this world after the fall of Adam and Eve is "pagan," in the sense that it comes from people who were separated from a right relationship with God because of their sin. The question is not whether pagans celebrated the coming of spring and fertility, or had a mid-winter festival focused on new life, a spring celebration around romance and marriage or a time of remembering the dead. What matters is that faith in Christ gives us an entirely new, God-oriented perspective on all of these important issues. When we realize that God loved us so much that the Son became a man, born of a virgin, to be our representative before the Father -- then birth in the midst of decay takes on a whole new meaning. We celebrate Christ's birth as a triumph over the pagan superstitions of the waning sun during winter -- a symbol of our destiny in death without Christ and our new life in Christ.

When we recognize that physical life and material abundance are nothing when we are spiritually dead and facing an eternity without divine significance, but that in Christ we are made alive spiritually, and will be resurrected physically to spend eternity in fellowship with our Creator, then we rejoice that Christ's resurrection is the promise and the seal of our own redemption.

We triumph over the pagan superstitions that there is no ultimate goal of history, no eternal life, but only transitory, cyclical life like the vegetation cycle. I see the Christian celebration of the key events of redemptive history as a testimony to Christ's triumph over sin, death and devil -- not as a compromise with paganism.

DW: Deuteronomy 12:30 is sometimes cited as a warning that no practices of pagan origin should be subsumed into Christian worship. Does this scripture still apply?

GP: Of course all of God's Word still applies (Jesus said it would endure forever). The question is how does it apply? This principle is always binding: we are not to worship false gods or imitate false gods in any way.

One cannot serve the only true God and any false gods at the same time. Anyone who worships Saturn or that false Roman god's mid-winter celebration of Saturnalia is an idolater. One who worships Christ and thanks God for sending his Son to be born of a virgin is not an idolater.

The same can be said for other Christian holidays that stand in opposition to pagan celebrations.

DW: Some sincere believers point out that Christmas and Easter are not biblically commanded and that it is therefore inappropriate to celebrate them. Is this a valid argument?

GP: If we were restricted to only those things commanded specifically in Scripture, we would not be able to function in the contemporary world. Scripture does not command us to read magazines, listen to the radio, watch television or drive cars. Just because something is not specifically commanded in Scripture does not mean that we have no idea how we should respond to it.

God's Word gives us the principles for dealing with everything in our lives, whether it is technology, persecution or holidays. By biblical principles we know that we should not read magazines that glorify sin or promote false worship. The same can be said of other mediums. We should not drive cars in an unsafe manner or use them to participate in any other sinful behavior.

In the same way, Christmas, Easter and other Christian holidays are not commanded in Scripture, and Christians are free not to celebrate them if their conscience bothers them about it (Romans 14:5; 1 Corinthians 8:7-8).

But if one's participation is to bring glory to God, to remind us of his wonderful plan of redemption and to honor God's acts in human history, then it is pleasing to the Lord.

DW: What about Halloween? Many conservative Christians avoid it as Satanic, and others feel it has lost its religious meaning and is merely a harmless cultural tradition of entertainment for the kids. Still other Christians are using Halloween as an opportunity to evangelize. Is it okay to observe Halloween?

GP: Your question is ambiguous. If you mean, "Is it okay to observe Halloween and to participate in the pagan customs with no thought to God's truth," the answer is, of course, "NO!" We should never compromise our faith with paganism. However, if you mean "Is it okay to observe Halloween by joining with Christians around the world at a special time of year that non-Christians devote to their fearfulness of death so that we can bring them the good news that because Christ died for us, we no longer need to fear death but can rejoice in our new life in him," then my answer is a resounding, "Yes!"

Through a variety of thoughtful, creative ways, Christians have learned to share the good news of the gospel with people who would not ordinarily think of spiritual things or the meaning of life and death. Christians should not be afraid of paganism: as the apostle Paul said, "an idol is nothing in the world" (1 Corinthians 8:4-6). Instead we should look for every opportunity to show the world that idols are empty but that eternal life is in Christ.

DW: What are your views about the Y2K controversy and the fact that some Christians are panicking over it and storing food, money and guns?

GP: I would like to comment on two aspects of this issue. First, to those who are frightened about the prospects of calamity associated with Y2K: The fear, confusion and paranoia associated with this greatly overblown issue has paralyzed many Christians who have become so afraid they can't go to work, they can't pray, they are planning to run away into the wilderness, etc. Is this the focus and attitude we should have as Christians? We should be prudent and prepare to care for our families in the event of any calamity, but we are not to entertain fear or compromise with worldly expectations of despair.

Second, to those who are promoting the "doom and gloom" scenario: Shame on you! You have not done your homework. You have not done careful, primary research; you have not thought critically about the issues, you are repeating scandalous rumors and false stories. And some of you know this and continue to promote hysteria because it increases your public stature and, in many cases, fills your coffers with ill-gotten gain. Stop victimizing trusting Christians and repent! Such irresponsibility and reckless disregard for the truth will be judged by someone far more important than me or the Christians you have frightened.

DW: Do you see yourself and Bob as cult busters?

GP: NO!! We are not cult busters. We are Christians saved by grace who are in awe of the power of the gospel and compelled by God's mercy to share Christ with others who are lost in the world as we once were. We are ambassadors for Christ to people who have been imprisoned by the lies of the enemy, and who are yearning for the freedom that comes only from the Lord.

DW: If so, why do we need to be warned about the cults?

GP: We need to be warned about the cults not only to protect ourselves from believing what is false, but also to understand the obligation we have to share the gospel with those who have followed darkness disguised as light. When we understand the danger of the darkness, we should be compelled to warn others who are on the verge of being swallowed by it.

DW: Is there anything else you would like to add?

GP: Don't ever turn away anyone who is challenging your faith. Beneath the gruff exterior and the often confusing arguments is someone for whom Christ died. Who knows but what God would like to use you to bring the truth to someone like that? We don't have to be afraid of the challenges others bring against Christianity. It is true and will triumph in any arena, whether historical, philosophical, social, literary, moral or
spiritual.
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Dan Wooding is an award-winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife, Norma. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times). Wooding is also the author of some 38 books, (the latest of which is a second printing of "Blind Faith" with Anne Wooding, his 91-year-old mother who was a pioneer missionary to the blind of Nigeria -- ASSIST Books and WinePress Publishing). He is also a syndicated columnist and for ten years was a commentator on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC.
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Editor's note: With the permission of Answers in Action, we are running below excerpts from their website articles:
The Easter Season

The final week of Lent is called Holy Week. It begins the day after Palm Sunday, which memorializes Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-11). Holy Week commemorates the events immediately preceding the crucifixion. This is the most solemn time during the church year. Many churches conduct services nightly.

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday honors the memory of the final Passover Jesus celebrated as his Last Supper with his disciples. Maundy Thursday gets its name from a Latin church anthem, the first line of which reads, Mandatum novum do vobis, or "a new commandment I give to you" (John 13:34). The Latin Mandatum is corrupted to the English Maundy. Most churches celebrate communion on Maundy Thursday. Some re-enact Jesus' washing the feet of the disciples.

Good Friday

Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion and death of Christ. Many churches conduct quiet services from noon until three (called Tre Ore, or "Three Hours"), focusing on the events of the crucifixion and the words of Christ from the cross. Many Good Friday services conclude with draping the altar cross with black cloth, extinguishing all sanctuary lights (except the eternal flame signifying the Holy Spirit), ceasing all music, and having the congregation exit without speaking to symbolize the imminent commemoration of the death of Christ. As early as the second century A.D., Christians commonly celebrated each Friday in commemoration of the crucifixion, with fasting or other penance as its most notable feature.

Easter

Easter is an English corruption from the proto-Germanic root word meaning "to rise." We see this in the contemporary German cognate =F6st and the English cognate east, the direction from which the sun rises in the morning. It refers not only to Christ rising from the dead, but also to his ascension to heaven and to our future rising with him at his Second Coming for final judgment.

It is not true that it derives from the pagan Germanic goddess Oestar or from the Babylonian goddess Ishtar -- both fertility symbols signifying the coming of spring images of fertility, new life and renewal. A corruption of Ishtar is found in the Bible as the name of the heroic Jewish woman, Esther, who risked her own life to save the lives of her people. Many Christians prefer to use the designation "the Resurrection of our Lord," "Sunday of the Resurrection" or even Pasch or Paschal Sunday ("the Sunday of our Passover Lamb Sacrifice").

The first Easter occurred on the first day of the week after the Passover Sabbath. The first day of the week became the time of weekly Christian celebration of the resurrection. Annually, the Lord's Day immediately subsequent to the Jewish Passover was a day of special resurrection celebration. Today Easter is celebrated at different times depending on whether one is a Western Christian (Roman Catholic, Protestant and Anglican) or an Eastern Christian (Eastern Orthodoxy) because the West uses the revised Gregorian calendar and the East uses the older Julian calendar.

Early Christians consulted local rabbis to determine the date of Passover each year, which would correspond to Holy Week. Passover was determined by the lunar configurations of the latitude in which the Jewish community resided. There was no Jewish authority at Jerusalem to determine a uniform date after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in A.D. 70. In communities with no Jewish presence, Christians found it even more difficult to determine the date. Once the churches became unified in the fourth century, the date was more consistent until the West's adoption of the revised Gregorian calendar in the sixteenth century.

Popular Associations

Most of the popular associations with Easter come from pagan traditions rather than Christian. The church has taken these pagan elements and "converted" them to convey Christian principles. For example, the egg is a common pagan sign of fertility and good luck.

In Christian tradition, the egg is often used as an analogy to the trinity, and to signify the resurrection life promised us by Christ's resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:37-38). Hiding Easter eggs once symbolized the mysteries of the world of the gods and goddesses, who had to be coaxed into returning life to the earth in spring. Christians used hiding-and-finding as a tool to teach children that we have been "hidden" from God's loving presence by our sin, but we are "found" by Christ, who forgives us, loves us and treasures us (Luke 15:4-7). It can also signify the diligence with which we are to seek the kingdom of God and our joy in finding it (Matthew 13:44-46).

Lambs are fertility symbols and indicators of spring in paganism, but in Christianity we remember that we are His sheep (Psalms 23:1-2; John 10:1-16; Matthew 26:31-34; Acts 20:28) and He is our Shepherd (Isaiah 40:10-11; John 10:11-14; 2 Peter 5:4; Hebrews 13:20; Matthew 25:31-46). Additionally, Christ is the Passover Lamb (Exodus 12:5), the One sacrifice Who cleanses all from sin by His blood (Isaiah 53:7; John 1:29; Acts 8:32-25; 1 Peter 1:19; Revelation 5:6-13; 7:13-14; 15:3).

The Celebration

Historically, the celebration of our Lord's resurrection is a time of joy, hymns, celebration and light. Many churches use bright colors to decorate the sanctuary and the altar -- traditionally white and gold. White represents purity and the resurrection, gold symbolizes triumph. Flowers signify resurrection life, the lily being the most popular because of its long association with spring and the white of salvation. Confidence in the resurrection is also the historical significance of flowers, especially lilies, at funerals. Some churches conclude their Easter services with a congregational feast, commemorating the marriage feast of God with his people made possible through Christ's death, burial and resurrection. Most churches repeat the proclamation taken from the gospels and standard from the early second century of the church: He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!
-- Gretchen Passantino

(c) 1999 Gretchen Passantino. Excerpted and adapted from "Ash Wednesday, Lent and Easter" on the Answers in Action website at http://www.answers.org .
Answers in Action,
P.O. Box 2067
Costa Mesa, California 92628, USA
(949) 646 9042.

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