Table of Contents
Chapter 3: Ancient paganism and the dangers of compromise
p1In this chapter, we shall demonstrate thatmost of the practices of today’s “Christianity” as well as most ofit’s beliefs were only introduced into the religion as a regrettable outcome ofan excessive undue willingness to compromise with the surrounding pagans inorder to attain their support and conversion. This was the same paganism Jesus(pbuh) fought so valiantly during his lifetime to destroy. This will be proven,by the will of God, through the writings of Christians themselves. We shalldemonstrate how all of these practices and beliefs were well established amongmany other pagan cults centuries before the arrival of Paul and his”visions.”The expanse of land between the river Nile and the river Euphrateswas home to the Jews for centuries before the coming of Jesus (pbuh). Duringthis period, this land fell under the rule of many empires, including theBabylonians, the Persians, and the Romans, all of whom had extensive contactwith many other cultures and beliefs. We shall see in what follows that thereligion of Jesus (pbuh) was revised and modified after his departure throughthe influence of all of these cultures and beliefs and how it now bearscharacteristics of many of these religions, including Buddhism, Roman and Greekworship, Hinduism, Persian and Egyptian beliefs, in addition to Judaism andmany others.The following information has been obtained from the books “Biblemyths and their parallels in other religions” by T. W. Doane and “Islam and Christianity in the modern world,” by Dr.Muhammad Ansari.The general impression among Christians today is that the differencebetween today’s “Christianity” and Paganism is so great that anysimilarity between them is scarcely recognizable. This, however, is far fromthe truth. The more knowledgeable a Christian becomes with today’s”Christianity,” the more they realize that it is the end result of acontinuous effort to appease the pagan Romans in order to gain their support.This has regrettably resulted in the foisting upon Jesus (pbuh) and hisapostles the pre-existent beliefs of ancient paganism. The established beliefsof these pagans were “inserted” into the word of God and it’sreligious practices through the agency of many centuries of divine”inspiration” to the Church. The knowledgeable Christian scholars arethe most well-acquainted with this fact.The great luminary of the Church, Saint Augustine(354-430 C.E.), is quoted to have said “The same thing which is now calledCHRISTIAN RELIGION existed among the ancients. They have begun to callChristian the true religion which existed before.””Our love for what is old, our reverence for what our fathersused, makes us keep still in the church, and on the very altar cloths, symbolswhich would excite the smile of an Oriental, and lead him to wonder why we sendmissionaries to his land, while cherishing his faith in ours”James BonwickLet us start with the very symbol of Christianity itself, the “cross.”The Cross:It is well known that the first symbol of Christianity was that of a fish . On sacramental cups, seals, and lamps the Holy Spirit wassymbolized by a dove and Christ by a fish (perhaps because at the time, fishwas one of the elements of the sacred meal) or by a shepherd carrying a sheepon his shoulders 
(from Luke 15:3-7) The cross was not adopted until long after thedeparture of Jesus. One of the main reasons for this was the fact that he whodies on the cross is considered cursed by God (Galatians 3:13). Currenthistorical knowledge recognizes the fact that the cross was well recognized asa religious symbol long before the advent of Jesus (pbuh). It was adored inIndia as the symbol of the Hindu god Agni , the “light of theworld.” It was placed in the hands of Siva , Brahma, Vishnu , Krishna , Tvashtri , and Jama. The cross was also well known among the Buddhists from ancient times and thefollowers of Lama of Thibet.The ancient Egyptians also adopted the cross as areligious symbol of their pagan gods. Countless Egyptian drawings depictthemselves holding crosses in their hands. Among them, the Egyptian savior Horusis depicted holding a cross in his hand. He is also depicted as an infantsitting on his mother’s knee with a cross on the seat they occupy. The mostcommon of the crosses used by these pagan Egyptians, the CRUX ANSATA, was lateradopted by the Christians.
Fish: Symbol of last supperThe Egyptian savior, Osiris , the Egyptian god of thedead and the underworld, is sometimes represented holding out this crossto mortals signifying that this person has discarded mortality for the life tocome.Another cross has been unearthed in Ireland. It belongsto the cult of the Persian god of the sun “Mithra-Mithra–>” andbears a crucified effigy. The Greeks and Romans too adopted the cross as theirreligious symbol many centuries before Christianity did the same. An ancientinscription in Tessaly is accompanied by a Calvary cross. More crosses can befound to adorn the tomb of king Midas in Phrygia. The above references may bereferred to for many more examples. Muslim-SA@acsu.buffalo.eduLast modified: Mon Nov 18 12:07:22 EST 1996