Can you show this?
Well this same predating and proximity argument can be applied to Christianity versus Islam no?
I thought you just said that nothing about Christianity is biblical. How is it possible that they worship the bible then? I think you base a lot of your position on broad generalisations without really knowing exactly what it is people truly believe.
Easily a third of my family are Catholic. I don't hate Catholics. Things I know about Catholicism came from observing what they do and not blind assumptions. And there are many rites and rituals that have more in common with pagan practices. But I did look them up just to make sure I wasn't going off of personal experience alone.
"The medieval Catholic Church’s beliefs, worship, and structure was very similar to what’s found in a modern Catholic parish today. Until Vatican II (1962-1965), the Catholic Church worshipped and prayed in Latin, the language of the Roman Empire. Priests, Catholic ordained ministers, began practicing
celibacy by papal decree in the 1000s. The
current liturgy of the Mass, the service order for Catholic worship, dates from the Middle Ages, as does the practice of devotion to the saints and the Blessed Virgin."
https://worldhistory.us/medieval-history/a-brief-history-of-the-catholic-church-during-the-middle-ages.php
Theres the seven sacraments, the use of the rosary, the self-created holy days:
- January 1: The Feast of Mary, the Mother of God.
- 40 days after Easter Sunday: Ascension Thursday.
- August 15: Assumption of Mary into heaven.
- November 1: All Saints' Day.
- December 8: The Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
- December 25: Christmas, the Nativity of Our Lord.
. . . None of that is biblical. Never mind the pagan motifs visible in the architecture, statues, cathedrals etc. Sun worship -thats what I found.
Amos 5:26
"But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images,
the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves."
Acts 7:43
"Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and
the star of your god Remphan,
figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon."
View attachment 26036
Above is a tablet from the early 9th century B.C. which depicts the Babylonian sun-god Shamash seated on the right, holding emblems of his authority, a staff and ring, and the king with two attendants on the left. In the center, on an altar, is a large 4-point sun image, with additional small wavy rays between the points.
View attachment 26037
This is an altar diagram from
Ceremonial for the use of the Catholic Churches in the United States of America published by H. L. Kilner & Co., 1926.
The above diagram of the Catholic altar shows the same general Babylonian sun symbol. In the photo below, behind Pope John Paul II, on the front of the altar of St. Peter's Basilica, you see a tapestry with a sunburst design nearly identical to the pagan sun-god symbol of Baal / Shamash. This tapestry is called the
altar frontal, antipendium (antependium), or pallium altaris:
View attachment 26038
View attachment 26039
View attachment 26040
There's more but all you have to do is look up sunburst/star symbolism in Catholicism and cross reference ancient pagan sun god motifs. There are no true "Christian" symbols. The bible doesnt say to observe any image or statue, not even the cross. The biggest thing that bugged me though was this:
View attachment 26041
The papal ferula. It always bothered me how Catholicism depicted the suffering of Jesus not only in brutal detail but perpetually. He's no longer on the cross and the tomb is empty. For Christians, that's where the power behind his death lies -his resurrection by God's power. That is my contention with Catholicism. Not Catholics -Catholicism. It's healthy to be able to make a distinction between people and their beliefs even if you don't agree with them.
Again, a lot of conjecture. I don't personally hate Catholics just like I don't automatically hate anyone who has a different belief system than I do. Why would I? But you're misrepresenting why the reformation took place. You're going to ignore the major political power held by the Catholic church prior to the reformation? Or the monopoly they kept on the bible by keeping it in Latin? The reformation happened because of the clergy abuse and greed of the sixteenth century church. I don't really like Wikipedia but here you go:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformation
Not unlike the abuse and greed permeating many strains of "Christianity" today as well. I can acknowledge that because like we've discussed before I don't care too much for labels.
@Infinityloop, if I may ask, why do you dislike Christians so much? Is it just the ones on this board that rub you up the wrong way or do you dislike the entire belief system? I'm trying to understand here, not being facetious.