Mike Perez Christians Use Many Pagan Symbols which

Mike Perez

Christians Use Many Pagan Symbols which have no apparent similarities Symbols that, while lacking strong similarities, are still clearly Pagan in origin Symbols that have the same or very similar meanings

Why Christians Use Pagan Symbols • Fusion of Cultures • Evasion of Persecution

Fusion of Cultures Prevalence of Religion: Paganism: Ancient times-Conversion of Constantine (4 th century) Christianity: Birth of Christ-Present day

Fusion of Cultures (cont) From the death of Christ until The conversion of the Roman Empire, there was an overlapping of the prevalence of the two religions. Paganism Christianity The overlapping of these religions caused Christians to assimilate many pagan symbols into Christianity.

Dan Brown claims: n “As part of the power Vatican's campaign “A newly emerging will take over theto eradicate pagan and over convert existing symbols and religions degrade them time massestoto Christianity, the In the in the an attempt erase their meaning. Church launched a smear campaign battle between the pagan symbols and against the pagan gods and Christian symbols, the pagans lost. ” goddesses, recasting their divine symbols as evil. ”

Pagan Symbols Used By Christians Due to the Fusion of Cultures The Rose The Serpent The Pentacle

The Rose Christian uses of the Rose as a Symbol Paganism: Christianity: • Symbol of Venus (Aphrodite) • Symbol for the five wounds of Christ • Came to stand for secrecy • Symbol for Virgin Mary • Found on ceilings in affluent Roman It is clear that Christians in no way used the symbol of the households. rose to attach a negative connotation to this aspect of paganism.

The Serpent Paganism: Christianity: It is unlikely that Christians would have n Used to represent evil used the serpent to God Set(hen) Used to represent the represent Christ if devil n their intentions were to smear paganism. n Used to represent Christ himself

The Pentacle Paganism: n n Used to represent humanity Used sometimes, however infrequently to represent the Goddess Venus Christianity n Used to represent Christ n Morning star n Twelve apostles

Misconceptions Brown claims the pentacle is used to represent Venus, the devil, and war. However: n n n It is the eight pointed star that is used to represent Venus The pentacle was not used to represent evil or the devil until the Nordics adopted this alternate meaning in the Middle Ages Military stars are hollow bodied.

Evasion of Persecution Before Christianity dominated Paganism, Paganism dominated Christianity. Paganism Christianity Pagans were not persecuted until Therefore, Christians were severely persecuted Chrisitianity dominated theconversion Roman Empire. by Pagans before the official of the Empire. By then, most. Roman Christian symbols were in place.

Evasion of Persecution It became necessary for Christians to disguise their symbols in existing Pagan symbols to avoid persecution. Among these symbols are: • The fish • The gammadion • The equilateral cross

The Fish Paganism: IHCOYC • Represents God Baal. XPICTOC Itaan QHON YIOC • Represents animal and CWTHP human fertility Christianity • Represents Christianity • Used as a secret code for Christians due to its prevalence in paganism. “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior”

Modern Uses The fish is used today in a variety Clearly, Christians have not of places. It appears in churches manipulated this symbol in any way everywhere, but most frequently to attach a negative connotation to can be found out of the church, on paganism. bumper stickers, jewelry etc.

The Gammadion and Equilateral Cross Christians were able to disguise the symbol of the cross in the gammadion and the equilateral cross due to the ubiquitous nature of these two symbols in Paganism.

Gammadion and Equilateral Cross Since Hitler’s use of the Gammadion, this symbol has not been used in Christianity. However the equilateral cross Paganism: Christianity: is still omnipresent and remains the official emblem of the • Represents the earth • Used as first from of the cross Greek Orthodox Church. • Represents the movement of the sun • Represents the movement of the moon

The Trident Dan Brown claims that the trident was a divine Another symbol used to Pagans disguise the is the symbol stolen from the andcross given to The trident is the tool used byhe allfails to trident. the • devil by Christians. However, pagan Gods responsible for governing mention: storms. • The trident was also used by Christianity to represent the cross These facts make it improbable that Christians intended to slight Pagans through the manipulation of this symbol.

Now You Know Christians did not manipulate Pagan symbols. Dan Brown is assimilated off base in implying that the Vatican • Christians Pagan symbols in Christian symbols borrowed from Paganism can be attempted to eradicate Paganism through the order into to disguise their own and avoid divided three categories: manipulation of their symbols. persecution • Symbols which carry very similar meanings and therefore were of subject to no manipulation • The fusion Christianity and Paganism is The Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction. also responsible the assimilation of Pagan • Symbols which havefor a few similarities in meaning, but still were not morphed for the purpose of manipulating symbols into Christianity. Paganism • Symbols which have virtually no similarities in meaning and thus cannot be reasonably compared to each other.

These are just a few of the examples that prove that Christians did not intend to manipulate Paganism when the adopted their symbols. For more information and bibliography, see “The Relevance of Pagan Symbols” in it’s printable form.