Christians are pagan worshipers

I would like to ask Pro, on what basis does he single out the Catholic Church out of all the many denominations claiming to be Christian, as an example of Christianity? Why not Anglicans, Pentecostals, Methodists, Lutherans, Nazarenes, Baptists, Weslyan or Presbyterians? The vast majority of the Christian world is comprised of Protestants who reject unbiblical teachings such as intercession of saints and prayers to Mary. So just because one denomination (Catholics) teach these things, doesn"t make Christianity itself guilty of going astray. Cross Did the earliest Christiand reject the cross because of its pagan roots? No, rather, they looked upon it as a reminder of what Jesus did for them. 1 Corinthians 1:18 "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." It reminds us of the saving power of Christ"s death on the cross. Paul doesn"t care that the cross is a pagan symbol; it has a different meaning for Christians. He speaks of those who reject the gospel as "enemies of the cross of Christ." (Philippians 3:18) So we see that contrary to Pro"s claim that use of the cross is unbiblical, the cross was actually a significant symbol to the earliest Christians in the Bible. It wasn"t that pagans convinced Christians to accept the cross, but it was because of what Jesus did for us on that cross that made it a significant symbol in first-century Christianity. Using a pagan symbol is not the same thing as engaging in pagan worship, as long as the symbol doesn"t carry the same meaning for the Christian as it does for the pagan. For example: The Calendar. "Our [Roman] calendar is not Christian in origin. It descends directly from the Egyptians, who originated the 12 month year, 365 day system. A pagan Egyptian scientist, Sosigenes, suggested this plan to the pagan Emperor Julius Caesar, who directed that it go into effect throughout the Roman Empire in 45 B.C. As adopted it indicated its pagan origin by the names of the months"called after Janus, Maia, Juno, etc. The days were not named but numbered on a complicated system involving Ides, Nones, and Calends. It was not until 321 A.D. that the seven-day week feature was added, when the Emperor Constantine (supposedly) adopted Christianity. Oddly enough for his weekdays he chose pagan names which are still used." (Journal of Calendar Reform, Sept. 1953, p. 128.) When you use the pagan names Saturday (Saturn"s day from the Roman god Saturn) and Sunday (the sun-god), or Thursday (Thor, god of thunder) you are not doing so in honor of those false gods as the ancient pagans once did. Similarly, when Christians use the cross they don"t do it in honor of pagan gods or with pagan meanings. The Christian use of the cross is not an example of paganism anymore than our use of the calendar. Marriage customs "Although for Americans covering the bride"s face with a veil has come to represent innocence and purity, the practice was originally used in other cultures as protection from harm or molestation and was one of many rituals adopted out of concern for the happiness, safety, and fertility of the bride and groom. "raised chairs, red carpets, special shoes and other forms of insulation or protection have been used to defend against malicious spirits on the ground. "The current Western practice of having a bridal party to attend the couple evolved from a Roman tradition, in which the bridesmaids and ushers dressed exactly like the bride and groom, to protect the wedding couple by confusing evil spirits." ""Something Old, Something New"Ethnic Weddings in America, (Philadelphia, PA: The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies, 1987), p. 8 "The custom of giving a wedding ring dates back to the ancient Romans. "Wearing the wedding ring on the ring finger of the left hand is another old custom. People once thought that a vein or nerve ran directly from this finger to the heart." " The World Book Encyclopedia, vol. 13, 2000, p. 221 "The wedding cake has its origins far back in time. "In Rome the early marriage rite was called conferreatio from the cake of wheat"which the couple first offered to the gods, then ate together." " The Encyclopedia Americana, vol. 28, 1999, p. 565 "There is not a single point connected with marriage which is not shrouded in innumerable superstitions, some of them dating back to hoary antiquity." " A Short History of Marriage, by Ethel L. Urlin, (Detroit Singing Tree Press, 1969), p. 201 Are Christians guilty of paganism just because pagans used wedding rings and so on before they did? Of course not, because these things carry a different significance for Christians, and so does the cross. For Pro to be consistent with his argument, he needs to repudiate the use of the calendar and marriage customs to sustain his theory. The Bible allows Christians to eat meat offered in sacrifice to pagan idols as long as the Christian eating the meat does so with a heart of gratitude toward God and does not cause a weaker brother to stumble by doing so? (1 Cor 8:4, 7-8) Since God allows Christians to eat pagan meat if their heart-motives are pure, why would God be displeased with Christians today who choose to remember Christ by use of the cross? The Bible forbids the worship of images, but not the use of images. Notice God even commanded the making and use of various images such as the golden cherubs and the ark which were used in rituals on the Day of Atonement. (Exo 25:17-22; Lev 16) God commanded Moses to make a copper serpent coiled on a pole even though the serpent was a pagan symbol used in Egypt long before. (Num 21:8-9) Twelve bulls were made in constructing the temple even though stone animals were pagan symbols venerated in Egypt long before. (1 Kings 7:25) So the Bible has nothing against the using a symbol just because pagans their own meanings to it. Should we stop appreciating the sun just because Egyptians worship it as a god named Ra? Soul One word tends to have more than one meaning in any language. The Hebrew word Elohim means "God" in Genesis 1:1, but means "gods" in Exodus 12:12. So too, the word soul does at times mean the physical body, but at time it doesn"t. At Matt 10:28 Jesus contrasted the would with the body saying: "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul;" one can be killed, the other cannot. Then he says "fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body," the word "both" indicating two distinct entities " so the soul in this case isn"t the body at all. Pro argues that if God can kill the soul, the soul isn"t immortal, but has it not occurred to him that God can first strip an immortal soul of his immortality, then kill him? So this doesn"t prove the soul isn"t immortal. It might not be, but Pro"s argument is still weak. We have souls of people who were killed on earth, alive in heaven at Revelation 6:9-11. More proof the soul survives the death of the body is Luke 16:19-31 where the rich man, Lazarus and Abraham all exist alive in another place after their bodies had died. Paul preferred to become absent from his body so he could be present with the Lord. (2 Cor 5:6-8) What part of him could be absent from his body if not the soul? War The Bible has plenty examples where God"s people engaged in warfare. (Joshua 11; Deu 7:1-7) Christians today have Biblical basis for protecting their families even if violence is necessary. This is part of protecting those you love. Does Pro believe that we should have no armed police officers? How will they protect us then? Politics We have enough examples in the Bible of God"s people taking high office in government to effect change in the lives of people. (Gen 41:39-45; Dan 5:7, 29) God himself sets up kings. (1 Sam 13:13-14; 16:1) So we have Biblical basis for all these practices, negating Pro"s claim that they are unbiblical and pagan.