symbols in worship

[17th Angel]

This is where the path leads eh lol

[mee]

Originally Posted by wil

So you reject this symbol and all it stands for that is registered and copywrighted with the appropriate governmental agency that is currently in charge?

i love reading the watchtower mags they are most informative and always direct mee to the bible ........ very good

[17th Angel]

Originally Posted by mee

not at all as yet i havent been known to neal down and direct my prays to a bit of paper

Not even a hymn book or a bible? Kneel right?

[BlaznFattyz]

Originally Posted by mee

they claim to represent the God of the bible ... they have taken on many things SYMBOLS being just one of those things

who is they?

[mee]

Originally Posted by Alex P

This is where the path leads eh lol

my path leads to everlasting life , thats because i listen to Jesus and take in knowledge about the true God Jehovah , and his son jesus christ . and guess what , there are no symbols in sight , thats because we dont need them
THROUGHOUT human history the religions of the world have featured numerous visible symbols.


Stars, moon crescents, fish, dragons, gargoyles—these and many other symbols have appeared in the writings and art of the world’s religious systems.

[mee]

Originally Posted by Alex P

Not even a hymn book or a bible? Kneel right?

no we dont need to pray to a hymn book or a bible

[mee]

On a picture in a church in Dalby (southern Sweden) the lamb representing Jesus Christ bore a swastika rather than a simple cross.

A swastika was also used in the cast of the church bell of Utterslev, Denmark.

But from where did these churches of Christendom and their clergy borrow the symbol?
It should not surprise us greatly that the swastika, as many other symbols, was adopted from pagan sources.

[17th Angel]

The swastica is also a sign of peace.... Much, much time before it was ever used for hate.... Should look into it, fascinating history has that cross.. We shouldn't be so thrilled to find the bad in everything.

[mee]

Originally Posted by Alex P

The swastica is also a sign of peace.... Much, much time before it was ever used for hate.... Should look into it, fascinating history has that cross.. We shouldn't be so thrilled to find the bad in everything.

Yes, the swastika goes back to the ancient religious center of Babylon.

[17th Angel]

Yes... And the part you keep skipping, it represented, Love.

[mee]

there is more to Easter than celebrating the resurrection of Christ. Men have taken the Biblical significance of the occasion and added symbols and customs that originate from ancient peoples who served false gods.

For example, consider a well-known emblem of Easter in some countries—the rabbit.

"Ancient pagans used the rabbit as a symbol of the abundant new life of the spring season. . . . The first record of the bunny as an Easter symbol is found in Germany about 1572," says The Catholic Encyclopedia for School and Home.

Likewise, the Easter-time use of hot cross buns, brightly colored eggs, or chocolate bells has its roots in pagan religion.

And, incredibly, the very name Easter (used in some languages) relates to a pagan deity.

The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible states that Easter was "originally the spring festival in honor of the Teutonic goddess of light and spring known in Anglo-Saxon as Eastre.

As early as the 8th century the name was transferred by the Anglo-Saxons to the Christian festival designed to celebrate the resurrection of Christ."


This pagan ancestry is widely recognized and well documented. The question is, Does it matter?

Since Easter purports to honor Christ, does God overlook the fact that its trappings, even the name itself, are linked to the worship of other gods?

[mee]

Originally Posted by Alex P

Yes... And the part you keep skipping, it represented, Love.

Symbol of Fertility and Life

in the trench graves of Mycenae, Greece, the swastika is found on rich golden jewelry.

It also appears on coins.

In a funeral scene depicted on an Athenian vase, three swastikas can be seen above the horse pulling the hearse.

Goddesses of fertility found in tombs wear the symbol on their throats and breasts.

On a sarcophagus we can see the "mistress of life," who later became known as Artemis, surrounded by swastikas.

It also seems to have been associated with the lotus flower and decorated the garment of Aphrodite, the ancient Greek goddess of love, called Venus by the Romans.

Swastikas have also come to light in excavations at Troy, an ancient city of Asia Minor.

So, at Troy and in its representations in the Aegean area, the swastika conveyed the idea of fertility and life.

[17th Angel]

So why are they bad again Mee?

[Thomas]

So in Matthew 4:19 "And he saith to them: Come ye after me, and I will make you to be fishers of men", are you saying that Jesus was implying that He would teach the fishermen how to use their nets and lines to catch bathers instead?

Slave trade, perhaps? Or cannibalism?

I suggest He was using a symbol to convey a message to those He called to discipleship, and that this meaning was transparently obvious to all who heard it, and so they adopted the sign of the fish as a graffito, a symbolic shorthand, to convey that they were followers of Christ.

Of course, Love is the greatest Christian symbol of them all:
John 13:34-35 "A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another."

Thomas

[mee]

Originally Posted by Thomas

Of course, Love is the greatest Christian symbol of them all:
John 13:34-35 "A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another."

Thomas

very true indeed love of God and neigbour

and when Jesus was talking to his followers he said that the identifiing mark to all men , as to who are his dicsiples would be love among themselves.