
There is an amazing amount of information concerning the history and practices of many fertility and sex gods/goddesses throughout the history of mankind. The earliest one being Ishtar and from which all others through time are framed. Here's a little background on this pagan goddess from Christian-Restoration.com.
"The 8th century British writer Bede, mentions that the name for Easter is derived from a pagan spring festival of the goddess Astara. The Easter bunny comes from the hare which was sacred to Astara, and the Easter egg is taken from the Ishtar egg, or seed of the serpent. In Spring each year Ishtar, the fertility goddess, was commemorated by decorating the Ishtar egg, a symbol of impregnation or fertility. Witches today refer to her as the spring goddess ‘Ostara’"
A New King James Bible commentary presents this story..
‘Tammuz’ : In pagan practices he was a Sumerian shepherd who married the goddess Ishtar. When he died, fertility ceased on earth. Since he was a vegetation deity the women of Judah were weeping for him, probably in the spring, in order to restore fertility by bringing him back from the dead’
One author adds detail to this legend behind the feast of ‘Ishtar’..
"Way back in Genesis we read about the beginning of the counterfeit religious system that was born on the plains of Shinar in ancient Babylon, where Nimrod, defying God, built a tower that would reach to heaven. According to legend, Nimrod’s wife, Semiramis, a high priestess, had a son by the name of Tammuz, who was conceived miraculously. When Tammuz grew up, he was killed by a wild boar, but after forty days of his mother’s weeping, he was raised from the dead. It was in this story of Semiramis and Tammuz that the cultic worship of the “Mother and child” began to spread throughout the world. Forty days of lent memorialised the forty days of weeping over the death of Tammuz, and at the end of the forty days, the feast of Ishtar was observed to celebrate the resurrection of Tammuz.
The prophet Ezekiel was called by the Lord to go to the temple and see this cultic practise in process, and there Ezekiel watched the woman of Israel in their ritual weeping for ‘Tammuz’. The Lord rightly called the whole thing an abomination. (Ezekiel 8:13-14)
‘Tammuz’ : In pagan practices he was a Sumerian shepherd who married the goddess Ishtar. When he died, fertility ceased on earth. Since he was a vegetation deity the women of Judah were weeping for him, probably in the spring, in order to restore fertility by bringing him back from the dead’
One author adds detail to this legend behind the feast of ‘Ishtar’..
"Way back in Genesis we read about the beginning of the counterfeit religious system that was born on the plains of Shinar in ancient Babylon, where Nimrod, defying God, built a tower that would reach to heaven. According to legend, Nimrod’s wife, Semiramis, a high priestess, had a son by the name of Tammuz, who was conceived miraculously. When Tammuz grew up, he was killed by a wild boar, but after forty days of his mother’s weeping, he was raised from the dead. It was in this story of Semiramis and Tammuz that the cultic worship of the “Mother and child” began to spread throughout the world. Forty days of lent memorialised the forty days of weeping over the death of Tammuz, and at the end of the forty days, the feast of Ishtar was observed to celebrate the resurrection of Tammuz.
The prophet Ezekiel was called by the Lord to go to the temple and see this cultic practise in process, and there Ezekiel watched the woman of Israel in their ritual weeping for ‘Tammuz’. The Lord rightly called the whole thing an abomination. (Ezekiel 8:13-14)
Gathering at dawn to worship as the sun rose above the horizon was another part of this pagan worship. We the church, have ‘christianised’ this by gathering at dawn on ‘Ishtar Sunday’ to worship Jesus.
Anything to do with Ishtar or her many aliases was and will always be an abomination to God. God’s views are always made clear and explicit...
Deuteronomy 12: 3 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. You must not worship the LORD your God in their way.
When, Where and how did all go wrong?"
Fair question. In short, a far as I can see, it falls at the feet of the "first Christian emperor of the Roman Empire," Constantine I. Before Constantine's conversion it was law in the Roman Empire to publicly execute Christians in the coliseums. Constantine The Great's conversion is said to have been credited to a vision he had before a battle. "This vision had assured him that he should conquer in the sign of the Christ, and his warriors carried Christ's monogram on their shields, though the majority of them were pagans. The opposing forces met near the bridge over the Tiber called the Milvian Bridge, and here Maxentius' troops suffered a complete defeat, the tyrant himself losing his life in the Tiber (28 October, 312). Of his gratitude to the God of the Christians the victor immediately gave convincing proof; the Christian worship was henceforth tolerated throughout the empire h (Edict of Milan, early in 313)." - NewAdvent.org Good for our ancient brethren but the foundation of the Roman Catholic Church was beginning to be laid. The acceptance of the Christian faith into mainstream Roman culture produced no small stir. An early attempt to unify the Pagans and the Christians was made at the Council of Nicea in 325, where about 300 bishops condemned the "Arian Heresy" which elevated Jesus to godhood. Which... under political pressure to compromise and unify was accepted later in the Council of Constantinople in 381 which is also referred as "The Nicene Creed." With this compromise came the pagan observations, ceremonies and practices we see today in Christianity concerning Easter and Christmas. (And the names of our months and days. ex. January, from Janus (Roman mythology) the Roman god of doorways and entrances; is depicted with two faces on opposite sides of his head) And... contrary to what the Roman Catholic Churches doctrine states... was the establishment of this religion. This Christian/Pagan mix of man's doing. By twisting of the Truth by way of political pressures and the threat of death the god of this world through his sincere people successfully turned the gospel of the good news of God's reconciling men back to Himself into a tool of controlling the masses that lasted for more than a millenium.

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- Published 04/20/2014