The Truth About *Lent*
The Truth About *Lent*
By
Kenneth M Hoeck
Millions of Christians are observing 40 days of repentance and fasting, as a ‘prelude’ to Easter. The basis for this observance, they claim, is found in Romans 5:20. For some, Lent is observed after having spent a week in riotous living (Mardi Gras), the theory being that if you're going to spend 40 days repenting of sins, you should have plenty of sins to repent of. But is Lent Biblical? For the real facts about Lent, you need to read this article.
Lent is the time directly following Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) a time of gross debauchery when people ‘get in all their sinning’ in preparation of fasting for Lent. It is clearly a pagan practice to observe Lent. That is not just an opinion. The origin of Lent can be traced back to the Pagan's earliest deification of false gods.
“The word ‘lent’ comes from the old English ‘lencten’, which means ‘Spring’. Created (or adopted) by the Catholic Church around 525, under the guidance of Abbot Dionysus, the Little. Lent is the 40-day period from Ash Wednesday until Easter, that is set aside for fasting and seeking repentance. The observance is not found in the Bible, so it was not recognized by Jesus, the apostles, or the early Christian Church. However, now-a-days, it usually just means ‘giving-up’ something, usually some bad habit, or even just cutting back, in order to please God. This period of abstinence actually originated in Babylon, as a preliminary to the annual day that honored the death and resurrection of Tammuz; and later was observed in Egypt to honor Osiris, the son of Isis, who was the counterpart of Tammuz. According to Babylonian tradition, when Tammuz was killed, his mother cried so much, that he came back to life. The manifestation of this was the rebirth and blooming of all vegetation in the Spring, which came to symbolize his resurrection, and why Tammuz is honored in the Spring. Ezekiel 8:12-13 talks about the women weeping for Tammuz and this actually refers to what became the 40-day Lenten period.” (Controlled by the Calendar: The Pagan Origins of Our Major Holidays by David Allen Rivera).
Lent leads into Easter and this is how that came about: Queen Ishtar’s son, Tammuz, was killed by a wild boar. Queen Ishtar (‘Easter’) told the people that Tammuz was now ascended to his father, Baal (also known as Nimrod –ref Gen. 10:8-9), and that the two of them would be with the worshippers in the sacred candle or lamp flame as Father, Son and Spirit. Ishtar, who was now worshipped as the “Mother of God and Queen of Heaven”, continued to build her mystery religion. The queen told the worshippers that when Tammuz was killed by the wild pig, some of his blood fell on the stump of an evergreen tree, and the stump grew into a full new tree overnight. This made the evergreen tree sacred by the blood of Tammuz. She also proclaimed a forty day period of time of sorrow each year prior to the anniversary of the death of Tammuz. During this time, no meat was to be eaten. Worshippers were to meditate upon the sacred mysteries of Baal and Tammuz, and to make the sign of the “+” in front of their hearts as they worshipped. They also ate sacred cakes with the marking of a “T” or cross on the top.
According to the Catholic Church, Lent is derived from the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness, but it is admitted that the observance of Lent was unknown to the disciples and it did not find its way into the church until several centuries after the time of Christ. It should be noted that the 40 days of fasting in the wilderness preceded the earthly ministry of Jesus, which lasted some three and a half years, and was not connected in any way to His crucifixion or the Passover.
“It ought to be known”, said Cassianus, the monk of Marseilles, writing in the fifth century, and contrasting the primitive Church with the Church in his day, “that the observance of forty days had no existence, so long as the perfection of that primitive Church remained inviolate”. Whence, then came this observance? "The forty days abstinence of Lent was directly borrowed from the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess.” (The Two Babylons (or the Papal Worship), Alexander Hislop, 1916, Neptune, NJ, Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., p. 104).
“The celebration of Lent has no basis in Scripture, but rather developed from the pagan celebration of Semiramis’s mourning for 40 days over the death of Tammuz (cf.Ezek. 8:14) before his alleged resurrection—another of Satan’s mythical counterfeits.” (John MacArthur, Jr., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary; 1 Corinthians, Chicago: Moody, 1984).
“Note that Lent is a moveable observance, connected to and preceding the festival of Easter. Easter is celebrated on a day specified only by the Roman Catholic Church, and not the Bible, and is fixed based on the sun and the Spring or Vernal equinox.” (Schiefler’s Bible Light)
“The reasons for celebrating our [Catholic] major feasts when we do are many and varied. In general, however, it is true that many of them have at least an indirect connection with the pre-Christian (pagan) feasts celebrated about the same time of year—feasts centering around the harvest, the rebirth of the sun at the winter solstice (now Dec. 21, but Dec. 25 in the old Julian calendar), the renewal of nature in spring, and so on.:” (Source: The New Question Box – Catholic Life for the Nineties, copyright 1988 by John J. Dietzen, M.A., S.T.L., ISBN 0-940518-01-5 (paperback), published by Guildhall Publishers, Peoria, Illinois, 61651., page 554.)
The witches of the world observe Imbolc on February 2. It “has its origins in a calving festival celebrated throughout northern Europe. In many cultures of the northern hemisphere, February was a purifactory month, so the rituals of Imbolc also incorporate purifactory elements (most notably bonfires). In the xian calendar this festival was converted to the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin (Mary), marking the end of the traditional 40 day period of ritual impurity following the birth of a child for Jewish women. It was on this day that the candles for the following year were purified (along with the Virgin!) in the western church – thus the name Candlemas. It is probable that the backward extension of Lent as a penitential (therefore purifactory) period had something to do with a survival of the pre-xian Imbolc.” (Pagan Holidays www.sympatico.ca/morgaine/holiday.html. – a witchcraft website).
Dr. H.A. Ironside’s Lectures on the Book of Revelation (1920: p. 301) wrote: “It is a lamentable fact that Babylon’s principles and practices are rapidly but surely pervading the churches that escaped from Rome at the time of the Reformation. We may see evidences of it in the wide use of high-sounding ecclesiastical titles, once unknown in the reformed churches, in the revival of holy days and church feasts such as Lent, Good Friday, Easter, and Christ’s Mass, or, as it is generally written, Christmas. . .some of these festivals when they are turned into church festivals, they certainly come under the condemnation of Galatians 4:9-11, where the Holy Spirit warns against the observance of days and months and times and seasons. All of them, and many more that might be added, are Babylonish in their origin, and were at one time linked with the Ashtoreth and Tammuz mystery-worship. It is through Rome that they have come down to us: and we do well to remember that Babylon is a mother, with daughters who are likely to partake of their mother’s characteristics…”
The Catholic Church ‘borrowed’ and ‘Christianized’ this pagan observance along with the smearing of ash on the face that came with the ‘bonfires’ of spring. “Nor was the forty-day fast period used by the heathen omitted in this work of amalgamating Christianity and paganism. This was made the Lenten period preceding the Easter festival, the same as it was the period of fasting preceding the festival in honour of the sun god’s son Tammuz. Of this work of molding the church after pagan models, Hislop, in “Two Babylons” says,
"To conciliate the pagans to nominal Christianity, Rome, pursuing its usual policy, took measures to get the Christian and pagan festivals amalgamated, and by a complicated, but skillful adjustment of the calendar, it was found no difficult matter in general, to get paganism and Christianity, now far sunk in idolatry, in this as in many other things, to shake hands.”
"Preceding the Tammuz festival, the pagans celebrated a fast of forty days. This was a time of lamenting and weeping. Surrounded by these conditions, and receiving into its communion half-pagan converts, the church of the third and fourth centuries became leavened with heathen superstitions. There was developed a marked spirit to cater to the prejudices and customs of their heathen associates, hoping thereby to win the favour of the unconverted, and bring them within the fold of the church.” – Taken from Review & Herald, April 8, 1909.
I hope this has helped you understand that “Lent” is an unbiblical festival that should not be observed by true believers.
Author: Ken Hoeck
Truth on the Web Ministries
By
Kenneth M Hoeck
Millions of Christians are observing 40 days of repentance and fasting, as a ‘prelude’ to Easter. The basis for this observance, they claim, is found in Romans 5:20. For some, Lent is observed after having spent a week in riotous living (Mardi Gras), the theory being that if you're going to spend 40 days repenting of sins, you should have plenty of sins to repent of. But is Lent Biblical? For the real facts about Lent, you need to read this article.
Lent is the time directly following Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) a time of gross debauchery when people ‘get in all their sinning’ in preparation of fasting for Lent. It is clearly a pagan practice to observe Lent. That is not just an opinion. The origin of Lent can be traced back to the Pagan's earliest deification of false gods.
“The word ‘lent’ comes from the old English ‘lencten’, which means ‘Spring’. Created (or adopted) by the Catholic Church around 525, under the guidance of Abbot Dionysus, the Little. Lent is the 40-day period from Ash Wednesday until Easter, that is set aside for fasting and seeking repentance. The observance is not found in the Bible, so it was not recognized by Jesus, the apostles, or the early Christian Church. However, now-a-days, it usually just means ‘giving-up’ something, usually some bad habit, or even just cutting back, in order to please God. This period of abstinence actually originated in Babylon, as a preliminary to the annual day that honored the death and resurrection of Tammuz; and later was observed in Egypt to honor Osiris, the son of Isis, who was the counterpart of Tammuz. According to Babylonian tradition, when Tammuz was killed, his mother cried so much, that he came back to life. The manifestation of this was the rebirth and blooming of all vegetation in the Spring, which came to symbolize his resurrection, and why Tammuz is honored in the Spring. Ezekiel 8:12-13 talks about the women weeping for Tammuz and this actually refers to what became the 40-day Lenten period.” (Controlled by the Calendar: The Pagan Origins of Our Major Holidays by David Allen Rivera).
Lent leads into Easter and this is how that came about: Queen Ishtar’s son, Tammuz, was killed by a wild boar. Queen Ishtar (‘Easter’) told the people that Tammuz was now ascended to his father, Baal (also known as Nimrod –ref Gen. 10:8-9), and that the two of them would be with the worshippers in the sacred candle or lamp flame as Father, Son and Spirit. Ishtar, who was now worshipped as the “Mother of God and Queen of Heaven”, continued to build her mystery religion. The queen told the worshippers that when Tammuz was killed by the wild pig, some of his blood fell on the stump of an evergreen tree, and the stump grew into a full new tree overnight. This made the evergreen tree sacred by the blood of Tammuz. She also proclaimed a forty day period of time of sorrow each year prior to the anniversary of the death of Tammuz. During this time, no meat was to be eaten. Worshippers were to meditate upon the sacred mysteries of Baal and Tammuz, and to make the sign of the “+” in front of their hearts as they worshipped. They also ate sacred cakes with the marking of a “T” or cross on the top.
According to the Catholic Church, Lent is derived from the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness, but it is admitted that the observance of Lent was unknown to the disciples and it did not find its way into the church until several centuries after the time of Christ. It should be noted that the 40 days of fasting in the wilderness preceded the earthly ministry of Jesus, which lasted some three and a half years, and was not connected in any way to His crucifixion or the Passover.
“It ought to be known”, said Cassianus, the monk of Marseilles, writing in the fifth century, and contrasting the primitive Church with the Church in his day, “that the observance of forty days had no existence, so long as the perfection of that primitive Church remained inviolate”. Whence, then came this observance? "The forty days abstinence of Lent was directly borrowed from the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess.” (The Two Babylons (or the Papal Worship), Alexander Hislop, 1916, Neptune, NJ, Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., p. 104).
“The celebration of Lent has no basis in Scripture, but rather developed from the pagan celebration of Semiramis’s mourning for 40 days over the death of Tammuz (cf.Ezek. 8:14) before his alleged resurrection—another of Satan’s mythical counterfeits.” (John MacArthur, Jr., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary; 1 Corinthians, Chicago: Moody, 1984).
“Note that Lent is a moveable observance, connected to and preceding the festival of Easter. Easter is celebrated on a day specified only by the Roman Catholic Church, and not the Bible, and is fixed based on the sun and the Spring or Vernal equinox.” (Schiefler’s Bible Light)
“The reasons for celebrating our [Catholic] major feasts when we do are many and varied. In general, however, it is true that many of them have at least an indirect connection with the pre-Christian (pagan) feasts celebrated about the same time of year—feasts centering around the harvest, the rebirth of the sun at the winter solstice (now Dec. 21, but Dec. 25 in the old Julian calendar), the renewal of nature in spring, and so on.:” (Source: The New Question Box – Catholic Life for the Nineties, copyright 1988 by John J. Dietzen, M.A., S.T.L., ISBN 0-940518-01-5 (paperback), published by Guildhall Publishers, Peoria, Illinois, 61651., page 554.)
The witches of the world observe Imbolc on February 2. It “has its origins in a calving festival celebrated throughout northern Europe. In many cultures of the northern hemisphere, February was a purifactory month, so the rituals of Imbolc also incorporate purifactory elements (most notably bonfires). In the xian calendar this festival was converted to the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin (Mary), marking the end of the traditional 40 day period of ritual impurity following the birth of a child for Jewish women. It was on this day that the candles for the following year were purified (along with the Virgin!) in the western church – thus the name Candlemas. It is probable that the backward extension of Lent as a penitential (therefore purifactory) period had something to do with a survival of the pre-xian Imbolc.” (Pagan Holidays www.sympatico.ca/morgaine/holiday.html. – a witchcraft website).
Dr. H.A. Ironside’s Lectures on the Book of Revelation (1920: p. 301) wrote: “It is a lamentable fact that Babylon’s principles and practices are rapidly but surely pervading the churches that escaped from Rome at the time of the Reformation. We may see evidences of it in the wide use of high-sounding ecclesiastical titles, once unknown in the reformed churches, in the revival of holy days and church feasts such as Lent, Good Friday, Easter, and Christ’s Mass, or, as it is generally written, Christmas. . .some of these festivals when they are turned into church festivals, they certainly come under the condemnation of Galatians 4:9-11, where the Holy Spirit warns against the observance of days and months and times and seasons. All of them, and many more that might be added, are Babylonish in their origin, and were at one time linked with the Ashtoreth and Tammuz mystery-worship. It is through Rome that they have come down to us: and we do well to remember that Babylon is a mother, with daughters who are likely to partake of their mother’s characteristics…”
The Catholic Church ‘borrowed’ and ‘Christianized’ this pagan observance along with the smearing of ash on the face that came with the ‘bonfires’ of spring. “Nor was the forty-day fast period used by the heathen omitted in this work of amalgamating Christianity and paganism. This was made the Lenten period preceding the Easter festival, the same as it was the period of fasting preceding the festival in honour of the sun god’s son Tammuz. Of this work of molding the church after pagan models, Hislop, in “Two Babylons” says,
"To conciliate the pagans to nominal Christianity, Rome, pursuing its usual policy, took measures to get the Christian and pagan festivals amalgamated, and by a complicated, but skillful adjustment of the calendar, it was found no difficult matter in general, to get paganism and Christianity, now far sunk in idolatry, in this as in many other things, to shake hands.”
"Preceding the Tammuz festival, the pagans celebrated a fast of forty days. This was a time of lamenting and weeping. Surrounded by these conditions, and receiving into its communion half-pagan converts, the church of the third and fourth centuries became leavened with heathen superstitions. There was developed a marked spirit to cater to the prejudices and customs of their heathen associates, hoping thereby to win the favour of the unconverted, and bring them within the fold of the church.” – Taken from Review & Herald, April 8, 1909.
I hope this has helped you understand that “Lent” is an unbiblical festival that should not be observed by true believers.
Author: Ken Hoeck
Truth on the Web Ministries
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