Traditions of men:
Mat 15:1-2: Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
Mat 15:9: But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
The Jews placed the highest importance to the Torah. Over the centuries, their interpretation of the scriptures and the Mosaic Law evolved into voluminous books and slowly gained prominence over the scriptures. However, these interpretations were merely human opinions. Some of them were right, but others were grossly off the mark. The Halakhah or the collective works of the biblical law as well as the customs and traditions of the Jews was not the Word of God. In the passage quoted above, Messiah was saying that they rejected the commandments of God so that they might keep their own tradition (verse 7). He also said their traditions destroyed the effect of God's Word. It became a major problem for Messiah and the church when the Jews did not have the humility to admit that many of their interpretations were wrong. They did not agree with Elohim's Word, and they viewed Yahshua, and his followers, as enemies to be destroyed.
Christian today proudly say that they have been liberated from the law (without really understanding what it means), but Christianity today is full of man made traditions.

Sunday: The first and foremost tradition of Christianity is Sunday observance. Most people who preach Sunday observance know that it is not the Sabbath. Yahweh created the world and all that is in it in six days and rested the seventh day (Gen.2:1-3). There is no commandment either in the Old Testament or in the New Testament which has changed this seventh day rest. The OT prophets observed it, Messiah observed it, the apostles and Paul observed it. Sunday was never declared by Elohim as a holy day. Most Christians point to Rom.14:5-6 as proof of Sunday worship. Romans 14:5-6 cannot be discussing the Sabbath day, the seventh day, as most Christians KNOW that Yahweh Himself rested on the seventh day, and even wrote this as a law with His own finger in the Ten Commandments (and that Yahshua kept the Sabbath and called Himself "Lord of the Sabbath"), and thus the seventh day would never be considered as "one man esteems one day better, another considers them all alike!" Many use the argument that since Yahshua was resurrected on a Sunday (first day), they honor the Sunday. But a careful reading of the gospels shows that Yahshua rose ‘at the end of the Sabbath’, i.e. after sunset on a Saturday and not on a Sunday morning. By the time Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to the tomb on Sunday morning he was already risen!
Acts.20:7-11 tells of Paul preaching till midnight. They broke bread (had supper) first day of the week (on Saturday evening after sunset) and Paul preached to them till midnight. Sunday morning Paul did not attend any church service but used the daytime to travel to Assos. This verse is no proof of a Sunday gathering.
I Cor.16:2 also does not speak of Sunday worship. ‘Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.’ Paul did not want the Corinthians to use the Sabbath as a day for taking up a collection because Sabbath was holy and a day of rest. Rather, he wanted them to do so on the Sunday when people got back to their worldly affairs. This should be read with reference to Acts 11:28-30.
There is actually not much else in the Bible to suggest that Sunday is special. 1Co 11:26,’ For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.’ We are to remember his death, not his resurrection because we are saved by His death, not his resurrection. If Sunday is holy because he was resurrected on a Sunday, then we should also be observing every Friday as holy because he was crucified on a Friday! Why celebrate "Good Friday" once a year and the Resurrection every Sunday?
Sunday worship was a tradition started by the early church fathers. In the year 321 A.D., Constantine decreed, "On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed”. You may also read Cardinal Gibbons’ excellent paper in the “Catholic Mirror” dated Sept2, 1893, for more on the origin of Sunday worship.

Christmas: Millions of Christians celebrate 25th December as the birthday of Yahshua. The Bible nowhere tells us to celebrate or remember his birth. Christmas was not celebrated in the first centuries of Christianity. It was 300 years after Christ before the Roman church kept Christmas, and not until the fifth century that it was kept throughout the empire as an official festival honoring Christ. December is the rainy season in Palestine and the weather is cold. The shepherds do not keep their flock in the fields during December but since mid October they are kept in the fold. December 17-24 was a period of celebration by the ancient followers of Mithra, the god of light in ancient Iran.  The worship of Mithra spread throughout Asia to Europe where he was called Deus Sol Invictus Mithras. Romans adopted this festivity to celebrate the god, Saturn, and the rebirth of the sun god during the winter solstice. The winter holiday became known as Saturnalia and began the week prior to December 25th. This was later absorbed into the church as the birthday of Yahshua, to bring more pagans into the church without them having to make too many changes to their religion.

Lent: The forty days of fasting before Easter are commonly attributed to the forty days of fasting by Messiah before he started his earthly ministry. This has no basis because he did not fast before his crucifixion. Coming from the Anglo-Saxon Lencten, meaning “spring,” Lent originated in the ancient Babylonian mystery religion. “The forty days abstinence of Lent was directly borrowed from the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess…Among the Pagans this Lent seems to have been an indispensable preliminary to the great annual festival in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Tammuz…” (The Two Babylons). Tammuz was the false Messiah of the Babylonians—a satanic counterfeit of Jesus Christ! (Women weeping for Tammuz, see Ezek.8:14. ”).
Rome, following its’ usual policy to get pagan festivals integrated into Christianity (to pacify the pagans), replaced Passover with Easter, moving the pagan Feast of Tammuz to early spring. (To be continued).

You are free to use this material without charge for your edification. "Freely you have recieved, freely give". All we ask is that you mention that you have taken this from www.aoyhyd.org.

Maranatha Prayer Fellowship. # 311, Agarwal Chambers, King Koti, Hyderabad-500 001, A.P.India.
Phones"91-040-23241885; 8801463260. E-mail: rkbenhur@aoyhyd.org
Worship with us at Maranatha Prayer Fellowship, 63 Spl ‘C’, Old Malakpet, Hyderabad,500036, India.
Fridays: 6 pm-8 pm; Saturdays: 3 pm-5 pm.