You said:
I teensy bit more fuel to the fire. The “sign of the cross” was orginally the “sign of Tammuz” a “T” traced from forehead to chest to shoulder to shoulder. Note it is four stops, not three to designate the trinity. The name Holy Spirit is broken up into two words and should not be. Just another pagan custom added to the church back then.
I reply:
Uhhhh, no. Tammuz is the Babylonian name of the Sumerian deity Dumu-zi(d). Yes, Tammuz did become somewhat popular in Canaanite-speaking lands, including Israel (linguistically, Hebrew is basically Canaanite). Cutting to the chase, how do you get a Greek tau/Latin “t” representation out of cuneiform Sumerian (which is written ideographically with syllabic phonetic helps (in later Sumerian)) Dumuzi, cuneiform Babylonian (which is written either ideographically or syllabically) Tammuz or alphabetic (or more properly, abjadic) Canaanite/Old Hebrew script Tammuz?
This sounds like old Jehovah’s Witness boilerplate.
And, yes, I know that Tammuz/Dumuzi is the god who seasonally dies and rises to life again. But the question is this: Which comes before which? Is the Christ of the Scriptures, i.e. the Seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15) a late borrowing of the Jews from Sumer/Babylon, as the proponents of the Documentary Hypothesis, and all of its many and later intellectual incarnations (pun intended), like to think; or is Dumuzi/Tammuz a distorted, corrupted Sumerian/Babylonian echo of Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life? I’ll go with the latter explanation.
I even cross myself, as was done to me at my baptism years and years ago, every time I use the Apostles or Nicene Creed to remind myself that it is the Seed of the woman, the crucified One, who is the only Savior of sinners.
You are comparing apples to apples. The reason Tammuz is the popularized name is because it is referenced in the Bible.
And the Bible puts Babylon (Nimrod, not Nebuchadnezzar) before Sumer in history. It is Nimrod's (and Semiramis) religion that God explains as the start of the Pantheistic Mystery Religion.
Those who suggest that there is no comparison (not to mention succession) between the various forms, are highly mistaken.
[...] or is Dumuzi/Tammuz a distorted, corrupted Sumerian/Babylonian echo of Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life? I’ll go with the latter explanation.
That is reasonable - What is *not* reasonable is to use that as an excuse to bring the corruption into the worship of God. There is no question that Dec. 25th is an inclusion of that corruption you speak of, into the "form of Godliness" that Jehovah established.
Jehovah established His appointed times - The times and seasons that He declared proper. Nowhere among them is Dec. 25th (and the eve before it) appointed as Holy.
Neither (anywhere) were we commanded to "cross" ourselves. it is vanity and confusion.