Are you aware that there are numerous words that we use in our churches andread in the Scriptures that have their origin in pagan religions, especially in sun worship?This series of essays is an etymological study of a few of these words and a comparative studyto show which versions have included them.

The etymology of several words comes from Come Out of Her My People,researched and written by C. J. Koster and published by theInstitute for Scriptural Research inNorthriding, Republic of South Africa. (The edition which I am using was published in 1998.)I thank the Board of ISR for granting me permission to quote extensively from this book. Ihave quoted only a little from each of the words listed below. There are several other wordswhich are not included here.

Following is a list of the versions compared and a table indicating which onesmade changes with respect to words in question. Each word is presented separately with adetailed etymological history and its use in the various versions. References to other bookswithin each section of this series are documented in the book Come Out of Her My People.A general conclusion follows this.

This table shows which versions have used words different from the list ofwords along the top, the ones having heathen origins. That is, an 'X' signifies any deviationfrom the pagan word heading the column. Click on each word for more details.

If the research of C. J. Koster in his book Come Out of Her My Peoplecan be used as a standard, the use of words having a pagan origin, and Sun-worship inparticular, is very prevalent in the various versions. Whether or not the reader agrees withhis findings, some decisions have to be made.

If these findings are valid, it will be necessary to decide whether to acceptthem or not. If they are accepted, the True Believer (commonly known as 'Christian') has todecide what he will do. He/She can try to eliminate the words from his/her vocabulary. Thiswill take time to accomplish. Since no version is perfect, he/she should choose which is thebest version for him/her in this regard. If they are not accepted, he/she will see no need forchange. Such a person must be aware of the statement of Yahshua that not everyone who calls,"Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 8: 21).

Another problem comes for those who claim that the "Bible" is inerrant orthat "God" dictated the contents to the writers. If the "Bible" was inspired by "God" and hasno errors, which one version is it? If "God" dictated to the writers the exact words, why wouldHe have inserted words whose origins can be traced back to pagan religions, and especially tothe Sun-deity? Yahweh told the children of Israel not to make mention the name of other godsor let it be heard out of their mouths (Exodus 23: 13).

It is now up to the reader. If you are a True Believer of Yahshua, you willnot give honor, consciously or unconsciously, to a pagan idol. If you cannot, or will not,avoid giving such honour, are you any better than the Emperor Constantine who claimed to havehad a vision and became a "Christian" while still honouring the pagan Sun-deity?

If you would like to know more about heathenism, read the articles onMithra and Crishna and their contributionsto Christianity.