Introduction

This book is intended for those who are born again through repentance (i.e. grief and godly sorrow of sin, ( 2Co 7:9-10 ) and faith ( Rom 10:9 ) in the Lord Jesus Christ. For those who do not have the Holy Spirit, the things in this book may seem foolish to you ( 1Co 1:18 ), and I say this so that those who are of the world will not waste their time on this subject, as it is far more important that they hear the message of repentance (i.e. godly sorrow) and remission (i.e. forgiveness) of sins, and if you want to learn more about that, please read " Is Repentance Part of Salvation? " here at creationliberty.com.

And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel .

-Mark 1:15



And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations , beginning at Jerusalem.

-Luke 24:47

In search of the truth of what the Word of God teaches on the subject of marriage, some readers may be surprised to learn that I have been condemned to hell, blacklisted, and railed against by churchgoers, pastors, and elders from a variety of sources. My wife and I have also lost many former friends and had family (even to this very day) scoff at us because we wanted to stay true to the Bible's doctrine on marriage. Why would I start out my book on marriage with such depressing statements? I say these things because I want to warn readers that if you learn the truth of what the Bible teaches on marriage, many of these things might happen to you as well, and I want you to know the price you might pay for standing firm on the Word of God on this matter.

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you .

-Matthew 5:11-12

But I would also tell you that the Lord God has richly blessed my wife and me because we have remained obedient to His Word. Please do not misunderstand, our marriage has not been flawless by any means, and as we will learn later, our marriage started out the opposite of most marriages, meaning that we had a very rocky start, but the Lord God has been very merciful to us, and been kind enough to give us His wisdom and understanding, by which our marriage has greatly improved, and we have grown closer with each passing year.

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ .

-1 Peter 3:15-16

Is it not my purpose to cause division between families, but this is what will naturally happen if we choose Christ over the world, as Jesus taught:

Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law .

-Luke 12:51-53

Christ should be our first love, but if we love our families more than we love Him, we are not worthy of Him:

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me .

-Matthew 10:37-38

This is not because the Lord Jesus Christ loves division among family, but the truth and doctrine of God's Word is far more important than blood relation. Therefore it is better to trust in God, than to bend to pressures of men.

It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man .

-Psalm 118:8

If you believe that marriage is holy and sacred to God, then I hope you will continue reading that you might learn the basic truths about marriage which I have almost never heard preached from the pulpits of American church buildings, and to those pastors who might condemn me before hearing me out, I would say that they are foolish and should be ashamed of themselves:

He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him .

-Proverbs 18:13

(Read "Corruptions of Christianity: Catholicism" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

Though there seems to be little debate among churchgoers concerning marriage, that is because they are so vested in religious traditions, they have lost sight of the basic understanding of God's Word. As we can see from countless examples in Scripture, people tend to have a hard time letting go of religious traditions, no matter how corrupt they are, and as we will soon learn, despite the fact that most churchgoers think marriage traditions come from Scripture, the reality is that many of the religious traditions surrounding marriage have come from paganism and witchcraft, which have been repackaged into a fluffier version by the Catholic Church, a corruption of Christian doctrine transformed into works-based heresy, by which no man can be saved.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast .

-Ephesians 2:8-9

These pagan/Catholic traditions are commonly taught to pastors in their seminaries (i.e. so-called "Bible" colleges), and when they graduate, they come out and teach those same corrupt traditions to churchgoers. This is a long-standing problem, in which many generations have been corrupted by these seminary schools, training pastors to teach others to follow the traditions of men, which makes the preaching of God's Word ineffective.

Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye .

-Mark 7:13

The context of Mark 7:13 means that the Word of God becomes useless in situations where heavy emphasis is put on religious tradition, instead of on the commandments of Christ. As it has been throughout history, mankind tends to highly revere religious traditions because they believe performing special rituals will make them more righteous, but that is just a false appearance for show. The problem with religious tradition becomes even worse when those religious inventions of men are claimed to be "Christian," and thereby they deceive many. Specifically to the topic of this book, the religious wedding traditions become honored and revered, being placed on a high pedestal, and in the hearts of churchgoers, obedience and reverence to God's Word is tossed onto the dirty floor below.

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy [a way of thinking] and vain deceit [useless lies] , after the tradition of men, after the rudiments [first teachings] of the world, and not after Christ .

-Colossians 2:8

Sadly, due to the fact that respect of persons (i.e. to honor an office of station or title of a man, rather than judging the doctrine of a man) is so rampant among American church buildings, most churchgoers automatically refuse to believe that their pastor (who they secretly worship in their hearts) has been corrupted by the traditions of men. Because of this, they find it much easier to condemn me than to study the facts, which often results in railing, false accusations before they will listen. In many cases, I have been on the receiving end of a churchgoer's contentious attitude, in which I am accused of knowing nothing because I do not have a seminary degree, and such arguments are not only fallacious, but again, that is respecting persons in sin, because they are judging a matter based on someone's degree or office, and not judging based on the merits of someone's doctrine.

But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors .

-James 2:9

(Read "Respecting Persons Is Sin" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

One who judges a man first by whether or not he holds the title of a "pastor" is judging according to the appearance, and not judging righteous judgment.

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment .

-John 7:24

Which also means that such people might claim to be of Christ, but their hearts are far from Him.

This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men .

-Matthew 15:8-9

(Read "False Converts vs Eternal Security" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

(Read "Why Millions of Believers on Jesus Are Going to Hell" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

I plead with readers to understand that these verses I am quoting are not in Scripture because God thought they would be something fun and entertaining to read on a daily devotional calendar, but rather, these verses are a direct rebuke against men (especially those who claim to have faith in God) who hold religious traditions in high regard in their hearts. Going to a church building and singing a lot of songs very passionately about Jesus Christ is hypocrisy and vanity when they highly esteem religious traditions, and by their actions, they prove they are far from God.

Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream .

-Amos 5:23-24

If we claim to be a disciple of Christ, then we should continue in His Word, not in religious tradition, and if we love Him, we should keep His commandments.

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free .

-John 8:31-32



If ye love me, keep my commandments .

-John 14:15

We ought not to follow religious tradition blindly just to please other men, nor should we simply do that which seems right in our own eyes, but we should look to the Lord God for guidance in all spiritual matters.

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death .

-Proverbs 14:12



Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts .

-Proverbs 21:2



And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight .

-1 John 3:22



But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts .

-1 Thessalonians 2:4

Where did all these traditions come from?

As of the turn of the 21st century, American society does not train a young girl how to one day become a dedicated wife and loving mother, but rather, she is trained to desire her glorious wedding day, in which she becomes an object of worship. Of course, this is not only due to religious traditions, but also due to the marketing of businesses that provide jewelry, dresses, hotels, cakes, limousines, and much more, because with religious tradition always comes polished material goods to provide viewers with a pleasant appearance to make them feel good, but I want readers to take a moment in thought and ask yourself:Let's take this train of thought a step further and ask ourselves: Why is it religious tradition that a couple must be married in a church building? Where was that established? Where in the Bible does it teach that a pastor is required to marry a couple? How did marriage licenses get started, and how do they relate to Biblical marriage?These are all things that we are taught to accept from the time we are little children, and most people go their entire lives and never once ask a very simple question: "Why?" They practice and execute the traditions, down to the very positions where they stand, the steps they take, the words they speak, every piece of food, every flower, every decoration, and never once express desire to understand the reason behind these things; following them strictly in willful blindness, so long as it gives them the feeling that was they are doing is sacred.

And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch ?

-Mark 6:39

Of course, many just do these things because it is what everyone else does, and it is all they have ever known, but I find it fascinating that, in America today, many young children have given this same excuse to their mothers, that "everyone else is doing it." And how does mom respond? "If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?"This is a mother's reasoning with a child to get him/her to understand that he/she would not jump off a bridge to grave injury or death just because his/her friends were doing it. That is foolish and nonsensical, and yet, when it comes to weddings and marriage, they will jump off the bridge just because everyone else is doing it.

Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment :

-Exodus 23:2

When I can get into a reasonable conversation with a churchgoer, and I question them about the origins of wedding ceremonies, they often respond with a question, saying, "Isn't that in the Bible somewhere?" I can understand this because, as a young Christian, I also thought these things were listed somewhere in the Bible, but as I grew in understanding of God's Word through study (which Christians are supposed to do that they might show themselves approved by God, 2Ti 2:15 ), I slowly began to realize that almost NOTHING in the modern day wedding ceremonies is found in Scripture.However, the core problem in most churchgoers and pastors is not ignorance, because ignorance is innocent and can be corrected. The real problem is WILLFUL ignorance, which comes from a source of pride in the heart, in which a man says in his heart, "I do not know the truth, and I DO NOT WANT to know the truth."For those of us born again in Christ, we should work to bring every thought and imagination into captivity, bringing our minds and hearts into obedience unto Christ:

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ ;

-2 Corinthians 10:5

And therefore, it is my hope that the Lord God, in His infinite mercy, might allow some who read this book to increase in understanding of His Word, and that you and your family would be blessed and sanctified (i.e. set apart for a holy use unto Christ) according to the truth, and that your marriages would benefit from this knowledge, living long, healthy, and prosperous lives together.

I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth .

-John 17:14-19

#1 - The Pagan Origin of Wedding Traditions

Please do not misunderstand the title to this first chapter because I am in no way saying that weddings themselves are pagan in origin, but rather, the wedding traditions that are commonly celebrated today were established in witchcraft, not in the Bible. The reason you will not find modern-day wedding traditions in the Bible is because the Lord God has always hated witchcraft and paganism, and He does not establish traditions after the ways of heathen.

Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen , and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

-Jeremiah 10:2

heathen (n): a pagan; a Gentile; one who worships idols, or is unacquainted with the true God

(See 'heathen', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Dec 12, 2019, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

Though such pagan religious traditions are widely accepted and highly esteemed among men, and though many claim those wedding traditions to be "Christian," it does not mean that God approves of them. Such pagan witchcraft traditions are an abomination in His sight, meaning that He hates those things with the utmost hatred:

And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God .

-Luke 16:15

One of the primary reasons for this is because when men begin focusing on religious tradition, they also begin to lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, trusting in themselves to be good because they have performed the so-called "holy" rituals, which creates a false appearance of "righteousness."

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one .

-Romans 3:10-12

Before we cover specific examples, I want readers to understand that the Christian God of the Bible hates witchcraft, divination, charms, and any other such thing that follows the religious traditions of the pagans. The Lord God never used these things, nor did the Holy Ghost ever instruct the church to "reclaim them" or "restore them" for Christ (which is what many pastors might argue); rather, all throughout God's Word, He destroyed those religious traditions.

There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch ,

-Deuteronomy 18:10

(To make one's "son or daughter to pass through the fire" is the practice of abortion; Read "Abortion: Paganism, Satanism, Sacrifices, and Witchcraft" here at creationlibety.com for more details.)



And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger .

-2 Kings 17:17

As you can see, the practice of these pagan rituals brought God to anger, and sadly, most churchgoers today simply shrug at these verses, as if they have no fear of God, or concern for how He views the wicked things of this world. Worse still, many churchgoers also believe that, because Jesus went to the cross, now they are delivered and free to do the traditions of witches as they please, but they are willingly blind to the fact that the Jews in the Old Testament made the same excuse:

Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations ?

-Jeremiah 7:9-10

Both in the Old and New Testaments, paganism, idolatry, and witchcraft are condemned as sin, and therefore, for a churchgoer to say that they can "restore" sin and claim sin for God is willful ignorance and an excuse to justify themselves before men.

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft , hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God .

-Galatians 5:19-21

Please do not misunderstand, just because you may have participated in wedding traditions in the past does not mean you are going to hell. We are not saved by works; we are saved by the blood of Christ through repentance (i.e. grief and godly sorrow of wrongdoing) and faith in Him, but that does not give us an excuse to remain living according to the idolatry and covetousness of the flesh.

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound ? [i.e. that God's grace would have to come in great quantity to us] God forbid . [i.e. God commands us against doing such things] How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein ? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life .

-Romans 6:1-4

(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Idolatry" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

Other churchgoers may argue that they did not carve out an idol with a face and hands, and bow down to worship it, so therefore, they argue that they are not guilty of idolatry. Once again, this is spoken in willful ignorance because if they believe bowing down to a statue is the limit of idolatry, then they do not understand what idolatry is, nor do they understand that God is looking at the idolatry in their hearts.

Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart , and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols .

-Ezekiel 14:4-5

In context, though the Jews may not have been setting up little figures with faces on them and bowing down to worship them, they did set up idols in their hearts, loving the things of this world, and ignoring the Word of God. The idolatry of the heart is similar to when Jesus talked about the adultery of the heart, in which looking and lusting was the same as doing the deed itself.

But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart .

-Matthew 5:28

Thus, most modern-day churchgoers are idolaters in their hearts because they have looked to tradition, rather than looking towards the Lord Jesus Christ, and although the typical wedding traditions I am about to list out are based on paganism and witchcraft, churchgoers typically do everything they can to justify them, rather than sanctify themselves from them.

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ .

-1 Thessalonians 5:23

WEDDING RINGS/BANDS

Today, wedding rings are likely the most iconic of marriage symbols used in our society, and they are so widely accepted among churchgoers to be a foundation of marriage, churchgoers will condemn Christians if they are married and do not have them. My question is: Who decided that? How did it come about that a piece of metal around one's finger was to be a symbol of husband and wife? If we take away the emotion, it is a very awkward thing to associate shaped metal with an abstract concept, like love, justice, or reason, and furthermore, there is no Biblical justification to use jewelry as a symbol (or reminder) of a promise.

In the Bible's historical accounts, rings were used in various societies as a symbol of authority, just as the Egyptians did:

And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand , and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;

-Genesis 41:42

However, the use of rings was never associated with marriage in Scripture; meaning that such a tradition was not recorded at all, let alone being used in a religious sense as a part of a wedding. Please do not misunderstand, I am not in any way saying that it is wrong to present a gift to your spouse (i.e. your wife or husband), nor am I saying that jewelry is a sin (as some religious extremists argue). I want Christians to understand that it is the heathen (i.e. the pagans, witches, druids, etc) who seek after the things (e.g. jewelry) made of silver and gold, and sadly, most churchgoers have followed after the example of the heathen, despite the fact that Christ taught us not to put emphasis on such vain things.

The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands .

-Psalm 135:15



A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold .

-Proverbs 22:1

Wedding bands are most often trinkets of vanity and pride, by which couples believe themselves to be holy, righteous, and true because they wear a piece of metal on their finger, rather than looking to the good works of God from a pure heart, to have a good name and loving favor with Christ, and allowing His righteousness to be the symbol of a good marriage. After having discussions with various churchgoers over many years of teaching on this subject, I find that men tend to have a lot less problem with this than women, meaning that women have responded to these things with a lot more maliciousness than men do, and that is most often because they are desperately defending their first love, which are the vain trinkets of this world.

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him .

-1 John 2:15



In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works .

-1 Timothy 2:9-10

Most readers will be quite familiar with wedding rings, especially engagement rings, which is a ring traditionally given to a woman when asking for her hand in marriage, and I want you to ask yourself: Do you believe that the average engagement ring would be considered "modest apparel?" I am not saying that it is wrong for a bride to make herself beautiful for the sake of her groom, but when was the last time you saw a woman act humbly when showing off her engagement ring?

In fact, the typical expectation is that the more expensive the ring, the more care a man has for a woman, which is, to put it mildly, vain on the giving side, and covetous on the receiving side. That pride blinds couples to the truth about their vain traditions, which is likely one of the many reasons why, in the 21st century, between 40-60% of U.S. marriages end in divorce.

(See Henry F. Lewis, "Divorce Statistics in the United States and California," Gardner & Lewis, LLP, retrieved Dec 16, 2019, [michaelagardner.net/blog/2018/10/09/divorce-statistics-in-the-united-193973])

" Catholicism adopted the use of rings from the pagan world , and during the Middle Ages, it became customary for a bishop to receive a ring as part of the ceremony of consecration... Engagement rings in the Catholic Church have been given since inception as was adopted from ancient pagan times. One type, set with a diamond became popular in the 15th century. The wearing of wedding rings is also an ancient pagan tradition, and the gold band has been popular since the 16th century. In Western society today, a married woman often wears both an engagement ring and a wedding band, and a married man often wears a wedding band. This pagan tradition has been legitimised in the [Catholic] church by the Papal [Pope] , who sees the ring as having a mysterious power that binds people to oaths they take ."

-Dong Gadu, The Church in the End Time: Conflict Between Truth and Falsehood, AuthorHouse, 2006, p. 46, ISBN: 9781420823639

What men and women (especially churchgoers) need to understand is that they did NOT get weddings rings because of any commandment or tradition established for us by the Lord Jesus Christ. They also did not get wedding rings because it was an idea they came up with that they thought would be good or fun. Rather, the reason they got wedding rings is because they were taught to get them; it is a tradition that was preached unto them by pastors and advertised to them by businesses, and they blindly followed that tradition without a second thought, but what most churchgoers today are completely (and willingly) blind to is the fact that these traditions pastors are handing down to churchgoers is one that came from the Catholic Church, who adopted them from pagans and witches.The following author rightly points out:Earlier, I pointed out that it made no sense to believe a piece of metal around one's finger should be a representation of a marriage, and in this case, the piece of metal around the finger is supposed to somehow reinforce an oath. That idea contradicts what Jesus taught us:

Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all ; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil .

-Matthew 5:33-37

I will cover the problem with the oaths in the next chapter, but for now, I want to focus on the rings being used as a symbol of someone's promise. In the Bible, speaking your word that you will do something is called a "promise," and despite what the world teaches, you do not have to say "I promise I will do this" in order for it to be a promise because simply saying that you will do it IS a promise, just as in Scripture, God never said "I promise I will do this," but His Word to perform an action is still called a promise.

promise (n): a declaration, written or verbal, made by one person to another

(See 'promise', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Dec 19, 2019, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:

-Romans 15:8

(Read "God Does Not Justify Lies" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

So when a man gives his word, an affirmation that he will do something, that is his promise. However, if that man does not keep his word, the Bible has another term for that, and it is called a "lie," and God has made it very clear in His Word that He hates liars.

These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him : A proud look, a lying tongue , and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies , and he that soweth discord among brethren.

-Proverbs 6:16-19

" The wedding ring also has its origin in pagan times. According to the ancient Greeks, Prometheus [a titan who was said to have created mankind] made the first wedding band out of smelted metal for strength and endurance. The unbroken circle was believed to signify the harmony of marriage... Modern-day adaptations of the many pagan rites have become big business! Photographers, jewelers, musicians, and florists have all prospered from ancient customs."

-Abigail Kirsch, The Bride and Groom's First Cookbook, Doubleday, 1996, p. 4, ISBN: 9780385476355

"Our world is filled with pagan symbols—take, for example, the wedding band . It was believed that if bad luck came to a married couple, it would get trapped in a circle (the ring) , and it would just stay there, running in a circle for eternity."

-Sylvia Browne, Secrets and Mysteries of the Word, Hay House Inc, 2006, p. 4, ISBN: 9781401922504

So if a woman says, "Yes, I will do this," and she does not do the thing she said she would do, she is found to be a liar, and she should come to repentance (i.e. grief and godly sorrow of wrongdoing). If she gives her word to a man to be his wife, and she says "Yes" in agreement to be his wife, then she has made a promise, and to add anything else to that promise (e.g. wedding bands) is evil because it adds to your "Yea" or "Nay" (i.e. your "Yes" or "No"), which is why He said, "let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."Essentially, the wedding rings are no better than a "pinky swear," which is where two people promise each other to do something, and they hold out their pinky fingers to interlock them together in a sort of handshake. The "pinky swear" is all for show because it does not have any mysterious power to bind people to their word, and likewise, a wedding ring is all for show because it does not have any mysterious power to bind people to their word, but that is exactly what witches and pagans believe.Most of the religious traditions we see in today's typical church buildings came from the wicked Catholic Church. For example, Christmas and Easter are completely pagan in origin and design; they have nothing to do with the Lord Jesus Christ, and most churchgoers sit in willful ignorance about these pagan religious traditions that were never adopted by the New Testament church. Likewise, by the absence of anything in Scripture about wedding rings, we can see that the tradition was not ordained by God, otherwise He would have informed us of it in His Word, but rather, the traditions were ordained by witches, as the following pagan author testifies:Again, we cannot find these traditions, rituals, and symbols in Scripture, but we can find many examples of them from pagan sources. This is because the traditions originated from pagans. The following author was a Catholic school teacher for 18 years, who now works as a popular medium/psychic (i.e. mediums and psychics practice divination, necromancy, and sorcery, all of which are abominations in the sight of God), and she explains more details of the pagan superstition:

Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious .

-Acts 17:22

superstitious (adj): full of idle [useless] fancies [imaginations] and scruples [doubts] in regard to religion

(See 'superstitious', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Oct 2, 2018, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

"There are several ring choices besides the traditional engagement ring and wedding band that you see most often today. Read the following suggestions for different types of precious and semiprecious stones that you could incorporate into your engagement ring, wedding band, necklace, bracelet, or anklet, given here with their magickal properties ."

-Kendra V. Hovey, Passages Handfasting: A Pagan Guide to Commitment Rituals, Adams Media, 2007, p. 145, ISBN: 9781440516368

As we are about to see, almost all of the modern-day wedding traditions, even in variations from cultures around the world, are steeped in pagan superstitions. As we just read, the wedding rings were originally designed as a call upon the pagan belief in "luck," which is a concept of devils by which nothing is ordained of God, and instead, they believe things all happen by random chance; thus, the pagans call upon the gods and goddesses of "luck" to bring themselves favor and blessing.The following author is a witch who points out that pagan rituals can also call for astrological birthstones to be placed in the rings to give them more specific magical properties:The concept of birthstones implements the pagan practice of astrology:

astrology (n): the study of the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies interpreted as having an influence on human affairs and the natural world

(See 'astrology', Random House Dictionary, 2020, [dictionary.com]; See also Collins English Dictionary, 10th Edition, William Collins Sons & Co, 2012)

"In most cases, watches and random jewelry should be removed before practicing magick... Wedding rings are worn during the practice of magick, as they are considered sacred and blessed. "

-Aislin, Ashling Wicca: Book 1, Lulu.com, 2012, p. 111, ISBN: 9781105350108

"Palmistry's history goes back to Aristotle and the ancient Greeks. It is an ancient science inspired by alchemy, astronomy and magick . In palmistry, the ring finger relates to matters of the heart and is ruled by the god Apollo [the sun god] . It was once thought a large vein passed from the third finger straight to this mighty organ, kind of like an internal power cord. The left hand being slightly closer than the right, made it the most direct route to the heart."

-Michelle C. Bond, "The Urban Shaman - 8 Modern Wedding Practices Which Originated from Pagan Beliefs," Pagan Edge Magazine, retrieved Aug 12, 2013, [www.paganedge.com]

"There are four mounts at the base of the fingers. Mount of Jupiter under the Index finger, Mount of Saturn under the middle finger, Mount of Apollo or Sun under the ring finger , Mount of Mercury under the little finger."

-Dayanand Ambawade, All the Secrets of Palmistry: For Profession and Popularity, Diamond Pocket Books, 2015, ISBN: 9788128822735

Astrology is another form of witchcraft. Whether it is the pagan "signs" (e.g. Capicorn, Aquarius, Taurus, etc) or the birthstones, we Christians have no Biblical justification to follow after such pagan traditions.Wedding rings are also highly esteemed in many witch covens for the purpose of casting spells because they believe those rings have special magical properties:From this perspective, we can now begin to see why people started using wedding rings, and it had nothing to do with marriage, but rather, it had everything to do with unholy witchcraft. Not only is the concept of the wedding ring pagan in origin, but the fact that people put the ring on the "ring finger" is founded in something called "palmistry," which is used by many psychics and mediums today to do "palm reading," and the following image will help explain that in more detail:The reason men and women are instructed to put their wedding bands on their "ring finger" because that is the "line of the sun," which is part of worship and superstition of the pagan sun god:Because your heart is on the left side of your body, the wedding ring is supposed to go on your left hand ring finger, and the line is supposed channel mystic energies from your heart and send it into the ring. (Such a thing is obviuosly ridiculous, but that's paganism.) To provide another testimony, the following witch has practiced palmistry for over four decades:Question: Is there any place in the Bible that mentions the "ring finger" being holy and sacred unto God? The answer is "No." If it is not found anywhere in Scripture, but it is found many places in pagan lore, what should we conclude? Should we conclude that the absence of wedding rings in the Bible is all a conspiracy of the Devil, and Christians should "reclaim" them for God? Or, should we conclude that the wedding traditions were invented by the Devil, and Christians should have nothing to do with it?Of course, some churchgoers would claim there is a third option I did not mention, and that is to be indifferent to them. If any readers choose to ride the fence on this matter, that is their business; I am not here to force anyone to live any particular way, but what I am doing is pointing out the origin of these things, and comparing those things to God's Word.

Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry .

-1 Corinthians 10:14

Notice that this verse did not say, "Have no concern about idolatry," or "Reclaim idolatry for Jesus," or "Participate in idolatry in moderation," but rather, it said FLEE from it, which is to run quickly away from danger.

flee (v): to run with rapidity, as from danger; to attempt to escape; to hasten from danger or expected evil

(See 'flee', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Jan 15, 2020, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

It is a shame that I find pagans and witches MORE educated about their false religious beliefs, than churchgoers are about Scripture, and instead of sanctifying themselves from superstitious rituals of witchcraft, most churchgoers just make excuses to justify the idolatrous practices. Often, the correction unto the right ways of God is a point of grief for them, and so they reject that correction.

Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way : and he that hateth reproof shall die.

-Proverbs 15:10

If any Christians reading this have conviction on this matter and choose to put their wedding rings away, that is between you and the Lord God. However, whether you decide to do that or not, we need to stop putting our trust in the silly pagan superstitions and the corrupt religious traditions of men. Examine yourselves to make sure that you are not given over to the vain philosophies and deceitful lusts of this world, and be transformed and renewed in your mind through Christ, to know the perfect will of God.

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves . Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

-2 Corinthians 13:5



And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God .

-Romans 12:2

BRIDAL BOUQUETS

Please do not misunderstand; flowers themselves are not evil by any means because flowers do not make moral choices, but why did this particular tradition become a staple of the marriage ceremony? When did it become expected for the ceremonial bride to hold a flower bouquet?

The group of flowers the bride holds was NOT started because of their beauty, but as a collection of specific flowers and herbs that were said to hold magical properties, give special "luck," and invoke superstitions that were supposed to ward off evil spirits. In short, this is another tradition of witchcraft that was adopted by the Catholic Church, which was in turn adopted by church buildings everywhere.

"The origin of the bridal bouquet goes all the way back to the ancient belief that strong-smelling spices and herbs would prevent evil spirits from ruining things . Her bridesmaids often follow suit, and even the flower girls have a specific role to shower all of the guests with petals from the chosen variety of flower. As Pagans, we are not limited to the colors, smells, and magickal uses of flowers . We can also incorporate the colors, smells and magickal uses of herbs. You are free to use traditional flowers, magickal herbs, or a combination of the two for a spectacular display of fragrance, color, and magick."

-Kendra V. Hovey, Passages Handfasting: A Pagan Guide to Commitment Rituals, Adams Media, 2007, p. 153, ISBN: 9781440516368

(Read "Does the Bible Teach Sanitation Practices?" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

"The ancients carried bouquets of herbs for several reasons... bridal bouquets were also part of pagan fertility rituals . In addition, many bouquets were designed to keep evil spirits at bay . Chives and garlic, being thought most advantageous for this purpose, were commonly found in bridal bouquets."

-Kristina Seleshanko, Carry Me Over the Threshold, Zondervan, 2009, p. 29, ISBN: 9780310861256

In addition, the tradition of having a "flower girl" to spread out rose petals down the aisle of a typical wedding ceremony was taken from the Wiccan ceremony of casting spells in a magic circle known as "the rite of handfasting:"

"Starting at the eastern-most point of where the circle will be cast, the Flower Girls (Maidens) each stand with a basket of rose petals ... The rose petals are a symbol of our Lady and the Flower Maidens a symbol of youth... When all is ready, the groom rings a bell, opens the book containing the wedding vows, and lights a candle to announce the beginning of the rite."

-A.J. Drew, Wicca for Couples: Making Magick Together, Career Press, 2002, p. 126, ISBN: 9781564146205; Drew has authored many books on Wicca and hosts the annual Real Witches Ball for PaganNation.com.

"The couple would either be carried by their [witch] coven members or would ride in a small cart, pulled by the coveners, a pony, or even a goat. Flowers, a sign of fertility, would be plentiful both on the cart, carried by the processioners, and strewn along the way. The procession will end up at the site of the Wiccan Circle. "

-Raymond Buckland, Wicca for Life: The Way of the Craft -- From Birth to Summerland, Citadel Press, 2003, p. 159, ISBN: 9780806524559; Buckland has authored many books on witchcraft, and speaks internationally on the subject.

" Colors have great symbolism in paganism, with slightly different meanings from one faith to another ... Dress should be elegant, but comfortable, made of natural fibers. It is perfectly acceptable to dress in the romantic styles of former times, to create a fairytale atmosphere... Choose colors to match the season, or that traditionally mean new beginnings, such as white or green. Careful research is necessary here. For example, it is bad luck to wear green at an Irish wedding, particularly for the bride. You may need incense and anointing oils in appropriate scents, candles in appropriate colors, and some kind of beautiful cord, ribbon or tie if you are planning on a handfasting ritual."

-Universal Life Church, "Wedding Officiant Training: How to Perform a Pagan Wedding," retrieved Oct 3, 2018, [ulcweddingofficiants.com/officiant-training/how-to-perform-a-pagan-wedding]

"Consider using petals from flowers that correspond to the bride's and groom's astrological signs ... Those flowers mingling and falling to the ground together as a symbol of the union being marked."

-A.J. Drew, A Wiccan Bible: Exploring the Mysteries of the Craft from Birth to Summerland, Career Press, 2003, p. 128, ISBN: 9781564146663; Drew has authored many books on Wicca and hosts the annual Real Witches Ball for PaganNation.com.

We cannot find this wedding tradition in Scripture, and therefore, we need to look at where it came from. The following pagan author rightly points out:While researching the origin of the bridal bouquet, I discovered that most sources would simply give their best guess (without any evidence) because many authors just do not know. In most cases, the argument was made that the flowers masked the stench of body odor because, in their willful ignorance, many authors seem to believe that soap and fragrant oils did not exist in previous centuries, which is absurd.After I first published this information, I had a lot of women quickly object, claiming that they only had a flower bouquet because it was pretty, and of course, it seems reasonable on the surface. However, if you stop and consider the matter, the question we have to ask is this: Did the bride decide to have a bouquet of flowers in her hands as she walked down the aisle because it was HER idea to have that, OR did she pick up a bridal bouquet because it was religiously TRADITIONAL to have one?The woman did not wake up one morning and have a feeling like she wanted a bouquet of flowers to hold because she thought it would look pretty, and if a woman claims that is the case, she is only deceiving herself. She picked up that bouquet because she expected to have it from when she was a little girl, being taught these things by example, and never once even questioning whether or not this was the right thing to do. So, let's be honest with ourselves; it was done solely because it was tradition.And again, the tradition came from witchcraft. The flower arrangement was originally selected for its fertility properties, or in other words, it is a charm supposedly used to bring down blessings from the pagan gods and goddesses of witchcraft:Many of these traditions should be relatively familiar to most Americans, as they see them all the time in their traditional wedding ceremonies. Sadly, because most churchgoers are in complete denial of the truth, they prefer to cover their eyes and ears, and simply believe that pagans stole these traditions from well-meaning Christians, while some foolish pastors teach such lies to help give everyone a justification for their traditions, but the fact is that church organizations around the world adopted these things from the antichrist Catholic Church, who adopted them from witches in effort to appease the pagans and create more converts to Roman Catholicism.In the above image, it is quite difficult to tell these different weddings apart from each other; can you tell the difference between which ones are supposedly "Christian" ceremonies, and which ones are pagan? In fact, I would encourage readers to go look up pictures of weddings in other false religions, like Mormonism or Jehovah's Witnesses , and you discover that you cannot tell them apart from the traditional ceremonies of so-called "Christian churches," and though you will sometimes find some drastically different ceremonies, for the majority, it would be difficult to tell them apart, or to know what specific religious belief they hold without doing further investigation.Pagans believe the flowers are a symbol of fertility:It's sad that, while most churchgoers refuse to hear the truth, at least the Universal Life Church, a corrupt ecumenical organization that attempts to fuse together pagan religions from all over the world, are more honest about the subject:Even the petals from the flowers correspond to astrological signs, which is another reason the bouquets were significant for the pagans:

Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven ; for the heathen are dismayed at them.

-Jeremiah 10:2

TOSSING BOUQUETS AND GARTERS

It is common tradition today for the bride to throw her bouquet of flowers/herbs over her shoulder to a group of onlookers eager to take it. It is very often portrayed in weddings in media as well. The pagan superstition of giving luck to the next person to be married or "fall in love" is attached to this tradition, as well as the groom's throwing of the garter, all of which have pagan roots:

" The pagan bride used to take a bouquet of herbs and garlic with her to the new home; she'd set it on fire and smoke out any evil spirits that might be lingering, then she'd toss the charred bouquet outside. "

-Tess Ayers & Paul Brown, The Essential Guide to Gay and Lesbian Weddings, 3rd Edition, Workman Publishing, p. 250, ISBN: 9781615191512

"The modern tradition of throwing the bridal bouquet to determine who will be the next to marry has its roots in pagan ritual from antiquity [ancient past] . The Roman bride wore a sort of woolen belt or cummerbund called a girdle... that was removed by her new husband at the conclusion of the wedding ceremony. By the 17th century, brides festooned their wedding dresses with ribbons, lace, silk belts around the waist and all sorts of pen cases, knives and purses. Wedding guests scrambled to strip the hapless bride of these trophies, sometimes tearing her garters off her legs in front of the altar. The groom fared little better, since he, too, wore stockings and garters. It was to reduce this trophy hunting that the bride began to throw her bridal bouquet and the groom tossed a garter to the guests ."

-Orange Coast Magazine, Vol. 13, No. 6, June 1987, p. 160, ISSN 0279-0483

Many churchgoers, who claim to be of Christ, should be embarrassed by the ridiculous excuses they make, while pagans and other heretics are far more honest about wedding traditions, but to me, this is no surprise because, in my experience, I have seen more honesty coming from witches than I have seen coming from those who profess themselves to be "Christians." I am not saying that anyone who has done this tradition in the past is going to hell, but what I am saying is that it is about time that Christians took the responsibility to be honest with the Lord God and with themselves, and that we ought to confess the truth about these things.The burning of certain flowers and herbs are pagan luck charms to ward off evil spirits. This tradition evolved into the familiar tossing-over-the-shoulder tradition after it was adopted by the Roman Catholic Church.It should be noted that not all pagan rituals are the same, and one may be slightly different from another based on personal preferences or beliefs. Also, many pagans might participate in the same tradition, but have different reasons for doing it. However, they all stem from the source of witchcraft:This is not to say that such aggressive or violent acts are done today in most weddings, but the fact is that such practices were only toned down to a more "Christian-like" practice, that portrayed a more gentle appearance, and yet, it still does not make any sense as to why any Christian would adopt even the vague form of such a practice. Let's suppose that there was a wedding tradition in which the audience urinated on the bride for "good luck," why would anyone think it would be sensible to adopt that tradition by simply changing urine to lemon juice and doing the same thing?Furthermore, the origins of these rituals were sometimes indecent, and there is no place in Scripture that God instructs or encourages His children to adopt the indecent practices of heathen:

Let all things be done decently and in order .

-1 Corinthians 14:40

decent (adj): fit and suitable in words, behavior, dress and ceremony; comely, not immodest

(See 'decent', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Nov 1, 2018, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

Does ripping clothes off the bride and groom sound like something the Lord Jesus Christ would be pleased with? Obviously not, so why would any Christian adopt the generic versions of such a practice?For women, a garter is an elastic band that is worn around the waist, and is strapped to stockings on her legs to help hold them up. Of course, stripping an entire garter off of a woman is quite difficult, and so today, they make a "wedding garter," which is essentially an elastic band that just fits around the upper part of a woman's leg for no reason except for her husband to reach up her dress and take it off of her after a wedding ceremony.In what manner would any Christian believe that it was decent for a man to be lifting up his wife's dress in front of all his guests? It does not stop there because I have seen supposedly "Christian" weddings in which a man would put his head up the woman's dress and pull it off of her with his teeth; is that something Christians believe should be exhibited to the children who are watching?However, churchgoers typically ignore these facts and continue participating in these traditions without ever questioning them. They cling to their worldly traditions, adjusting witchcraft rituals to their personal preferences, and claiming they are "delivered" by Jesus to be able to freely do all these abominations, but are willingly ignorant that the Jews made the exact same excuses for their corrupt traditions:

Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit . Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely , and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations ?

-Jeremiah 7:8-10

(See Aldora Dawn: The Kitchen Witch, "Folklore & Old Wives Tales" retrieved Nov 1, 2018, [kitchenwiccan.com/whats-brewing/superstitions]; See also Sirona Knight, Wiccan Spell a Night: 365 Spells, Charms, And Potions for the Whole Year, Citadel Press, 2006, p. 287-288, ISBN: 9780806527260

"In the fourteenth century, when bedding the bride was a popular custom, the unmarried men taking part in the tradition tried to snatch the bride's garter for good luck . It's believed that brides, not enjoying this manhandling, began removing their garters and flinging them at the crowd, resulting in the tradition of the garter toss. Some historians also believe that during these bedding ceremonies, unmarried women started stealing the bride's stockings in hopes of having some of the bride's good luck rub off on them . Once again, it's believed the bride preferred to remove her own clothing and started throwing her stockings at the crowd. Later, when bedding became socially unacceptable, brides tossed their bouquets to the crowd instead ."

-Kristina Selshanko, Carry Me Over the Threshold, Zondervan, 2009, p. 54, ISBN: 9780310861256

The Jews had adopted the traditions of the pagans, and fused them together with the traditions God set them to do. There is no philosophical difference between the rebellious and uncaring attitude of the Jews in Jeremiah, and the churchgoers of America today; pagan tradition is highly revered, and those who question it are often shunned.In witchcraft, there are many magic spells witches invoke by throwing things over the shoulder, and Wiccans are very familiar with it. If you have ever heard of tossing salt over one's shoulder for good luck, that is a more simple magic spell, and in similar fashion, that is why a bride is directed to toss her wedding bouquet over her shoulder.The following author points out the luck-based concept:In summary, the pagan gods bless the bride with luck and fertility if she tosses these things over her shoulder, and in order gain some of her "luck," the man takes the garter. The other guests who obtain these items believe that her "luck" and "fertility blessings" will transfer to them if they touch these "magical" wedding items, and even though most wedding participants do not say these things out loud, they do hold such beliefs in their hearts. (After all, why would they try so hard to catch the bouquet and garter if they were not superstitious?)Churchgoers tend to operate based on how something is perceived by society, rather than looking to how the Lord God views a matter. For example, if a pastor took chalk, drew a magic circle with a pentagram, and burned incense for a wedding ceremony, most churchgoers would frown upon that, but if you change up the same core practices of witchcraft to involve catching flowers, now they do not frown upon it anymore, and that is because they are not judging righteous judgment.

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment .

-John 7:24

They are judging whether something makes them feel good in their own eyes and in their own hearts, believing that their wedding rituals make them holy and righteous, but in truth, they reject the Word of God:

And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring :

-Numbers 15:39



Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil .

-Proverbs 3:7



And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God .

-Luke 16:15

WEDDING BELLS

" A consecrated brass or crystal bell is often used by Witches to signal the beginning and/or close of a ritual or Sabbat , to summon a particular spirit or deity, and to awaken meditating coven members. Bells are also rung at many Wiccan funeral rites to bless the soul of the Witch who has crossed over to the realm of the dead."

-Gerina Dunwich, Wicca Craft: The Modern Witches Book of Herbs, Magick and Dreams, Citadel Press, 1991, p. 39, ISBN: 9780806512389; Dunwich is a Wiccan high priestess, has authored many books on witchcraft, and is highly revered by the pagan community.

"Cast a circle in a clockwise direction using an athame or ceremonial sword, and after each guest has been blessed with greetings and incense, ring the altar bell to signal the start of the ceremony ."

-Gerina Dunwich, Wicca Craft: The Modern Witches Book of Herbs, Magick and Dreams, Citadel Press, 1991, p. 39, ISBN: 9780806512389

(See Raymond Buckland, Wicca for Life: The Way of the Craft, Citadel Press, 2003, p. 160, ISBN: 9780806524559)

THROWING RICE

"[H]ow often have you seen people toss spilled salt over their shoulder without a second thought? That practice comes from a superstition that tossing spilled salt over your shoulder keeps evil away, and it gives the Kitchen Witch food for thought: Why not use salt (a common table condiment) as part of her magick for protection? "

-Marian Singer & Trish MacGregor, The Only Book of Wiccan Spells You'll Ever Need, Adams Media, p. 94, ISBN: 9781440542763

" Throwing rice at the couple after the wedding ceremony signifies prosperity and good luck. Italians traditionally toss sugared almonds, which are a symbol of fertility. Sometimes sugared almonds appear in the net bags on the wedding table as tokens for guests in Mediterranean countries. In the United States, wedding guests may throw small bird seed, dried flower petals, or paper confetti... Confetti is linked to the pagan tradition of throwing grain over a couple as a symbol of fertility ."

-Sex and Society, Marshall Cavendish Co, Vol. 3, 2010, p. 895, ISBN: 9780761479055

" All too frequently, even faithful church members sit through a wedding as if they have forgotten all the responses and songs, participating as spectators at a show, rather than as members of a worshipping community. And much concern is shown for such superstitions as starting the wedding on the half-hour (for good luck) and not seeing

the bride before the wedding and throwing rice on the couple (an old pagan fertility symbol) , none of which can claim a proper place in Christian [i.e. Catholic] liturgy."

-Lawrence E. Mick, Understanding the Sacraments Today, Liturgical Press, 2006, p. 110, ISBN: 9780814629253

Most churchgoers believe that wedding bells were originally rung because of church bells, but again, they are assuming what they want to be true instead of looking for the truth. The chiming of bells to signal a marriage has long been the tradition of pagans, and they still do it to this day:Again, there is no place in Scripture where the use of bells for wedding ceremonies was ever established; therefore, the only other religious source for such a tradition would come from paganism. The same witch author goes on to point out how pagans typically run their wedding ceremonies:There are other pagan authors who verify the same thing for the traditional pagan wedding ceremony, and from their corrupt religious perspective, the interpretation of the bells makes sense, but from a Biblical perspective, this does not make any sense. It is not as if someone woke up one day and thought, "I'm going to use bells in my wedding," and another person saw it and said, "I like that, I think I'll do it too," even though that is how most pastors and churchgoers like to imagine things happened; rather, this was a ritual initiated by paganism that got institutionalized by the Catholic Church.Earlier, we covered the pagan superstition of throwing things over the shoulder for luck in witchcraft. The wedding tradition of throwing rice is a basic spell in paganism:Again, I hope readers do not misunderstand what I am saying; the tossing of rice is not inherently evil, otherwise, God might punish people for playing cornhole (a yard game involving bags of rice), which is a ridiculous thought. However, the purpose of throwing rice is to cast a magic spell that is intended to increase a couple's "luck," and that is a religious invention of the Devil, so why would any Christian want to replicate the demonic practices of witches?I understand that a lot of people now throw seeds so it is better for the birds, but it does not matter if you replace it with seeds or nuts of any kind, the tradition originated from pagan witchcraft in hopes to increase luck and fertility:The following is a rare Catholic author who acknowledges that these wedding traditions have been adopted by the Catholic Church from paganism:I find it to be very odd and rare for a Catholic priest to object to the traditions set forth by the Papacy, because his objections are the equivalent of questioning the Pope, which is the equivalent of questioning God in their religion. (i.e. Questioning the Pope is not a definitive punishment, but grounds for defrocking, or termination of priesthood, in Catholicism.) However, that being said, if a Catholic priest, who is not of Christ, can see the problems with these traditions, then ask yourself: Why are so many pastors unable to see it?Many times, I have heard the average churchgoer make an excuse, saying, "We have liberty in Christ, so it's acceptable for us to do these things!" However, they have adopted a philosophy (i.e. a way of thinking) that the phrase "liberty in Christ" is equivalent to "I can do whatever I want," but this a convenient way of thinking for those who do not want to be held accountable for what they say and do.Most often, churchgoers think that idolatry is limited to creating a statue and bowing down to it, but idolatry extends much further than that because God judges the heart, just as He did with Israel:

Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart , and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart , and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols .

-Ezekiel 14:3-5

(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Idolatry" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

The fact that churchgoers would attempt to cling to such a simple thing (e.g. tossing rice) only demonstrates the idolatry in their hearts, and therefore, by calling upon the liberty of Christ as a justification for the traditions of witchcraft, they are using liberty for an occasion to fulfill the desires of the flesh.

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh , but by love serve one another.

-Galatians 5:13

If churchgoers cannot depart from such easy things, by what reason do they claim to love the Lord Jesus Christ?

If ye love me, keep my commandments .

-John 14:15



Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry .

-1 Corinthians 10:14

In my teaching, " Halloween: Are Christians Lovers of Death? " I talked about how it is not possible to be a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ to fornicators while actively practicing fornication. In other words, you could not effectively preach God's Word to other people at a sex orgy if you are actively participating in it. Likewise, you cannot be an effective witness for Christ to witches while you practice their magic in your traditions because the pagans will call you out on your hypocrisy.Rather, we ought to love the Lord God, respecting His hatred of paganism and witchcraft, and we should love our neighbor as ourselves, knowing that if we did not have Christ, we would want someone to set a better example for us, that we might come to salvation.

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength : this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself . There is none other commandment greater than these.

-Mark 12:30-31

It is the idolatry of the heart that keeps witches from seeing the truth about the sin of witchcraft in their rituals, just as it is the idolatry of the heart that keeps churchgoers from seeing the truth about the sin of witchcraft in their rituals.

There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness .

-Proverbs 30:12

WEDDING CAKE

"Many of today's marriage customs have pagan origins. The shared wedding cake , tossed rice, and flowers are all old bits of fertility magick ."

-Edain McCoy, Sabbats: A Witch's Approach to Living the Old Ways, Llewellyn Worldwide, 2002, p. 167, ISBN: 9781567186635

"Few people are aware that the wedding cake used in modern marriage ceremonies is a relic of the symbolic corn ears worn by the bride to ensure fertility in pagan times . These corn ears were replaced by cakes that were scattered over the newly married couple as they left the church. Thus we see how a subtle magical practice, in the form of the wedding cake, has become a central part of a religious or secular ceremony that allegedly has absolutely nothing to do with magic. [i.e. Churchgoers deny its pagan roots.] The pleasant custom of sending pieces of the wedding cake to friends and relatives is also a modern expression of the traditional need to share with one's friends the magic of the corn spirit ."



-Migene Gonzalez-Wippler, The Complete Book of Spells: Ceremonies and Magic, Llewellyn Worldwide, 1978, p. 262, ISBN: 9780875422862

"The history of wedding cakes is quite long. These nuptial goodies have their origins in the ancient custom of couples ritually eating sacred foods during the marriage rite... Guests kept pieces of the cake, much as wedding guests of our own time take home slices for 'good luck.' In the Victorian era, unmarried English women placed pieces of wedding cake under their pillows for dreams of their future husbands ."

-Scott Cunningham, Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Wicca in the Kitchen, Llewellyn Worldwide, 2012, ISBN: 9780738717111; Cunningham was a highly-respected 20-year veteran sorcerer, publishing more than 50 books around the topic of witchcraft.

Please do not misunderstand, though the eater of cake can be evil, cake itself is not inherently evil because, as I have already stated, inanimate objects (like cake) cannot make moral decisions. However, we need to ask ourselves: Why is cake almost always considered to be a requirement for a wedding? Or rather, we should ask: What does cake have to do with getting married?If we pause to consider that for a moment, we will quickly realize that the eating of cake has no reasonable connection with the binding of a man and woman together in marriage, and there is no place in Scripture that refers to any such thing for weddings. However, cakes are often used by witches as part of their spellcraft, specifically to receive fertility benefits:Sadly, most churchgoers simply scoff or laugh at this, but this is not a joke. In fact, pagans take this just as seriously as churchgoers take their wedding traditions because they believe they will receive fertility blessings from their false gods:As we established earlier, God hates the witchcraft practice of divination, but pagans used the wedding cake for that purpose:As a side note, this is one of the many reasons why I do not celebrate birthdays like most Americans traditionally do. I do not teach that Christians are not at liberty to celebrate a birthday, but that birthdays are formed around a foundation of pride, and they employ many spell-casting traditions of witches, including the birthday cake and candles, and if any readers want to learn more about that, I highly recommend reading " Why I Don't Celebrate Birthdays " here at creationliberty.com for more details.After I had published the above image, a man wrote to tell me that he was offended by the left side, which has the wedding cake and rings with the pentagrams on them, and he was offended because he felt it was a corruption of marriage. He did not want to understand that wedding cakes and rings are not a Biblical symbol of marriage, and that the cakes and rings themselves are the foundation of witchcraft tradition, but rather, he highly revered these things in his heart, so therefore, he rejected righteous judgment according to Biblical understanding, and instead chose to judge only according to the appearance in willful ignorance.

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment .

-John 7:24

"As well as propagating a superstition against marrying in May , many other wedding traditions and superstitions practiced throughout Britain today originated during the Victorian era. Most of these superstitions developed from the belief that a wedding was a time when a couple was susceptible to bad luck and evil spirits . For instance, many brides conform to the common belief that they should wear 'something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue' and that the groom should not see his bride wearing her wedding gown before the ceremony. While blue is considered a lucky color for brides, conversely green is thought of as extremely unlucky for brides and some wedding guests have been asked to abstain from wearing green to weddings for fear of bringing newlyweds bad luck. "

-Victoria Williams, Celebrating Life Customs around the World: From Baby Showers to Funerals, ABC-CLIO, 2016, p. 33, ISBN: 9781440836596

Why is there a superstition about marrying in May?

Why do brides need to wear something blue?

(See Erin Dragonsong, "What Is The Meaning of Colors?" Wicca Spirituality: Earth-Based Enlightenment, retrieved Nov 1, 2018, [wicca-spirituality.com/meaning-colors.html]; See also The Magickal Cat, "Magickal Color Correspondences," retrieved Nov 1, 2018, [themagickalcat.com/Articles.asp?ID=241])

The rings, flowers, bouquets, garters, and cakes; these examples are just SOME of the major wedding traditions most Americans are familiar with. Many more beyond this could be mentioned, and there are many other smaller traditions that appear here and there, depending on the family and location, but they all have their origins in pagan superstition and witchcraft:It was born from witchcraft. May is the month of one of paganism's most highly revered holidays, called "Beltane," in which they honor the god of death, and so because death is associated with the celebration, it is (according to pagans) "bad luck" to marry in May.It was born from witchcraft. For example, in witchcraft, the color blue is associated with "good luck" in the context of love, fidelity, harmony, and devotion, and although most people see the color green to be associated with luck, it is more associated with materialism and wealth, but blue is considered "lucky" for brides that it will cause a man to love her more than money in hopes of a long marriage.None of these things are found in Scripture, and on top of that, they are just flat-out foolish and nonsensical. No one in their right mind would just get up one morning and decide to do these things, UNLESS there was a religious reason to do so, and that reason is pagan superstition.

Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious .

-Acts 17:22

Worse still, I see a lot of hypocrisy in these matters because there are churchgoers (who claim to be of Christ) that publically preach against sin, which is good, but they turn around and practice the same traditions as those sinners. It always fascinates me how many churchgoers go out on the street and preach against sodomites/homosexuals, but they do not stop to consider that both the churchgoers and the homosexuals are participating in the same pagan rituals.

(To be clear, a 'sodomite' refers to the city of Sodom, in which they practiced all manner of lewdness and debauchery, just as the gays, lesbians, and so-called "transgenders" do today. - 1Ki 14:24)



Ask yourself: Why do the typical wedding traditions not offend the homosexuals if the traditions are supposed to be "Christian" in nature? If God commanded us to do the typical wedding traditions we see today, the sodomites would go running the other direction. The reason most sodomites are not offended by the modern-day wedding traditions is because they are not Christian traditions, and churchgoers, even those who might teach what is right, are hypocrites because they do not judge themselves first.

To give another example, I have seen many people who have insisted on starting a wedding on the half hour (e.g. 12:30 or 1:30) rather than on the hour because they superstitiously believe the clockwise up-tick of the minute hand climbing slowly upwards during the ceremony would somehow bring them good luck. Also, seeing the bride in her gown before the ceremony (or not seeing her at all the day before) is another superstition often observed just on the basis that pagans viewed that as a sign of bad luck for the couple.Again, there are so many other traditions that could be mentioned, but this should be more than enough evidence to prove the point that these traditions did not originate in Scripture. That is why you will not find them in God's Word. Again, they came from the wicked, ecumenical Catholic Church, who got them from pagans, and churchgoers everywhere believe in willful blindness that they are "sacred" traditions.Most American churchgoers only have a love for God with their mouths, but they do not love Christ enough to sanctify themselves from their traditions for His sake. They love their feel-good rituals more than they love Him. I hope that Christian readers will stop and consider this matter before we end up teaching the next generation to blindly follow the corrupt religious traditions of church buildings.

This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men .

-Matthew 15:8-9

#2 - The Biblical Requirements for Marriage

Sadly, I have had some readers write me to tell me they acknowledged that the typical wedding traditions are witchcraft, but they went ahead and participated in them anyway because they feared what their family would think if they did not go through with them. The Bible does not teach us that we should give in to the lusts and whims (i.e. the unexplained desires) of our family, but rather, that we should love the Lord Jesus Christ first and foremost, which means we should be more concerned with what He thinks than what our family thinks.

For I am come to set a man at variance [a difference that produces controversy and division] against his father , and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me .

-Matthew 10:35-37

One of the men who wrote me told me that his fiancée (i.e. bride-to-be) said she would refuse to marry him if he did not go through all the pagan wedding rituals. Sadly, just like Adam in the Garden of Eden, he prioritized losing her over fearing God, and went ahead with all the rituals to appease her. The problem with this is not only demonstrating that he has little concern or dedication to Christ, but also he is starting his marriage out on a very shaky foundation because, before being married, when a women threatens to leave a man unless she gets her way, that is not the type of woman that will make a loyal wife, meaning that his marriage will be miserable, with divorce looming over his head at any moment depending on her mood.The Lord Jesus Christ does not put such burdens on us and threaten us into submission. He also does not require His saints to jump through ritual hoops and walk a tightrope of religious tradition.

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light .

-Matthew 11:28-30

Marriage is established by two people, a man

and a woman, declaring it in agreement.

When I first thought to marry the woman who is now my wife, I spent months going through every verse I could find on marriage and weddings, and I read through entire chapters of each instance to make sure I understood the context because I wanted to do what was right by God in this matter. I wanted to know what the Biblical requirements were for marriage, and what Christ had to say about it, but what many readers may be surprised to learn is that, after months of research on this topic, I found only one requirement for a man and woman to be married; no traditional hoops, and no religious tightropes.Before I discuss that one requirement, let's imagine an example to help us better understand the reason and Biblical philosophy (i.e. way of thinking). If a man and woman were stranded on a deserted island, and they did not have dresses, someone to give away the bride, a cake, a church building to married in, a pastor to marry them, or marriage licenses, the question is: Could they still get married?If you look to the philosophy (i.e. the way of thinking) of the world, the answer would be "No," because the couple would require a long list of traditions, religious or government leaders, and documentation, but according to the philosophy of the Bible, the answer would be "Yes," they can get married. The moment that the man declares in agreement with the woman that she is his wife, and the moment the woman declares in agreement with the man that he is her husband, they have given their word before God, and that is all that is required; they are married before God because they have given their word.I know some readers may have expected more than that, but if you are having a hard time believing it, I would encourage you to keep reading, and also search the Scripture yourself to prove the matter.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth .

-2 Timothy 2:15

The Lord God takes the spoken word VERY seriously. Though most churchgoers today seem to be very lackadaisical (i.e. uncaring) about what they say, the Lord Jesus Christ told us that He is going to judge every word men speak, even those things which are spoken in our casual time.

But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned .

-Matthew 12:36-37

In the previous chapter on the subject of wedding rings, I had quoted Scripture which states clearly that God hates lies with the utmost hatred:

These six things doth the LORD hate : yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue , and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies , and he that soweth discord among brethren.

-Proverbs 6:16-19



A righteous man hateth lying: but a wicked man is loathsome, and cometh to shame .

-Proverbs 13:5

If any readers want more details on this topic, I have a teaching called " God Does Not Justify Lies ," here at creationliberty.com, which will provide more examples in Scripture about how we should speak honestly in all things, and how often churchgoers tend to lie on a daily basis in their casual speech. In short, when we give our word to do something, and we do not keep our word, then we sin against God.

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands ?

-Ecclesiates 5:6

In fact, if we take the doctrine of Christ seriously, the traditional "marriage vows" that are spoken during most wedding ceremonies are not good:

Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool : neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, becafuse thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil .

-Matthew 5:33-37

Jesus taught us that, when we give our word, we should give a "Yes" if we are going to do something, or a "No" if we are not going to do something, and anything that is added to that is evil because whatever is added onto our basic "Yes" or "No" when we give our word is all for show, to stand on pretense to impress others. (e.g. a pinky swear) For example, if I told my wife I would take out the trash, that is a promise because I gave my word to do the job, but if I tell her, "I PROMISE to take out the trash," that is evil because the simple "Yes" or "No" is automatically a promise, and so to needlessly and redundantly add in the word 'promise' is to say that my normal "Yes" and "No" given without me mentioning the promise could be a lie.To put it another way, someone who goes back on their word and says, "Well, I did promise to do it," are confessing to being liars. It means that their word means nothing to them, that they lie frequently, not taking any responsibility for what they tell others, and if you want to get them to keep their word, you have to get them to say a series of magic words.Ultimately, people who are dedicated to keep their word never have to say "I promise to do this," nor do they have to swear any oaths, because the people around them know that if they give their word, the deed is as good as done. The spoken "Yea" or "Nay" of an honest man is good enough; however, for a dishonest man (i.e. a liar), he only takes his word seriously when he swears an oath (and even then, it's questionable), meaning that his spoken word is worthless, and he sins before God without concern of coming judgment for his iniquity.

For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak .

-Psalm 59:12



A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish .

-Proverbs 19:9

So in other words, if you have to say, "I swear to God," or "I swear on my mother's grave" or "for richer, for poorer, till death us do part, in accordance to God's holy law, in the presence of God I make this vow," it is all considered evil in the sight of God because a man's word should be enough. Of course, there are many women who believe fervently that their marriage vows were sacred and holy, and I have had vicious letters written to me telling me how evil I am for daring to tell them otherwise, but those letters only demonstrated how little they were dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ, and how much they were dedicated to religious tradition.One of the most common arguments I have heard from female churchgoers is the claim that there is a difference between an 'oath' and a 'vow', and they claim that they took a vow, not an oath. However, this simply proved to me that they did not bother to study Scripture very much because, if they had checked with God's Word first, before making that argument, they would have discovered that a 'vow' and an 'oath' are used interchangeably in Scripture because they mean the same thing:

Every vow , and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void.

-Numbers 30:13

oath (n): a solemn [serious] affirmation or declaration, made with an appeal to God for the truth of what is affirmed

vow (n): a solemn [serious] promise made to God

(See 'oath' & 'vow', American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, retrieved Oct 5, 2018, [webstersdictionary1828.com])

As I investigated further, I discovered these same speeches and phrases (e.g. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today...") came from a book called The Book of Common Prayer, which is considered to be a sacred document among pastors in most church buildings today. Why is it that most churchgoers have no idea where this comes from? Not only do churchgoers typically never question it, but pastors keep that information to themselves, and they do not bother informing everyone that the origin of The Book of Common Prayer is taken straight out of the Catholic Church.



It is mostly the Anglicans, a branch of Catholicism, who developed the Book of Common Prayer, and the book was later adopted and revised by some evangelicals. The Book of Common Prayer contains ritual prayers for morning, evening, communion, marriage, etc, and which are now used as standard prayers for Catholics around the world, despite the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ preached against repetitious prayers that are spoken in vanity.

(John Knox, a dedicated Anglican priest, influenced much of the Book of Common Prayer that is still corrupting church buildings today. Read "Denominations Are Unbiblical" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

This is where things start to get interesting because, from the days of my childhood, I had always wondered where the traditional wedding ceremony words came from. (e.g. "Do you [insert name] take [insert name] to be your lawfully wedded husband/wife?") Of course, when I was younger, I assumed the same thing everyone else assumes, namely that it must be in the Bible somewhere, but it turns out that those words and phrases are NOWHERE to be found in Scripture.

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking .

-Matthew 6:7

(Read "The Biblical Understanding of Prayer" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

(Read "Fantasy Novels: Invitations to Hell" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

"At the Eucharist: The liturgy continues with the Offertory , at which the newly married couple may present the offerings of bread and wine... it is appropriate that the newly married couple receive Communion first, after the ministers."

-Book of Common Prayer: And Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, Church Publishing Inc, 2001, p. 432, ISBN: 9780898694390

The Book of Common Prayer teaches churchgoers to speak standard phrases in repetition, and that is precisely what most pagan religions do. For example, in Hinduism, they have what they call "mantras," which are words or sounds repeated over and over to put them in a religious meditative state, and witches have what they call "incantations," which are words repeated over and over to cast spells or charms, and the Catholics have the "hail Mary" and "our Father" phrases they have to repeat a number of times to be absolved; these things are no different than what is written in The Book of Common Prayer, and it contradicts what Jesus Christ taught us.In The Book of Common Prayer, it instructs readers to pray a particular set of words and phrases over the sick, and supposedly, that will make them well. This is no different than a witch using an incantation, reciting a particular set of words, and expecting magical results from them.When pastors read from The Book of Common Prayer in marriage ceremonies, they conveniently skip over a few parts in it that I think Christians ought to know about. For example:

offertory (n): the offering of the unconsecrated elements that is made to God by the celebrant in a Eucharistic service

(See 'offertory', Random House Dictionary, 2015, [www.dictionary.com]; See also Collins English Dictionary, 10th Edition, William Collins Sons & Co, 2009)

"Normally, the celebrant [one who marries the couple] is a priest or bishop . Where permitted by civil law, and when no priest or bishop is available , a deacon may function as celebrant, but does not pronounce a nuptial blessing ."

-Book of Common Prayer: And Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, Church Publishing Inc, 2001, p. 435, ISBN: 9780898694390

(Read "Is Repentance Part of Salvation?" here at creationliberty.com for more details.)

"Dearly beloved: We have come together in the presence of God to witness and bless the joining together of this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony . The bond and covenant of marriage was established by God in creation, and our Lord Jesus Christ adorned this manner of life by his presence and first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee . It signifies to us the mystery of the union between Christ and his Church, and Holy Scripture commends it to be honored among all people."

-Book of Common Prayer: And Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, Church Publishing Inc, 2001, p. 423, ISBN: 9780898694390

For those of you unfamiliar with Catholic abominations, the Eucharistic service is the belief in something called 'transubstantiation', which is the claim of Catholic priests to perform the "miracle" of changing a wafer and wine into the literal body and literal blood of Christ (without actually changing it), whereby they consume it for the remission of sins. In short, it is a works-based doctrine from the Devil; we ought to sanctify ourselves (i.e. set ourselves apart) from such wicked things, and Christians have no Biblical justification to adopt those wicked practices and reshape them for mainstream church-ianity.The Book of Common Prayer goes on to say:According to The Book of Common Prayer, your marriage cannot be blessed and approved by God unless you get a Catholic priest to do it. There is no reason why any professing Christian should have picked up this book for practical use in the first place, but they did it anyway, and pastors opted to hide a few key parts in it, so it was not as offensive to their congregations, because in the end, most pastors are serving the same false "Jesus" as the Catholic priests, and so it should not be surprising to us that they all adopt each other's religious traditions without any conviction or repentance of wrongdoing.To get a better idea of the many problems in The Book of Common Prayer, let's look at the first paragraph from the marriage ceremony section, which most readers will probably recognize:The way this is worded, it gives the reader (or the hearer) the impression that the Lord Jesus Christ approved of a pagan ceremony when He visited the wedding in Cana, but the Jews that remained faithful to the Lord God did not participate in such pagan rituals like most Americans do today. The record of Jesus visiting the wedding in Cana is mentioned in John 2:

And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage .

-John 2:1-2

Holy Matrimony

the joining together of this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony

(See 'matrimony', Online Etymology Dictionary, retrieved Nov 2, 2018, [etymonline.com/word/matrimony])

Based on the way The Book of Common Prayer was worded, you might have expected that there were more details about the wedding in Cana beyond the first two verses of John 2. However, there is no more detail mentioned; there is a marriage supper, which was a dinner where the people gathered to celebrate the marriage, but nowhere does it mention any grand ceremony with a bunch of pagan-based rituals and mantras.The Book of Common Prayer also uses a certain phrase that is commonly used among churchgoers that is well-known to be associated with marriages, and that is the phrase "." Some readers may be surprised to learn that this term still causes a lot of confusion for etymologists (i.e. etymology is the study of the origin of words and phrases) because even though the average dictionary will say the word 'matrimony' means marriage, the pieces that make up the word do not make much sense.There are a number of words that have the Latin suffix -mony, but the suffix itself does not have a particular meaning. For example, the suffix -archy means 'rule' or 'govern', and so a patri-archy (patron meaning father) is an adult male-ruling position, as opposed to a matri-archy (matron meaning mother), which is an adult female-ruling position. Though the prefix patri- (father) and matri- (mother) are typically used in a distinction between male and female, it does not work the same way with the word 'matrimony', which has confused many etymologists, but I am about to explain the missing piece of the puzzle.The term 'matrimony' literally means "the state of motherhood," but that is confusing in general because marriage itself does not automatically make the woman a "mother." It gets more confusing when we read The Book of Common Prayer saying: "." How does the man enter motherhood? That is not possible for men. Even the woman does not enter motherhood until she conceives, so how does the marriage ceremony bring her into motherhood?As I kept reading and studying what various researchers said about this term, I concluded that their confusion was due to the lack of understanding about Roman Catholicism's origin in pagan lore. The capitalized words "Holy Matrimony," is in reference to the couple coming into a union under the authority of the pagan mother goddess, which the Catholics refer to as "Mary," or in other words, it is a marriage union under "Mary," and not under God.As a side note, there are some other commonly used phrases in our society that are initially confusing, but they came from the same Catholic context; for example, the phrase alma mater is often used when one is referring to his or her college or university. (e.g. A man might say, "Harvard University is my alma mater.") However, what most people do not understand is that the word alma is Latin for "virgin" and mater is Latin for "mother," which means that when someone says "that's my alma mater," they are actually saying, "That's my Virgin Mother," which is in reference to the pagan false goddess "Mary" of the Catholic Church. (i.e. They are worshiping their own education as a false pagan goddess.)Likewise, for a man or woman to say they were wed in "Holy Matrimony," means that they were wed under the authority of the pagan goddess of the Roman Catholics, which is an abomination in the sight of God. This means that we have couples everywhere being "blessed" under a pagan goddess, and most of them never take the time to learn the meaning of the words they are saying.These are just a few of the many examples that could be given from The Book of Common Prayer to demonstrate that not only are the traditions not found anywhere in Scripture, but also, the book teaches practices that are contrary to Christ's doctrine. Ultimately, willingly blind pastors perform pagan/Catholic ceremonies, using incantations in vain repetition, directly contradicting Christ, and in most cases, if you do not participate in their rituals and traditions, pastors forbid churchgoers to marry and/or refuse to acknowledge their marriages.

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry , and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of t