Customer Reviews

Fossilized Customs

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I have read Fossilized Customs several times over the past few years and from the first reading to the last, which I just completed, there are three things that I have noticed: Mr White's facts and opinions are based on historical accuracies, his style of writing is rambling and difficult, and he often pokes fun at those pagan beliefs and those who believe them.

I will start with the first item. Many of the beliefs and rituals of Christianity are, in fact, based on paganistic beliefs that have been absorbed through the centuries when pagan peoples were "Christianized." Many of their beliefs were assimilated into the beliefs of the church to facilitate bringing them into the faith. I cannot fault many of Mr White's assertions at all.

What I can fault is how Mr White delivers those assertions, which relates to items number two and three. Mr White, in this work, will often begin discussing the paganism of a belief and then start rambling on about something else right in the middle of the discussion. He usually ends each ramble with the assertion that we must return to Torah, as if saying it over and over will cause the reader to do so, as opposed to outlining each belief and then, at the end, asserting that we should return to Torah in one concise, intelligible argument. Also, in several places, he will stop what he is talking about and insert an illustration that is completely independent of his topic and poke fun at another belief, making glib remarks and witticisms. At times, I felt as I was being made fun of for ever believing these paganistic rituals had anything to do with Christianity. As an educated man (with a degree in History), I see this as bad scholarship. Most works that try to be scholarly do so by refuting what is believed to be wrong without making fun of those who believe that wrong. Mr White, in my opinion, does not seem to understand that. He wishes to be taken seriously, yet does not organize his work in a concise, intelligent way that leaves someone seeking the "truth" with the idea that he possesses it.

I have read C.J. Koster's Come Out of Her, My People and can attest to the fact that it is the better read for people who wish to know the facts behind the pagan origins of Christian customs and beliefs. Mr Koster carefully annotated his work and gave references on almost every page. There is never any doubt as to where he received his information and we are never told to "go look it up" in some dictionary or encyclopedia. He tells us exactly which work to look in and see for ourselves.

I would recommend Mr White's book, but only after reading Mr Koster's first and getting the facts behind some of the pagan customs. Then, and only then, does Mr White's book start making sense.

This book is one of the most informative books out there on how debase and 'lost' our society has become. Looking beyond the poor layout and the small font (I am a proficient reader and this book 'bogged' me down due to the layout and font size, sometimes causing me to loose the train of thought.)

Those are the absolute only downsides to this book. I had come across most of the Truth's presented in the book prior to reading it while doing some research into calanders and how/why we keep time the way we do, being a leap year and all it is obvious our Gregorian calander is faulty and not the means of keeping time. Nor is it the means our Creator established.

This book give a thorough presentation of the facts and history of our common practices. It may offend some, but only those who do not want to accept the Truth, and desire to keep those things they have become accustomed to. I recommend than anyone who claims to be a 'believer' or understands they were created, needs to read this book.

Lew White's Fossilized customs is a start for many people who would like to know the history of some of the pagan religious practices in the Christian world. Before reading this book much of what he presents I found by way of encyclopedias, dictionaries, and various other library books.

After learning Hebrew and Aramaic, traveling to Israel, and doing my own research I will say that there are several areas of this book that I disagree with. I agree with the fact that Christianity has a lot of paganism involved in it, the same history of Christianity's pagan origin is documented in this and other such books. I disagree in certain areas of this books theology especially surrounding the Name of Elohim (for those who don't know God in English is often used as a translation for the Hebrew words El, Elohim, Eloah, Elah, etc), my reasons are listed below.

The book like some others of its type has some incorrect conclusions about how amongst Jews and Israelis pronunciation of The Name of Elohim became uncertain. Jewish and Samaritan sources both show the process by which The Name of Elohim became uncertain because of 1) corrupt Kohanim after the death of Shimon HaTzadiq around 3 BCE, 2) concern that the corrupt times would cause people to disrespect Elohim 3) loss of the First and Second Temples 4) the social-religious changes that took place after the Roman conquest and the loss of a central Israeli consul.

Most Jews have a plithera of sources on where to find information on the theory's of what the Name of Elohim is, the issue in the Jewish world is that we are not willing to call The Creator by a name that is not certain. When the time is right The Creator will reveal it with 100% certainty. The Samaritans also have a similar understanding that until certain things in the land of Israel is restored the Name of the Creator will remain uncertain. 90% of Jewish bibles with commentaries discuss the issue of the pronunciation of Yod-Hey-Waw-Hey and discuss in detail all the theories on this, so it is not a complete unknown.

If a person learns Hebrew they can easily investigate every possible theory and find the ones that based on Hebrew make sense, yet the exact pronunciation could have been anything since there are no clear document witnesses from the First Commonwealth of Israel i.e. Moses until the Babylonian exile that have survived in some filtered form whether the filter be time or other author. 95% of the information on The Name of The Creator comes from the 2nd Temple period, which is somewhat of an uncertain period. Also, ancient Hebrew as well as a number of Semitic languages had no vowels, and only a few Jewish communities from the Middle East are believed to have maintianed the most accurate dialect of ancient Hebrew.

Also the book does not take into account 1st cent to 8th cent. sources from Jewish and Samaritan communities from the Middle East. Things of a Jewish nature in the book are mainly sourced from English translations of Northern European texts. Yet, as mentioned before this book is primarily for those who come from certain areas of the Christian world.

So of course the appeal of books like this is often with people who are disconnected from or are on the verge of leaving Christianity, and I don't fault that as I agree that Christianity has a lot of incorrect and pagan issues.

I would make the following suggestions to anyone looking into things like this and those who have purchased and will purchase this book.

1) I must first say that the best first step a person should take is to learn the Hebrew language for themselves.

2) Travel to Israel and research the events mentioned in the Bible for yourself.

The problem that comes up with books like this is that people rely on it as if is 100% fact end up concentrating on what is pagan instead of concentrating on what the Hebrew and Aramaic texts say about a true grounded relationship with Elohim. Using Isaiah 8:20 as a guide and doing your own research on what is Scripture based leads to a better alternative than concentrating on what is pagan.

So if you purchase this book, read it with an eye on Hebrew, Aramaic, archeology, and travel to Israel as being the ultimate judge and jury. If you read a book like this and you never learn Hebrew or Aramaic, and you know more about paganism than you do the languages and archeology of the Scriptures then you are still in the Babylon the author hopes you will leave.

I read Fossilized Customs November 2002. It is now November 2003. I agreed with everything said except for a couple of things that I struggled with. I just couldn't accept the fact that we ought to be keeping the Torah as believers in Yahushua. I struggled over this issue for an entire year, wrestling with this question daily and seeking the truth.I understand now that obedience to the perfect Torah is not a salvation issue,but should be a natural response to the grace we have received.
We have done away with Christmas, Easter, and all other pagan influences in our lives. This book has changed my life, and I am also grateful to have the Scriptures in its unadulterated form. I have been distributing this book to people who have been undeniably set in my path looking for truth. I highly recommend this book to anyone who genuinely is hungry for truth.

I also found myself agreeing and disagreeing with many of the topics in this book. I still recommend it to others as a must. It made me challenge my own excuse,"that was then" or "that was according to their time".

If we make norm an abomination, does it truly become right? Are we truly "set apart". I personally researched many of the topics and found them to be true.

I also had the oppurtunity to visit a Roman Catholic Church(Grace Cathedral) while visiting San Francisco and saw many of the topics in the book staring back at me. It was like being on a field trip.

I am almost done reading this book.Many of the things that Mr. White brings out in regards to present customs within our culture today are things that I have been familiar with over the past ten years.I have found this book to be at times very helpful and then at other times, I get bogged down in his style of writting.He tends to leave off in the middle of one topic and go forward on another.He doesn't connect the two or seperate them entirely.
What is good about this book is that for anyone seeking the truth about our Lord and Savior he gives good sound fact. I agree with one other person here who said that footnotes would have been more helpful then just being told "Look it up"! And he could have left out poking fun at other people's belief's.They may be wrong,but if a person truly believes they are following Truth,it is not for one of Christ's own to make fun of that person.
Overall I would highly recommend this book to anyone that is beginning to dig out these truths,but would encourage you to keep searching the scriptures,praying,and seeking solid fact in historical writtings also.I am encouraged to keep reading and from what others have shared on this site,have found other books that I wish to read on this subject.
I appreciate that we are given the space to write reviews here on books at Amazon! Thank You

This book explores various pagan origins of generally accepted traditions. The reader is encouraged to not simply believe only by the word of the author, but to also seek out verification. This book is a great springboard into research of christian origins.

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In these last days, the Everlasting Father is preparing a virgin bride without spot or blemish that He is soon to come for. The bride would do well to help ready herself by reading Fossilized Customs by Lew White.

In Dueteronomy 12:28-32 the Ancient of Days specifically told us not to mimmick any customs, traditions or styles from the heathen people to use in our worship because He hates it. Unfortunately, most of the Judeo-Christian world has done exactly what He has commanded us not to do! The sad thing is that many people don't know that they are doing anything wrong since they have been blindly following some of these customs for nearly 2000 years!

Fossilized Customs unveils familiar practices and traditions that many know and adore that are steeped in paganism and do not honor the Most High. "You transgress His commandments by your tradition". (Matthew 15:3)

In the last century a revival of the receiving of the Holy Spirit has taken place. The next move of the Prince of Peace is to reveal the truth about the abominable practices of the harlot system and He is calling to His bride, "Come out of her my people!"

The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Are you worshipping in spirit and in *truth*? Is the Father seeking you and calling you out of her? Find out for yourself by reading Fossilized Customs.

If you really want to go to the next level this is the book that will get you there. Other than The Scriptures this is the most eye opening book I've ever read!

Have you ever thought about where our customs, traditions and symbolism originated? Who started many of our commonly used traditions, where and when were they initiated?

After reading this book I understand the title, "Fossilized Customs".

Lew White has done excellent work in removing centuries of debris to uncover the truth about many acceptable and often "expected" traditions, ceremonies and practices of our day.

This book reveals how our world has embraced the traditions of men above the commands of our Creator. It clearly shows how spiritually "deadening" many of our common practices have been.

The book will refresh and revive the fire of truth that has been set within you by our Eternal Creator. Fossilized Customs is a fresh yet provocative look at how the human race has "set-in- stone" dangerous patterns of thought and reckless abandon of our one true Creator.

After reading this book, I firmly believe it is one of the tools being used in our day to separate the "wheat" from the "chaff".

If you want a fresh look at the history of humanity, with all of our blatant disregard for our Creator, that continues to this very day, then read this book.

Fossilized Customs is for the believer who seeks the meat of our Creator's Word and is no longer satisfied with just milk. Read this book and grow.