False origins used by Christians

This is a list of false etymologies used by Christians. Christians frequently create false origins to various words and traditions in order to appropriate other cultures and make the world seem more Christian, and they're repeated so often, the original etymologies are often lost.

History

File:False Etymologies Used By Christians - History.png

Several examples from Christian Web sites.

When I was Sunday school, I was told that the word "history" was a portmanteau of "his + story," and the "his" referred to the Christian god. Thus, "history" was the story of God's creation. No attempt was made to explain that this was merely a learning aid.

History has a known etymology which comes from the Greek ἵστωρ [hístōr] which means "the one who knows, the expert."

Pharisees

Pharisees are mentioned in various books of the New Testament, almost always in a negative light. I was always taught the the word meant, "I am very fair, you see," said with a sarcastic tone, indicating that the Pharisees thought very highly of themselves. This was enforced by Brian M. Howard's 1974 Evangelical children's song, I Just Want to be a Sheep, which contains the lyric, "Don't wanna be a Pharisee / 'Cause they're not fair you see."

As a child, it didn't click with me that the Pharisees existed over a thousand years before the formation of the English language, so the words probably weren't related despite their similar sound. In actuality, the Pharisees were a traditional Jewish political group of the common people during the time of Second Temple Judaism (circa 70 CE) and their name comes from the Hebrew פְּרִישַׁיָּא [Pərīšayyā] meaning "set apart, separated."

Sadducees

Sadducees are mentioned in various books of the New Testament, but considerably less than the Pharisees. In church, the word Sadducees was explained to me as people who described themselves as "I am very sad you see," again, reinforced by the song I Just Want to be a Sheep which contains the lyrics, "Don't wanna be a Sadducee / 'Cause they're so sad you see." No attempt was ever given to explain them as an elite political group that existed from around 200 BCE - 70 CE which rivaled the Pharisees.

The actual etymology of Sadducees is unknown, but it suggested to come from the Hebrew צָדַק [ṣāḏaq] which means "to be just."