Chapter 16: Pagans in the Pulpit (Page 1 of 4)
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In this
present dispensation it is the plan of God to bring forth from the
Adamic race a small group of spirit beings who will be born after the
similitude of Jesus Christ. These newborn beings will be called the
Sons of God. Jesus was the first of these Sons, but there will be many
more. For whom he did foreknow, he also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be
the firstborn among many brethren.
The Sons of
God will be conceived from the spiritual genetics of their Father, and
will grow to possess his limitless capacity and timeless existence. At
the end of this age these Sons will be birthed as Jesus was
resurrected into the Begotten Realm. These are the firstborn brothers
of Jesus Christ. Together they will assemble into the divine, ruling
coalition known as the Body of Christ. For as
the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that
one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
For six
thousand years the gestation and birth of these firstborn Sons has
been the consuming delight of God, and the process continues today.
Those he has called to this glory will discover his plan, learn of
their Father, and reproduce his substance within themselves. They will
be caught up in the travail of spirit birth, the blessed agony of “becoming.”
When this
firstborn group is complete they will effect the deliverance of the
Adamic race, reaching even to the waiting throngs of humanity, to
bring each man into the state of spiritual perfection that God has
ordained for him. For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order:
Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his
coming. Then cometh the end.
God is
presently concerned primarily with the completion of these firstborn
Sons. Thus he now deals with the rest of mankind in a somewhat
superficial manner, dismissing the multitudes with one of the many
delusions that come from his hand. Because
they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And
for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should
believe a lie.
Some of
mankind has been lulled into spiritual slumber, with eyes that cannot
see, ears that are deaf, and hearts that cannot perceive even the
existence of God. These have been dispatched into the emptiness of
agnosticism.
Of those who
are able to discern God’s presence, most have been gathered into the
tainted truths of Organized Religion. For the non-Israelite nations,
Organized Religion means predominantly the idolatry of Hinduism and
the rigors of Islam. For the Israelites, Organized Religion means the
delusion of Modern Christianity. I also will
choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because
when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear.
The
institution known as Modern Organized Christianity, is a circular road
to nowhere. It is a holding pattern designed to fill the lives of the
non-elect with the “doing” of church programs, rather than the “becoming”
of Sons. There these busy Christians are kept in store, awaiting their
turn for Sonship in the next dispensation. If
it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have
told you before.
Pagans in the Pulpit is the story of Modern Christianity. It describes its origin, its purpose, and its end. It explores the time-honored but erroneous doctrines of the Modern Church. And most importantly, it proclaims the truth of SonPlacing, and how to attain it for yourself.
* * * * *
From his vantage beyond time’s boundary, the Ever-Living thundered
his decree to bring forth Sons, born in his own image. Then with a
mind bent to dread purpose he called to his hosts of darkness,
challenging them to prevent his plan if they thought themselves able.
Obeying, and
with a sudden sordid delight they came, lurching from the depths of
the dark pit in response to their creator’s voice. As an inky mist
they assembled upon the lowly earth in sinister conference. Darkness
met with Death. Lust came with Infamy. Malevolence took form and
joined with Disease and Decay. Confusion kissed Doubt as a kinsman.
Cackling they arrived with the greetings of old friends, the curdled
hellspawn of sin, wickedness, lies and rebellion, gloating in foul
reunion. The Earth was unorganised and empty;
and darkness covered its convulsed surface; while the breath of God
rocked the surface of its waters. Genesis 1:2 (Fenton).
Upon the
earth the forces of evil convened, allied to a single cause: to
prevent the birth of the Sons of God. In grim council they made plans
to achieve their baneful aim, settling upon a two-pronged strategy.
War, disease, murder, and decay, would attack from the outside to kill
the physical bodies of man. Idolatry, lust, doubt, and deception,
would strike from the inside to corrupt the mind.
The plan,
simply, was to kill the offspring of Adam and later Israel, with
physical death and spiritual error. Crushed between these two tearing
jaws, the devils believed the spirits of men would be rendered
unfruitful and God’s plan for Sons would be averted. Howling in
gleeful frolic the hellish brutes reveled at their own villainy,
divided their forces, and set to the task. Him,
whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs
and lying wonders.
But hidden
by a cloak in clever disguise, a solitary observer went unnoticed. At
the fringe of the firelight the stranger moved in the flickering
shadows, his identity concealed by a mysterious hood.
This
stealthy being surveyed all. Gently threading through the crowd, he
easily swayed the simple minds of the devils, bending them to his
will. For the meeting of this demonic horde, even all their vile
intent, was secretly attended by the Purpose of God. And
it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to
overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and
tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship
him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb.
God has
energized the present rebellion against his own plan, on the earth
empowering even his own blasphemy. And there
was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies
... and he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his
name. This cartel of adversarial power against God’s truth is
necessary for the development of his Sons. Wherefore
doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that
deal very treacherously? Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken
root.
All the
evils of earth, every physical and spiritual disease, has been
purposed and is supported by the surpassing wisdom of God. Shall
there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it? Death
and deception exist as the loyal opposition. They are the resistance
that develops spiritual muscle. They are part of the special
environment required for spirit birth. For God
hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give
their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be
fulfilled.
Loosed upon
the earth and energized with power, the demon host lost no time in
implementing their nefarious plans. From Eden the first cry of newborn
evil raised its mournful voice. At the Tree of Good & Evil, death
reached for the body of man and struck it to the ground. Now
the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD
God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said. Doubt
was sown into the human mind and it came under the tutelage of
unbelief. Cain was recruited by the miscreants, and incited to kill
the son of Adam.
In step with
these victories, the devil masters of propaganda leapt to their tasks.
With tactical genius they deified Adam, Eve, and Seth, styling them as
objects of worship to mask their true place in God’s scheme.
To later
generations, Adam, Eve, and Seth were elevated to the untouchable
sublime. They became so lofty that no man could hope to attain their
legacy, even though all men were born from them. This first father,
mother, and son, became the first Trinity, their deification forming
the foundation for all pagan religions.
In a rampage
of destruction the army of Satan swept over the earth and idolatry
invaded the land. Egypt, the first world power, fell quickly to Satan’s
horde. The Egyptians were taught of the Edenic gods, Adam, Eve, and
Seth, and these were incorporated into their mythology as Osiris,
Isis, and Horus. These gods formed the first holy trinity of the first
world empire, and this heavenly father, mother, and child have
polluted the spiritual landscape ever since.
From this
virulent beginning the Egyptians invented hundreds of false gods. Each
was described, promoted, and venerated, as every season, event,
object, and location became ruled by some mythical pagan deity.
By 2700 BC
the Pharaohs of Egypt themselves were declared to be gods and were
worshipped by the masses. This idea, that fallen unregenerate man
should be worshipped, was the beginning of Secular Humanism.
The
deification of the Pharaohs also bonded religion to the civil
government. In this marriage of church and state, idolatry gained the
force of law, and Egypt became the first pagan theocracy. In those
days the worship of idols was enforced on pain of death.
The next
Satanic onslaught was an assault against the blood line of Adam. In an
attempt to defile the genetic lineage of Adam, Satan dispatched his
angels to befoul the Adamic women. According to the Companion
Bible, “This irruption of fallen angels was Satan’s first
attempt to prevent the coming of the Seed of the woman foretold in
Gen. 3:15. If this could be accomplished, God’s Word would have
failed.” Soon the Adamic race was utterly polluted by immorality and
demonic intermarriage. There were giants in
the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God
came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them.
In 2348 BC,
God ended this defilement by sending a flood that killed all the
mixed-race Adamites. Noah’s family was spared, only because they had
an unblemished genealogy. The Companion
Bible continues, “Only Noah and his family had preserved their
pedigree pure from Adam. All the rest had become ‘corrupt’ as
Adamites.” Noah was perfect in his, “family history, breed or
pedigree,” and this qualified him to become the progenitor of the
new Adamic race. God spared not the angels
that sinned ... and spared not the old world, but saved Noah the
eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon
the world of the ungodly.
In 1868 BC,
idolatry and perversion erupted anew and with chilling intensity. From
Satanic filth came the lawless homosexuals of Sodom. Sodom
and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving
themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh. The
advent of Satanic homosexuality exceeded the bounds of reason and
decency. By the decree of God himself, it mandated the death penalty.
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them
have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death.
The severity
of the squalid outbreaks at Sodom and Gomorrha once again threatened
to mutilate the plan of God with physical and spiritual disease. To
keep his design on track, God intervened to destroy these cities. And
of all the methods available to him, he chose fire, as if to keep the
venereal infection from spreading. And turning
the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an
overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live
ungodly.
Throughout these events, God’s plan to bring forth Sons continued on course. In 1946 BC, God chose Abraham from among all the families of the earth, and gave him the promise of Sonship. The descendants of Abraham would bring forth the firstborn Sons, and also enjoy the physical blessings of the earth. This birthright was passed on to Isaac, and then to his son Jacob. So powerful was this birthright that God changed Jacob’s name to Israel, which means, “man ruling with God.”
Accordingly, in 1727 BC the devil assassins attacked the offspring of Jacob-Israel. Using envy, they persuaded the sons of Jacob to sell their brother Joseph into Egyptian slavery. A few years later a famine was contrived by the fiends, and the entire family of Jacob-Israel was transplanted into Egypt.
While in
Egypt the Israelites grew into a multitude of millions. After Joseph
died, Satan moved quickly to persuade the Egyptian government to
enslave the Israelites. Later the carnage was intensified by the
outright killing of all their male children. By late term abortion,
the devils sought to destroy the race of Israel, and thereby nullify
the birthright promise. Abortion is a trademark of the devil horde. Pharaoh
charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast
into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
In 1491 BC
God intervened, and sent Moses to save the Israelites from Egyptian
slavery. Through ten plagues, culminating with the Passover, the
Israelites were delivered from Satan’s grasp.
After the
Exodus, Israel traveled to Mount Sinai, and there the God of all
creation appeared before the eyes of his chosen people. And
the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day
and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, and be ready against
the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight
of all the people upon mount Sinai.
God wanted
to talk directly to the Israelites, but they would not have it. They
were afraid of him and rejected a personal relationship with him.
Instead, the
people hid behind Moses. They sent Moses to talk to God, and then went
to Moses to see what God had said. And all the
people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the
trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they
removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with
us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
This
cowardice of the common man placed a human interpreter between the
people and their God. This layer of fleshly interference remains unto
this day, in the ordination of clergy.
The people’s
rejection of God and exaltation of Moses marked the beginning of the
ecclesiastical structure- it was sickly fear and mistrust, that
sparked the ordained ministry to life. From this original, cowering
insecurity of man, have come the ponderous religious hierarchies of
today. According to all that thou desiredst of
the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me
not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this
great fire any more, that I die not.
Beginning at
Moses and reaching unto the present time, the theologians have stormed
the land as an occupational army, gathering power and prestige from
the subordination of their brothers. As a wedge divides the wood, they
have driven a human interference between the people and their God.
Even today the patrons of Organized Christianity expect their
ministers to meet with God, and relay his word to them. Few want to
see God face-to-face, and fewer still want a personal relationship
with him.
After the
ordination of Moses, the masses were dismissed with delusions. Only
the elect were then taken for a personal revelation of God, while the
terrified rabble were left to shiver in the pews. Then
went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the
elders of Israel: and they saw the God of Israel ... they saw God,
and did eat and drink.
But no
sooner had God’s benevolent truth thundered from Mount Sinai, than
Satan rushed to destroy it. In 1423 BC, Balak, the king of the
Moabites, hired Balaam to conjure up a curse upon Israel. Saying,
Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the
face of the earth, and they abide over against me: come now therefore,
I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me.
Balaam was a
prophet of God, and his seduction to the apostasy of personal gain
introduced “pray-for-pay,” a concept now prevalent in Modern
Christianity. Thus saith Balak the son of
Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder thee from coming unto me: for
I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever
thou sayest unto me.
When Balaam’s
prayers proved ineffective, he advised the Moabites to seduce Israel
with pagan immorality. Since he could not harm the Israelites
directly, he simply lowered the moral standard and waited for them to
self-destruct.
Gently,
while appealing to the flesh, the truth of God was mingled with
idolatry, and the pure Israelite religion was blended with sensual
desire. By this covert evil the Israelites were adulterated from
within. This practice proved so effective that Satan has continued it
to this day, in the modern social doctrines of Organized Christianity.
And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people
began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called
the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat,
and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor:
and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.
While God
battled for the purity of Israel’s race and religion, in other parts
of the world the demon assault raged unchecked. From this fetid
invasion the Hindu religion emerged in India about 1500 BC.
Just like
the Egyptians, the Hindus were injected with the fallacious concept of
the Trinity. The Hindus worship a triune god composed of Brahma,
Shiva, and Vishnu. They also have hundreds of minor deities that are
peculiar to a particular village or family. But according to the Encarta
Encyclopedia, “All the individual Hindu gods are subsumed under
the godhead, from which they all emanate.”
Hinduism was
codified in four holy books called the Vedas,
the oldest of which was composed about 1300 BC. Hindus believe that
after death the soul is reincarnated into the body of another person,
animal, mineral, or vegetable. The precise quality of each rebirth is
determined by the accumulated merit of all the actions of the soul
during all its past lives. This accrued merit is called karma,
and it is generated by rituals, punishments, by good works, and by
chanting. Because any animal or vegetable could be their ancestor, the
Hindus worship all life forms.
The goal of
Hindu living is to secure the best possible rebirth so that sensual
pleasures may be prolonged and enjoyed in the next life. Ultimately,
after many lifetimes of indulgence, Hindus hope to enter “Nirvana.”
Nirvana is achieved by the extinction of individual existence, when
the soul is absorbed back into the supreme spirit of Brahma. This is
considered to be the state of perfect blessedness.
The canon of
Hinduism is defined by what people do, rather than what they think. It
emphasizes worldly, human activity, as a basis for salvation. It
presumes that by carnal effort a person can get better and better,
that by works, the self-destructive nature of man can somehow lift
itself from corruption. Ultimately, Hinduism denies the sanctity of
the individual, teaching that all will one day be absorbed back into
the great goo of the godhead.
The mystic
philosophies of Hinduism are the product of demonic delusion, and
remain unsupported by a single example of success. Nevertheless,
according to the encyclopedia, “Hinduism continues to serve a vital
function by giving passionate meaning and supportive form to the lives
of Hindus today.”
This is
Satan’s formula for all pagan religions. They provide sensual
stimulation, the passion of emotional experience, and the supportive
form of ceremonies, but not an infusion of independent spirit life.
To the
Devil, Hinduism is the perfect religion, for its concepts utterly
obliterate God’s true plan to bring forth autonomous Sons, who are
born in his own image. Accordingly, Satan has used Hinduism as a model
for the doctrines of all organized religions, especially Modern
Christianity.
It was the
Hindus that first perfected the Christian concept of the Trinity,
inventing for the first time, a co-equal, triune godhead. From the
Hindu emphasis on temporal riches has come the present Christian
Gospel of Prosperity. Extending this sensual pleasure to the next life
has produced the Christian concept of “heaven.” Nirvana is the
mountain where heaven was mined. So also the veneration of all life
forms is now a principal tenet of modern Christian Humanism. As
expressed in the encyclopedia, “Hinduism is a major world religion,
not merely by virtue of its many followers (estimated at more than 700
million) but also because of its profound influence on many other
religions.”
The creation
of Hinduism was part of the adversarial effort to prevent the birth of
God’s Sons. But as the Hindu contingent toiled, Satan’s horde was
not idle elsewhere. While Israel was camped at Sinai with Moses, Satan
worked quickly to prepare their welcome in Canaan. This he
accomplished by powerfully invigorating the idolatry of the
Canaanites.
Under
Satanic tutelage the energy of demonic thinking swept through the
Promised Land, as fire gone wild. The indigenous natives were swayed,
and their minds girdled with a mixture of terror and licentious
desire.
The national
god of the Philistines became Dagon. His name means “corn,” and
his worship stemmed from fear of famine. The state god of the
Ammonites was Molech. Molech means “king,” and homage was paid him
by bowing the knee and kissing his image. The Moabites had a personal
god they called Chemosh. The worship of both Molech and Chemosh
involved the sacrifice of children as burnt offerings.
The generic
god of all the Canaanites was Baal, which means “owner or possessor.”
Baal was not a single, powerful god. Instead, he was a multitude of
smaller, local deities. There were many Baals, each the divine
landlord of a particular district. For
according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.
The Baals
were regarded as the producers of fertility. As the land owners they
provided fertile soil and water for crops and animals. In return for
these services tribute was due, and paid through the repulsive
immorality of fertility rites with temple prostitutes, both male and
female.
Ashtoreth,
or more correctly, “Ashtart,” was the principal goddess of the
Phoenicians. Ashtart was descended from the deification of Eve and is
identical with Isis of the Egyptians and Ishtar of Assyria. She was
called “the queen of the gods, the lady of heaven and earth.” As
the merciful goddess who loves justice, she was the “lady of
onslaught and battle.” In this capacity she was represented wearing
a helmet and armed with a bow, sword, or spear.
But
preeminently, Ashtart was the goddess of fertility and reproduction,
the queen of sexual passion. She was symbolized by a phallic “asherah”
or sacred pole, and a “mazzebah,” or stone cone about three feet
high. And it came to pass through the
lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed
adultery with stones and with stocks.
Statues of
Ashtart typically represent her as a woman, somewhat short in stature,
usually naked, with rounded limbs, the hands supporting the breasts or
sometimes with one hand holding a dove. Her followers were initiated
with immoral rites. Her worship required women to sell themselves and
bring the money as an offering.
Ashtart
became Aphrodite to the Greeks, and Venus to the Romans. As Venus her
unchaste worship continued until the reign of Constantine. As
Aphrodite, Ashtart was the warrior goddess, the goddess of sensuality
and the personification of the living force of nature. In that role
she is known today throughout the western world as the perfection of
feminine grace and beauty.
In 1422 BC
the Satanic preparation of Canaan was complete, and Israel began their
conquest of the Promised Land. Knowing full well of the noxious
idolatry waiting there, God instructed the Israelites to kill all the
Canaanites- man, woman, and child. Thou shalt
consume all the people which the LORD thy God shall deliver thee;
thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their
gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.
God knows
the weakness of man and recognized that if his people were surrounded
by idolatry they would eventually succumb to its deadly fascination.
His remedy was genocide, and its aim was to isolate Israel’s blood
line and their religion, preserving both holy unto the Lord. Of
the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for
an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth ... that
they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have
done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God.
But Israel
would not obey. Instead they were betrayed by their own compassion and
left many of the Canaanite peoples alive. And
it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites
to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out. This resulted
in cultural intermixing, intermarriage, and infection by the sensual
worship of the Canaanite religions. Soon, as feared, the Israelites
succumbed to idolatry and pagan revival ensued. And
the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served
Baalim: and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought
them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of
the people that were round about them ... and served Baal and
Ashtaroth.
Even Solomon
the king, the wisest man who ever lived, yielded to the pestering
larceny of his wives, and gave himself to the squalor of indigenous
heathenism. It came to pass, when Solomon was
old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods. ... For
Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after
Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the
sight of the LORD. This pagan revival was a masterful stroke of
Satanic genius. It was effective, conclusive, and ultimate. And its
fervor has never gone away.
Satan’s
barrage of pagan putrefaction swept Israel as a tidal wave washes the
beach. Nothing was left sacred or exempt. Even Yahweh, the personal
covenant God of Israel, was attacked by Satan’s throng. The concept
of Yahweh, the mental comprehension of his glory, was debased. Soon
Yahweh began to be represented by images, among them Jeroboam’s
golden bulls. As time passed, Yahweh’s description was
systematically eroded. Soon he came to be worshipped in name, but
Israel’s concept of him was no higher or purer than the heathens
around them.
It is very
fatiguing for humans to worship a deity that is without visible form
or physical dwellingplace. And while worshipping Yahweh’s name, his
doctrines, or his paraphernalia, it is easy for unregenerate man to
forget the Eternal God that lies behind these symbols. Even the brazen
serpent of Moses had to be destroyed, when it came to be worshipped in
place of the invisible God. [Hezekiah] brake
in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days
the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it
Nehushtan [a thing of brass].
The base
delusions of man continued into degenerate sickness, and soon assigned
Yahweh a consort. Ashtart, the “queen of heaven,” became regarded
as Yahweh’s compassionate wife. As for the
word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD [YHWH], we
will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly do whatsoever thing
goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of
heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we,
and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah,
and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals,
and were well, and saw no evil.
When Solomon’s
son Rehoboam became king, Satan moved shrewdly to divide and conquer.
Through Rehoboam’s arrogance there was a civil war and the
Israelites were split into two separate nations: the northern Kingdom
of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah.
The new
governmental policies of both kingdoms tolerated the pagan religions
and the kings partook of them. From that time to this, idolatry became
embedded in the political framework. The Israelites became permeated
with the fraud and sensuality of pagan worship, even becoming worse
than the Canaanites they had displaced. For
they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every
high hill, and under every green tree. And there were also sodomites
in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the
nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
In this
overwhelming tempest of fetid frenzy, the purity, power, and truth of
God’s plan for Sonship was nearly lost to the human race. And
they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them
molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all
the host of heaven, and served Baal. 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.
The
Canaanite religions were based on a sometimes cruel but always sensual
pleasure. Principally, they provided a lusty freedom from conscience.
Converts to heathenism obtained liberty to satisfy their temporal
appetites and fulfill their immoral cravings, all with the approval
and guidance of their church.
Heathenism
was popular because it legitimized illicit behavior. The doctrines of
pagans are not restrictive. To the contrary, they are limited only by
the bounds of licentious imagination. The demonic power of heathenism
allows a person to traverse the border between right and wrong, with
an appeased conscience, and even a feeling of superiority. Because of
this, idolatry is deeply satisfying to the common man.
This
addiction to paganism is an ongoing problem, for the Israelites of old
were no different than the people of today. Though they lived long
ago, they were ethical, industrious, and bright, and certainly no more
rebellious than you.
The base
nature of fallen man has not changed. Through ingratitude, fear, lust,
and social pressure, ancient Israel became controlled by Satanic evil.
And there is no basis to assume that things are any different today
even in the churches of Modern Christianity. Your
spiritual origin and your birth are thoroughly Canaanitish; your
spiritual father was an Amorite, and your spiritual mother a Hittite.
Ezekiel 16:3 (Amplified).
Delighting
in the slaughter of the Israelites as an easy prey, Satan directed
almost continuous warfare against them. Accordingly, over the years,
the city of Jerusalem has been sacked twenty seven times.
But Satan
had an insight into the ways of God, and devised an even more sinister
plan. He knew that by injecting idolatry into Israel, God would
eventually crush the nation himself. This diabolical notion was
correct, and to Satan, seemed the easier path. So it was that when the
Israelites adopted the heathenism of Canaan, God took steps to destroy
his own people.
In 611 BC,
God sent the Assyrians to conquer the northern Kingdom of Israel. In
496 BC, God sent the Babylonians to destroy the southern Kingdom of
Judah. The Israelites were decimated and the survivors deported in
chains. Not much was left in the Promised Land of the glory that once
was, and with this development it seemed for a time that God’s plan
for Sons was all but extinguished. I will
spread my net upon him [Israel], and he shall be taken in my snare,
and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his
trespass that he hath trespassed against me.
When the
Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem, King Nebuchadnezzar carried the
princes of Judah captive to Babylon. There he set up an asherah to
Ishtar. This pillar was sixty cubits high, six cubits wide, made by a
man (666), and covered in gold. Nebuchadnezzar
the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits,
and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura,
in the province of Babylon.
The
Babylonian civil government then demanded that all men worship the
asherah, and all but four of the Israelites embraced the new state
religion. This union of church and state swept aside individual
conscience, and on pain of death, commanded conversion to heathenism.
This Satanic
technique of pagan theocracy was founded in Egypt and perfected in
Babylon. Today it has become the pattern of the New World Order that
enslaves the souls of modern man. To you it
is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, that at what time ye
hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery,
dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden
image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: and whoso falleth not
down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a
burning fiery furnace.
These were
the devices employed by Satan to become the ancient adversaries of
God. From Eden came the Trinity. From Egypt came Humanism, the
deification of man. From Noah’s time came the pollution of race.
From Sodom came sexual perversion. From the rejection of God at Sinai
came the ordination of Moses and the creation of a governing clergy.
The evil of Balak authored pray-for-pay. The counsel of Balaam, the
wicked prophet of God, brought sensual entertainment to church.
From
Hinduism came the triune godhead and the deception of “doing” in
place of “becoming.” From the Canaanites came the immorality of
Ashtart, queen of heaven. Molech made abortion fashionable. Baal
pioneered the idea of many denominations. From Babylon came civil
governments that enforce paganism by law.
These
nefarious concepts hail from a primordial wickedness. They are the
tactics of Satan to prevent the coming of the Sons of God. They were
created to corrupt God’s truth and to kill the bodies of men. They
were the underpinnings of a world carefully prepared by Satan, to
receive Christianity.
When Rome
became master of the world, paganism rode a new wave to opulence. Rome
was a colossus of idolatry, where pagan ideals gained credibility by
collecting the trappings of modern civilization. Within the Roman
culture, heathenism formed the accepted perspective on economics, law,
politics, education, and achievement.
The Romans
worshipped a pantheon of principal gods as well as a host of auxiliary
deities. Every phase of life was ruled by some minor god. According to
the encyclopedia, “Janus and Vesta guarded the door and hearth, the
Lares protected the field and house, Pales the pasture, Saturn the
sowing, Ceres the growth of the grain, Pomona the fruit, and Consus
and Ops the harvest.” All these gods were ruled by the supreme
trinity of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva.
After 12 BC,
the Roman emperors proclaimed themselves head of the pagan state
religion and assumed the title of Pontifex Maximus (chief pontiff).
Accordingly, like the Egyptian Pharaohs, these emperors were deified
after death.
In addition
to their own gods, the Romans were famous for their adoption of new
theology. The encyclopedia states that “Under the empire, numerous
foreign cults achieved great popularity and were widely extended, such
as the worship of the Egyptian goddess Isis and that of the Persian
god Mithras. ... The absorption of neighboring native gods took place
as the Roman state conquered the surrounding territory. The Romans
commonly granted the local gods of the conquered territory the same
honors as the earlier gods who had been regarded as peculiar to the
Roman state. In many instances the newly acquired deities were
formally invited to take up their abode in new sanctuaries at Rome.”
Among the
gods adopted by Rome was the Egyptian goddess Isis. The encyclopedia
continues, “The tripartite cult of Isis, Horus, and Serapis [the
Greek name for Osiris] was later introduced into Rome in the
consulship of Lucius Corneluis Sulla [in 86 BC] and became one of the
most popular branches of Roman religion.”
As the gods
of Rome multiplied the religious calendar became choked with pagan
carnivals. Thirty gods were honored by annual festivals, the most
important being that of Saturnalia. Saturnalia was held for seven days
from December 17 to 23, during the period of the winter solstice. At
this celebration all business was suspended, gifts were exchanged, and
merriment prevailed.
Eventually
Roman worship devolved into a Satanic free-for-all and set new
standards in moral depravity. Orgies and perversion were commonplace.
From the Book of Romans: Professing themselves
to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the
uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to
birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also
gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to
dishonour their own bodies between themselves.
But over
time even these depravities became burdensome to bear and Rome’s
decline followed in the wake of hedonistic burnout. The Roman gods
proved listless and the passion for empty religious rituals waned.
Religion became superseded by civic involvement. The people turned to
their government instead of their God. Affairs of state took
preeminence over matters of faith. As spiritual interest ebbed,
worship was practiced merely to satisfy the flesh, and as a tool of
political expediency.
Undaunted by
the dismal state of the earth, in about 4 BC, God proceeded with next
phase in his plan to bring forth his begotten Sons. Yahweh
supernaturally inseminated a single Israelite woman, and Jesus, the
only sinless human since Adam’s creation, was born of the virgin
Mary.
In
accordance with God’s plan, in AD 29 Jesus was attacked by the
minions of Satan. Having been betrayed by his own, he was falsely
condemned and crucified. This is your hour,
and the power of darkness. Three days later he was resurrected
from the grave, proving that God’s plan for Sons encompasses,
incorporates, and utilizes, all the works of Satanic evil.
Jesus Christ
became the first spiritually begotten Son of God at his
resurrection. In that he hath raised up Jesus
again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son,
this day have I begotten thee. This resurrection was the result
of his earthly suffering and sacrificial death. By his subjection to
Satanic destruction, Jesus became worthy of the honor he now has. Worthy
is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and
wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.
At the
resurrection of Jesus, God energized the spiritual machinery of
Sonship, making Jesus the preeminent firstborn Son and the distributor
of eternal life unto all the Sons who would follow.
The
resurrection-birth of Jesus Christ was naturally very frustrating to
the powers of darkness, and Satan retaliated with vengeful rancor
against the new Christianity. Working through the Jews in Jerusalem,
the devastation began in AD 35 with the stoning of Stephen. Jewish
armies were raised to stamp out the resurrected life of Christ, and
even the Pharisee Saul led a brigade of soldiers to Damascus.
Throughout
the Greco-Roman world the Jews moved against the Christians with lies
and malice. When the Jews saw the multitudes,
they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were
spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Struck by this
devilish Jewish smear, Christians were styled as the dregs of society
and blamed for every civic evil. The Jews
which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd
fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the
city on an uproar.
The Jews
worked with cunning, even inciting the normally tolerant Roman
government to attack the new religion. This Jewish-Roman cartel
instigated the wholesale slaughter of those who believed in Sonship.
In AD 155,
Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, was condemned as a Christian by the Roman
Pro-Consul and ordered to be burnt. From The
Martyrdom of Polycarp: “The crowd came together immediately, and
prepared wood and faggots from the work-shops and baths and the Jews
were extremely zealous, as is their custom, in assisting at this.” The
Jews: who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have
persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men.
The new
virgin Christianity refused to tolerate any form of idolatry, and this
threatened Satan’s pagan Roman government. Accordingly, the
profession of Christianity, of all the religions on earth, was
declared a political crime. Beginning with the reign of Emperor Nero
in AD 54, the Christians were massacred, fed to the lions for sport,
and killed as traitors to heathenism. This carnage increased for two
hundred and fifty years, finally reaching a crescendo during the reign
of Diocletian in AD 305.
After
Diocletian, Caesar Galerius assumed control of the Roman Empire and
within three years had issued five more edicts of persecution against
the Christians. According to Philip Schaff’s, History
of the Christian Church, “Eusebius was a witness of this
persecution in Caesarea, Tyre, and Egypt, and saw, with his own eyes,
as he tells us, the houses of prayer razed to the ground, the Holy
Scriptures committed to the flames on the market places, the pastors
hunted, tortured, and torn to pieces in the amphitheatre.”
But in AD
311 Galerius was struck with a terrible disease, and reflecting on his
crimes against Christianity, issued the first Edict of Toleration in
conjunction with his co-regents Constantine and Licinius.
It is
virtually impossible to determine the number of Roman Christian
martyrs, let alone the many more who were merely tortured and
imprisoned. But it is worthy to note that the catacombs beneath the
city of Rome are estimated to be over nine hundred miles long and to
contain nearly seven million Christian graves. It is a miracle of
devilish origin that this Jewish-Roman slaughter of Christians, a
holocaust that continued for 250 years, has all but been erased from
modern memory. Some of you shall they cause to
be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
But there shall not an hair of your head perish.
By the crush
of slander and extermination, the Devil hoped to terminate the message
and life of Sonship. But Satan soon discovered that he could not stop
the freedom and glory of True Christianity. Furthermore, he noticed
that the more vicious his attacks against Christians, the more richly
they attained to spiritual maturity. This was first demonstrated by
Jesus Christ.
Satan
finally realized that his malevolence was in fact providing the
perfect medium for Christian spiritual growth. From Schaff’s
History, “As the persecution raged, the zeal and fidelity of the
Christians increased, and martyrdom spread as by contagion. Even boys
and girls showed amazing firmness. In many the heroism of faith
degenerated to a fanatical courting of death. ... Hundreds rushed with
impetuous zeal to the prisons and the tribunals, to obtain the
confessor’s [martyr’s] crown.”
Every action
of earthly good and evil can only mature the spiritual character of
those who understand Sonship, for even all the malicious intent of
Satan is attended by the purpose of God.
Thus Satan’s
best efforts to destroy Christianity only made it succeed the more.
Observing this, Satan regrouped and took a new direction, reassembling
his elite troops behind his proven technique of corruption from
within.
After the
resurrection of Jesus, Satan dispatched his demon horde to corrupt the
message of Christianity. Frantically they worked to hide the spiritual
process demonstrated by Jesus Christ. They made his example so lofty
that no man could hope to attain his legacy, even though all men were
born for this purpose. These spin doctors erased the high goal of
Sonship and replaced it with a cadre of nonsensical rituals, fleshly
aspirations, and the tainted doctrines of Organized Christianity.
In AD 115,
Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, suggested that Sunday should be the day
of Christian worship, largely to provide a buffer from Judaism. By AD
200 the truth of the Sabbath Day was gone. It
[the Sabbath] is a sign between me and the children of Israel for
ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the
seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
With the
loss of the Saturday Sabbath, Christian doctrine became twisted to
require the habitual violation of the Ten Commandments. Remember
the sabbath day, to keep it holy. The Sabbath is not part of
the ceremonial law, it is part of the Ten Commandments, the supreme moral
law of God. While no church today would advocate murder, lying, or
adultery, yet most encourage the abdication of the fourth commandment.
Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet
offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not
commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no
adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
After the
demise of the Sabbath, Easter Sunday was substituted for Passover.
Passover represents both the death of the Adamic nature and
life to the spirit. At the first Passover the Egyptians died, but the
firstborn of Israel miraculously attained unto life and freedom. On
the other hand, Easter is
the name of the Germanic goddess of spring. Easter celebrates the
fertility of resurrection, while ignoring the death process that
produces it. With the change to Easter the path to Sonship was
obscured and the crucifixion-resurrection of Jesus Christ became a
gift, rather than an example that you are expected to follow.
According to
the Evangelical Dictionary of
Theology, “Originally Easter was a unitary night celebration
(like Passover), recalling both the death and resurrection of Christ.
... After the fourth century the unitary feast was broken up into
several parts and the resurrection came to be celebrated separately on
Easter Sunday morning. ... Over the centuries many popular customs
have been added reflecting pagan spring folklore (Easter egg and
rabbit) as well as Jewish and Christian sources.”
Easter
Sunday was officially adopted by Satan’s New Christianity at the
Council of Nicaea in AD 325. And he said unto
them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep
your own tradition.
This vile
corruption of Christianity continued unabated, and eventually
permeated to the roots. Even Christianity’s most sacred symbol, the
cross, was enlisted in the vulgar cause.
According to
Vines Expository Dictionary,
the Greek word for cross
means, “an upright pale or stake.” Vines continues that this stake
is, “to be distinguished from the ecclesiastical form of a two
beamed ‘cross’. The shape of the latter had its origin in ancient
Chaldea, and was used as the symbol of the god Tammuz (being in the
shape of the mystic Tau, the initial of his name) in that country and
in adjacent lands, including Egypt. By the middle of the 3rd century
AD the churches had either departed from, or had travestied, certain
doctrines of the Christian faith. In order to increase the prestige of
the apostate ecclesiastical system, pagans were received into the
churches apart from regeneration by faith, and were permitted largely
to retain their pagan signs and symbols. Hence the Tau or T,
in its most frequent form, with the cross-piece lowered, was adopted
to stand for the ‘cross’ of Christ.”
For three
hundred years Satan feverishly marred God’s truth, desecrating the
critical knowledge and examples that point the way to Sonship.
Carefully he stitched together a New Christianity. Like a Frankenstein
monster this new religion was sewn from the cloth of Hindu, Canaanite,
and Roman paganism. Being crafted from doctrines of lethal error, the
new Christianity was prepared as a destructive impostor. This new
Satanic counterfeit was known as Catholicism.
When
Catholicism was finally ready, Satan presented it to the world and had
it adopted by Rome, his idolatrous puppet government. Rome, with its
propensity for absorbing new pagan religions, was the perfect medium
for the newly corrupted Christianity. This was Satan’s most
ingenious blow, for then he no longer had to work through tedious
Jewish prodding or the fickle whims of pagan emperors.
In AD 312,
Constantine the Great, who had been Caesar of the army in Britain,
returned to Rome and defeated all rivals to become emperor of the
Roman world. During this conquest he embraced Catholicism and the Holy
Roman Empire was born.
The next
year Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, which mandated equality
for Catholicism. By this edict Catholicism was given equal status with
all the other religions throughout the Roman Empire.
The empire
of Constantine was predominantly pagan and these subjects he sought to
enfold into Catholicism. To attract the pagans, the Catholic clergy
included the sun god as a bright disk behind the heads of painted
Christian figures. From this the halo was born. According to the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (hereafter abbreviated
“EDT”), “Jesus Christ was presented as the Sun of Righteousness
(Mal 4:2) replacing the sun god, Sol Invictus.”
To further
charm the heathens, Christmas was abducted and rescheduled to coincide
with Saturnalia, the pagan Roman winter festival. Up to that time
Christmas had been celebrated throughout the churches but on different
dates at different locales. According to the EDT, “December 25
eventually became the officially recognized date for Christmas because
it coincided with the pagan festivals celebrating Saturnalia and the
winter solstice.”
In AD 392,
all the competing pagan cults of Rome were finally prohibited by an
edict of Emperor Theodosius I. With this welding of church and state,
Catholic dogma gained the force of law. Once again a pagan theocracy
invaded the land. As in the days of Egypt and Babylon, false religious
doctrine could then be enforced by kings, armies, sheriffs, prisons,
and flames.
The Holy
Roman Empire created the ultimate Satanic tyranny: an invincible
Catholic theocracy, a one-world government for the total domination of
the body and spirit of man. This led to a systematic repression of God’s
truth, and a reign of terror that lasted for 1,200 years.
Appropriately, it is called the Dark Ages.
End of section 2.
Continued on next page.
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