(WIND BLOWING) (WAVES CRASHING)
(MUSIC) (CHANTING) >>"NOW A GREAT SIGN APPEARED IN
HEAVEN: A WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN, WITH THE MOON UNDER HER
FEET, AND ON HER HEAD A GARLAND OF TWELVE STARS.
THEN BEING WITH CHILD, SHE CRIED OUT IN LABOR AND IN PAIN TO GIVE
BIRTH. AND ANOTHER SIGN APPEARED IN
HEAVEN: BEHOLD A GREAT, FIERY
RED DRAGON...AND THE DRAGON STOOD
BEFORE THE WOMAN WHO WAS READY TO GIVE BIRTH, TO DEVOUR HER
CHILD AS SOON AS IT WAS BORN." (MUSIC)
>>A WOMAN, A CHILD, AND A
DRAGON. AT FIRST GLANCE, THIS MIGHT
SOUND LIKE THE INGREDIENTS FOR A FRIGHTENING FAIRY TALE.
IN FACT, THE TROUBLING SCENES YOU JUST WITNESSED ARE PART OF A
TRUE AND POWERFUL PROPHECY GIVEN TO THE APOSTLE JOHN NEARLY TWO
THOUSAND YEARS AGO. WHAT DOES THIS PROPHECY, FOUND
IN REVELATION 12, TELL US? DOES IT POINT TO SOME EVENT THAT
HAPPENED THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO? OR DOES IT DESCRIBE THINGS THAT
ARE GOING TO TAKE PLACE IN THE NEAR FUTURE?
AND WHO DO THE WOMAN, THE DRAGON, AND THE CHILD REPRESENT?
JOIN US NOW AS WE JOURNEY DEEP INTO A WORLD THAT FEW HAVE EVER
SEEN, BUT ALL ARE A PART OF: REVELATION: THE BRIDE, THE BEAST
& BABYLON. IN THE LAST BOOK OF THE BIBLE,
REVELATION, THE APOSTLE JOHN WAS SHOWN A VISION OF A GREAT
STRUGGLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL; A PROPHECY OF A BATTLE THAT HAS
BEEN RAGING BEHIND THE SCENES SINCE THE DAWN OF TIME.
THE SECRETS BEHIND THIS PROPHECY HAVE BEEN SHROUDED IN MYSTERY
FOR CENTURIES, UNTIL NOW. FROM THE KINGDOMS AND THE RULERS
THAT HAVE FALLEN AROUND THE WORLD, TO THE MEN AND WOMEN THAT
STOOD UP TO FIGHT FOR WHAT THEY BELIEVED IN, THIS IS THE STORY
OF CHRISTIANITY, THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH, AND THE FOUNDATION FOR
THE FAITH OF BILLIONS. >>"NOW A GREAT SIGN APPEARED IN
HEAVEN: A WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN, WITH THE MOON UNDER HER
FEET, AND ON HER HEAD A GARLAND OF TWELVE STARS.
THEN BEING WITH CHILD, SHE CRIED OUT IN LABOR AND IN PAIN TO GIVE
BIRTH. AND THE DRAGON STOOD BEFORE THE
WOMAN WHO WAS READY TO GIVE BIRTH, TO DEVOUR HER CHILD AS
SOON AS IT WAS BORN." >>MANY BIBLE SCHOLARS AND
HISTORIANS HAVE STUDIED THIS PROPHECY OVER THE YEARS AND
AGREE THAT THE PROPHECY OF REVELATION 12 POINTS TO AN EVENT
KNOWN AS^I THE MASSACRE OF THE^I ^IINNOCENTS^I , WHICH OCCURRED IN
FIRST CENTURY JUDEA. >>IN THE DECADES LEADING UP TO
THE BIRTH OF CHRIST, THE ROMAN EMPIRE HAD CONQUERED THE WHOLE
MEDITERRANEAN WORLD, INCLUDING JUDEA.
TWENTY YEARS BEFORE JESUS WAS BORN, YOU HAVE KING HEROD, A
CLIENT KING, FOR ROME. YOU KNOW, WE HAVE DOCUMENTS
ABOUT HIM OUTSIDE THE BIBLE THAT TELL US THAT HE WAS VERY
CRUEL. HE WAS RUTHLESS AND YOU WOULDN'T
WANT TO GET ON HIS BAD SIDE. >>HEROD WAS VERY ANXIOUS WHEN A
SMALL DELEGATION OF WISE MEN FROM THE EAST CAME TO JERUSALEM,
ANNOUNCING THEIR SEARCH FOR THE NEWBORN KING OF THE JEWS. >>WHY WOULD HEROD BE UPSET ABOUT
THAT? BECAUSE THAT WAS HEROD'S TITLE
AS BESTOWED UPON HIM BY THE ROMAN EMPIRE - KING OF THE
JEWS. >>HE FINDS OUT FROM THE
PHARISEES AND THE SADDUCEES EXACTLY WHERE THIS CHILD IS TO
BE BORN AND HE FINDS OUT IT'S BETHLEHEM, AND SO HE HAS SUCH
ANGER AGAINST THIS CHILD, HE SENDS IN THE SOLDIERS TO TRY AND
KILL JESUS. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) (NEIGHING
HORSES) (SCREAMS) >>THE BIBLE TELLS US THIS
BARBARIC ACT WAS INSPIRED BY MORE THAN JUST THE TYRANNICAL
JEALOUSY OF AN OLD KING. MANY BIBLE SCHOLARS BELIEVE THAT
IT'S PART OF A MUCH BIGGER STRUGGLE THAT HAS SPANNED THE
AGES AND IS STILL HAPPENING
TODAY. TO UNCOVER THE SECRETS OF THIS
PROPHECY, WE'RE GOING TO FIRST NEED TO IDENTIFY THE MAIN
CHARACTERS: THE WOMAN, THE CHILD AND THE DRAGON.
LET'S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THE WOMAN.
WE KNOW THAT SHE'S A SYMBOL OF SOMEONE OR SOMETHING.
DOES THE BIBLE TELL US WHAT THIS WOMAN REPRESENTS?
>>"HUSBANDS LOVE YOUR WIVES, JUST AS CHRIST LOVED THE CHURCH
AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR HER." >>VERY CLEARLY, A WOMAN IN
SCRIPTURE REPRESENTS THE CHURCH. YOU HAVE A WOMAN AS
REPRESENTATIVE OF GOD'S PEOPLE. WE SEE THIS IN THE OLD
TESTAMENT; WE SEE IT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. JESUS COMES FROM THE PEOPLE OF
ISRAEL AND THEN THE CHURCH GROWS UP AS SOMETHING THAT JESUS
DEVELOPS. >>MOST IMPORTANTLY, THIS WOMAN
IS ABOUT TO GIVE BIRTH TO A SPECIAL MALE CHILD.
WHO IS THE CHILD? >>WE HAVE A COUPLE OF
INDICATIONS. 1) HE RULES WITH A ROD OF IRON
OVER THE NATIONS. THAT'S A REFERENCE TO THE OLD
TESTAMENT WHERE CLEARLY GOD IS THE ONE RULING OVER THE NATIONS
WITH A ROD OF IRON. AND THEN HE SAYS HE'S CAUGHT UP
INTO HEAVEN, SO THESE TWO INDICATIONS PRETTY DEFINITIVELY
TELL US THAT THIS IS JESUS. >>NOW LET'S CONSIDER THE ARCH
VILLAIN IN THIS IMPORTANT PROPHECY: THE DRAGON.
>>"AND ANOTHER SIGN APPEARED IN HEAVEN: BEHOLD, A GREAT, FIERY
RED
DRAGON." >>YOU KNOW, I WISH I COULD JUST
GIVE YOU A FANCIFUL THEORY HERE, BUT THE BIBLE TELLS US WHO THE
DRAGON IS. THE DRAGON IS THE DEVIL.
>>"SO THE GREAT DRAGON WAS CAST OUT, THAT SERPENT OF OLD, CALLED
THE DEVIL AND SATAN, WHO DECEIVES THE WHOLE WORLD; HE WAS
CAST TO THE EARTH, AND HIS ANGELS WERE CAST OUT WITH HIM."
>>WHAT WE SEE HERE, IN THE FIRST PART OF REVELATION 12, IS A
SYMBOLIC PORTRAYAL OF THE AGE-OLD CONFLICT BETWEEN CHRIST
AND SATAN. ALL THROUGH THE LIFE AND
MINISTRY OF CHRIST, SATAN TRIED TO DISRUPT JESUS' PLANS TO
PROVIDE SALVATION FOR HUMANITY. >>"BUT HE WAS WOUNDED FOR OUR
TRANSGRESSIONS, HE WAS BRUISED FOR OUR INIQUITIES; THE
CHASTISEMENT FOR OUR PEACE WAS UPON HIM, AND BY HIS STRIPES WE
ARE HEALED." >>THEY TRIED TO SILENCE HIM.
THEY TORTURED HIM TO DEATH PUBLICLY.
>>SATAN'S SCHEME TO DERAIL THE PLAN OF SALVATION WAS UTTERLY
SHATTERED WHEN JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD.
>>"AND HER CHILD WAS CAUGHT UP TO GOD AND HIS THRONE."
>>WITH THE SON OF GOD NOW PHYSICALLY BEYOND HIS REACH, THE
DEVIL DIRECTED ALL OF HIS FURY AT THE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS, THE
NEW CHRISTIANS. HE DID MUCH OF THIS THROUGH THE
CRUEL POWER OF IMPERIAL ROME. >>"NOW WHEN THE DRAGON SAW THAT
HE HAD BEEN CAST TO THE EARTH, HE PERSECUTED THE WOMAN WHO GAVE
BIRTH TO THE MALE CHILD." >>CHRISTIANITY WAS A STRUGGLING,
SMALL, PERSECUTED MINORITY THAT DIDN'T HAVE OFFICIAL STATUS IN
THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND THERE WERE A SERIES OF PERSECUTIONS, SOME
OF WHICH WERE QUITE SEVERE. >>ONE OF THE ROLES OF RELIGION
IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE WAS TO ENSURE THE WELL BEING OF THE
STATE. THE IDEA WAS, IF THE GODS WERE
WORSHIPPED PROPERLY, THEN THEY WOULD FAVOR THE EMPIRE AND IF
THEY WERE WORSHIPPED IMPROPERLY, THEN THEY WOULD, YOU KNOW, BAD
THINGS WOULD HAPPEN TO THE EMPIRE AS A RESULT OF DIVINE
WRATH. >>THEY DO NOT WANT TO SACRIFICE
TO THE GODS AND THE GODS, AT THAT POINT, INCLUDE THE EMPEROR. >>SO IT'S EASY TO CONSIDER THESE
PEOPLE RELIGIOUS SCAPEGOATS. BASICALLY, IF SOMETHING'S GOING
WRONG, PROBABLY IT'S BECAUSE THERE ARE CHRISTIANS AROUND WHO
ARE REFUSING TO GIVE THE GODS THEIR PROPER DUE.
CHRISTIANS ARE PROGRESSIVELY STRIPPED OF THEIR CIVIL OFFICES,
THEIR MILITARY OFFICES, THEIR BOOKS ARE CONFISCATED, THEIR
CHURCHES ARE DESTROYED, THEY'RE FORBIDDEN TO MEET, AND SO ON,
ALL BECAUSE THERE'S AN ANXIETY THAT THIS IS REALLY UNDERMINING
THE - THE WELFARE OF THE EMPIRE. >>AS THE EARLY CHURCH SUFFERED
UNDER THIS WITHERING PERSECUTION OF ROME, THEIR LIVES BECAME A
POWERFUL TESTIMONY FOR TRUTH. WHILE THE PAGANS LIVED IN
CONSTANT SUPERSTITIOUS FEAR, THESE CHRISTIANS FACED TORTURE
AND DEATH WITH A SUPERNATURAL PEACE. >>BASICALLY, WHAT NERO DID IS HE
FED THEM TO THE LIONS. HE HAD THEM TIED TO PILLARS, HE
PUT PITCH ON THEM, AND THEN HE SET THEM ON FIRE AS HUMAN
TORCHES SO THAT THEY COULD HAVE THE FESTIVITIES CONTINUE ON INTO
THE NIGHT. >>YOU KNOW, BEING STRETCHED,
PULLED INTO TWO, YOU KNOW, BEING KILLED BY GLADIATORS.
>>JUST ABOUT EVERY CREATIVE WAY THAT YOU CAN DISPOSE OF
CHRISTIANS. >>WHEN FACING THE PAINFUL END OF
THEIR LIVES, THEY OFTEN SANG AND REJOICED.
AS THOUSANDS OF CHRISTIANS PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE FOR THEIR
FAITH,
THEIR DYING PRAYERS AND BLOOD ESSENTIALLY BECAME SEED
FOR THE NEW CHURCH. >>PEOPLE ARE SO ENTHRALLED BY
HOW THESE CHRISTIANS ARE DYING, THAT IMMEDIATELY, THE REACTION
IS 'SIGN ME UP.' >>AND SO THE CHRISTIANS SPREAD
LIKE WILDFIRE. THE MORE YOU KILLED THEM, THE
MORE THEY STOOD FOR THEIR FAITH. >>NOW, IT IS TRUE, AND I THINK
IT HAS TO BE EMPHASIZED THAT THE EARLY CHURCH SPREADS DESPITE THE
VERY CONCERTED ATTEMPTS AT REPRESSION OF EXTREMELY
AUTOCRATIC AND POWERFUL EMPERORS WHO SET THEMSELVES VERY FIRMLY
AGAINST THE CHRISTIANS AND YET THE EARLY CHURCH SURVIVES.
>>TERTULLIAN ARGUES, WHENEVER SOMETHING GOES WRONG, WHENEVER
THERE'S A FAMINE OR WHENEVER THERE'S AN ILLNESS, A PESTILENCE
THAT SWEEPS THROUGH, EVERYBODY SAYS, 'THE CHRISTIANS TO THE
LIONS.'
AND THEN HE SAYS SNIDELY, 'AS IF SO MANY COULD BE
FED
TO SO FEW.' AND HIS POINT IS THAT YOU CAN'T DESTROY US ALL.
>>DURING THIS TIME OF EXPONENTIAL GROWTH, CHRISTIANS,
ALL ACROSS THE ROMAN EMPIRE, QUITE LITERALLY WENT
UNDERGROUND. THIS LABYRINTH OF TUNNELS AND
CHAMBERS BENEATH THE ROMAN CITIES BECAME KNOWN AS^I THE^I
^ICATACOMBS^I . >>NOW THE CATACOMBS ARE
IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND. FIRST, MANY PEOPLE IMAGINE THAT
THERE ARE CAVES NATURALLY UNDER ROME AND THAT CHRISTIANS SIMPLY
WENT INTO THEM. THE CATACOMBS, ALMOST WITHOUT
EXCEPTION, ARE NOT NATURAL CAVES; THEY WERE EXCAVATED BY
THE CHRISTIANS. >>SOMETIMES SERVICES WOULD BE
HELD THERE IN THE VERY TOMBS OF THE MARTYRS.
>>THE SECOND POINT IS THE VERY ACT OF BURYING YOUR DEAD IS
HUGELY SIGNIFICANT. CHRISTIANS BELIEVE IN A
RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. NOW, OF COURSE, THAT BELIEF HAS
SHIFTED AND CHANGED OVER THE CENTURIES, BUT FROM ALL WE
UNDERSTAND, EARLY CHRISTIANS BELIEVED THAT THEY WOULD BE
RESURRECTED IN THAT ACTUAL BODILY FORM AND, THEREFORE, THEY
CHOSE TO BURY THEIR DEAD, NOT TO CREMATE THEM.
THEREFORE, IF YOU ARE SEEN TO BE BURYING YOUR DEAD, ESPECIALLY AT
TIMES WHEN THERE ARE INTENSE WAVES OF PERSECUTION, YOU'RE
MORE OR LESS SAYING TO THE
POLICE, 'COME AND INVESTIGATE ME. I MAY
WELL BE A CHRISTIAN.' >>IN A.D. 306, A NEW ROMAN
EMPEROR CAME INTO POWER AND THINGS BEGAN TO RAPIDLY CHANGE.
CONSTANTINE THE GREAT WAS A CAPABLE MILITARY LEADER AND A
SHREWD POLITICIAN. >>SO CONSTANTINE HAD TO FIGHT A
SERIES OF CIVIL WARS IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE HIS POLITICAL AIM OF
BECOMING EMPEROR - AND THAT'S HIS OWN PERSONAL AND POLITICAL
AIM, IT'S GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH CHRISTIANITY. HE GOES DOWN FROM
GAUL - MODERN-DAY FRANCE - WHERE HIS POWER BASE WAS, TO CONFRONT
HIS RIVAL, MAXENTIUS, IN ITALY. >>AS HE WAS MARCHING WITH HIS
ARMY, HE HAD A DREAM ONE NIGHT WHERE GOD CAME TO HIM AND TOLD
IM, 'YOU WILL BECOME A CHRISTIAN AND PUT THIS SIGN ON YOUR SHIELD
AND YOU WILL CONQUER.' SHORTLY AFTER THAT, HE ACTUALLY
AD A VISION, WHICH HISTORY TELLS
US WAS SEEN BY HIS ARMY AS WELL AS
BY CONSTANTINE, HIMSELF. >>HE LOOKED UP TO THE SUN AND HE
SAW A CROSS OF LIGHT ABOVE IT >>THE STORY THAT HE HAD HAD THIS
DREAM DOES APPEAR AT A RELATIVELY EARLY STAGE. IT'S
DESCRIBED BY EUSEBIUS. THERE ARE DIFFERENT SOURCES -
THERE ARE DIFFERENT VERSIONS, BUT IT DOES SEEM THAT
CONSTANTINE DOES SAY, 'I'VE HAD THIS DIVINE ENCOUNTER AND AN
ANGEL HAS TOLD ME THAT IN THE SIGN OF THE CROSS I WILL
CONQUER.' >>CONSTANTINE COMMANDED HIS
TROOPS TO ADORN THEIR SHIELDS WITH THE CHRISTIAN SYMBOL. >>HIS OPPONENT MOVES ACROSS THE
RIVER AT THE MILVIAN BRIDGE. HE HAS CONSTANTINE AND ARMY IN
FRONT OF HIM; THE RIVER AND THE CITY BEHIND HIM - NOT A GREAT
SITUATION TO BE IN. SO IF YOU DO NOT BEAT THE
ONCOMING ARMY, YOU HAVE NOWHERE TO RETREAT.
SO HE LOSES. >>SO FOR CONSTANTINE, WHO IS
CERTAINLY NOT YET A CHRISTIAN, THIS IS A POWERFUL
THING BECAUSE HE HIMSELF BELIEVES 'THE CHRISTIAN GOD HAS
GIVEN ME VICTORY.' SO IF YOU'RE A PAGAN OR JUST SOMEBODY WHO'S
CONFUSED ABOUT RELIGION, YOU'VE HAD HERE THIS CLASH OF DEITIES
AND WHO'S EMERGED ON TOP? THE CHRISTIAN GOD. YOU CAN DRAW
YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS. >>GRADUALLY, THE NATIONAL
SENTIMENT AGAINST CHRISTIANITY BEGAN REVERSING. DURING CONSTANTINE'S REIGN,
CHRISTIANS WENT FROM BEING A PERSECUTED SECT TO OPENLY
HOLDING POSITIONS OF INFLUENCE IN THE COURTS AND PALACES OF
KINGS AND GOVERNORS. >>SO A LARGE PART OF THE ELITES
USED TO RUNNING THE SHOW, AUTOMATICALLY THEN BECOME ALSO
THE LOCAL BISHOPS, ETC. YOU KNOW, BECOME CHRISTIAN - IT
WASN'T SUCH A BIG LEAP BECAUSE MOST OF THEM, ANYWAY, BELIEVED
IN ONE SUPREME DIVINE BEING WHICH HAD DIFFERENT
REPRESENTATIONS. >>IF YOU WANT TO ADVANCE IN THE
ARMY OR IN THE IMPERIAL CIVIL SERVICE, THERE'S EVERY INCENTIVE
TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN BECAUSE ALL THE PEOPLE AT THE TOP ARE
CHRISTIANS. >>IT BECOMES VERY ATTRACTIVE
BECAUSE CONSTANTINE'S^I EDICT OF^I ^ITOLERATION^I MAKES IT SO. >>"CONSTANTINE CAN RIGHTFULLY
CLAIM THE TITLE OF GREAT, FOR HE TURNED THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD
INTO A NEW COURSE AND MADE CHRISTIANITY, WHICH UNTIL THEN
HAD SUFFERED BLOODY PERSECUTION, THE RELIGION OF THE STATE."
>>AND SO, AS PEOPLE FROM AROUND THE ROMAN EMPIRE ENTERED THE
CHRISTIAN CHURCH, THEY BROUGHT WITH THEM MANY OF THEIR FORMER
PAGAN BELIEFS AND PRACTICES. >>NOW THE PERCENTAGE OF
CHRISTIANS IN THIS TOP TEN, FIFTEEN, TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT
INCREASES AND IT INCREASES DRAMATICALLY IN THE TOP ONE -
TWO PERCENT. THAT IS THE REAL CHANGE.
THAT'S WHEN CHRISTIANITY REALLY BECOMES THE CHRISTIANITY THAT IT
IS
TODAY. BECAUSE NOW THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN RUNNING THE SHOW,
THEY ARE NOW CHRISTIAN. >>OVER TIME, CHURCH LEADERS
BEGAN TO EMBRACE THE REGAL ROBES AND FLAMBOYANT CEREMONY THAT WAS
PART OF THE PAGAN RELIGIONS, AND IN PLACE OF THE SIMPLE COMMANDS
OF GOD, THEY BEGAN TO TEACH SUPERSTITIONS AND MAN-MADE
TRADITIONS. NOW, INSTEAD OF THE CHRISTIAN
CHURCH CONVERTING THE HEATHEN WORLD, THE PAGANS WERE
CONVERTING THE CHURCH. >>THERE'S A TRAIN COMING OUT OF
THE FIRST CENTURY REPRESENTED BY THE DOCUMENTS WE HAVE IN THE NEW
TESTAMENT THAT DEMONSTRATE THE KIND OF SHAPE OF THE CHURCH
THERE GOING INTO THIS LONG, DARK TUNNEL OF THE SECOND THROUGH
FOURTH CENTURIES, AND THEN COMING OUT IN THE FOURTH CENTURY
- OF THIS LONG, DARK TUNNEL - AND THE TRAIN OF THE CHURCH THAT
COMES OUT IS SO DIFFERENT FROM
THE TRAIN OF THE CHURCH THAT GOES
IN, YOU SAY, 'WHAT HAPPENED?!' >>IN A.D. 391, BY THE ORDER OF
EMPEROR THEODOSIUS I,
CHRISTIANITY BECAME THE OFFICIAL STATE
RELIGION OF ROME. WORSHIP AT
PAGAN TEMPLES WAS OUTLAWED AND ALL OTHER
RELIGIOUS PRACTICES CEASED. >>YOU'RE TRYING TO CHRISTIANIZE
AN EMPIRE. YOU'RE TRYING TO CHRISTIANIZE A
PAGAN CULTURE. THE OLD BASILICAS WERE BASICALLY PAGAN TEMPLES -
PUT A CROSS OVER IT, PUT IN
PAINTINGS OF BIBLICAL SCENES, BIBLICAL
HEROES AND SAINTS AND MARTYRS. SO CHRISTIANS ACTUALLY
DELIBERATELY, AT TIMES, AND PURPOSEFULLY, AS A STRATEGY,
TAKE PAGAN, NOT ONLY PLACES, BUT RITUALS OR IDEAS AND, AS THEY
THINK, SUBVERT THEM TO ADVANCE THE CAUSE OF, YOU KNOW,
SPREADING CHRISTIANITY. WHAT WE DON'T KNOW IS THE EXTENT
TO WHICH THEY THINK THIS THROUGH AND SAY, 'WELL, AT WHAT POINT IS
IT LEGITIMATE TO DO THIS AND AT WHAT POINT DO WE, PERHAPS, BEGIN
TO BE TAKING ON OTHER IDEAS? >>THE SPEED WITH WHICH THE EARLY
CHURCH TOBOGGANED INTO APOSTASY WILL TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY. >>AS MILLIONS OF PAGANS HASTILY
JOINED THE CHURCH, THEY WERE NATURALLY RELUCTANT TO DISPOSE
OF THEIR IDOL TREASURES. THE ROMANS AND THE GREEKS WERE
SO USED TO BEING SURROUNDED BY SYMBOLS OF THEIR DEITIES, THEY
BEGAN DOING THE SAME THING WITH CHRISTIANITY, SO MANY OF THESE
NEW CONVERTS JUST RELABELED THEIR IDOLS WITH CHRISTIAN NAMES
LIKE PAUL, MARY, AND PETER. >>A STATUE OF JUPITER BECAME A
STATUE OF PETER. >>AND WE KNOW THAT, BECAUSE IT
HAS A SUN DISC RIGHT OVER ITS HEAD THAT INDICATES THAT THIS IS
NOT PETER, THAT IT'S A PAGAN STATUE THAT'S BEEN RENAMED. >>THE REPRESENTATIONS OF ISIS,
WHICH IS ORIGINALLY AN EGYPTIAN GODDESS, BUT HAS BECOME VERY
GREEK ALREADY, BECOMES ESSENTIALLY THE REPRESENTATION
OF MARY CARRYING HER CHILD. >>YOU HAVE A MOTHER AND CHILD
TRADITION ALL THE WAY DOWN THROUGH HISTORY.
YOU HAVE IT IN MITHRAISM, YOU HAVE IT IN BABYLON, YOU HAVE IT
ALL THE WAY BACK IN PERSIA. >>IT APPEARS THAT MARY ACQUIRED
SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS THAT WERE ASSOCIATED WITH SOME OF
THESE OTHER GODDESSES. >>SHE WEARS A DARK BLUE COAT AND
SHE STANDS ON THE HALF MOON. SHE IS THE MOTHER OF ALL GODS -
ISIS CARRYING HER SON HORACE - THAT IS THE IMAGE THAT GETS A
NEW NAME AND NOW THE NAME IS MARY CARRYING THE CHILD JESUS.
>>OR A DEPICTION OF THE GOD
HERMES IS SHOWN AS CHRIST THE GOOD
SHEPHERD. >>SOON THE STATUES OF THE SAINTS
- AND EVEN JESUS - BEGAN ADORNING THE CHURCHES.
EVEN THOUGH GOD CLEARLY FORBIDS THIS PRACTICE IN THE TEN
COMMANDMENTS, PEOPLE CONTINUED TO REVERE AND TO PRAY TO THESE
RELABELED IDOLS. >>"THOU SHALT NOT MAKE UNTO THEE
ANY GRAVEN IMAGE, OR ANY LIKENESS OF ANYTHING THAT IS IN
HEAVEN ABOVE, OR THAT IS IN THE EARTH BENEATH, OR THAT IS IN THE
WATER UNDER THE EARTH. THOU SHALT NOT BOW DOWN THYSELF
TO THEM, NOR SERVE THEM..." >>RELATED TO THE LAST POINT IS
THE VENERATION OF MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS. WHILE IT IS TRUE MARY WAS A
FAITHFUL WOMAN AND GREATLY HONORED TO BE HIS MOTHER, THE
SCRIPTURES TEACH NOWHERE THAT SHE IS TO BE DEIFIED OR
WORSHIPED. >>MARY HAD ALWAYS BEEN IMPORTANT
IN ANCIENT CHRISTIAN HISTORY, BUT OVER THE MIDDLE AGES SHE
BECOMES ELEVATED ALMOST TO UH - LOOKING AT IT DETACHEDLY -
ALMOST TO THE RANK OF A
SEMI-DEITY. >>THE VIRGIN MARY WAS BELIEVED
TO BE THE ONE WHO WOULD SPEAK UP FOR GUILTY HUMAN BEINGS TO HER
SUPREMELY VIRTUOUS AND JUDGMENTAL AND RATHER CENSORIOUS
SON. IT'S A VERY STRANGE IMAGE,
BUT THAT'S HOW THE RELIGIOUS ART OF
THE PERIOD SHOWS IT. >>THE BIBLE DOES NOT VENERATE
MARY AS A SPECIAL SAINT. IT
LIFTS HER UP AS A PURE, WONDERFUL WOMAN
USED BY GOD TO GIVE BIRTH TO THE MESSIAH.
>>YET, AT THE COUNCIL OF NICEA IN 325, THE CHURCH ELEVATED MARY
TO THE STATURE OF A GODDESS AND CO-MEDIATOR WITH CHRIST. EVEN AS
EARLY AS THE LATE 4TH CENTURY, CHURCHES WERE BEING
DEDICATED TO THE VIRGIN MARY. BUT SADLY, THESE WERE NOT THE
ONLY ERRORS THAT SLIPPED IN DURING THIS TIME.
DURING THE APOSTOLIC AGE, BAPTISM WAS A SACRED CEREMONY
RESERVED ONLY FOR THOSE OLD ENOUGH TO MAKE A RATIONAL
DECISION FOR CHRIST. IT WAS A PUBLIC TESTIMONY OF
ACCEPTING CHRIST AND HIS FORGIVENESS. BAPTISM LITERALLY
REPRESENTS BEING DEAD AND BURIED TO OUR OLD
LIFE AND BEING RESURRECTED, OR BORN AGAIN, TO A NEW LIFE IN
CHRIST. THE BAPTISM CEREMONY WAS ALSO PERFORMED IN A LAKE OR A
RIVER, WHERE A PERSON COULD BE FULLY SUBMERGED, SIGNIFYING THEY
WERE FULLY WASHED FROM THEIR
SINS. THE PRACTICE OF BAPTISM WAS
GRADUALLY ALTERED BY THE CHURCH. HUNDREDS OF YEARS AFTER CHRIST,
SPRINKLING AND POURING WERE INTRODUCED AS A MORE CONVENIENT
MODE OF BAPTISM. THIS ACTUALLY UNDERMINED THE
POWERFUL SYMBOLISM OF THE SERVICE, AND IT CONTRADICTS THE
EXAMPLE OF JESUS, WHO WAS BAPTIZED BY IMMERSION. >>THERE WAS THIS UNBIBLICAL
CONCEPT THAT A CHILD COULD SIN RIGHT AWAY AND SO THEREFORE IF
HE SINNED, HE WAS IN DANGER OF GOING TO HELL AND BURNING
FOREVER IN HELL. SO THE ONLY WAY TO TAKE CARE OF
HIM WAS TO BAPTIZE HIM AND HE HAD TO BE BAPTIZED INTO THE
CHURCH. IF YOU WEREN'T A MEMBER OF THE
CHURCH, IT WAS CRICKETS FOR YOU. >>SO THEOLOGIANS SAY, 'YOU KNOW
WHAT? WE NEED TO START BAPTIZING
BABIES IMMEDIATELY' - AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AFTER THEY'RE BORN - SO
THAT, IN CASE THEY DIE AND, THIS IS, OF COURSE, A PERIOD WHEN
INFANT MORTALITY IS HIGH AND A LOT OF BABIES DO DIE, THEY CAN
GET INTO HEAVEN. >>ANOTHER CHRISTIAN TRUTH THAT
WAS ALTERED BY PAGAN INFLUENCE WAS THE LORD'S SUPPER.
JESUS INSTITUTED THE COMMUNION SERVICE, ALSO KNOWN BY SOME AS A
EUCHARIST, TO BE A BEAUTIFUL, YET SIMPLE, CEREMONY WHERE HIS
FOLLOWERS WOULD DRINK UNFERMENTED WINE AND EAT
UNLEAVENED BREAD. THESE SYMBOLS OF JESUS' SINLESS BODY AND BLOOD
ARE DESIGNED TO HELP BELIEVERS REMEMBER THE SACRIFICE AND THE
TEACHINGS OF CHRIST. >>BY FAR, THE MOST IMPORTANT
RITE FOR LATE MEDIEVAL CHRISTIANS WAS THE EUCHARIST OR
COMMUNION OR, AS THEY MOST COMMONLY CALLED IT, THE MASS.
>>MEN AND WOMEN ALL COME TOGETHER AND TAKE THE SACRAMENT.
THEY CELEBRATE WHAT WE WOULD CALL COMMUNION - TAKING THE BODY
AND BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST. >>BUT AGAIN, UNDER THE INFLUENCE
OF HEATHEN RITUALS, THE HOLY COMMUNION SERVICE WAS GRADUALLY
CHANGED BY CHURCH LEADERS INTO A MYSTICAL CEREMONY.
IN THIS NEW RITUAL, FERMENTED WINE WAS USED AND THE PRIEST,
ALLEGEDLY, HAD THE POWER TO TRANSFORM THE BREAD AND THE WINE
INTO THE ACTUAL BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST.
>>THIS IS TRANSUBSTANTIATION -
THE NOTION THAT A PRIEST TRANSFORMS THE
EUCHARIST INTO THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST THROUGH THE
PRONUNCIATION AND THE FORMULA^I HOC EST ENIM CORPUS MEUM^I
-^I THIS IS MY BODY.^I "THEY WERE POWERFUL WORDS
BELIEVED TO HAVE THE PROPERTY
THAT WHEN THEY WERE UTTERED, GOD
TRANSFORMED THE NATURE OF THE BREAD AND THE WINE INTO THE BODY
AND BLOOD OF THE RISEN JESUS CHRIST.
>>EVEN TO THE POINT WHERE LATER ON THEY SAY, 'WE ARE CREATING
GOD BY SPEAKING THE WORDS OF MYSTAGOGY.
>>ESSENTIALLY, WHAT HAPPENED ON THE ALTAR WAS THAT BREAD BECAME
BODY, WINE BECAME BLOOD; BUT THEY JUST STILL LOOKED LIKE
BREAD
AND WINE. >>THIS OFFERING OF THE SACRIFICE
IN THE EUCHARIST - THIS SACRIFICE OF PRAISE-THIS
COMMUNAL MEAL, NOW BECOMES, NOT A REMEMBRANCE OF THE SACRIFICE,
BUT A SACRIFICE IN AND OF ITSELF AND IS GIVING SALVATION.
>>BY 1415 A.D. AT THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE,
CHURCH LEADERS FURTHER DECREED THAT ONLY THE PRIESTS COULD
DRINK THE WINE AND THE LAITY WOULD ONLY RECEIVE THE BREAD,
YET THE BIBLE CLEARLY SAYS THAT WHEN JESUS ESTABLISHED THE
COMMUNION SERVICE, THEY ALL DRANK FROM IT.
ABOUT 300 YEARS AFTER CHRIST, THE CHURCH BEGAN TO DEVIATE FROM
ANOTHER OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, SPECIFICALLY THE FOURTH
COMMANDMENT THAT REQUIRES BELIEVERS TO REMEMBER THE
SEVENTH DAY AS THE SABBATH. >>"REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY, TO
KEEP IT HOLY. SIX DAYS YOU SHALL LABOR AND DO ALL YOUR WORK, BUT
HE SEVENTH DAY IS THE SABBATH OF THE LORD YOUR GOD."
>>WHEN THE JEWS KEPT FIGHTING AGAINST ROME, WHAT HAD BEEN KIND
OF AN UMBRELLA OF SAFETY UNDER JUDAISM BECOMES A LIGHTNING ROD
TO CHRISTIANITY. >>THE CHRISTIANS BECOME
ALIENATED FROM THE JEWS. THE JEWS PERSECUTED THEM AND SO
THEY'RE TRYING TO DISTANCE THEMSELVES FROM THE JEWS.
>>CHURCH LEADERS BEGAN TO DEVALUE THE SEVENTH DAY SABBATH
OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN PREFERENCE FOR THE MORE POPULAR
ROMAN SUNDAY. >>SOME CHRISTIANS MISTAKENLY THOUGHT THAT YOU SHOULD FAST ON
THE SABBATH BUT YOU COULD FEAST ON SUNDAY.
THAT'S WHAT THE PAGANS DID; THEY FEASTED ON SUNDAY AND FASTED ON
SATURDAY. NOT A JEWISH CONCEPT - THE JEWS
FASTED FRIDAY AND FEASTED SABBATH - BUT THAT'S HOW SOME
CHRISTIANS THOUGHT OF IT. SO IF YOU'RE FASTING ON ONE DAY
AND YOU'RE FEASTING ON THE NEXT, YOU CAN GUESS WHICH DAY BECOMES
THE MORE POPULAR DAY. >>AND CHRIST IS RESURRECTED ON A
SUNDAY AND THERE'S A VERY NATURAL TENDENCY, THEREFORE, TO
MARK THAT AND CELEBRATE THAT. >>THERE'S A THIRD REASON AND
THAT IS THE INFLUENCE OF SUN WORSHIP THAT CREEPS INTO THE
CHURCH. AND WHEN SUN WORSHIP BEGINS TO CREEP INTO THE CHURCH,
CONSTANTINE CAN MAKE USE OF THAT TO LEAD TO THE EXALTATION OF
SUNDAY, THE DAY OF THE SUN, AS BEING THE DAY THAT PEOPLE SHOULD
WORSHIP ON. >>THIS GRADUAL DEPARTURE FROM
GOD'S LAW, OVER THE CENTURIES, HAS BECOME SO WIDELY ACCEPTED
THAT MOST ARE SHOCKED TO LEARN THAT SUNDAY KEEPING HAS NO
FOUNDATION IN THE BIBLE. IN A.D. 313, CONSTANTINE
PUBLISHED THE^I EDICT OF MILAN^I
ESTABLISHING SUNDAY AS A DAY OF REST.
THE EMPEROR'S SUNDAY LAW HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH CHRISTIANITY,
IT WAS ACTUALLY TO HONOR THE MAIN GRECO-ROMAN SUN GOD CALLED
HELIOS, OR APOLLO. >>THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE BECAME
A CONVERT TO CHRISTIANITY AND ALSO, BECAUSE HE REMAINED
PARTIAL TO THE SUN GOD, THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE MOVED THE
DAY OR WORSHIP FROM SATURDAY THE SABBATH, AS HAD BEEN TRADITIONAL
IN JUDAISM, OBVIOUSLY, TO SUNDAY THE DAY OF THE SUN GOD.
AND EVER SINCE, CHRISTIAN FOLKS, AT LEAST FOR THE MOST PART -
OVERWHELMINGLY - HAVE HELD THEIR DAY OF WORSHIP ON SUNDAY
RATHER THAN SATURDAY. >>THIS IS CLEAR, FROM ANOTHER
EDICT OF CONSTANTINE GIVEN IN
A.D. 321, WHEN THE EMPEROR ORDERED:
>>"ON THE VENERABLE DAY OF THE SUN LET THE MAGISTRATES AND
PEOPLE RESIDING IN CITIES REST, AND LET ALL WORKSHOPS BE
CLOSED." >>NOTICE: THE EDICT USES THE
WORD 'SUN' S-U-N. IT'S ALSO RECORDED THAT
CONSTANTINE THE GREAT MADE A LAW FOR THE WHOLE EMPIRE THAT SUNDAY
SHOULD BE KEPT AS A DAY OF REST. OBVIOUSLY, THIS CHANGE DID NOT
INFILTRATE THE CHURCH OVERNIGHT. HISTORY TELLS US THAT FOR
DECADES THE SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH, TOGETHER WITH SUNDAY, WERE BOTH
OBSERVED AS HOLY DAYS. >>THE VERY, VERY EARLY CHURCH
CLEARLY IS STILL WORSHIPING ON THE JEWISH SATURDAY IN THE TIMES
OF THE APOSTLES, BUT BY THE MID TO LATE THIRD CENTURY, THAT HAS
LARGELY BEEN ABANDONED OR IS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING ABANDONED.
BY THE EARLY 4TH CENTURY, IN MANY PARTS OF THE ROMAN WORLD,
CHRISTIANS ARE GENERALLY WORSHIPING ON SUNDAY.
>>IT'S DURING THE TIME OF CONSTANTINE IN WHICH THE IDEA OF
TRANSFERRING THE SOLEMNITY OF THE SABBATH TO SUNDAY IS FIRST
EXPRESSED. >>CENTURIES EARLIER THE PROPHET
DANIEL HAD FORETOLD A RELIGIOUS POWER WOULD ARISE THAT WOULD
THINK TO CHANGE TIMES AND LAWS. WITHIN THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
THERE'S ONLY ONE LAW THAT IS ALSO A TIME, THE SABBATH.
THE DOCTRINE OF HELLFIRE WAS ALSO DISTORTED BY PAGAN
MYTHOLOGY. IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION, THE
BIBLE TEACHES THAT FOLLOWING THE GREAT JUDGMENT DAY THE LOST WILL
BE CAST INTO A LAKE OF FIRE. AT THAT TIME, EACH PERSON IS
PUNISHED ACCORDING TO WHAT THEY DESERVE AND THEN THEY'RE TOTALLY
CONSUMED AND ETERNALLY PERISH. >>"AND DO NOT FEAR THOSE WHO
KILL THE BODY BUT CANNOT KILL THE SOUL.
BUT RATHER FEAR HIM WHO IS ABLE TO DESTROY BOTH SOUL AND BODY IN
HELL." "FOR THE LIVING KNOW THAT THEY WILL DIE; BUT THE DEAD KNOW
NOTHING..." >>THE PRIESTS BEGAN TO TEACH
THAT HELL WAS A PLACE OF ETERNAL TORMENT RULED BY THE DEVIL AND
IT BEGAN AT THE MOMENT OF DEATH. THE FALLEN CHURCH WAS ABLE TO
USE THIS FRIGHTFUL CONCEPT OF NEVER-ENDING TORTURE TO
TERRORIZE AND MANIPULATE BOTH THE KING AND THE COMMONER.
MOST TRAGIC OF ALL, THIS FALSE TEACHING PORTRAYS JESUS AS SOME
SORT OF SADISTIC FIEND. ANOTHER PAGAN CONCEPT THAT
INFILTRATED CHRISTIAN THINKING WAS REGARDING THE AFTERLIFE.
PURGATORY IS THE IDEA THAT
TEACHES THAT, AT DEATH, SOME PEOPLE WILL
ENTER A TEMPORARY HELLFIRE WHERE THEY'RE PURIFIED FOR
HEAVEN. >>PURGATORY'S A HALFWAY HOUSE -
HALFWAY, KIND OF, BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL AND THE THING WITH
PURGATORY IS YOU CAN ESCAPE FROM
IT. >>THE CHURCH DEVELOPS GRADUALLY
AND, AGAIN, IT GROWS ON THE CHURCH BY SLOW DEGREES, THE IDEA
THAT ANYONE WHO DIES WITH THEIR WORKS OF SATISFACTION
INCOMPLETE, WILL PROBABLY HAVE TO PAY THEM OFF IN SOME PLACE OF
POST-MORTEM SUFFERING. THEY ARE SUFFERING IN ORDER TO
BE PURIFIED, PURGED FROM THEIR SINS AND OFFENSES WHICH THEY'VE
COMMITTED IN LIFE. >>MANY PEOPLE MISUNDERSTAND
PURGATORY AND HELL - THERE'S AN IDEA YOU CAN GET OUT OF HELL -
YOU CAN'T. IF YOU GO TO HELL, THAT'S IT.
THERE'S NO RELEASE. YOU'RE VERY, VERY WICKED AND
YOU'RE JUST DOOMED. BUT MOST PEOPLE - WE HAVE A LOT
OF VERY, VERY BAD THING IN US, SO HOW CAN WE BE MADE GOOD FOR
HEAVEN? YOU HAVE TO HAVE IT
PURGED OUT OF US AND, THUS, YOU GET THE
WORD^I PURGATORY.^I THEREFORE, MOST CHRISTIANS
BELIEVE THAT THEIR RELATIVES ARE SUFFERING IN PURGATORY AND
PURGATORY IS NOT A NICE PLACE. >>THE IDEA OF PURGATORY DATES
BACK CENTURIES BEFORE JESUS'
TIME. WRITINGS FROM PLATO - AS EARLY
AS 400 B.C.-HELP SHED LIGHT ON WHERE THIS CONCEPT OF
PURIFICATION AND PUNISHMENT CAME FROM; HOWEVER, PURGATORY DIDN'T
BECOME REGARDED AS AN ACTUAL PLACE UNTIL CENTURIES LATER.
BETWEEN 1160 AND 1180 A.D. THEOLOGIANS DEVELOPED THE
DOCTRINE OF PURGATORY LEADING TO THE FORMAL ACCEPTANCE OF IT AT
THE SECOND COUNCIL OF LYONS IN
1274. >>THE CHURCH THEN OFFERS TO
SUPPORT THE DEAD IN PURGATORY BY ITS PRAYERS AND BY ATTRIBUTING
TO PEOPLE THE BENEFITS OF THE SACRAMENTS - ESPECIALLY THE
COMMUNION - THIS IS ALL PERFECTLY ORTHODOX. THE CHURCH BELIEVES THAT THIS IS
DOING GOOD AND LAYPEOPLE SEEM TO BE WILLING TO PUT LARGE AMOUNTS
OF MONEY INTO IT AND YOU HAVE AN EXTRAORDINARY PROLIFERATION OF
INSTITUTIONS FOUNDED PRINCIPALLY FOR PRIESTS TO SAY MASSES FOR
THE SOULS OF THE DEPARTED, PARTICULARLY IN THE 14TH AND
15TH CENTURIES. >>THIS DOCTRINE WAS FABRICATED
TO MANIPULATE THE MASSES FOR FINANCIAL GAIN.
PEOPLE WERE WILLING TO PAY HUGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY TO RELEASE A
LOVED ONE FROM THE TORTURES OF PURGATORY.
OF COURSE, BELIEVERS COULD NEVER BE SURE WHEN SOMEONE LEFT
PURGATORY SO THE MONEY KEPT FLOWING INTO THE POCKETS OF
CORRUPT PRIESTS. >>THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH WOULD
HAVE PEOPLE GOING OUT TO RAISE MONEY AND ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO
GIVE THEIR MONEY TO THE CHURCH - BUY PEOPLE OUT OF
PURGATORY - SO THEY COULD FUND THESE ELABORATE BUILDINGS. >>THIS BELIEF IN PURGATORY IS
ALSO BUILT ON THE DANGEROUS CONCEPT THAT THE WORKS AND THE
PRAYERS OF THE LIVING CAN SOMEHOW ALTER THE DESTINY OF THE
DEAD. YET JESUS MADE IT VERY CLEAR
THERE IS NO LIMBO OR PURGATORY. AFTER DEATH, A PERSON'S NEXT
CONSCIOUS THOUGHT WAS THE RESURRECTION AND THEIR ETERNAL
REWARD. >>"DO NOT MARVEL AT THIS; FOR
THE HOUR IS COMING IN WHICH ALL WHO ARE IN THE GRAVES WILL HEAR
HIS VOICE AND COME FORTH; THOSE WHO HAVE DONE GOOD, TO THE
RESURRECTION OF LIFE, AND THOSE WHO HAVE DONE EVIL, TO THE
RESURRECTION OF CONDEMNATION." >>CENTRAL IN THE GOSPEL MESSAGE
IS THE TEACHING OF HOW WE OBTAIN FORGIVENESS.
THIS WAS ANOTHER MAJOR BIBLE TRUTH THAT SUFFERED DURING THIS
AGE OF COMPROMISE. IT WAS TAUGHT THAT IF A PERSON WISHED TO BE
FORGIVEN, HE OR SHE MUST FIRST CONFESS THEIR SINS THROUGH A
RIEST, THROUGH A RITE CALLED THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE, MORE
COMMONLY KNOWN AS CONFESSION. >>SO IN ORDER TO MAKE UP FOR OUR
INSUFFICIENT GOODNESS AND OUR ACTUAL WRONG ACTIONS, WE MUST
ALL, LAY PEOPLE AS WELL AS CLERGY, WE MUST ALL CONFESS OUR
SINS AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR AND PREFERABLY MORE OFTEN THAN THAT,
TO A PRIEST. >>THE PRIEST GRANTS THE WORDS OF
ASSURANCE THAT THE SIN IS ABSOLVED - IT'S GONE-BUT A
PERSON, BECAUSE THEY HAVE VIOLATED THE LAWS OF THE CHURCH
AND THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST, HAS TO PERFORM A WORK OF
SATISFACTION IN ORDER TO MAKE UP FOR THE FACT THAT THEY HAVE
SINNED. >>THIS WAS A NEGATIVE
DEVELOPMENT ON SEVERAL ACCOUNTS. FIRST OF ALL, IT'S TAUGHT
NOWHERE IN THE BIBLE. SECONDLY, IT PUTS A MORTAL MAN
IN THE PLACE OF CHRIST AND IT MADE GOD SEEM DETACHED FROM THE
AVERAGE PERSON. OF COURSE, AT THE TIME, IT ALSO PLACED THE
PRIEST IN AN AWKWARD POSITION TO HEAR ABOUT ALL THE WICKED DEEDS
OF HIS PARISHIONERS. THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT MANKIND
IS HELPLESS TO SAVE HIMSELF; THIS IS WHY JESUS CAME TO THIS
WORLD. THE SCRIPTURES TEACH THAT SALVATION DEPENDS ENTIRELY UPON
OUR TRUSTING GOD FOR MERCY AND GRACE, THAT WE DON'T DESERVE IT.
IT'S A MAGNIFICENT GIFT THAT CAN NEVER BE EARNED BY OUR EFFORTS
OR GOOD WORKS. EVEN OBEDIENCE COMES THROUGH A
GIFT OF GRACE. THE NEW TESTAMENT DOCTRINE OF SALVATION BY FAITH
IS WIDELY TAUGHT AND UNDERSTOOD TODAY, BUT DURING THE DARKNESS
F THE MIDDLE AGES, IT WAS EASIER
TO CONVINCE THE ILLITERATE MASSES
THAT THEY NEEDED TO PERFORM GOOD DEEDS IN ORDER TO EARN GOD'S
FAVOR. THE PEOPLE WERE TAUGHT THAT IF A SINNER WAS TO HAVE ANY
HOPE OF APPEASING GOD, HE OR SHE WOULD NEED TO PAY HUGE SUMS OF
MONEY, PERFORM PAINFUL ACTS OF PENANCE, OR MAKE SOME WEARY
PILGRIMAGE. THIS WOULD OFTEN INCLUDE AN ASSIGNMENT TO RECITE
CERTAIN PRAYERS OVER AND OVER AS
A REQUIREMENT TO OBTAIN
FORGIVENESS. IN THE HEATHEN RELIGIONS OF THE
WORLD, THE IDEA OF REPETITIVE PRAYERS, OR CHANTS, WAS NOTHING
NEW. IT WAS BELIEVED THAT YOU COULD APPEASE OR INFLUENCE THE
GODS BY CONSTANT ECHOING OF PRAYERS OR BY USING SPECIAL
MAGICAL WORDS. JESUS CLEARLY WARNED AGAINST THIS FORM OF
PRAYER. >>"AND WHEN YOU PRAY, DO NOT USE
VAIN REPETITIONS AS THE HEATHEN DO, FOR THEY THINK THAT THEY
WILL BE HEARD FOR THEIR MANY
WORDS." >>CORRUPT CHURCH LEADERS KNEW,
IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN ANY LASTING POWER OVER GOD'S PEOPLE, THEY
WOULD NEED TO SEPARATE THEM FROM THE ONE THING THAT THEY KNEW
COULD EXPOSE THESE DECEPTIONS: THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
>>THE BIBLE WAS NOT INITIALLY WITHHELD FROM THE PEOPLE.
IT WAS ACCESSIBLE. BUT IN TIME, WHEN PEOPLE SAW
DIFFERENCES THEY CHALLENGED THE CLERGY AND SO IT WAS IN THEIR
INTEREST, OVER TIME, NOT TO MAKE AVAILABLE THE BIBLE TO THE
PEOPLE. >>SO FROM THE 5TH CENTURY TO THE
15TH CENTURY - A THOUSAND YEARS OF HISTORY - IT WAS TAUGHT AND
ACCEPTED THAT ONLY RELIGIOUS LEADERS WERE QUALIFIED ENOUGH TO
EXPLAIN THE SACRED TEXTS. THE COMMON MAN WAS TOLD HE COULD
NEVER HOPE TO UNDERSTAND THE SCRIPTURES WITHOUT THE
ASSISTANCE OF A PRIEST. WITH THIS LETHAL DECEPTION, THE
CHURCH LAITY WAS KEPT IN
DARKNESS. MEANWHILE, THE VISIBLE CHURCH,
ONCE A BIBLICAL BASTION OF TRUTH, HAD DEGRADED INTO A
CORRUPT POLITICAL ORGANIZATION TRIMMED WITH SPIRITUALIST
CEREMONIES. IT'S NO WONDER THAT THIS TIME
PERIOD OF CULTURAL, ECONOMIC, AND SPIRITUAL DETERIORATION IS
KNOWN AS THE DARK AGES. IT'S TRAGIC HOW, IN JUST A FEW
SHORT CENTURIES, THE WONDERFUL LIGHT THAT HAD BEEN BLAZING FROM
THE LUMINOUS BRIDE OF CHRIST HAD BEEN ECLIPSED BY PAGAN
TRADITIONS. NOW, A VERY DIFFERENT KIND OF
WOMAN EMERGED TO TAKE HER PLACE. >>"AND I SAW A WOMAN SITTING ON
A SCARLET BEAST WHICH WAS FULL OF NAMES OF BLASPHEMY, HAVING
SEVEN HEADS AND TEN HORNS. THE WOMAN WAS ARRAYED IN PURPLE
AND SCARLET AND ADORNED WITH GOLD AND PRECIOUS
STONES AND PEARLS, HAVING IN HER HAND A GOLDEN CUP FULL OF
ABOMINATIONS AND THE FILTHINESS OF HER FORNICATION AND ON HER
FOREHEAD A NAME WAS WRITTEN: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE
MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
I SAW THE WOMAN DRUNK WITH THE BLOOD OF THE SAINTS AND WITH THE
BLOOD OF THE MARTYRS OF JESUS. AND WHEN I SAW HER, I MARVELED
WITH GREAT AMAZEMENT. >>IN REVELATION CHAPTER 17, JOHN
SEES A WOMAN WHO HE DESCRIBES AS STRIKINGLY DIFFERENT FROM THE
PURE WOMAN OF REVELATION 12. WHO IS THIS NEW BLOOD THIRSTY
HARLOT AND WHAT ABOUT THE BIZARRE BEAST SHE'S RIDING? IF YOU'RE NOT SITTING DOWN, THIS
MIGHT BE THE TIME TO DO SO. YOU MAY FIND WHAT YOU'RE ABOUT
TO HEAR A BIT SHOCKING. THERE'S ONLY ONE EMPIRE - ONE
CHURCH - ONE INSTITUTION THAT MATCHES THE CRITERIA IN THIS
PROPHECY, THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.
THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT ALL THE PEOPLE WITHIN THIS FAITH ARE
BAD, INSINCERE OR LOST. THE CATHOLIC PEOPLE ARE AMONG
THE MOST KIND AND HAVE ACCOMPLISHED A PHENOMENAL AMOUNT
OF GOOD THROUGHOUT HISTORY. THIS IS REALLY ABOUT A BIGGER
STRUGGLE BETWEEN SPIRITUAL POWERS AND INSTITUTIONS BATTLING
OVER THE TRUTH OF SCRIPTURE. BUT NOW WE NEED TO PULL BACK THE
VEIL AND REALLY TAKE A HARD LOOK AT THE FACTS. IN REVELATION
17:1, WE OBSERVE THIS HARLOT WOMAN SITS ON MANY
WATERS. FORTUNATELY, THE ANGEL EXPLAINS
THE MEANING OF THIS SYMBOL FOR US IN VERSE 15.
>>"THEN HE SAID TO ME, 'THE WATERS WHICH YOU SAW, WHERE THE
HARLOT SITS, ARE PEOPLES, MULTITUDES, NATIONS, AND
TONGUES.'" >>SO THE WOMAN REIGNS OVER A
DENSELY POPULATED CIVILIZATION. YOU'VE PROBABLY HEARD THE
EXPRESSION "ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME."
DURING THE ZENITH OF THEIR RULE, THE ROMANS HAD BUILT A NETWORK
OF 50,000 MILES OF ROADS
CIRCULATING THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE EMPIRE.
JUST AS IMPERIAL ROME BEGAN TO UNRAVEL, THE CHURCH IN ROME WAS
GAINING IN STRENGTH. >>IN EFFECT, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
KIND OF RUSHES IN TO FILL THE POWER VACUUM THAT WAS LEFT BY
THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. >>AND YOU GET INTO SITUATIONS
WHERE, FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIFTH CENTURY WHEN
ATTILA THE HUN IS ADVANCING ON THE CITY OF ROME WITH HIS ARMY,
THE EMPEROR IS NOT THE ONE WHO GOES OUT TO STOP HIM, THE POPE
IS - THE BISHOP OF ROME. THIS KIND OF
PROMINENCE - POLITICAL
PROMINENCE AS WELL AS RELIGIOUS
PROMINENCE - COMES TO REALLY DEFINE THE POPE'S ROLE.
>>THE PROPHECY ALSO INDICATES THAT THE WOMAN IS RIDING A BEAST
WITH SEVEN HEADS AND TEN HORNS. OBVIOUSLY, THESE THINGS ARE
SYMBOLS. THIS CREATURE HERE CLEARLY
REPRESENTS THE SAME MONSTER WITH SEVEN HEADS AND TEN HORNS THAT
WE JUST SAW WARRING WITH THE BRIDE OF CHRIST IN CHAPTER 12
AND IT'S THE SAME BEAST THAT THE WORLD IS COMPELLED TO WORSHIP IN
CHAPTER 13. SO WHAT DO THESE
SEVEN HEADS AND TEN HORNS REPRESENT?
>>"THE SEVEN HEADS ARE SEVEN MOUNTAINS ON WHICH THE WOMAN
SITS." "THE TEN HORNS WHICH YOU SAW ARE
TEN KINGS..." >>THERE IS ONLY ONE CITY IN THE
WORLD THAT SITS ON SEVEN HILLS LIKE THIS ONE MAJOR CITY AND
THAT'S THE CITY OF ROME. SO THERE IS NO DOUBT IN MOST
EXPOSITORS' MINDS THAT WHEN JOHN IS TALKING ABOUT THIS WOMAN, HE
IS TALKING ABOUT ROME. >>SO YOU SEE THE CONNECTION
HERE: SEVEN HEADS, SEVEN MOUNTAINS. YOU GO TO REVELATION
12 - SEVEN HEADS. REVELATION 13 DEALS WITH SEVEN
HEADS. THERE'S A CONTINUITY
HERE. >>"IT IS WITHIN THE CITY OF
ROME, CALLED THE CITY OF SEVEN
HILLS, THAT THE ENTIRE AREA OF VATICAN STATE
PROPER IS NOW CONFINED." >>THERE IS ONLY ONE CHURCH THAT
IS ALSO AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY AND HAS POLITICAL WORLD POWER -
THE VATICAN. THIS COUNTRY, WITH THE WORLD'S
SMALLEST POPULATION, WAS ESTABLISHED AS AN INDEPENDENT
STATE WITH A HUNDRED AND NINE ACRES WITHIN ROME.
BEHIND THE WALLS AT VATICAN CITY THERE ARE LESS THAN 1,000 PEOPLE
LIVING WITHIN THIS SMALL COUNTRY THAT IS GOVERNED BY THE POPE,
WHO HAS ABSOLUTE EXECUTIVE, LEGISLATIVE, AND JUDICIAL
POWERS. AMBASSADORS FROM AROUND THE
WORLD MEET WITH THE POPE AND HIS REPRESENTATIVES, SEEKING THE
INFLUENCE AND GUIDANCE OF THIS INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS
POWER. EVEN THE UNITED NATIONS WILL
ASSEMBLE TO BE ADDRESSED BY THE POPE.
WHEN THE WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE FELL, THEIR TERRITORY FRAGMENTED
INTO TEN PRIMARY DIVISIONS. THE TEN HORNS REPRESENT THE TEN
KINGS OR KINGDOMS INTO WHICH IMPERIAL ROME WAS EVENTUALLY
SPLIT. >>THE TEN HORNS ARE A
DESCRIPTION OF ROME, WHICH BREAKS UP INTO TEN SMALLER
KINGDOMS. SO YOU HAVE THE CHURCH RIDING ON
A POLITICAL POWER. YOU HAVE A UNION OF CHURCH AND
STATE. >>THE NAMES OF BLASPHEMY IS
ANOTHER KEY ELEMENT TO THIS PROPHECY THAT POINTS DIRECTLY AT
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. >>"WE HOLD UPON THIS EARTH THE
PLACE OF GOD ALMIGHTY." >>THIS PUTS A MORTAL MAN IN THE
POSITION OF GOD AND IS ULTIMATELY THE VERY DEFINITION
OF BLASPHEMY. THIS IS NOT MEANT TO QUESTION
THE SINCERITY OF ANY SPECIFIC POPE, BUT THE PROPHECY IS
ADDRESSING THE OFFICE THAT HE HOLDS AND THE INSTITUTION THAT
HE REPRESENTS. THE WOMAN IS ALSO CLOTHED IN
UNIQUE COLORS. >>SHE HAS SPECIFIC COLORS THAT
ARE MENTIONED HERE - NOT THE COLOR OF WHITE ANYMORE, BUT NOW
WE HAVE COLORS THAT REPRESENT, STRANGELY ENOUGH, TWO THINGS:
ROYALTY AND PROSTITUTION - AND SPECIFIC COLORS THAT WE HAPPEN
TO SEE COMING OUT IN THE HISTORIC CHRISTIAN CHURCH LATER
ON IN THE COLORS OF THE PRIESTS OF THE HISTORIC CHRISTIAN
CHURCH. >>NOT ONLY WERE THESE THE
PRINCIPLE COLORS OF THE ROMAN CAESARS, BUT ACCORDING TO THE
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, PURPLE IS THE OFFICIAL COLOR OF BISHOPS
AND SCARLET FOR CARDINALS. IN ADDITION TO THE SCARLET AND
THE PURPLE, WE SEE THAT THIS HARLOT, OR CORRUPT CHURCH,
POSSESSES VAST MINERAL RICHES. WHEN ONE CONSIDERS ITS COUNTLESS
ARTISTIC TREASURES OF GOLD, SILVER, AND PEARLS, THE ROMAN
CATHOLIC CHURCH IS, BY FAR, THE WEALTHIEST RELIGIOUS INSTITUTION
ON EARTH. EVERY YEAR TOURISTS COME FROM
AROUND THE WORLD TO VIEW THE GLITTERING OPULENCE OF THE ROMAN
CHURCH. ANOTHER DISTURBING MARK OF THIS
WOMAN IS FOUND IN VERSE 6. >>"I SAW THE WOMAN, DRUNK WITH
THE BLOOD OF THE SAINTS AND WITH THE BLOOD OF THE MARTYRS OF
JESUS." >>HISTORY REVEALS THAT THE ROMAN
CHURCH WAS THE WORST OPPRESSOR OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS OVER THE
CENTURIES. IN FACT, HISTORIANS TELL US OVER
50 MILLION MARTYRS FELL VICTIM TO THE TERRIBLE INQUISITIONS AND
PERSECUTIONS OF THE CHURCH OF ROME.
>>SO WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS A PROPHECY SAYING THAT THE CHURCH
WOULD ENGAGE IN INCREDIBLE PERSECUTION AND THAT'S EXACTLY
WHAT TOOK PLACE. >>AND THE CHURCH STARTED A LEGAL
PROCESS - A LEGAL SYSTEM - KNOWN AS INQUISITION, TO INTERROGATE
THESE PEOPLE TO FORCE AS MANY AS POSSIBLE TO RECANT AND RETRACT
THEIR IDEAS AND TO GRAB HOLD OF THE LEADERS OF THE MOVEMENT TO
STOP THEM SPREADING ANY FURTHER. >>THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF DEATHS
EVER RECORDED OCCURRED WHEN THE CHURCH PERSECUTED THOSE WHO
DISAGREED WITH IT AND THAT LEVEL OF REPRESSION CONTINUES THROUGH
THE MIDDLE AGES. >>SO THIS WOMAN, OR CHURCH, IS A
PERSECUTING POWER THAT OPPRESSES CHRIST'S TRUE FOLLOWERS.
>>"THE PEOPLE WHO WALKED IN DARKNESS HAVE SEEN A GREAT
LIGHT; THOSE WHO DWELT IN THE LAND OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH,
UPON THEM A LIGHT HAS SHINED." >>PETER WALDO, ALSO KNOWN AS
VALDES, A VERY WEALTHY AND EDUCATED YOUNG MERCHANT, HAD A
LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE. A YOUNG FRIEND OF WALDO'S DIED
SUDDENLY. REALIZING THE BREVITY OF LIFE
AND THE VANITY OF WORLDLY TREASURE, WALDO MADE A FIRM
DECISION TO FORSAKE ALL FOR CHRIST.
HE GAVE HIS WEALTH TO THE POOR AND BECAME AN ITINERANT
PREACHER. WALDO TAUGHT THAT THE
BIBLE SHOULD BE UNDERSTOOD LITERALLY
AND FREELY PROCLAIMED TO THE PEOPLE IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGE. BY
A.D. 1170, PETER WALDO HAD GATHERED A
LARGE NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS WHO WERE REFERRED TO AS THE POOR OF
LYONS OR WALDENSIANS. >>AND THEY WOULD CARRY
SCRIPTURES AROUND WITH THEM. THEY WOULD ACT AS MERCHANTS AND
TRADERS AND SHARE THE SCRIPTURES WITH THE PEOPLE WHERE THEY WENT.
>>WALDO'S IDEAS WERE OFFICIALLY CONDEMNED AS HERESY.
EVEN FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF PETER WALDO IN 1218, THE ROMAN
CHURCH CONTINUED TO FIERCELY PERSECUTE THE WALDENSIANS.
FOR CENTURIES MANY WERE TRIED AND SENTENCED TO DEATH IN
VARIOUS EUROPEAN COUNTRIES. THE HOLY SPIRIT STIRRED UPON
MANY WITHIN THE CHURCH WHO COURAGEOUSLY STOOD UP AND CALLED
FOR REFORM. ONE SUCH MAN WAS JOHN WYCLIFFE,
AN ENGLISH THEOLOGIAN AND LAY PREACHER, TRANSLATOR, AND
TEACHER AT OXFORD. AS HE SAW ROME SUBSTITUTING
TRADITION FOR THE HOLY SCRIPTURE, HE ACCUSED THE
PRIESTHOOD OF WITHHOLDING THE BREAD OF LIFE FROM THE
SPIRITUALLY STARVING PEOPLE. >>HE BELIEVED THAT THE BIBLE WAS
THE SUPREME AUTHORITY AND HE COMMISSIONED THE TRANSLATION OF
THE BIBLE. HE HAD SOME FOLLOWERS CALLED
LOLLARDS, THAT WENT AROUND DISTRIBUTING SCRIPTURE AND
PREACHING. >>OVER TIME, HIS WRITINGS AND
WORK OF REFORM SPREAD OUT LIKE SEISMIC WAVES, INFLUENCING
MILLIONS OF GOD'S PEOPLE. >>THEY CAN BE READ ANYWHERE
WHERE THERE ARE SCHOOLMEN, WHERE THERE ARE SCHOLASTIC THEOLOGIANS
WHO CAN PICK THEM UP. THEY DO TRAVEL AND THEY TRAVEL TO
BOHEMIA AND THEY INSPIRE JOHN
HUSS AS WELL. >>LIKE WYCLIFFE, JOHN HUSS
PREACHED THE SCRIPTURES IN THE LANGUAGE OF THE PEOPLE, A
PRACTICE THAT THE CHURCH HAD NOW FORBIDDEN IN FAVOR OF THE LOST
LANGUAGE OF LATIN. HE BEGAN TO PUBLICALLY DENOUNCE THE PRIDE,
AMBITION, AND CORRUPTION OF THE CLERGY AND HE FEARLESSLY CALLED
FOR THE CHURCH TO REFORM. >>HE WAS ASKED TO DEFEND HIS
POSITIONS. IN THE ACT OF DEFENDING THEM, HE
WAS FOUND TO HAVE VOICED A HERESY AND SO HE WAS SEIZED AND
TRIED FOR HERESY. >>GUARDS THEN LED HUSS AWAY TO
BE EXECUTED. AMONG HIS DYING WORDS, HUSS
PREDICTED "IN A HUNDRED YEARS, GOD WILL RAISE UP A MAN WHOSE
CALLS FOR REFORM CANNOT BE SUPPRESSED.
MARTIN LUTHER, THEOLOGIAN, AUTHOR, COMPOSER, AND PRIEST,
WAS ARGUABLY THE BEST-KNOWN RELIGIOUS REFORMER OF THE 16TH
CENTURY. LUTHER WAS AWARDED THE DOCTRINE
OF DIVINITY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WITTENBERG AND HE BEGAN TO
BOLDLY PREACH TO THE PEOPLE THAT CHRISTIANS SHOULD NOT ACCEPT ANY
DOCTRINE UNLESS IT CAME FROM THE BIBLE AND IT WAS THIS PRINCIPLE
OF SOLA SCRIPTURA THAT WOULD BECOME THE BATTLE CRY OF THE
REFORMATION. ABOUT THIS SAME TIME, ROME WAS
BREAKING GROUND FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE MAGNIFICENT
NEW SAINT PETER'S BASILICA. THE CHURCH SENT JOHANN TETZEL, A
DOMINICAN FRIAR TO GERMANY TO SELL INDULGENCES IN ORDER TO
RAISE THE FUNDS NECESSARY FOR THE CATHEDRAL.
WHEN LUTHER LEARNED THAT HIS MEMBERS WERE PURCHASING
INDULGENCES, HE WAS OUTRAGED. ON OCTOBER 31, 1517, LUTHER
NAILED HIS FAMOUS PROTEST TO THE DOORS OF THE ALL-SAINTS CHURCH
IN WITTENBERG. >>AND THIS GOT A LOT OF PEOPLE'S
ATTENTION, INCLUDING THE POPE'S, AND A BULL WENT OUT - A PAPAL
BULL - MEANING A KIND OF DECLARATION CONDEMNING LUTHER
AND HIS WRITINGS. >>SO THE GERMAN EMPEROR
ORGANIZED A HEARING AT A PLACE CALLED WORMS. >>HE WAS PULLED UP BEFORE THE
GROUP, HE WAS SHOWN A PILE OF HIS BOOKS, HE WAS ASKED, 'WILL
YOU RECANT - WILL YOU WITHDRAW THE TEACHINGS YOU'VE MADE IN
THEM?' >>IT'S AN HEROIC MOMENT,
ESPECIALLY BECAUSE, AS FAR AS LUTHER IS CONCERNED, HE BELIEVES
IT'S GOING TO LEAD TO HIS DEATH. >>"UNLESS I AM CONVINCED BY THE
TESTIMONY OF THE SCRIPTURES OR BY CLEAR REASON, FOR I DO NOT
TRUST EITHER IN THE POPE OR IN COUNSELS ALONE, SINCE IT IS WELL
KNOWN THAT THEY HAVE OFTEN ERRED AND CONTRADICTED THEMSELVES, I
AM BOUND BY THE SCRIPTURES I HAVE QUOTED AND MY CONSCIENCE IS
CAPTIVE TO THE WORD OF GOD. I CANNOT AND WILL NOT RECANT
ANYTHING SINCE IT IS NEITHER SAFE NOR RIGHT TO GO AGAINST
CONSCIENCE. HERE I STAND. I CAN DO NO OTHER.
MAY GOD HELP ME, AMEN." >>LUTHER WAS DECLARED AN OUTLAW. HIS LITERATURE WAS BANNED AND
HIS ARREST ORDERED. >>INSTEAD, OF COURSE, LUTHER IS
KIDNAPPED BY AN ARMED GROUP OF MEN WHO WERE ACTUALLY WORKING
FOR FREDERICK THE WISE, WHO DECIDES HE NEEDS TO TAKE LUTHER
OUT OF CIRCULATION FOR A LITTLE WHILE TO WARTBURG CASTLE, WHICH
THE ELECTOR, FREDERICK, KNEW ABOUT, BUT NOBODY KNEW WHAT HAD
HAPPENED TO LUTHER. MANY PEOPLE THOUGHT THAT HE WAS
DEAD. >>FOR THE NEXT YEAR FROM THIS
LONELY EXILE, WHICH LUTHER REFERRED TO AS 'MY PATMOS,' THE
FORMER PRIEST CONTINUED HIS WORK OF PROLIFIC WRITING.
HE EVEN MANAGED TO TRANSLATE THE NEW TESTAMENT FROM GREEK INTO
THE GERMAN LANGUAGE. AROUND THIS SAME TIME, SEVERAL
OTHER POWERFUL CHAMPIONS OF TRUTH ROSE UP FROM WITHIN THE
CHURCH OF ROME. AS THE REFORMERS PREACHED AND
THE PRINTING PRESS CLATTERED, THE TEAMING MASSES STUDIED THE
WORD OF GOD. LIKE A BREATH OF FRESH SPRING
AIR, EUROPE EXPERIENCED A RELIGIOUS RENAISSANCE.
>>"AND YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU
FREE." >>THE BOOK OF REVELATION ALSO
FORETELLS THAT IN THE LAST DAYS THERE WILL BE A VERY CONVINCING
COUNTERFEIT OF GOD'S REAL CHURCH THAT COMPROMISES THE TRUTH OF
SCRIPTURE. JESUS WARNS IT WILL NEARLY
DECEIVE THE WHOLE WORLD. >>"FOR FALSE CHRISTS AND FALSE
PROPHETS WILL RISE AND SHOW SIGNS AND WONDERS TO DECEIVE, IF
POSSIBLE, EVEN THE ELECT." >>SHORTLY AFTER THIS FINAL
DECEPTION, CHRIST WILL RETURN AND HE WILL COME FOR A CHURCH
THAT HAS BEEN PURIFIED FROM ALL THE FALSE TRADITIONS AND
PAGANISM. IT WILL BE A CHURCH THAT
REQUIRES A 'THUS SAITH THE LORD' FOR EVERY DOCTRINE THAT IT
HOLDS. THIS SPIRITUAL WAR HAS BEEN
RAGING DOWN THROUGH THE AGES AND IT'S CLEAR THAT THIS PROPHECY IS
FAST FULFILLING. AS THE BATTLE INTENSIFIES, WE'RE
ALL FACED WITH A CHOICE. >>"CHOOSE FOR YOURSELVES THIS
DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE." >>FRIENDS, WE'VE JUST SEEN HOW
EARLY CHRISTIANS WERE GRADUALLY ENTICED TO ADOPT PAGAN RITUALS
AND TRADITIONS IN PLACE OF BIBLICAL TRUTH.
BUT THEN GOD ROSE UP FAITHFUL MEN AND WOMEN TO RESIST THE
ERRORS OF AN ENTIRE EMPIRE. HISTORY IS NOW REPEATING ITSELF.
SOON ALL WILL EITHER JOIN EITHER THE BRIDE OF CHRIST OR FOLLOW
THE BEAST OF BABYLON. WHERE WILL YOU STAND? THE BIBLE
IS CLEAR. THE EVIDENCE IS
IRREFUTABLE. THE DECISION IS ULTIMATELY
YOURS. (MUSIC)
