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“All
scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness: That
the man of God may be perfect, throughly
furnished unto all good works”.
We regularly
quote these words from Paul’s second epistle
to Timothy in public lectures, and these
words being true, have much to tell us about
the introduction of heretical doctrine into
the world. Whilst it is right to go outside
the Scriptures to show from history books
how the prophetic word has been fulfilled,
yet there is a danger in studying treatises
published by Christendom about their beliefs
that we ourselves, being mortal flesh, become
deluded thereby1 . As Paul wrote, O Timothy,
keep that which is committed to thy trust,
avoiding profane and vain babblings, and
oppositions of science (or ‘knowledge’)
falsely so called: Which some professing
have erred concerning the faith…(1Tim.6:20
–21). It is safer and wiser to view false
doctrine from the Divine standpoint, rather
than from listening to the carnal mind justifying
itself.
However,
we regularly have to discuss the Truth with
strangers, and of course false teachers
(2Pet.2:1) have ever sought to introduce
into the ecclesia ‘new’ doctrines, which
are not new, but are recycled pagan teaching,
clothed in a modern and purportedly enlightened
vocabulary. The Scriptures of Truth however
reveal to us the origin of this teaching,
in order that we can identify that its source
is the carnal mind and not the Holy Spirit.
The prime
example of this is of course the doctrine
of the immortality of the soul, the source
of which we regularly in lectures identify
as the product of the serpent lie, when
he said Ye shall not surely die (Gen.3:4).
The carnal mind has always sought to reject
the righteous judgment of God that death
is the consequence of sin and is a cessation
of existence. This pernicious doctrine of
the immortal soul has through the millennia
of pagan, Jewish and Christian philosophy
acted like a drug to dull adherent’s minds
against the ‘hard’ saying that death is
a cessation of existence. Revelation 9:21
reads, “Neither repented they of their murders,
nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication,
nor of their thefts”. Here the word sorceries
is from the Greek pharmakeia, (the English
word ‘pharmacy’ is a related word), and
involves the dispensing of drugs – and this
false doctrine is like a drug enabling millions
to comfort themselves that death is not
actually death, but a transfer of the immortal
soul, even as a person might walk from one
room to another. It is pertinent that despite
the trumpet judgments described in Revelation
9, the Roman religion would not give up
such doctrine, and it is not surprising
that sometimes those who are learning the
Truth find it difficult to accept the mortality
of man.
It is noteworthy
that when a feature of the Truth is denied,
then there is automatically a subsequent
denial of other doctrines. It resembles
a domino effect. When it is asserted that
man has an immortal soul, then it follows
that the soul has to migrate somewhere at
death – either to heaven or to hell. So
‘heaven-going’ is a consequence. A place
of hell-torment requires a personal fallen
angel devil, and man’s salvation becomes
a warfare between the gods of good and the
gods of evil. Further, even if some fundamental
principle of the Truth such the doctrine
of the atonement, is denied in whole or
part, and then covered with ambiguous statements
which ‘all’ might be able to accept, the
above-mentioned ‘domino effect’ still takes
place over time. Ecclesias in their deliberations
must always consider the histories of Israel
and the early ecclesia, and must, as surprising
as it sounds, look ahead three or four generations
as to what impact such deliberations will
have in the long-term. It is true that we
are very sure that the coming of the Lord
is at hand, but the ecclesia has a great
responsibility concerning faithfulness as
the repository of the Truth.
Here are
some examples of Christendom’s doctrines
which feature in Scripture and are shown
thereby to originate from pagan theology:
The
Immortal Soul
It is not
surprising that the doctrine of the immortal
soul appears in several places in Scripture,
one of which is in Deuteronomy 18:9 – 20,
which covers both false doctrine practised
by the nations, who were to be displaced
by Israel, and also false prophets arising
from within Israel. In verse 11, there is
a prohibition against a consulter with familiar
spirits and likewise a necromancer (one
who enquires of the dead). The term ‘familiar’
here has a meaning in old English of ‘family’
rather than ‘well-known’, and reflects the
Hebrew word used. Clearly, such abominable
practices involve a belief that the ‘dead’
are contactable rather than having no existence.
The
Trinity
2 Kings
4:42 “And there came a man of Baal-shalisha,…”
The latter term means ‘Lord of the trinity’2
The
Incarnation 3
Acts 14:11-12
“And when the people saw what Paul had done,
they lifted up their voices, saying in the
speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down
to us in the likeness of men. And they called
Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius,
because he was the chief speaker”.
These verses
show that pagan theology contained a belief
that gods came down from heaven in the form
of men. This same citation also reveals
that Mercurius (Hermes in Greek, and Nebo
in Akkadian) ‘was the chief speaker’, and
this idea seems to have been transferred
to Christendom’s teaching that the ‘logos’
of John 1 was the spokesman of the Trinitarian
god(s).
The
Worship of Mary
I Kgs 11:33
“Because that they have forsaken me, and
have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of
the Zidonians,……”.
This female
deity was manifest as the Babylonian ‘Ishtar’,
the Egyptian Isis, the Grecian Artemis4,
and described by her Roman name, Diana of
the Ephesians in Acts 19:24. In Jer.7:16
– 20, in a religious family festival which
has resemblance to Christendom’s Easter,
Ashtoreth is described as ‘the queen of
heaven’ a title attributed today to ‘Mary’.
It is noteworthy and ironical that the worship
of ‘Mary’ became an official doctrine of
the Catholic Church in 430AD at Ephesus.
Once again with such teaching, an acceptance
of the doctrine of the immortality of the
soul is essential, but when the mortality
of man is understood from the Scriptures
of Truth, then obviously, the true Mary
of the Bible, who is blessed among women,
the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ is dead,
asleep in the dust of the earth, awaiting
the day of resurrection, and therefore prayers
to her are of no avail (Psa.6:5, John 3:13;
Ezek.18:20; 1 Cor. 15:22 – 23).
So again,
the Scripture identifies the source of Christendom’s
veneration.
The afore-mentioned
information confirms that the Babylonish
Egyptian, and Canaanite theologies which
seduced Israel, were basically the same
religions which under different names challenged
the ecclesia in the first century and corrupted
the church between the third and fifth centuries
A.D.
Rather than
giving a Scriptural exposition of why and
how Christendom is astray, the purpose of
this article is to emphasize that the Scripture
identifies for us the sources of those false
doctrines. Perhaps readers might wish to
search the Scriptures when reading the daily
chapters for other examples, and it is likely
that the editor would welcome other illustrations.
Russell Ebbs
NOTES:
1—Further,
our time is better spent studying the Scriptures
and reading pioneer writings and other valuable
books emanating from the brotherhood. Indeed,
the writer’s experience is that there are
not enough hours in the day sufficient for
such.
2—Lecturing
brethren may wish to take note that it is
therefore inaccurate to say the word ‘Trinity’
cannot be found in the Bible – the word
does occur in Scripture, but shown to be
associated with Baal worship. Gesenius confirms
that ‘Shalishah’ (Strong’s nos. 8028 and
8030) means ‘triad’.
3—The
‘Incarnation’ asserts that ‘Jesus’ existed
before his birth, and divested himself of
his God-nature’ and took upon him a human
form
4—Artemis’s
chastity was emphasized by Greek poets,
and Isis holding her son Horus, were revered
as the perfect mother and child.
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