How Science Came To Reject The Bible

Some believe the Bible says the heavens and the earth were created only about 6000 years ago. Even many scientists assume this is what the Bible teaches. And they scoff. But is this really what Genesis 1:1 teaches?

The truth is plain. Without realizing it, some have been believing a fable that sprang from the dark ages — when people knew little about the Bible except what was taught to them by churchmen, who themselves were ignorant of what the Bible really taught!

Genesis 1:1, in the King James translation, says: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

First, notice what it does NOT say. It does not say “About 6000 years ago …” — or “in 4004 B.C., God created the heaven and the earth.” It says: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

When was “the beginning”? Genesis 1:1 just doesn’t tell us! And there is a reason.

What Genesis 1:1 does reveal is that the heaven and the earth had a beginning. This scripture makes it plain that the universe was created. Genesis 1:1 emphasizes who (in the beginning) created the heaven and the earth! It points us to God, as Creator of the universe.

Genesis 1:1 has been universally misinterpreted. Here is how it happened.

“… Archbishop Ussher … in the years 1650 to 1654, published a chronology {supposedly} based upon the biblical record. His dates were accepted for nearly two centuries, though geologists reading the record of the rocks were early convinced that he had seriously erred when he stated that the earth had been created in the year 4004 B.C., on the 26th of October, at 9 o’clock in the morning!” (H. E. Vokes, “How Old is the Earth?” from “The Illustrated Library of the Natural Sciences”, Vol. II, p. 1155.)

Jesus' Birth: The Untold Story

http://www.dipity.com

In late December of each year, thousands of tourists flock into the small town of Bethlehem in the Judean Hills south of Jerusalem to participate in annual Christmas celebrations there. Some make the 6-mile journey from Jerusalem on foot. Upon arrival, they crowd with silent awe into the paved expanse of Manger Square in front of the revered Church of the Nativity, built over the traditional site of Jesus’ birth.

Inevitably, some of these tourists arrive in Israel unprepared. They have not thoroughly studied their guidebooks. As they step off their plane, they receive a real shock!  November through early March is “winter” in Israel! The weather gets cold, especially at night. Often it rains — or even snows! Yet many arrive in Israel carrying luggage bulging with summer attire, reasoning that it is always hot and arid in the Middle East. So they hurriedly purchase coats and sweaters in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem for their pilgrimage down to Bethlehem.

Nevertheless, most of those who stand in Manger Square on December 25 each year — prepared and unprepared alike — fail to perceive the message being proclaimed by the very weather around them!  Notice this plain testimony of your Bible: On the day of Jesus’ birth “there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night” (Luke 2:8).

The Cross: A Symbol Of Faith Or Rank Paganism?

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The hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers” portrays the cross as the identifying sign of everything for which Christianity stands and around which Christians should rally in their fight against the forces of evil.

Throughout the world, people universally regard the cross as THE symbol of Christianity. Churches have crosses atop their steeples, on their walls, windows and doors. Catholics and Protestants wear crosses on necklaces, bracelets, rings, pendants, keychains and items of clothing. People in some churches “cross” themselves by touching the forehead, breast, and then each shoulder to form a symbolic cross in carrying out certain religious rituals or in blessing themselves or others. Some think the sign of the cross to be effective in warding off evil spirits and for generally protecting believers from harm.

So is it okay to wear a cross as a symbol of our personal faith? Is it OK to assume that the early Christian Church revered the cross as part of its religious observance? Check any encyclopedia or historical reference work on this subject. It makes for an interesting study for those who are not afraid to face the truth.

The cross, in many shapes and forms, was used centuries before Christ by abject pagans! Notice a few of the many examples:

• In the British Museum is a statue of the Assyrian king Samsi-Vul, son of Shalmaneser. Around his neck is an almost perfect Maltese cross. On an accompanying figure of Ashur-nasir-pal is a similar cross.
• The ancient Greek goddess Diana is pictured with a crosses over her head, in much the same way that the “Virgin Mary” is represented by many medieval artists.
• Bacchus, the Greek god of wine, is often pictured wearing a headdress adorned with crosses.
• Different types of crosses were used in Mexico centuries before the Spaniards arrived.
• The Egyptians used cross symbols in abundance, as did the Hindus.

The shape of the two-beamed cross had its origin in ancient Chaldea and was used to represent the god Tammuz. Tammuz is the deified Nimrod, the first man to lead the opposition against God after the great Flood. He founded the city of Babylon, and along with his mother/wife Semiramis, founded the pagan Babylon mystery religion—the origin of all false religion today. The Egyptians used crosses in abundance, as did the Hindus.

The surprising thing is that the Christian use of the cross did not begin until the time of Constantine, three centuries after Christ. Archaeologists have found no Christian uses of the symbol before that time. According to one writer, “By the middle of the third century A.D. the churches had either departed from, or had transvestied, 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” (W.E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, article “Cross“).

“In the papal system, as is well known, the sign of the cross and the image of the cross are all in all. No prayer can be said, no worship engaged in, no step almost can be taken, without the frequent use of the sign of the cross. The cross is looked upon as the grand charm, as the great refuge in every season of danger, in every hour of temptation as the infallible preservative from all the powers of darkness. The cross is adored with all the homage due only to the Most High; and for anyone to call it, in the hearing of a genuine Romanist, by the Scriptural term, “the accursed tree,” is a mortal offense. To say that such superstitious feeling for the sign of the cross, such worship as Rome pays to a wooden or a metal cross, ever grew out of the saying of Paul, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ”—that is, in the doctrine of Christ crucified—is a mere absurdity, a shallow subterfuge and pretense. The magic virtues attributed to the so-called sign of the cross, the worship bestowed on it, never came from such a source.”

“The same sign of the cross that Rome now worships was used in the Babylonian Mysteries, was applied by paganism to the same magic purposes, was honored with the same honors. That which is now called the Christian cross was originally no Christian emblem at all, but was the mystic Tau of the Chaldeans and Egyptians—the true original form of the letter T, the initial of the name of Tammuz—which, in Hebrew, radically the same as ancient Chaldee, as found on coins, was formed as in No. 1 of the accompanying woodcut (below), and in Etrurian and Coptic, as in No’s. 2 and 3. That mystic Tau was marked in baptism on the foreheads of those initiated in the Mysteries, and was used in every variety of way as a most sacred symbol. To identify Tammuz with the sun, it was joined sometimes to the circle of the sun, as in No. 4; sometimes it was inserted in the circle, as in No. 5.” (The Two Babylons, Alexander Hislop, page 197).

There is an enormous body of evidence proving that the cross is not a Christian symbol but has its roots in rank paganism. Some will argue, however, that we may use the sign of the cross because it represents the manner in which Jesus Christ died, or that they are not using it today to worship a pagan deity. However, using it as a Christian symbol is a product of syncretism, (the blending of pagan traditions and methods of worship with the true worship of God), something God strongly condemns.

Before entering the land of Canaan, God told the Israelites,

. . . take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, “How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.” You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. (Deuteronomy 12:30-31)

Does the cross even represent the manner in which Jesus Christ died? I have argued against this in another article on this blog. The Bible does not specifically state which method the Romans used in the crucifixion of Christ, and as far as I can tell, no one has yet conclusively proven on what shape of instrument of torture Christ was crucified. Does it even matter? We have to consider if it is even appropriate to use the very tool that was used to kill our Savior as an emblem of our faith. If Jesus Christ had been killed by hanging, would we use a gallows or a noose as a symbol of our faith? If He had been beheaded, would we use a guillotine? It makes no sense to parade the instrument of shame and death before the world and be proud of it.

Satan the devil knew long before Jesus was born that Christ would die by crucifixion (Numbers 21:4-9; John 3:14; Psalm 22:16). He has deceived the entire world (Rev. 12:9) into worshipping a false Christ by making the cross a popular symbol of worship.

Most importantly, God forbids the use of any item that takes the place of faith. He instructs His true followers to worship Him in Spirit and in truth (John 4:23), and forsake all of this world’s false religions, rituals and pagan symbols of worship. This includes the cross, which assists only to add to a dead, empty faith. As the apostle Paul exhorted, Christ’s true followers walk by faith, not by sight (II Cor. 5:7).

Week Days and Months: Are They Named After Pagan Deities?

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Scripture reveals the names and order of Biblical months, however, none of the customary names of months and names of days found in the Gregorian calendar can be found anywhere in the Bible.  On the contrary, a little research shows us that the name of the months and days in the Gregorian calendar are names of pagan sun gods and goddesses.

According to the Encyclopedia International article “Week,” the days of the week are named after the ruling luminary — the days were names for the sun, the moon, and the five visible planets, are represented in the modern Gregorian Calendar week and all are associated with pagan deities.

The names of the days of the week and their meanings are as follows:

Sunday became the first day of the week.

• Latin: translates from dies solis, or “Day of the Sun”.
• Roman myth, Apollo was the god of the sun and of healing, so sick people prayed to him. Each day he drove his chariot of fiery horses across the sky to give light to the world.
• Greek Mythology; Helios was the god of the Sun.
• Saxon: sunnandaeg – god of the heat and light ball in the sky.

Monday is the second day of the week. Named after the Moon.

• Roman Myth: Luna, or Diana was goddess of the moon. Diana’s twin brother Apollo was the god of the sun.
• Saxon: mona – god of the light ball in the night sky, and tide maker.
• Latin: dies lunae, or “Day of the Moon”.

Tuesday is the third day of the week, named after the planet Mars, in honor of the god Mars.

• Latin: dies martis or “Day of Mars”. This day is named for the day of Tiw, or Tiu, and old Teutonic (Anglo-Saxon) deity. They also called it Tiw’s day.” So Tuesday” comes from the name of this Saxon god.
• Roman Myth: Tiu identifies with Tyr, which was the Norse god of war and sky and translated to Mar’s day.
• Mars: named in honour of the God of War, father of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome.
• French: word for Tuesday is Mardi, as in Mardi Gras.

Wednesday is the fourth day of the week and named after the planet Mercury, and later named in honor of the Teutonic god Wedn or Woden.

• Latin: dies Mercuii, or “Day of Mercury.
• Old English: spells the word as “Odin” and refers to the planetary god of Roman mythology.
• Mercury: “the cunning God”, was the god of travelers. He had a winged hat and sandals, so he could fly and carried a staff with two snakes winding round it.

Thursday is the fifth day of the week and corresponds to the planet Jupiter. Later named in honor of the Teutonic god Thor.

• Latin: dies Jovis, or the day of Jove
• Norse god: The “Day of Thor”, “the Thunder god”

Jove compares to the Roman planetary god Jupiter, and the Greek god Zeus.

Friday is the sixth day of the week.

• Norse goddess: Frigg, or Frigga, names that day. Frigg was the wife of Wodin, or Odin, and the goddess of marriage.
• Latin: dies Veneris, or the day of Venus who was the goddess of love.

Saturday correspond to the planet Saturn, in honor of the Roman god Saturn.

• Latin: dies Saturni, or the “Day of Saturn”.
• Roman: The Romans had a mid-winter festival in honor of Saturn, called the Saturnalia. It lasted seven days, and there was much merrymaking. Public business was suspended and schools were closed. Parents gave toys to their children and there was a public banquet.
• Old father time: god of Time and agriculture and his weapon was a scythe. He ruled the gods before Jupiter.

Sources: Falk, Michael (1999). “Astronomical Names for the Days of the Week”, Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, 93:12

Astronomical

Day	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Luminary & symbol	Sun	Moon	Mars	Mercury	Jupiter	Venus	Saturn
Latin	dies solis	dies lunea	dies martis	dies mercurĭi	dies jovis	deis venĕris	dies saturni
Italian	domenica (1)	lunedì	martedì	mercoledì	giovedì	venerdì	sabato (2)
Spanish	domingo (1)	lunes	martes	miércoles	jueves	viernes	sábado (2)
French	dimanche (1)	lundi	mardi	mercredi	jeudi	vendredi	samedi (2)
Welsh	dydd Sul	dydd Llun	dydd Mawrth	dydd Mercher	dydd Iau	dydd Gwener	dydd Sadwrn
Old High German	sunnuntag	mānetag	zeistag Ziu’s day	wodenstag Woden’s day	donerestag Donar’s day	friatag Freia’s day	sambaztag (2)
German	Sonntag	Montag	Dienstag	Mittwoch (3)	Donnerstag	Freitag	Samstag (2) or Sonnabend (“sun’s eve”)
Dutch	zondag	maandag	dinsdag	woensdag	donderdag	vrijdag	zaterdag
Old Norse	sunnundagr Sunna’s day	mánandagr	tysdagr Tyr’s day	óðensdagr Odin’s day	þorsdagr Thor’s day	friádagr Freya’s day	laugardagr (5)
Swedish	Söndag	Mândag	Tisdag	Onsdag	Torsdag	Fredag	Lördag (4)
Finnish	sunnuntai	maanantai	tiistai	keskiviikko (3)	torstai	perjantai	lauantai (4)
Old English	sunnandaeg Sunne’s day	mónandaeg	tiwesdaeg Tiw’s day	wodnesdaeg Woden’s day	þunresdaeg Thunor’s day	frigesdaeg Frige’s day	saeternesdaeg
English	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Luminary & symbol	Sun	Moon	Mars	Mercury	Jupiter	Venus	Saturn
Day	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday

Source for graph.

But how did this planetary week come to be so commonly used in the professing Christian world? Hutton Webster, in his book “Rest Days,” provides the answer: “The early Christians had at first adopted the Jewish seven-day week with its NUMBERED weekdays, but by the close of the third century A.D. this began to give way to the planetary week …. The use of planetary names by Christians attests the growing influence of astrological speculations introduced by converts from paganism …. Thus, gradually a PAGAN INSTITUTION was engrafted on Christianity.” (Emphasis added. See pages
220-221).

This planetary week with its days named after pagan deities is not of God. God Almighty DID CREATE the week with seven days. But He merely numbered the days one through seven (Gen. 1; 2:1-3). The only day He named was the seventh day. He called that day “Sabbath” (Ex. 16:22-26; 20:8-11).

The names of the worldly months and their meanings are as follows:

Month                                                        From the Latin:

JANUARY                                                  Januarius, in honor of the Roman god Janus.
FEBRUARY                                                Februarius, in honor of the Roman festival of general expiation and purification.
MARCH                                                        Martius, in honor of the Roman god Mars.
APRIL                                                          Aprilis, which was derived from APERIO, a Latin verb meaning to open. So called
because it is the month when the earth opens to produce new fruits.
MAY                                                             Maius, in honor of the Greek goddess Maia.
JUNE                                                            Junius, in honor of the Roman goddess Juno.
JULY                                                           Julius, in honor of Roman emperor Julius Caesar.
AUGUST                                                     Augustus, in honor of Roman emperor Augustus Caesar.

The rest of the months — September, October, November, December — are derived from the Latin words for the numerals 7, 8, 9, and 10. They were the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th months of the old Roman calendar.

Will Rome Take Over Jerusalem?

The Vatican’s Hidden Jerusalem Agenda

March 16, 2009 | From theTrumpet.com

By Ron Fraser

http://www.geographicguide.com/asia.htm

This magazine has been watching Joseph Ratzinger for a long time. As we have watched, we have followed his course from chief confidante of the late Pope John Paul ii to his enthronement as pope and then on throughout the past four years of his controversial papacy.

As we have watched this leading religious figure, we have monitored his involvement in a clandestine project of the Vatican that was documented in Bible prophecy almost 2,000 years ago and which remained a mystery until fully exposed within the last two decades.

Now, as Benedict xvi prepares for his upcoming visit to Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan this May—a tour incorporating his first visit to Israel since being elected pope—it is crucial that the Vatican agenda for the city of Jerusalem be publicized.

Back in the mid-1990s, a statement made by Pope John Paul ii during an interview in his native Poland, broadcast in Italian over a Polish radio station, was noted by one of our Italian associates. She sent us a transcript of the interview, which included one particularly startling reference made by the pope regarding the Vatican’s ultimate goal of transferring its headquarters from Rome to Jerusalem.

What was unusual about this admission of John Paul ii is that the Vatican’s intentions to possess Jerusalem are seldom publicized and little commented on. In fact, an air of secrecy—something that the Vatican has a history of creating over various of its affairs over the centuries—has surrounded this project since the failure of the Crusades, the most obvious of the overt and now very historical attempts by the Vatican to seize control of the Holy City. Those attempts have a long history with strong attachments to the German nation, right up to the past two world wars, and beyond to our present day.

As far back as the eighth century a.d., emissaries were sent to Jerusalem by Emperor Charlemagne to negotiate an agreement with the Muslim Caliph Haroun al-Raschid. The result was that Jerusalem became a protectorate of the Holy Roman Empire.

Historical records indicate that such a protectorate was limited to the oversight of the welfare of Christians, the care and protection of designated holy sites, and the properties of the Roman Catholic Church in Jerusalem. The fact that the caliph would be a financial beneficiary to this enterprise was a given. Muslim support of the Kaiser’s army in World War i, and again of the Nazi regime in World War ii, was the end result of a long historical nexus between the Muslims and Germany.

From the time of the Charlemagne/Haroun pact, through the attempt by Kaiser Wilhelm to seize Jerusalem in World War i to this day, elements within Germany have historically viewed themselves as protectors of the Roman Catholic Church. From the time of the failure of the great crusades, German elites have worked to find ways and means of seizing the plum job of protector of Jerusalem.

Recently, courtesy of the actions of Germany’s Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany has aggressively stepped up its diplomacy in the Middle East. This action comes in advance of the upcoming visit by a German pontiff, Josef Ratzinger, under his adopted papal name Benedict xvi, to Jerusalem. Both Vatican and German diplomacy in Israel are linked to a common end: possession of the Old City of Jerusalem, as well as most of the eastern half of the city. The Jews are the pawns in this grand game of international diplomacy, the Palestinians the all-too-willing grunts on the ground eager to facilitate the division of Jerusalem and the annihilation of the State of Israel in the process.

The Vatican already has a significant presence in Jerusalem by virtue of free access to its holy sites over which Rome has legal jurisdiction, under Israeli law, including both its institutions and assets in Jerusalem. The consolidation of these arrangements came by virtue of a bilateral agreement termed “The Fundamental Agreement Between the Holy See and the State of Israel,” which the Israeli government signed with the Vatican on Dec. 30, 1993. The terms of this agreement, composed in secret, were subsequently legislated by the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. What remains largely unknown is the secret deal done by current Israeli President Shimon Peres and the leftist peacenik, former Meretz party member Yossi Beilin, known widely as “Peres’s poodle.”

Six months after the signing of the bilateral agreement between Israel and the Vatican, on June 15, 1994, the Israeli government inked a further agreement with the Vatican endorsing the Roman Catholic Church’s participation in negotiations to determine the future of Jerusalem. This was followed in February 1996 by Secretary General of the Vatican Serge Sebastian announcing that Rome recognizes Palestinian sovereignty over East Jerusalem. The Vatican had thus revealed its hand. From here Rome was to go on to actively work through its proxies in the “peace process” to exploit Palestinian claims as a means of splitting the city of Jerusalem asunder, seizing the Old City and possessing East Jerusalem. This involved the management of Palestinian aggression as part of the process, regardless of the suffering and loss of life that it would inevitably incur. This would in fact be a vital part of the initiative to take East Jerusalem by force in the event of the failure of diplomatic means. The same tactic had been instigated by Germany and Rome in the Balkan Peninsula to achieve a desired result with implicit UN agreement, with the Serbs becoming the pariah in the world’s view. This time, it’s the Jews who are being pilloried, in particular since the Gaza incursion, in the lead-up to a similar result as that in Kosovo: the seizure of iconic territory to be placed under the influence of Berlin and Rome with the willing acquiescence of the United Nations.

Journalist Joel Bainerman, a well-known commentator on Israeli affairs, claims, “The end goal of the Vatican is to seize control of the Old City of Jerusalem out of the clutches of the State of Israel. To that end they have a secret agreement with Israel which obliges Israel to respect the ‘extraterritorial’ claim to their physical presence in the city. In short, we have accepted the Vatican’s rights to have little Vatican sovereign embassies throughout our eternal capital of Jerusalem. That same Vatican has committed itself, in public and in a written agreement, to ensure that the Palestinians have sovereignty in the Old City of Jerusalem.”

Yet, beyond the proof of the hidden agenda of the Vatican exposed by commentators, there is the “more sure word of prophecy,” which we have well documented in our publications, that forecasts the coming of an individual who will be the spiritual head of a great religio/political institution centered in Europe, spreading its tentacles “toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land” (Daniel 8:9).

Believe it or not, your Bible prophesies the hidden agenda of the Vatican! The press and media remain fixated on what they believe are the faltering mistakes of a pope out of touch with reality—witness the imbroglio over Benedict’s Regensburg speech and the latest kerfuffle regarding the lifting of the excommunication of the four Lefebvrist bishops, including the Holocaust-minimizing Richard Williamson. Such diversions are but a smokescreen for those whom Lenin famously called “useful idiots” to keep them diverted from following the scent on the track to the ultimate Vatican story, the coming takeover of Jerusalem by Rome!