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Religion See other Religion Articles Title: What is the story in the Bible; i.e., what is the Bible REALLY about? What is the story in the Bible; i.e., what is the Bible REALLY about? And then, speaking of which we were speaking of, I decided that I should write a brief description out so that any questions you have could be properly addressed, as opposed to simply being dressed….. (This was written for a couple of friends of mine, but perhaps it is worth sharing with others! You be the judge of that, please.) Now, where to begin…. Oh, RIGHT!! At the BEGINNING! Genesis. What we are told in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, besides the general information about the creation of the universe, the earth, and man, is about a rebellion against Jehovah, and how He rules the universe He created. This rebellion was not by us, but by a powerful spirit creature who, through his own free will, which, just like us, he was created with, became an opposer and a slanderer, i.e., the Devil and Satan. Two names, one spirit creature. The apparent aim of this spirit creature was to take control of, and become the god of, the earth. In other words, he wanted us to worship him instead of Jehovah God. There were only two people alive at that time, Adam and Eve, both created perfect with the promise of living forever on a paradise earth. That was God’s purpose for creating the earth, and, that has not changed, nor, can it change. Malachi 3: 6 “For I am Jehovah; I have not changed. And if Jehovah has not changed, then neither can His book, the Bible, change, nor can the principles in the Bible change, nor can His purposes change. Now, why do we need the guidance of Jehovah? We do not have the knowledge, nor the experience, to guide our own futures…. No, not even to guide our own steps! Jeremiah 10: 23 I well know, O Jehovah, that to earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step. Jehovah God warned Adam and Eve about making their own choices; Genesis 2: 15 And Jehovah God proceeded to take the man and settle him in the garden of E´den to cultivate it and to take care of it. 16 And Jehovah God also laid this command upon the man: “From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction. 17 But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die.” They were warned; they chose, through their free will, to disobey; Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent proved to be the most cautious of all the wild beasts of the field that Jehovah God had made. So it began to say to the woman: “Is it really so that God said YOU must not eat from every tree of the garden?” 2 At this the woman said to the serpent: “Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat. 3 But as for [eating] of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘YOU must not eat from it, no, YOU must not touch it that YOU do not die.’” 4 At this the serpent said to the woman: “YOU positively will not die. 5 For God knows that in the very day of YOUR eating from it YOUR eyes are bound to be opened and YOU are bound to be like God, KNOWING good and bad.” It is important to note that Eve was deceived, but we are told in the Bible that Adam was not deceived. He chose to be disobedient solely to please his wife. Here is where it gets interesting; while there were but two humans alive, we are told in the Bible that there are billions of spirit creatures (angels), and we know that they were watching the events in the Garden as they unfolded. Jehovah God knew this, of course, and chose the wise course, as always. He, in essence, stepped back and let Satan have the opportunity to prove that he, Satan, could rule the earth better than Jehovah God could. THAT, is what has been going on ever since; Satan trying to prove that he could control and rule the earth without Jehovah God. Of course, the only way in which Satan could be successful in this endeavor is if he took complete control of ALL humans. Jehovah well understood that if He simply destroyed Satan and the only two humans alive, that there would be an element of doubt created in the minds of all of the spirit creatures that were watching what was going on. (Please understand that I am shortening this A LOT and there are a myriad of details that could be put in – including the details about the angels that joined with Satan in his rebellion.) Now, in the same chapter of the same Good Book, Jehovah told of a solution to what had happened; Genesis 3;14 And Jehovah God proceeded to say to the serpent: “Because you have done this thing, you are the cursed one out of all the domestic animals and out of all the wild beasts of the field. Upon your belly you will go and dust is what you will eat all the days of your life. 15 And I shall put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you in the head and you will bruise him in the heel.” Jehovah God specifically, at that time, foretold the coming of the seed (and the woman noted in the Scripture is NOT Eve), and why did the seed come? 1 John 3:8 He who carries on sin originates with the Devil, because the Devil has been sinning from [the] beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was made manifest, namely, to break up the works of the Devil. To break up the works of the Devil. Period. Were their other benefits to the coming of Jesus Christ? Of course, especially for us, but all of them are secondary to this. Now, back to Genesis. Genesis 3: 16 To the woman he said: “I shall greatly increase the pain of your pregnancy; in birth pangs you will bring forth children, and your craving will be for your husband, and he will dominate you.” 17 And to Adam he said: “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and took to eating from the tree concerning which I gave you this command, ‘You must not eat from it,’ cursed is the ground on your account. In pain you will eat its produce all the days of your life. 18 And thorns and thistles it will grow for you, and you must eat the vegetation of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return.” 20 After this Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she had to become the mother of everyone living. 21 And Jehovah God proceeded to make long garments of skin for Adam and for his wife and to clothe them. 22 And Jehovah God went on to say: “Here the man has become like one of us in knowing good and bad, and now in order that he may not put his hand out and actually take [fruit] also from the tree of life and eat and live to time indefinite,—” 23 With that Jehovah God put him out of the garden of E´den to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. 24 And so he drove the man out and posted at the east of the garden of E´den the cherubs and the flaming blade of a sword that was turning itself continually to guard the way to the tree of life. There is a lot of information in these few Scriptures, and they explain a lot of the information that follows in the Bible, including martial relationships, and, the promise to return the earth to a paradise. But the main story of the Bible follows the seed promised by Jehovah, who come to the earth to; to break up the works of the Devil. Comes the time of the flood. “…The Bible’s first book, Genesis, sets forth the details of the Flood. In Genesis, chapter 6, we note that conditions in the world had deteriorated to the point that God said: “And as for me, here I am bringing the deluge of waters upon the earth to bring to ruin all flesh in which the force of life is active from under the heavens. Everything that is in the earth will expire.” (Gen. 6:17) God provided for the preservation of the human family and the animal kingdom by commanding Noah to build an ark, or oblong chest, 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high.—Gen. 6:14, 15. …” Jehovah God had no choice but to intervene in the affairs of man. If He had not, then the chance of the last righteous man dying (Noah) would have been great, and the promised seed had to come through that last righteous man alive. To understand this, open your Bibles to the book of Luke, Chapter 3, and look at verse 36, where you will find both Noah, and his son Shem, listed in the linage of Jesus Christ. That linage, by the way, came through his mother, and not through Joseph. So here we see, for the first time, Jehovah God moving to protect the seed that He had foretold from the very beginning; Genesis Chapter 3. Time moves on, and God chooses another man, Abraham (from the same linage), to begin the tribe that would become known as the Israelites (see Luke, chapter 3, verse 34). The story of the rest of the so-called ‘Old Testament’ is how Jehovah God moved to protect this linage until the seed came forth. From freeing the Israelites from bondage in Egypt, to teaching them hard lessons for disobedience, it was all about protecting the linage through which the seed would come. Again, there is a lot more to this story, including numerous prophesies (all of which were fulfilled in detail, except those which are now being fulfilled) which, among other things, made it possible to positively identify the seed when he was manifested on earth. Among the high points are; Acts 10: 34 At this Peter opened his mouth and said: “For a certainty I perceive that God is not partial, 35 but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him. How about that! God is not a racist! The real meaning behind this is simple; the Israelites were chosen, not to rule the world, but simply to bless the world by being the people that sheltered the linage through which the seed would come forth. We are told later in Acts what transpired; Acts 15: 14 Sym´e•on has related thoroughly how God for the first time turned his attention to the nations to take out of them a people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written, 16 ‘After these things I shall return and rebuild the booth of David that is fallen down; and I shall rebuild its ruins and erect it again, 17 in order that those who remain of the men may earnestly seek Jehovah, together with people of all the nations, people who are called by my name, says Jehovah, who is doing these things, 18 known from of old.’ 19 Hence my decision is not to trouble those from the nations who are turning to God, 20 but to write them to abstain from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. Was this generally known before the coming of the seed? No. Ephesians 3: 5 In other generations this [secret] was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by spirit, 6 namely, that people of the nations should be joint heirs and fellow members of the body and partakers with us of the promise in union with Christ Jesus through the good news. Nations, used in this context, refers to all the people covering the earth, not just the so-called Jews. Of course, this only makes sense when you know that all men, as proven by science, are descended from one woman. There is another point here that is interesting, indeed; Jude 3 Beloved ones, though I was making every effort to write YOU about the salvation we hold in common, I found it necessary to write YOU to exhort YOU to put up a hard fight for the faith that was once for all time delivered to the holy ones. How about that? There is no other revelation except that which was taught by Jesus Christ. Period. No further information was or is needed. All was done. This, when you understand it, puts an absolute end to Mormonism and the Roman Catholic church, which claims divine power to reveal that which was never revealed, i.e., the trinity and all the rest of the apostasy that came through the Roman church into Christianity. As further proof of this; Acts 8: 9 Now in the city there was a certain man named Simon, who, prior to this, had been practicing magical arts and amazing the nation of Sa•mar´i•a, saying he himself was somebody great. 10 And all of them, from the least to the greatest, would pay attention to him and say: “This man is the Power of God, which can be called Great.” 11 So they would pay attention to him because of his having amazed them for quite a while by his magical arts. 12 But when they believed Philip, who was declaring the good news of the kingdom of God and of the name of Jesus Christ, they proceeded to be baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself also became a believer, and, after being baptized, he was in constant attendance upon Philip; and he was amazed at beholding signs and great powerful works taking place. 14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Sa•mar´i•a had accepted the word of God, they dispatched Peter and John to them; 15 and these went down and prayed for them to get holy spirit. 16 For it had not yet fallen upon any one of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they went laying their hands upon them, and they began to receive holy spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that through the laying on of the hands of the apostles the spirit was given, he offered them money, 19 saying: “Give me also this authority, that anyone upon whom I lay my hands may receive holy spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him: “May your silver perish with you, because you thought through money to get possession of the free gift of God. 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not straight in the sight of God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this badness of yours, and supplicate Jehovah that, if possible, the device of your heart may be forgiven you; 23 for I see you are a poisonous gall and a bond of unrighteousness.” There are two important points here; the first is that this Simon is known in history as Simon Magus, or, Simon the Magician, and it is he that is the true founder of what came to be known as the Roman Catholic (universal) religion, in Rome. And, these verses in the Book of Acts is why there is no need for further mention of this root of apostasy, because it was fully revealed in Scripture. The second point concerns cost, i.e., money; 1 Corinthians 9: 18 What, then, is my reward? That while declaring the good news I may furnish the good news without cost, to the end that I may not abuse my authority in the good news. That is an absolute command to preach the good news of the kingdom of God without asking for, or, accepting money, for personal gain. The last part of the verse explains why; “…to the end that I may not abuse my authority in the good news.” Do you understand? We are to preach the truth of the message in the Bible, and not be telling people what they want to hear, which, if we are doing it for money, is exactly what would, does and did happen. Now, we have a further message on this subject; Matthew 10:7 As YOU go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.’ 8 Cure sick people, raise up dead persons, make lepers clean, expel demons. YOU received free, give free. 9 Do not procure gold or silver or copper for YOUR girdle purses, 10 or a food pouch for the trip, or two undergarments, or sandals or a staff; for the worker deserves his food. Food is acceptable. Nothing else. Period. And if this does not sound like the so-called churches of the world, think about that! And, about the many warnings in the Bible about the apostasy that was coming into the Way (of the Truth). When the seed (Jesus Christ) came to the earth (to break up the works of the Devil), the period of time when Jehovah God needed to act to protect the linage through which the seed was to come was ended. And, as stated above, all had been revealed. So that also ended the time when Jehovah God took direct action over the affairs of men. Since that time, there has been no further revelations or contact with Jehovah by any man on earth. Jehovah does maintain his control, of course, as is explained in several places, such as this; Romans 13:1 Let every soul be in subjection to the superior authorities, for there is no authority except by God; the existing authorities stand placed in their relative positions by God. 2 Therefore he who opposes the authority has taken a stand against the arrangement of God; those who have taken a stand against it will receive judgment to themselves. 3 For those ruling are an object of fear, not to the good deed, but to the bad. Do you, then, want to have no fear of the authority? Keep doing good, and you will have praise from it; 4 for it is God’s minister to you for your good. But if you are doing what is bad, be in fear: for it is not without purpose that it bears the sword; for it is God’s minister, an avenger to express wrath upon the one practicing what is bad. What does that mean? Just what it says; do not be a rebel, which is how all of the problems started in the first place! There is another side to this; Acts 24: 15 and I have hope toward God, which hope these [men] themselves also entertain, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. The bottom line? Nothing that is currently going on in this world is of great importance, EXCEPT, the separation of the people alive today into two groups; the sheep, and, the goats. (More on this in a bit.) The above does not mean what you think it does, for; Romans 6: 23 For the wages sin pays is death, but the gift God gives is everlasting life by Christ Jesus our Lord. The above has two meanings, but the first is for us in understanding now. First off, there are no righteous men; we are all sinners (except the man, Jesus Christ). And, when we die, we have paid the price for sin. When the general resurrection occurs (as it must because Jehovah God has promised it, and as it says in Titus 1:2; God can not lie -- and He certainly has the power to fulfill His Promises!), all men, and women, who are newly risen are without sin - forgiven. So how is it that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous? Simple, actually, because it is talking about the judgment that is to come at the end of the 1,000 year rein of Jesus Christ here on earth, when Satan will be let loose for a short time, and those who have been resurrected, and taught the truth about Jehovah God, and who still chose to follow Satan, once again, will be judged unrighteous, and they will be thrown into the lake of fire, along with death and Satan (and all of the demons who chose to follow him). This simply means the second death, from which no one will ever be resurrected and the second meaning of the statement that the wages sin pays is death. This also explains why it is so important to have a very, very good translation of the Bible TODAY, and why it was not so important in ages past. When the King James Bible was translated in about the year 1,600 (I am not going to look up the exact date!), there existed only the documents that had been under the control of the Roman church for about 1,300 years. Many of those were polluted, plus, the translators themselves were forced to conform to, for instance, the wishes of the one with the power to kill them, namely, King James, who had more than his share of personal problems! Modern day translators say that there are more than 22,000 translation errors in the King James Bible. Today? Today, because of a continuous discovery of hidden and protected manuscripts found over the last 30 to 100 years, we now have more than 15,000 complete or fragmentary Scriptures which, when carefully examined, have given us a complete Bible that we can be sure is very, very close to the original writings of the authors of all of the books of the Bible. But then, this is what one would expect from an all powerful God, in that He would protect His Word, and, be sure that when it was necessary and important FOR OUR GOOD, that His Word would be furnished complete and ready for the necessary work. Matthew 24: 14 And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come. (By the way, the above is being done today, world wide!) Why…. Is this important today? Because of what we are told in the Bible about the last days of this worldly system of things; “ … “The World Has Ended—Millions Now Living Will Never Die.” Soon thereafter, the Watch Tower magazine of October 15, 1923, explained Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46), stating: “Sheep represent all the peoples of the nations, not spirit-begotten but disposed toward righteousness, who mentally acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Lord and who are looking for and hoping for a better time under his reign.” 4 Some years later, in 1931, Vindication, Book One, discussed Ezekiel chapter 9, identifying those persons marked on the forehead for preservation at the world’s end as the sheep of the above parable. Vindication, Book Three, released in 1932, described the upright heart attitude of the non-Israelite man Jehonadab, who joined Israel’s anointed King Jehu in his chariot and went along to see Jehu’s zeal in executing false religionists. (2 Kings 10:15-17) The book commented: “Jehonadab represented or foreshadowed that class of people now on the earth during the time that the Jehu work [of declaring Jehovah’s judgments] is in progress who are of good will, are out of harmony with Satan’s organization, who take their stand on the side of righteousness, and are the ones whom the Lord will preserve during the time of Armageddon, take them through that trouble, and give them everlasting life on the earth. These constitute the ‘sheep’ class.” … “ What is said in Matthew about this? Matthew 25: 31 “When the Son of man arrives in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne. 32 And all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will put the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. The Bible is quite clear that Jesus Christ assumed his throne in Heaven in 1914. From that time on (actually about 1919), there has been a harvest going on; Matthew 13: 36 Then after dismissing the crowds he went into the house. And his disciples came to him and said: “Explain to us the illustration of the weeds in the field.” 37 In response he said: “The sower of the fine seed is the Son of man; 38 the field is the world; as for the fine seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; but the weeds are the sons of the wicked one, 39 and the enemy that sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is a conclusion of a system of things, and the reapers are angels. It is very instructive to read all of Matthew Chapter 13! What is the bottom line? That those who lived before will be resurrected, BUT, those alive at the conclusion of things, i.e., of this wicked system of things, have to make a choice, and that choice is to live or to die. We are warned about this in the Book of John; John 17: 3 This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ. And that, of course, is why we study the Bible every day. We believe, and have faith in the promises of Jehovah God, and in his son who paid the ransom sacrifice for us. There will be a general resurrection, BUT, there will also be a ‘great crowd’ alive to witness the end of this wicked system of things THAT WILL NEVER DIE. And that ‘great crowd’ and all of the resurrected, who together prove their righteousness at the end of the millennial rule of Jesus Christ will have the opportunity to live on this earth, forever, in a paradise. We know that there will be a separation of the people, and that it is going on now. We know that millions alive today will NEVER DIE! BUT, with that promise goes responsibility, the great responsibility to come into line with the Truth of Jehovah God, which is revealed to us, fully, in the Bible. Which is why, of course, it is so necessary to have a very, very accurate translation of the Bible! (Think about that, and what we know from the Bible; the wages sin pays is death – but that ‘great crowd’ will NEVER DIE, so the forgiveness of our sin has to come in a different manner. We must prove our devotion through the Great Tribulation – and it is not like we have a choice to make in this!) What is the bottom line? We are, of course, told in the Bible; “…On the last night of his earthly life, Jesus Christ told his followers: “I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.” (John 13:34, 35) What, then, would be the main identifying quality of Jesus’ true followers? Clearly, they would love one another, would have outstanding love among themselves. But how was this “a new commandment”? How were they to love one another as Jesus had loved them? AS JESUS LOVED HIS DISCIPLES 3 Shortly before giving the “new commandment,” Jesus humbly washed the feet of his apostles. His action on that occasion shows Christians that they should serve their fellow believers lovingly, even by performing humble tasks in their behalf. (John 13:1-16) But that was not all there was to the “new commandment.” That commandment on love was “new” in that it went further than the law given to the Israelites through Moses, under which Jesus and his disciples were at that time. That law specified: “You must love your fellow [or neighbor] as yourself.” (Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:39) It called for neighbor love, but not for self-sacrificing love that would go even to the point of giving one’s life for a fellow human. 4 “No one has love greater than this,” said Jesus, “that someone should surrender his soul in behalf of his friends.” (John 15:13) Yet, that is what Jesus did in giving his life as a ransom in behalf of imperfect, sinful and dying mankind. (Matt. 20:28; John 3:16; 10:14-18; Rom. 5:12; 6:23) In fact, Jesus’ earthly life and his death both exemplified the love called for by this “new commandment.” Under Christ’s direction, the Christian is not to do good just when the occasion arises, but is to take the initiative in aiding others spiritually and otherwise. 5 Yes, the follower of Jesus Christ is to work actively for the good of his neighbor. And what is one of the greatest expressions of love? Why, it is preaching to others and teaching them the “good news,” for this can result in their attaining eternal life! For that matter, the Christian must ‘impart, not only the good news of God, but also his own soul’ in working with and aiding those who accept this message. (1 Thess. 2:8) Indeed, he should be ready to surrender his soul, or life, in their behalf.—1 John 3:16. 6 Acting in love, Jesus did not follow the course of least resistance. Rather, ‘the reproaches of those reproaching God fell upon him,” and he steadfastly followed a path of greatest resistance by Satan and his agents. (Rom. 15:3) So life was not going to be easy for Christ’s true followers. For that matter, Jesus indicated that they were to love him more than their closest relatives and even more than their own souls. (Luke 14:25-27) Certainly, Jesus’ disciples would have to love their associates in Jehovah’s service and would need to bear spiritual fruitage, even in the face of intense persecution.—Mark 10:29, 30; John 15:8. …” That pretty much covers it all. Love. Why? In the Bible, once again; 1 John 4: 16 And we ourselves have come to know and have believed the love that God has in our case. God is love, and he that remains in love remains in union with God and God remains in union with him. The real lesson of the Bible, for us, is how we are being trained to live harmoniously with nature, and with our fellow man. That should not surprise anyone, for when you look at the harmonious universe, it is obvious that ALL of Jehovah God’s creation is in a state of harmony. The sons of the wicked one do not and can not live in harmony with anything, including each other or even themselves, which is why they are to be cut off. This is the bottom line; God is love. Not that God has love, or practices love; GOD IS LOVE!! Unless you can identify an organization where love is openly practiced and proclaimed, you have not found the foundation of True Worship. What does this mean? First and foremost, that organization does not promote war, as does ALL of organized Christendom. As a final point, who, really, rules the earth at this time? 1 John 5: 18 We know that every [person] that has been born from God does not practice sin, but the One born from God watches him, and the wicked one does not fasten his hold on him. 19 We know we originate with God, but the whole world is lying in the [power of the] wicked one. To understand that better, simply look around you and see if you see any love being practiced. Then you will come to an accurate knowledge of who controls all of the governments of the world, and, what it means to cooperate (vote) with such. Chose wisely, my friends, and above all, chose your associations most carefully and wisely of all!
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#1. To: richard9151, tom007 (#0)
(Edited)
ZOROASTRIANISM "Now it was from this very creed of Zoroaster that the Jews derived all the angelology of their religion...the belief in a future state; of rewards and punishments, ...the soul's immortality, and the Last Judgment - all of them essential parts of the Zoroastrian scheme." From The Gnostics and Their Remains (London 1887) by King and Moore quoted at 607a in Peake's Bible Commentary FROM ENCYCLOPEDIA AMERICANA : "First, the figure of Satan, originally a servant of God, appointed by Him as His prosecutor, came more and more to resemble Ahriman, the enemy of God. Secondly, the figure of the Messiah, originally a future King of Israel who would save his people from oppression, evolved, in Deutero-Isaiah for instance, into a universal Savior very similar to the Iranian Saoshyant. Other points of comparison between Iran and Israel include the doctrine of the millennia; the Last Judgment; the heavenly book in which human actions are inscribed; the Resurrection; the final transformation of the earth; paradise on earth or in heaven; and hell." by J. Duchesne-Guillemin, University of Liege, Belgium A universal God determines that only one is worshiped; a tribal god, of necessity, implies polytheism since there are other tribes. Before the exile, God was a vengeful, bloodthirsty, and jealous anthropomorphic tribal God of fear. After the exile, He became a good, perfect, remote, and universal God of love: identical to Ahura-Mazda. It needed the subsequent missions of Nehemiah and Ezra backed by the Achaemenian Imperial Government's authority to make the Jews ruefully conform to the new ideal of monotheism. In 397 B.C. Ezra, a courtier of the Persian king, was sent from Babylon "to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances" (Ezra 7:10). Ezra had been born and educated as a divine reader in Babylon and was sent by Artaxerxes to see if the people of Judea "be agreeable to the law of God". There are explicit indications of widespread religious conversion in Ezra 6:19-21 and Nehemiah 10:28-29, but why would Jews have to convert to Judaism? Nehemiah, chapter 8, discusses an event where Ezra read from the book of law which neither Hebrew speakers nor Aramaic speakers could understand - the words had to be translated by priests. What strange language could Ezra have been reading, Avestan maybe? Ezra's major reform was the prohibition of foreign wives. Although marrying foreign wives had always been the most favored Jewish practice, such marriages violate Zoroastrian law (e.g. Denkard, Book 3, ch 80). The alien nature of other laws to the Jews shows itself in the distinction between clean and unclean animals in Leviticus and Ezekial which was derived from the Vendidad, a Zoroastrian holy book, where alone it is explained. The purification rituals are identical in the Pentateuch and the older Vendidad. Von Gall in Brasileia tou Theou, 1926, gives a detailed catalog of Jewish laws taken from the Persians. Ezra also introduced the new festival of booths in the seventh month, which is of course the Zoroastrian holiday of Ayathrem. Finally, in about 400 B.C. the Old Testament was put in written form when Jerusalem was still under the power of the Persians. The Jews greatly resisted the imposition of Zoroastrianism charading as Judaism. The construction of the temple designed by the great Persian king Cyrus for the Jews was delayed by both political and physical means. "The true Israelis" built their own temple on MT. Gerizim and wrote Jerusalem out of their Pentateuch. So, whatever the Persian governors and priests were doing in Jersusalem in the name of Judaism, it caused a great schism. The Sadducees, the 'purists', made up over 97% of the population and believed in "no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit" (Acts 23:8) - in a word, no Persian ideas. The Pharisees or Persian faction - Pharisee, Parsee, Farsi - never numbered very high, not more than 6,000, although only Pharisaism survived the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. In addition, Christianity adopted these doctrines from Zoroastrianism: baptism, communion - the haoma ceremony, guardian angels, the heavenly journey of the soul, worship on Sunday, the celebration of Mithras' birthday on December 25th, celibate priests that mediate between man and God, the Trinity, Zvarnah - the idea that emanations from the sun are collected in the head and radiate in the form of nimbus and rays, and asha-arta, "the true prayer". Centuries later in Greece this became Logos or "true sentence" and like in Persia it was associated with fire. Mithraism is widely considered to be a syncretistic religion, that is: a combination of Persian, Babylonian and Greek influences. However, the Greek influence seems to be limited to the identification in Greece of Mithras with the Greek god Perseus. The Babylonian influence seems to have been limited to astrology. Perhaps, though, the Persian interest in astrology has been overlooked. Zoroastrians worshipped at alters on hills and had a whole class of professional Magi or priests who had lots of time on their hands to do astrological research. Rather than a syncretistic religion, it would be more proper to call Mithraism a Zoroastrian subcult. The center of the Mithric cult was in Tarsus in Cilicia, Southeast Turkey. This is whence Paul, the founder of the Christian church, came from as a young man. Paul's insight on the road to Damascus was that instead of treating Jesus as a false savior, he could be identified as the true savior if combined with the new idea of "the second coming". That would cure the embarrassing fact that nothing had come of Jesus' time on earth. The rest was simple, Paul identified Jesus with Mithras and taught a modified Mithraism. That got Paul branded as a heretic by the true church and James the brother of Jesus. Eventually it cost Paul his life. However, the Mithric ideas were so generally attractive that they eventually won out. Lawrence Mills was the brilliant American professor at Cambridge who not only translated much of the Avesta but published several books, including Our Own Religion in Ancient Persia, Chicago 1913, giving comprehensive examples of Persian words and ideas in the Bible. They have been reprinted. has a gateway to the best mail list for Zoroastrians. Avesta Web Server This server provides access to all of the extant Avesta texts, along with English translations. The Zoroastrian Assembly A site maintained by a group of more liberal Zoroastrians. For more information see: Secrets of Zoroastrianism which includes a link to comments by Mary Boyce on this topic. Other topics by the author including education reform and legal reform. E-mail Mark Willey: pha1941@hotmail.com. URL: http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6315/religion/zoro.html
~ you certainly live up to the reputation of a Pioneer ~ it's kinda funny in a way ... that is one of the very few things I respect about the JWs, the dedication and sincerity of their Pioneers, yet, I never expected to have one in my face everyday on a forum like this. Right off the bat we have this: What we are told in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, besides the general information about the creation of the universe, the earth, and man, is about a rebellion against Jehovah, and how He rules the universe He created. This rebellion was not by us, but by a powerful spirit creature who, through his own free will, which, just like us, he was created with, became an opposer and a slanderer, i.e., the Devil and Satan. Two names, one spirit creature. The apparent aim of this spirit creature was to take control of, and become the god of, the earth. In other words, he wanted us to worship him instead of Jehovah God. Where does it EVER say that Satan rebelled? JOhn 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: F19 for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. He was created that way. Beginning: http://www.studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=746 Look at how it is used. Two names, one spirit creature. The apparent aim of this spirit creature was to take control of, and become the god of, the earth. 2 Cor 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. World: Aion http://www.studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=165 1. for ever, an unbroken age, perpetuity of time, eternity 2. the worlds, universe 3. period of time, age The Greek word for "world" is "kosmos", not "aion", from that we get "eon". And BTW, look at Strongs definition. How can a "period of time, age" = "forever" or "eternity"? It CAN'T. Even the mighty Strong was blatantly wrong, and entire denominations build their doctrines on these errors while disregarding everything else written. Satan already is the "god of this age". If the very first paragraph is wrong, not much point in going thru the entire article. . .
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~ I've heard that a number of times ... it's the generic excuse for why the 'bad folks' are in charge and 'good' mild people are basically screwed from birth, strapped with moral codes their leaders n teachers only laugh at ~ along with the other good line a theirs, "Just wait till Jesus gets here and kicks some ass."
I offer no "generic excuses". I get the impression that you think this would be a paradise if it wasn't for religion. In one sense, I agree with you. Peoples application of it is responsible for a lot of evil. On the other hand, people being people, "paradise" is not possible. Human nature won't allow it. Would the world be better? I seriously doubt it. The PTB would only use other tools at their disposal, like racism, nationalism, something that tugs at peoples emotions. It just so happens that religion is probably the most dangerous tool they have now. .
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ABSOLUTELY NO INFLUENCE ON CHRISTIANITY OR THE BIBLE. You are dumber then the shit laying in my back yard that came out of my dogs ass.
~ no arguement at all ... it's been a terrible tool used to control the masses forever in the records of history that survived the burnings ... for balance though, I must say that I am quite impressed by the folks 'within' the religions who realize it was a tool to get them going and step forward to their own research a bit ... and when looking into the eyes of them sweet lil old ladies in the church basement serving up pot luck dinners, I don't see any evil or feel it ... I feel the miracle of a truth ... one hard to put into words properly in a debate ... just 'cause ole Jimmy and his ilk used the pennies dontaed by these sweet people to buy hookers doesn't make them bad ... their 'intent' when donating has power also, we will get to see the results of that someday ~
Most anthropologists and historians usually disagree. For example: "The one saying of Cyrus, He is my shepherd and all that I delight in he wi1l completely carry out.' Even in (my) saying of Jerusalem, 'She will be rebuilt and the temple.....foundation laid" (verse 44.28). "This is what Jehovah has said to his anointed One, to Cyrus whose right hand I have taken hold of to subdue before him Nations..." (verse 45.1) See also: http://al-qanaa.blogspot.com/2008/07/jews-and-zoroastrians.html: Zoroastrianism, founded by Zoroaster most probably in the 6th century BCE, maybe considered the oldest ‘monotheistic’ religion with the one universal and transcendental God Ahura Mazda. Zoroastrian fire temples from the Sassanid era can be found all over Iran and especially in Esfahan and Yazd. And http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_captivity: The Babylonian captivity, or Babylonian exile, is the name typically given to the deportation and exile of the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar II in 586 BCE. The captivity and subsequent return to Israel and rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple are pivotal events in the history of the Jews and Judaism, and had far-reaching impacts on the development of modern Jewish culture and practice.
I used to watch Swaggart. He serves/served a purpose. I was converted while watching him years ago, and it had nothing to do with saying some phony scripted "sinners prayer". Agreed. Their heart was in the right place (unless they saw it as a financial investment where they believe God was bound to give them back 100 fold...) but they were deceived. I haven't seen one single televangelist tell the truth about anything. And those on radio are just as bad. .
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