Biblical Church History

Following the Hand of God and the Hand of Satan

Revelation 2:8-11c.325-500 A.D.P

ergamos “Much

Marriage”

Pergamos

I. The CommissionRev. 2: 12

(Rev 2:12) And to the angel of the church in

Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp

sword with two edges;

Smyrna A. The

marriage of the

Church “Much

Marriage ”

Smyrna C. The

effects of Constanti

ne “Much

Marriage ”

Smyrna D. The

Christianized Pagan events

“Much Marriage ”

Smyrna E. The Family tree of

this marriage

“Much

Marriage ”

Smyrna F. The

Christianizing of Pagan Idols

“Much

Marriage ”

Smyrna G. The

Christianizing of Pagan

Hierarchy

“Much Marriage ”

THE ORIGIN OF THE POPE

THE ORIGIN OF THE POPE’S CLOTHING

CARDINALS

BISHOPS

PRIEST

NUNS

Smyrna H. The

origin of so called Christian symbols

“Much

Marriage ”

THE SYMBOL OF THE CROSS

1. What does the Bible say about the cross?

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The cross is reprehensive of the sacrificial death of Christ for our sins…

But only in verbal terms not something visual…

(1Co 1:18) For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness;

but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

(Gal 6:14) But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto

me, and I unto the world.

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In the first 300 years of Christianity, Christians did not view the cross as a visual Christian symbol..to them, it was a cruel form of Roman capital punishment.

They would have associated it…Gal 3:13 a “cured” thing.Heb. 12:2 a “shameful” thing.

Image what John would have thought as he would have walk by a crucifixion around 60 Ad

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A look at the cross historically.The cross did not become a “Christian” symbol until after Constantine.

The cross and Constantine

The use of the cross before ConstantineIn one form or another, the cross was a sacred symbol long before Christ ever died on one!

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It originated with the Babylonians of ancient Chaldea. The ecclesiastical form of a two beamed cross..had it’s origin in ancient Chaldea, and was used as a symbol of the god Tammuz (being in the shape of the Mystic Tau, the initial of his name) in that country and in adjacent lands, including Egypt..In order to increase the prestige of the apostate ecclesiastical system, pagans were received into the churches apart from regeneration by faith, and were permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols. Hence the Tau or T, in its most frequent form, with the cross-piece lowered, was adopted to stand for the cross of Christ. W.E. Vine, Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, 258

TAU CROSS

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The use of the cross in Egypt,

Here unchanged for 1000’s of years, we find among her most sacred hieroglyphics the cross in various forms..but the one know specially as the “cross of Egypt”, or the Tau cross, is shaped like the letter T, often with a circle or ovoid above it. Yet this mystical symbol was not peculiar to this country, but was reverenced..among the Chaldeans, Phoenicians, Mexicans, and every ancient people in both hemispheres. William Wood Seymour, The Cross in Tradition, History and Art 22, 26

CROSS OF EGYPT

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The cross in China.

Among the Chinese… “the cross is acknowledged to be on of the most ancient devices..it is portrayed upon the walls of their pagodas, it is painted upon the lanterns used to illuminate the most sacred recesses of their temples.”Seymour, The Cross in Tradition, History and Art, 13

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The cross in India

Jars of “holy water” taken from the Ganges were marked with cross.

In Central India, two crosses of stone have been discovered that date back centuries before the time of Christ..one is over 10 feet tall, and the other is over 8 feet!Seymour, The Cross in Tradition, History and Art, 14

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The cross in Africa

Native throw crosses into the River Gitche as part of a religious ceremony.

The Kabyle women tattoo a cross between their eyes…they are Mohammedan

In Wanyamwizi, walls are decorates with crosses. The Yaricks had crosses painted on their shields.Seymour, The Cross in Tradition, History and Art, 9

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The cross in Mexico.When the Spaniards first landed in Mexico…”they could not suppress their wonder as they beheld the cross, the sacred emblem of their own faith, raised as an object of worship in the temples of Anahuac. The Spaniards were not aware that the cross was the symbol of worship of the highest antiquity..by pagan nations on whom the light of Christianity has never shone. William H. Prescott, History of the Conquest of Mexico, Vol. 1, 242

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In Palenque, Mexico, founded by Votan in the 9th century B.C., is a heathen temple known as “The Temple of the Cross.”

On the altar in the temple is a cross measuring 11 feet high, and 6 ½ feet wide!

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The cross in Italy

In 46 B.C., Roman coins show Jupiter (Tammuz) holding a long scepter terminating a cross.Seymour, The Cross in Tradition, History and Art, 22, 26

The Vestal Virgins of pagan Rome wore crosses hanging from their necklaces, just as the Nuns of the Roman Catholic church do today.Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylon's, 198

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The cross in Greece

The Greeks corresponding god to Tammuz is depicted with a head band with crosses all around it.

Isis, the mother goddess corresponding to Semiramis is shown with a cross on her forehead.

Her priests carried processional crosses in their worship to her.Ralph Woodrow, Babylon Mystery Religion, 43

HEAD BAND WITH CROSSES

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The cross in AssyriaMonuments show that Assyrian kings wore crosses on their necklaces.Encyclopedia of Religions, Vol. 1, 386

The Cross in South AmericaIn ancient times, their newborn children were placed under its protection against evil spirits.Woodrow, Babylon Mystery Religion, 43

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Hislop notes that the…”mystic Tau was marked in baptism on the forehead of those initiated in the Mysteries.”Hislop, The Two Babylon's, 198

When the pagans flooded the church in the 4th century, they brought their pagan rituals with them.

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Pagan rituals concerning the cross adopted by papal church.When a baby is sprinkled in the Roman Catholic Church, the priest makes the sign of the cross upon it’s forehead, and says “Receive the sign of the cross upon thy forehead.”(Similar practices are done at confirmation, and on Ash Wednesday)

When Catholics enter their church, they dip the forefinger of their right hand in “holy water” and make the “sign of the cross.” (Touch the forehead, chest, left shoulder and right shoulder.)

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During Mass, the priest makes the sign of the cross 16 times, and “blesses” the altar with the cross sign 30 times.

Does the Roman Church know the origin of these practices?“…the sign of the cross, represented in its simplest form by the crossing of the two lines at right angles, greatly antedates, in both the East and the West, the introduction of Christianity. It goes back to the very remote period of human civilization.”The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, 517

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Why does the Roman Catholic Church use so many different types of crosses?A page in The Catholic Encyclopedia shows 40 different kinds of crosses. Where do they come from:“Of the several varieties of the cross still in vogue, as national and ecclesiastical emblems, distinguished by the familiar appellations of St. George, St. Andrew, the Maltese, the Greek, the Latin, etc., there is not one amongst them the existence of which may not be traced to the remotest antiquity.”The Pentateuch Examined, Vol. 6, 113

Well I just wear my cross to let people know I am a Christian!

What doe the bible say about how to let people know you are

a Christian?

(1Co 8:3) But if any man love God, the same is known of him.

(Joh 13:35) By this shall all men know that ye are my

disciples, if ye have love one to another.

(Mat 5:16) Let your light so shine before men, that they

may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in

heaven.

THE SYMBOL OF THE FISH

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Where Christian History says it comes from… When threatened by Romans in the first centuries after Christ, Christians used the fish mark meeting places and tombs, or to distinguish friends from foes. According to one ancient story, when a Christian met a stranger in the road, the Christian sometimes drew one arc of the simple fish outline in the dirt. If the stranger drew the other arc, both believers knew they were in good company.

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Some Christians believe that the fish symbol is seen in the Greek word for fish (ichthus, spelled: Iota Chi Theta Upsilon Sigma). That is an acrostic which has many translations in English. The most popular appears to be "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior" 16 [Iesous (Jesus) CHristos (Christ) THeou (God) Uiou (Son) Soter (Savior)].

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However the mystery form of the false savior god from the Babyloian’s system of Religion in the land of the Philistines was “Dagon” the Fish God

DAGON THE FISH GOD

(Jdg 16:23-24) Then the lords of the Philistines gathered

them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon

their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath

delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the

destroyer of our country, which slew many of us.

(1Sa 5:2-5) When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. And when

they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon

his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. And when they arose

early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the

ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house,

tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.

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In China, Great Mother Kwan-yin often portrayed in the shape of a fish In India, the Goddess Kali was called the "fish-eyed one” In Egypt, Isis was called the Great Fish of the Abyss In Scandinavia, the Great Goddess was named Freya; fish were eaten in her honor. The 6th day of the week was named "Friday" after her In ancient Rome Friday is called "dies veneris" or Day of Venus, the Pagan Goddess of Love.

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In Greece the Greek word "delphos" meant both fish and womb. The word is derived from the location of the ancient Oracle at Delphi who worshipped the original fish goddess, Themis. The later fish Goddess, Aphrodite Salacia, was worshipped by her followers on her sacred day, Friday. They ate fish and engaging in orgies. From her name comes the English word "salacious" which means lustful or obscene. Also from her name comes the name of our fourth month, April. In later centuries, the Catholic church adsorbed this tradition by requiring the faithful to eat fish on Friday - a tradition that was only recently abandoned.

THE SYMBOL OF THE DOVE

(Deu 4:15-18) Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the

day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:

Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the

similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female The likeness of any beast that is on

the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, The likeness of any thing that

creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the

waters beneath the earth:

Romans 1:18-23

(Num 33:51-52) Speak unto the children of Israel, and say

unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the

land of Canaan; Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures,

and destroy all their molten images, and quite

pluck down all their high places:

THE SYMBOL OF THE STEEPLE

HPergamos

It origin is traced back to the tower of Babel.• (Gen 11:4) And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

In the Tower of Babel religion, not only did they make statues of their gods goddesses in human form, but other objects were used that carried with them a hidden, or mystery meaning one of them being the obelisk

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Diodorus spoke of an obelisk 130 feet high that was erected by queen Semiramius in BabylonEncyclopedia of Religions, Vol. 3, 264

The Catholic Encyclopedia says,“It is a striking fact most Babylonian cities possessed a temple-tower.

Somebody coming into a Babylonian city would have no problem locating it’s temple, because high above the flat roofed house, its tower could be seen.J.B. Bury, ed., The Cambridge Ancient History

(1Ki 16:33) And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to

provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were

before him.(Deu 16:21) Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any

trees near unto the altar of the LORD thy God, which

thou shalt make thee.

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What they represented in paganism:

Sun worship.

It was also a phallic symbol (fertility worship)“There are still in existence today remarkable specimens of original phallic symbols..steeples on the churches..and obelisks..all show the influence of our phallus-worshipping ancestors.”Lillian Eichler, The Customs of Mankind, 55

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There is evidence to show that the spires of our churches owe their existence to the uprights or obelisks outside the temple of former ages.”Sanger Brown, Sex Worship and Symbolism of Primitive Races, 38