REVELATIONSEVEN CHURCHES

HISTORICAL OVERLAYTHYATIRALesson 15

The Didache written 80-90 A.D. “Chap- ter 8 suggests that fasts are not to be onMonday and Thursday ‘with the hypo-

crites’— presumably non-Christian Jews— but on Wednesday and Friday. Nor must Christians pray with their Judaic brethren....”

REVIEW ANTI-HEBRAISMEphesus, Smyrna, Pergamum

EPHESUS 30-100 A.D.

Epistle of Barnabas Written after the destruction of Temple 80-120 A.D. The writer argues that the Christians are the only true covenant people, and that the Jewish people had never been in a covenant with Eternal One (9.9).

Ante-Nicene Church Fathers 100 – 313 A.D. Origen 185 - 254 A.D.

SMYRNA - ANTI-HEBRAISM

Origen was a Neo-Platonist philosopher of Alexandria, Egypt. He is credited as the father of the allegorical method of interpretation and made allegory the only way to truly understand the Scriptures.

PERGAMUM – 313 – 606 A.D.CONSTANTINE

COUNCIL OF NICEA 325 was held in the city named for Nike, the goddess of victory.

“At the Council of Nicea it was decided that Easter (ResurrectionDay) should not be determined by the Jewish Passovercalendar, and that Christians should ‘have nothing in common with this odious people, the Jews.’ ” David Rausch, Legacy of the Jews, p.23

JOHN CHRYSOSTOM 347– 407, Nicene Church Father Sciolino states, “No one railed against Judaism more vehemently (and effec- tively) than Chrysostom (‘golden mouth’).

He initiated Adversus Judaeo (anti-Judaic) sermon genre. Known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, he proclaimed:...Jews are the most worthless of all men (who) are lecherous, greedy and rapacious... perfidious murderers of Christ and for kil-ling God there is not expiation possible, no indulgence or pardon. Christians may never cease vengeance... Jews must live in servitude forever...God always hat- ed Jews. It is incumbent upon all Christians to hate Jews....Don’t you realize if the Jewish rites are holy and venerable, our way of life must be false?”

Augustine, 354-430 Some scholars feel Augustine was not as aggressive anti-Semite as Chrysostom. Carroll holds that his benign supersessionism would actually prove deadly for the Jews.

Walter Laqueur quoting Augustine exposes his anti-Semitic feelings: “I wish that you would slay them (the Jews) with your two-edged sword, so that there should be none to oppose your word...Gladly would I have them die to themselves....” Laqueur states, “St. Augustine also wrote that Judas Iscariot, the traitor, was the true image of the Hebrews and that the Jews would forever bear the guilt for the death of Jesus.” The Changing Face of Anti-Semitism.” p. 48

RUINS OFTHYATIRA

THYATIRAAge of the Papacy

606 – 1517The Church of the

Dark Ages

Church at Thyatira Closely Relates to the

PergamumChurch & State Joined

To The Church at

PERGAMUM He Revealed Himself as a

Doubled Edged Sword

Rev 2:12Heb 4:12

To The Church at THYATIRA

He Revealed Himself with Eyes

of Flaming Fire andFeet of

Burnished BronzeRev 2:18

THYATIRA THE AGE OF: • Church Councils / Synods• Christian Crusades

• Expulsions of the Jews• Spanish Inquisition• Allegations against Jews

The Spirit Calls the Church to Repentance

EXPOSING THE SIN OF IGNORANCE

“Most people would rather not read these pages of history or simply circumvent the reality - others like myself want to shut it out because the truth is so alarming and the facts so painful, but these are not God’s solutions - they are all a great ‘cover up.’ ”

Fr. Edward Flannery, Anguish of the Jews, Twenty-Three Centuries of Anti-Semitism

THYATIRA(606 – 1517 A.D.)

Papacy AgePapacy AgeDark PeriodDark Period

Jezebel Spirit at ThyatiraA lesson we must learn, if the Spirit’s correction goes unheeded, certain judgment will come.

Anti-Semitism Hatred & Cruelty

spreads throughout Christendom.Decadence,

Immorality and Greed filled the

office of the Papacy.

THYATIRACouncils and Synods

By mid-second century the gathering of church hierarchy became a practice. These institutional meetings were called councils or synods.The historical records show these councils established Church policies that opened the door to worldwide persecution of the Jews and paved the way to the Holocaust.

From a Biblical frame of reference, Christianity is to be known by love. But the shocking fact is the origin and root structure of Anti-Hebraism, Anti-Judaism, Anti-Semitism is Christianity, the very offspring of Judaism.

Church History Masked by Ignorance

The Jewish Rabbi of Nazareth taught, “Love your neighbor as yourself” Matt 19:19“Love one another as I have loved you” Jn 15:12. “By this shall all men know you are My disciples if you have love for one another” Jn 13:35“Love your enemies” Matt 5:44

Hence, for spiritual leaders and believers without the historical background, the facts seem exag- gerated that anti-Hebraism has its origin and complete root structure in Christianity. However, those desiring truth will find volumes await their perusal. Each historian records the same dreadful, appalling account of the Church.

The historical record witnesses to the Church’s diatribes and atrocities against the Jews. Jewish scholar, Paula Fredriksen writes, “If history, for the church, is important, then undistorted history is very important. Only by meeting this obligation with intellectual integrity can the church, with integrity, continue to witness to the message proclaimed by the first apostles, expounded by Paul, and reflected in the gospels: that the horizontal plane of the human and the vertical plane of the divine met at the cross of Jesus of Nazareth.” From Jesus to Christ, second edition 2000, p. 215

ANTI-HEBRAISM ENGENDEREDChristianity’s Controversy with Judaism

Expressed in Anti-Semitic Diatribes and Atrocities

Background for the Councils and SynodsBefore addressing anti-Semitic edicts of councils and synods, it must be remembered they did not come out of a sterile vacuum. Some scholars begin the downward spiral with the Constantine and Pergamum Church period. However, a closer search of the historical records reveals the departure from our Father’s Hebraic Word and Ways began at Ephesus and Smyrna as substantiated in the Early Church Fathers’ writings for those periods of Church History.Ignatius of Antioch 40-115 A.D. stated “if any one celebrates the passover along with the Jews, or receives emblems of their feast, he is partaker with those that killed the Lord and His apostles.”

Background for the Councils and Synods

John Cornwell in Hitler’s Pope, points out, “Christian antipathy toward the Jews was born out of the belief, dating from the early Christian Church, that the Jews had murdered Christ-- indeed, that they had murdered God. The Early Fathers of the Church, the great Christian writers of the first six centuries of Christianity, showed striking evidence of anti-Judaism. ‘The blood of Jesus,’ wrote Origen, ‘falls not only on the Jews of that time, but on all generations of Jews up to the end of the world.’ St. John Chrysostom wrote, ‘The Synagogue is a brothel, a hiding place for unclean beasts.... Never has any Jew prayed to God....They are possessed by demons.’ ” p. 24-25

Constantine’s Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Overnight, Christianity went from a persecuted religious minority to the state religion of the greatest empire on earth. Christians now had a vast state contrivance and powerful army at their command. The marriage between Christian theology and state power would prove disastrous for the Jews. Walter Laqueur, The Changing Face of Anti-Semitism“ Under Constantine, Jews were forbidden to live in Jerusalem (315 CE)....by 337 marriage with Jews and sexual intercourse was punishable by death.” p. 50

Synod of Elvira 306 (will be addressed more fully under Church Councils). At this point it serves to remind us that ecclesiastical gatherings were held prior to the Constantinian era.

David Brog In Defense of Israel states, “replacement theology and the degradation that flowed from it were gradually transformed from abstract theological con-cepts into the law of the land.”

Walter Laqueur cites, “The first case of burning a synagogue following a local anti-Jewish campaign occurred in 388 in Kallinikon in Mesopotamia. Emperor Theodosius wanted the culprits punished and to pay for the restoration. But Ambrosius, Bishop of Milan, persuaded the emperor that this had been an action pleasing to God, something akin to divine punishment.”

Christianity’s Controversy with Judaism

St. Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria 412 - 444 had the Jews expelled from the city. Cyril was a central figure in the First Council at Ephesus in 431. At a later council at Ephesus he was declared heretical.

Justinian I Byzantine 527-565 prohibited reading the Bible in Hebrew, building synagogues and barred Jews’ from assembling in public.

The Roman Catholic Councils and Synods

Synod of Elvira, 306 Prohibition of intermarriage and of sexual intercourse between Christians and Jews. Christians and Jews not permitted to eat together. (under Constantine’s edicts, 315-339 Jewish missionary activity was a criminal law).

Synod of Clermont, 535 Jews not permitted to hold public office

Roman Church Councils and Synods

Third Synod of Orleans, 538 Jews not allowed to employ Christian servants or possess Christian slaves.Jews not permitted to show themselves in the streets during Passion (Easter) Week .

Synod of Toledo, 681 The Talmud and other Jewish writings were burned. Walter Laqueur states, “After the spread of Islam, most Jews lived under Islamic rather than Christian rule.”

Roman Church Councils and Synods

Spain, 613 Jews had to either embrace Christianityor leave the country.

Trulanic Synod, 692 Christians not permitted to patronize Jewish doctors.

7th – 11th Centuries The attacks on the Jews were primarily from the popes and bishops. Jews were barred from all leading positions in public life. (Cited in Walter Laqueur, p. 51)

Pope Leo III, 795-816 outlawed Judaism. In 855 the Jews were exiled from Italy.

Roman Church Councils and Synods

Third Lateran Council 1179, Canon 26 Jews were not permitted to be plaintiffs or witnesses against Christians in the courts.Jews were not permitted to withhold inheritance from descendants who had accepted Christianity.

Pontifex Maximus, Innocent III (1198-1216) one of the most powerful popes in church history. His pontifi- cate is considered to have been the summit of the medieval papacy. He claimed authority over the whole Church and over the whole world. “Princes have power on earth, priests over the soul, As much as the soul is worthier than the body, so much worthier is the priest- hood than the monarchy.” Cited in Sciolino, p. 22

Roman Church Councils and SynodsPontifex Maximus, Innocent III (1198-1216) Repre- sents the apex of the medieval papacy and was the pope who made popular the title “Vicar of Christ.”

“Innocent thought of himself as Melchizedek, the biblical priest-king. Although not the first pope to use the title Vicar of Christ, he was among the most emphatic in its use. In a letter to the patriarch of Constantinople, for example, he wrote: ‘The Lord left to Peter the governance not of the Church only but of the whole world.’ ” Sciolino p.22“In 1205 the Pope (Innocent III) wrote that the Jews through their own guilt were consigned to perpetual servitude, and Pope Gregory IX in 1236 ordered the confiscation of Hebrew books.” Laqueur p. 54

Roman Church Councils and Synods

Innocent’s Fourth Lateran Council heigh-tens....Jewish suffering: “We decree that Jews and Saracens both sexes in every Christian province and at all times shall be marked off in the eyes of the public from other peoples through the character of their dress....” The marking of Jewish clothes with a badge.

“The council adopted the doctrine of transub- stantiation, holding that during the sacrament of Holy Communion...the consecrated bread and wine are fully transformed into the body and blood of Christ.” Abba Eban, Heritage, Civilization and the Jews p. 167

German

France

Roman Church Councils and SynodsFourth Lateran Council, 1215 Jews were obligated to pay taxes for support of the church to the same extent as Christians. The Council called upon secular powers to exter- minate all heretics. The edict inspired the Crusades and Inquisitions, resulting in mass extermination of the Jews. Thousands were burned at the stake, pro- perty confiscated, wives raped and children enslaved.

Synod of Vienna, 1267 Christians not permitted to attend Jewish ceremonies.

Council of Oxford, 1222 Construction of new synagogues prohibited.

Roman Church Councils and Synods

Synod of Breslau, 1267 Jews forced to live in ghettos away from Christians.

Synod of Often, 1279 forbade Christians from selling or renting real estate to Jews.

St. Thomas Aquinas, 1270 “a doctor of the Church, wrote that Jews sin more in their unbelief than do pagans because they have abandoned the way of justice ‘after knowing it....’ ” Sciolino p. 27

Synod of Vienna, 1267 Jews not permitted to dispute with simple Christian people about the tenets of the Catholic religion.

Roman Church Councils and Synods

Council of Basel, 1434 Sessio XIX Jews not permitted to act as agents in the conclusion of contracts, especially marriage contracts, between Christians.Jews not permitted to obtain academic degrees.

Synod of Mainz, 1310 declared that Jewish converts who reverted to the practice of Judaism were guilty of heresy.

Raul Hilberg, in The Destruction of the European Jews, shares that the papal regime and the policy of the Church gave rise not only to ecclesiastical regula- tions for more than a thousand years, but the will of the Church was also enforced by the state. (continue)

Roman Church Councils and Synods

“The decisions of the synods and councils became basic guides for state action. Every medieval state copied the canonical law and elaborated upon it. Thus there arose an ‘international medieval Jewry law,’ which continued to develop until the eighteenth century.” Raul Hilberg, p. 11

(The governmental adaptations of the papal synods and councils will be seen in Marty Luther’s writings and noted in Hitler’s “Final Solution,” the historical overlay for the Church at Laodicea).

CRUSADESThe Popes’ / The Church’s

Holy Wars

Seven Church Councils

at Clermont,the most

important being 1095

Pope Urban IIPreached the First Crusade

CRUSADESThe Popes’ / The Church’s

Holy Wars

Second CrusadePope Eugene II

1147-1148

Third CrusadeRichard the Lion-hearted

1189-1192

CRUSADESThe Pope’s Christian

Holy Wars

The Crusade was to reclaim Jerusalem from the “Sar-acens” (Muslims). The Crusaders had more than one motive and there was a religious incentive. “To each Crusader the Church offered a plenary indulgence—that is, full remission of all penalties either in purgatory or on earth previously due any sinner. But the prospect of eternal salvation was not the only great reward a Crusade promised. For a peasant the Crusade meant a chance of food, new land and Eastern riches.

Pope Urban II called forth the First Cru- sade at Council of Clermont November 27, 1095. Crusaders were given numer- ous incentives to join the ranks of those on their way to take the Holy Land.

Though the Crusaders’ call was to capture Jerusalem their fury was turned on the Jews. They were envision- ed by the hierarchy “We have before our eyes certain Jews, a race more inimical to God than any other. Crusaders dragged the Jews into church, and those who refused baptism were murdered....The Crusaders exterminated by many massacres the Jews of almost all Gaul, with the exception of those who accepted con- version....With in months the massacres had claimed the lives of a least 5,000 Jews.” Eban p. 156

Prior to the Crusade, Rodulfus Glaber completed Five Books of Histories while living at the abbey of Cluny. It was the typical Christian literature of the period uniformly hostile to Jews and Judaism.

“Another response was to elevate death to the level of spiritual resistance. The Jewish concept of kiddush ha-Shem (“sanctification of the Holy Name”) encompass- es both prayer and righteous action as means of glori- fying God, but in times of persecution its corollary of martyrdom...Jews are commanded to choose death rather than commit idolatry, unchaste acts (i.e., incest, adultery), or murder. They regarded martyrdom as not merely commendable but mandatory under extreme provocation.” Eban p. 158

Forced by the Christians to choose baptism or death, some Jews did allow themselves to be baptized. Many of these unwilling converts continued to practice Judaism in secret.

“The sins of the Jews brought it about that the enemy overcame them and took the gate. The hand of the Lord was heavy against His people.” Abba Eban offers, “It would seem that some Jewish communities chose not to offer concerted resistance in the hope that if they concentrated on piety, prayer, and repentance (rather than collective self-defense), the Lord of Israel would intervene to save them. But in fact, once the Crusaders attacked, the odds against them were overwhelming.” The murderous acts of the Crusaders were barbaric.

Many Jews, echoing the Old Testament prophets, must have seen the coming of the Crusaders as a judgment by God on their own transgressions. Solomon bar Samson wrote,

EXPULSION OF THE JEWS• Began at Alexandria 415 &• Antioch. Bishops burned synagogues on the accusation of Ritual murder during Purim. Christians confiscated Jewish

property and synagogues. A Jewish website states these were not hooligans but Church Fathers, Augus- tine, Jerome, Ambrose, St. Chrysostom and Cyril had prepared the way with accusations that Jews were dishonest and prone to sexual perversions.• 1012 Emperor Henry II of Germany expelled Jews from Mainz, the beginning of persecutions against Jews in Germany.

EXPULSION OF THE JEWS

• 1290 from England • 1306 from France• 1483 expulsions from Warsaw, Sicily, Lithuania, Portugal

• 1492 Jews expelled from Spain• 1510 Expelled from Brandenburg, Germany• 1593 Expulsions from Italy and Bavaria• 1614 Jews attacked, driven out of Frankfurt, Germany• 1939 Evian Conference to consider the plight of the Jews. Not one of the 32 nations opened their doors to a people marked for death.

Spanish Inquisition 1492Ferdinand / Isabella

On July 30, 1492, the same month / year Christopher Columbus set sail, the Jewish people, 200,000 were expelled from Spain. Tens of thou- sands of refugees died while trying to reach safety. In some instances, Spanish ship captains charged

Jewish passengers exorbitant sums, then dumped them overboard in the middle of the ocean. In the last days before the expulsion, rumors spread throughout Spain that the fleeing refugees had swallowed gold and diamonds, and many Jews were knifed to death by brigands hoping to find treasures in their stomachs.

Thomas Torquemada, Grand Inquisitor

“The Hammer of Heretic” Torquemada’s tor- tuous acts would not be equaled until Adolph Hitler. In 1490 he burned 6,000 volumes of

Jewish manuscripts. As Isabella’s spiritual advisor he was appointed Grand Inquisitor. Local inquisitors could seize the property of any person accused of heresy. Their property would fall into the hands of the monarchy. The accused had the option of buying an expensive pardon from the Vatican. Both the pope and monarchs stood to profit from the Spanish Inquisition, especially because the heretics targeted by Torque- mada were reputed to be a prosperous lot--conversos (Marranos), Jews who had converted to Catholicism.

1492 Inquisition, Thomas Torquemada

Scholars disagree over the number of Jews executed by the Spanish Inquisition during

Torquemada's reign as Grand Inquisitor (1483-1498). Some believe he was responsible for the deaths of 2,000 Jews. Torquemada’s savagery was motivated by anti-Semitism under the guise of protecting the "one true faith," Roman Catholicism. His agenda was as cold-blooded as any of the dictators who followed him. Simon Whitechapel writes “although Torquemada's death count did not approach that of later mass mur-derers, qualitatively Torquemada stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Hitler and Stalin."

Accused Before Inquisitional Committee

Accused asked to confess. If replies were unsatisfac- tory torture was used to substantiate what the inquis- tors already knew. Repentance and punishment took place in public. Various penalties were imposed: fasting each Friday for six months, being paraded through the town naked to the waist and carrying an announcement of the offense, for men, three years to life in the galleys. Those who would not confess were handed over to the secular authorities and burned alive at a special burning site. The inquisitional apparatus set in motion by Torquemada was ultimately responsi- ble for the murders of 30,000 Jews. Chaim Potok, Wanderings, History of the Jews p. 417

When Satan lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. He is a thief whocomes to steal, kill and destroy; a murderer from the beginning. Jn 8:44, 10:10Gen 3:11 Prophetic: Satan’s deceptive plot began in the Garden, Eve was deceived, left Adam’s word (Hebrew) and lost her covering. Rev 2:4 – Church Fathers’ left the Apostles’ word (Hebrew) and lost Hebraic understanding / ways / their covering. The effects are with us to this present day

Masking His Identity Satan Deceives the Church

Releasing His Hatred for the Jews

Satan’s Lies and Allegations Against The Jews

Lies / Allegations Against The Jews

300 A.D. Lies spread that Jews kill Chris- tians for sacrifice. Emperor Severus said

415 Ritual Murder – human sacrifice to appease a deity. At Alexandria, St. Cyril accused Jews of Ritual murder, confiscated their property and synagogue.1095 Well Poisoning & Black Death – Jews mali- ciously blamed for the plague that killed thousands.1144 Blood Libels –Jews were accused of taking a Christian child before Easter, to torture and use his blood for the Passover. These trumped up lies were sent forth to the nations via Grimm’s Fairy Tales which led to unjust trials and massacres of Jews. (Blood rituals are forbidden in Judaism, Lev 17:11.)

Jews purchased 90,000 Christians to kill them.

The Church’s Allegations Against The Jews

1348, A story spread that a rabbi gave out a bag of poison to Jews to empty into wells, cisterns and rivers to destroy all of Christendom.In September Jews in Chillon were tortured and made to confess to the crime of poisoning wells. Some leading Germans defended the Jews but the populace went wild. Jews were massacred. No one knows how many thousands were slain but 6,000 died in Mainz. “In Strasbourg a wooden scaffold was built over a huge pit and two thousand Jews were burned alive. The men were granted permission to wear their prayer shawls. The slaughter spread into France and Spain.” Chaim Potok, Wanderings, The History of the Jews, p. 426

“Most people would rather not read these pages of history or simply circumvent the reality - others like myself want to shut it out because the truth is so alarming and the facts so painful, but these are not God’s solutions - they are all a great ‘cover up.’ ”

Fr. Edward Flannery, Anguish of the Jews, Twenty-Three Centuries of Anti-Semitism

“The one who conquers and who keeps My works until the

end, to him will I give authority

over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of

iron...”Rev 2:26-27a

“And I will give him the morning star

Rev 2:28

The Word has all authorityand power.

THE OVERCOMERS AT THYATIRA