First of all, the church means the believers - not some building!
When the Jews returned home from Babylon, they took some of Babylon home with them. Zoroastrianism is the oldest monotheistic religion and its precusor faith was called Mazdaism.It originated with Iranian speaking tribes (Aryans) who dominated a vast expanse of landmass that stretched from the shores North of the Black Sea all the way to plains of Northern India, Central Asia and Western China. Around the 700 BCE the Persians(with the Egyptians and Babylonians) were one of the most advanced civilisations ever known to mankind and their influence in the Middle East and Central Asia was to last for hundreds of years. Morever, they left a legacy of their religion and culture. They were the first to develop the concept of the original sin, baptisim, heaven and hell (paradise is a word Persian origins wich means 'enclose garden'), angels and demonology, a sacrificial saviour god(messiah), resurrection, final judgement and the apocalyptic battle between good and evil. Thousands of Jews were subjects of the Persian empire of Cyrus the Great and Persian themselves were benevolent to those who were loyal to their rule. It was during this period (around 600 BCE) that the Jews were directly influenced by Persian religious ideas to the extent that Judaic religion split various major sects: The Pharisees, Essenes, Saducees, Zealots, Sicarii etc....
This split came about the post Babylonian era (many Jews were slaves in Babylonia untill the Persians took over power and liberated them) and then came a conflict of tradition and power struggle. There those learned Jewish Rabbis and leaders who welcomed the foreign ideas on their religion and those who wanted to maintain pure Judaic ones. Many hundreds of years later when Rome was the dominant power, sects like the zealots sought to user their power to overthrow the Romans. But that came to a very heavy price with the sack of the great temple of Jerusalem, their people sold into slavery and many of their people were dispersed to all corners of Europe and Asia. The Essene group were the most influential on the nascent Christian movement within Judaism as it was very radical in its ideas with Jewish, Iranian (Mithraic/Mazdaic), Egyptian and Hellenic(Platonic)thought. They were the influential group who then evolved as Christians in the strongly Mithraic ( an Iranian religious movement) area where Paul of Tarsul (later St.Paul) was born.
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 G-d, appointed by Him as His prosecutor, came more and more to resemble Ahriman, the enemy of G-d. 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
EZRA, THE SUBVERTER OF JUDAISM - In 397 BCE 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 G-d". 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 BCE 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.
SOME REFERENCES -
Peake's Commentary on the Bible, Matthew Black and H.H. Rowley, ed., Revised edition, NY:Nelson 1982, section 607.
Encyclopedia America, Danbury, CT, 1988, vol 29, pp. 813-815, article by J. Duchesne-Guillemin.
Zarathustra, Philo, The Achaemenids and Israel, Lawrence Mills, Leipzig, 1903. 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.
The Mysteries of Mithra, Franz Cumont, Chicago, 1903, also in Dover Books reprint.
Probably the most recognizable article of clothing the Pope wears is the tall, gaping hat called the mitre. There's nothing in the Bible that indicates that Jesus wore such a hat. The fact is the origin of the hat goes back long before Jesus and can be traced to an ancient Babylonian fish-god named Dagon. "...there are strong evidences that Dagon was Nimrod.... All scholars agree that the name and worship of Dagon were imported from Babylonia. " - The Two Babylons, Hislop, p. 215 "In their veneration and worship of Dagon, the high priest of paganism would actually put on a garment that had been created from a huge fish! The head of the fish formed a mitre above that of the old man, while its scaly, fan-like tail fell as a cloak behind, leaving the human limbs and feet exposed." - Babylon and Nineveh, Austen Henry Layard, p. 343 "The most prominent form of worship in Babylon was dedicated to Dagon, later known as Ichthys, or the fish. In Chaldean times, the head of the church was the representative of Dagon, he was considered to be infallible, and was addressed as ‘Your Holiness’. Nations subdued by Babylon had to kiss the ring and slipper of the Babylonian god-king. The same powers and the same titles are claimed to this day by the Dalai Lama of Buddhism, and the Pope. Moreover, the vestments of paganism, the fish mitre and robes of the priests of Dagon are worn by the Catholic bishops, cardinals and popes. -The Wine of Babylon; Pg 9 The excavations done of ancient Nineveh and Babylon have shed light on the shocking connection between Dagon the fish-god and the Pope's Mitre (hat). According to Egyptian mythology, when the judges found Osiris [Nimrod] guilty of corrupting the religion of Adam and cut up his body, they threw the parts into the Nile. It was said that a fish ate one of these chunks and became transformed. Later, Isis [Semiramis] was fishing along the river bank when she fished up a half-man, half-fish. This sea creature was Dagon, the reincarnated Nimrod. And Dagon is the representation of Nimrod (of ancient Babylon) resurrecting out of the ocean depths as a half-man, half-fish. "Dagon is the diminutive of dag, and signifies... fish... The Babylonians believed that a being, part man and part fish, emerged from the Erythraean Sea, and appeared in Babylonia in the early days of its history...Representations of this fish-god have been found among the sculptures of Nineveh. The Philistine Dagon was of a similar character." - Manners and Customs of the Bible; James Freeman And this also explains the symbol for Christianity, the fish - the "Ichthys" which is Dagon.
Constantine, considered Rome’s first “Christian” emperor, was himself a devotee of the sun god. “In fact the emperor Constantine’s Christianity was ambiguous. His family owed traditional allegiance to the sun-god; the famous vision of the cross as he marched on Rome came to him from the sun; the sun god (Sol Invictus) continues to appear on his coins through the decade (and I have one), and on his arch at Rome; his own statue at Constantinople bore the rayed crown of the sun-god” (Parrinder, p. 175). By the first century, the seven-day planetary week was being popularized at Rome. The seven-day week itself originated at creation (Genesis 1) and the knowledge of the correct weekly cycle was preserved by the Jews. However, in ancient Babylon each of the seven days of the week became associated with what the ancients called the seven planets: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. This is significant because it set the stage for an imperial proclamation that indelibly stamped upon the Christian-professing world a mark, or brand, derived from ancient sun worship. The Encyclopædia Britannica records: “The earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a legal duty is a constitution of Constantine in 321ad, enacting that all courts of justice, inhabitants of towns, and workshops were to be at rest on Sunday (venerabili die solis)” (”Sunday,” 11th ed.). By using the Latin term properly translated as “venerable day of the sun,” Constantine identified the first day of the week with that day dedicated from ancient times to Sol, the sun. Through the proclamation of a Roman emperor, a mark from ancient Babylon and the cult of sun worship was forcibly stamped on the inhabitants of the Roman Empire. That mark-with other associated symbols of sun worship-has continued right on down through the medieval period to modern times.
Jesus was not born on December 25th. However, a whole bunch of pagan gods were born on that day. In fact, pagans celebrated a festival involving a heroic supernatural figure that visits an evergreen tree and leaves gifts on December 25th long before Jesus was ever born. From its early Babylonian roots, the celebration of the birth or "rebirth" of the sun god on December 25th came to be celebrated under various names all over the ancient world. You see, the winter solstice occurs a few days before December 25th each year. The winter solstice is the day of the year when daylight is the shortest. In ancient times, December 25th was the day each year when the day started to become noticeably longer. Thus it was fitting for the early pagans to designate December 25th as the date of the birth or the "rebirth" of the sun.The truth is that thousands of years before there was a "Santa Claus", there was another supernatural figure who would supposedly visit a tree and leave gifts every December 25th. His name was Nimrod. The celebration of December 25th goes all the way back to ancient BabylonDecember 25th is the day pagan gods claim to be their birthday e.g., Bacchus (Egypt, Greece. Also known as Dionysus.); Adonis (Greece); Krishna (India); Chang-ti (China); Chris (Chaldea); Mithra (Persia); Sakia (India); Jao Wapaul (Ancient Britain); Osiris; Horus, son of Isis and Osiris; Hercules; Tammuz (Syria); Indra (Tibet) and Buddha. "The god worshipped as a child in the arms of the great Mother in Greece, under the names of Dionysus, or Bacchus, or Iacchus is...expressly identified with the Egyptian Osiris...the Bacchus of Greece was symbolized by the Nebros, or 'spotted fawn'...was known as having the very lineage of Nimrod. From Anacreon, we find that a title of Bacchus was Aithiopais, ie. 'the son of Aethiops'...the Aethiopians were Cushites, so Aethiops was Cush...says Eusebius...The testimony of Josephus is to the same effect." (Hislop, pp. 46-48).
The fourth-century Roman emperor Constantine, who first had the celebration of Christmas occur on December 25 because he followed the cult of Sol Invictus, a monotheistic form of sun worship that originated in Syria and was imposed by Roman emperors on their subjects a century earlier. Constantine's main objective was unity, in politics, religion and territory. In his own interests of unity, Constantine chose to blur the distinctions between Christianity, Mithraism (another Sun culkt) and Sol Invictus. That's why Constantine decreed that Sunday -- "the venerable day of the sun" the first day of the week would be the official day of rest. (Early Christians before then celebrated their Holy day on the Jewish Sabbath -- on the seventh day - Saturday.) December 25 was the day celebrated by the cult of Sol Invictus as Natilis Invictus, the rebirth of the sun. Four thousand years ago or so, ancient Egyptians celebrated the rebirth of the sun at this time of year. They set the length of the festival at 12 days, to reflect the 12 divisions in their sun calendar. They decorated with greenery, using palms with 12 shoots as a symbol of the completed year, since a palm was thought to put forth a shoot each month. How about the concept of the 12 Days of Christmas? The midwinter festival of the ancient Egyptians celebrated the birth of Horus (the prototype of the earthly king) son of Isis (the divine mother-goddess). It was 12 days long, reflecting their 12-month calendar. This concept took firm root in many other cultures. In 567 AD, Christians adopted it. Church leaders proclaimed the 12 days from December 25 to Epiphany as a sacred, festive season. "The sinister aspect of Saturn; the winter solstice...birthday of the unconquerable sun...The dead return during the twelve nights of the duration of the Saturnalia...The twelve days of Chaos symbolize the pattern of the coming months of the year. The period of Chaos is governed by the Lord of Misrule...Transvestism (q.v.) is a feature of the time of Chaos in Saturnalia, orgies, carnivals etc. and signifies a form of return to chaos. Babylon held the twelve days of duel between Chaos and Cosmos; in Christianity, these are the twelve days of Christmas." (Cooper, under Saturnalia).
To understand the TRUE history behind the holiday we call Christmas, we must travel to a time when the world was dominated by pagan doctrine and Roman might. Long before Mary and Joseph made their trek to Bethlehem to be counted in the imperial census, Roman society (along with other European groups) embraced a few interesting (and familiar) holiday traditions that may come as a surprise to the devout denominational Christians of our modern era. So, let us pretend for a moment that we have ventured back in time to late antiquity and witness how these various European societies celebrated their winter holidays. Our first stop in our voyage back in time will take us to one of the greatest civilizations known to man: Rome. The date is December 17th and the streets are full of celebration and jubilation. It is Saturnalia: a holiday dedicated to the pagan god Saturn, who has been loosen from his bonds during the festivities so that he can enjoy the fruits of the offerings given to him. As the god of the harvest/agriculture, Saturn is praised by the masses from having provided a bountiful harvest. To celebrate the occasion, Roman citizens gave up their traditional toga and adorned themselves with more festive clothing. Traditionally, the clothing was green and decorated with leaves, flowers and berries. Men and women regularly took holly berries and branches and turned them into wreathes, which they placed on their heads, believing that they had the power to ward off evil spirits. It was also common in homes throughout the Roman empire to have their halls "decked" with holly in order to keep them safe from the wrath of the gods. In addition, Saturnalia was also marked by the temporary freeing of slaves, who would often (in pure fun) switch places with their masters. Public demonstrations of sex, gambling, drunkenness were commonplace, while many other laws, which were normally punishable, were temporarily allowed (in some cases even rape). Simply put, Saturnalia was the ancient world's more raccous version of our Mardi Gras.
Along with the revelry and laissez-faire Roman policies governing these holidays, many Roman citizens also took to adorning evergreen trees as part of the festival of Saturnalia. It was common for wealthy Roman families to decorate a tree with candles, silver and gold lace and to have it nailed to the floor of their home. This "Saturnalia Tree" became a symbol of Rome's collective petition to the gods for a bountiful new year. The Jews (and early Christians), refused to embrace such pagan beliefs and even preached against them. As the Bible itself states in Jeremiah 10:2-4: "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." And while the common person was busy celebrating Saturnalia, the elites of Roman society also celebrated the birth of Mithras: the god of the unconquerable sun, whose birth fell on December 25th. For many, this was the holiest day of the year and celebrating his birth was done in the hopes that Mithra would return in full power (summer) to bless them and their harvest,
Hammurabi, and the people of his empire, worshiped several gods. Their chief god was Marduk. The Babylonians built temples, called ziggurats, to worship their gods. The city of Babylon had an especially beautiful temple dedicated to Marduk. It may have looked something like this reconstruction. From the Enuma Elish, the epic poem of this ancient religion, we learn how Marduk becomes the chief god. (The link takes you to a picture of some of the tablets written in Cuneiform, in the Akkadian language.) The people eventually called him "Bel" which means "lord." From the epic creation poem Gilgamesh, we learn how man survived a Great Flood.The parallels between the stories from those ancient religions of Mesopotamia, and the Biblical accounts of creation and the flood, are inescapable. Of course, the deities differ since the people of Mesopotamia worshiped many gods.
Cardinal Newman admits in his book that the "temples, incense, oil lamps, votive offerings, holy water, Holidays, and seasons of devotion, processions, blessings of the fields, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure (of priests, munks and nuns), images, and statues... are all of PAGAN ORIGIN." ....... Cardinal Newman also lists many examples of things of "pagan origin" which the papacy brought into the church "in order to recommend the new religion to the heathen: The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; holy water; asylums [hermitages, monasteries and convents]; [pagan] holy-days, processions, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images, . . . and the Kyrie Eleison." ....."Confiding then in the power of Christianity to resist the infection of evil, and to transmute the instruments and appendages of demon worship to an evangelical use... the rulers of the church from early times were prepared should occasion arise, to adopt, or imitate, or sanction the existing rites and customs of the populace." - Cardinal J. H. Newman, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, 1920 edition.
The penetration of the religion of Babylon became so general and well known that Rome was called the "New Babylon." -Faith of our fathers 1917 ed. Cardinal Gibbons, p. 106
"The [Catholic] Church took the pagan philosophy and made it the buckler of faith against the heathen. She took the pagan Roman Pantheon, temple of all the gods, and made it sacred to all the martyrs; so it stands to this day. She took the pagan Sunday and made it the Christian Sunday. She took the pagan Easter and made it the feast we celebrate during this season . . . The Sun was a foremost god with heathendom . . . The sun has worshipers at this hour in Persia and other lands . . . Hence the Church would seem to say, 'Keep that old pagan name [Sunday]. It shall remain consecrated, sanctified.' And thus the pagan Sunday, dedicated to Balder, became the Christian Sunday, sacred to Jesus"--William L. Gildea, "Paschale Gaudium," in The Catholic World, 58, March, 1894, p. 809 [A Roman Catholic weekly].
"in order to recommend the new religion to the heathen:" "The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; holy water; asylums [hermitages, monasteries and convents]; [pagan] holy-days, processions, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images, . . . and the Kyrie Eleison."--J. H. Newman, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, 1920 edition, p.373 [Roman Catholic].
"The mighty Catholic Church was little more then the Roman Empire baptized."-- A. C, Flick, The Rise of the Mediaeval Church, 1909 edition, p. 148. From ancient Babylon came the cult of the virgin mother-goddess, who was worshiped as the highest of gods--see S. H. Langdon, Semitic Mythology, 1931 edition. This worship was taken over as Mary-worship by Rome. Heathen sun-worship on Sunday was likewise adopted by the Roman apostasy.
"In order to attach to Christianity great attraction in the eyes of the nobility, the priests adopted the outer garments and adornments which were used in pagan cults." -Life of Constantine, Eusabius, cited in Altai-Nimalaya, p. 94
"The Church did everything it could to stamp out such 'pagan' rites, but had to capitualet and allow the rites to continue with only the name of the local diety changed to some Christian saint's name." -Religious Tradition and Myth. Dr. Edwin Goodenough, Professor of Religion, Harvard University. p. 56, 57
"From the foregoing, which treats merely of the more important solar festivals, it is clear that these products of paganism are as much in force at present ... as they ever were, and that Christianity countenances, and in many cases has actually adopted and practiced, pagan rites whose heathen significance is merely lost sight of because attention is not called tot the source whence these rites have sprung. So heavy was this infiltration that Sir Samuel Dill exclaims: "Christianity is only a sect of the Mithraists." -Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius, p. VII
"We know that Mithraism was a state religion of Rome at the time that the Christian church was established there. Evidently tenants of Mithraism such as Sunday worship and eating the wafer in the mass were adopted into Christianity at that time" -Jim Arrabito "666 & the Mark"
In Stanley's History, page 40: "The popes filled the place of the vacant emperors at Rome, inheriting their power, their prestige, and their titles from PAGANISM."
"In short, sun worship, symbolically speaking, lies at the very heart of the great festivals which the Christian Church celebrates today, and these relics of heathen religion have, through the medium of their sacred rites, curiously enough blended with practices and beliefs utterly antagonistic to the spirit which prompted them." -Sun Lore of All Ages, Olcott, p. 248
"Yet the cross itself is the oldest of phallic emblems, and the lozenge-shaped windows of cathedrals are proof that the yonic symbols have survived the destructions of the pagan Mysteries. The very structure of the church itself is permeated with (sexual symbolism) phallicism. Remove from the Christian Church all emblems of Priapic origin and nothing is left..." -The secret teaching of all ages by Manley P. Hall
"When the zealots of the primitave Christian Church sought to Christianize paganism, the pagan initiates retorted with a powerful effort to paganize Christianity. The Christians failed but the pagans succeeded. With the decline of paganism the initiated pagan hierophants transferred their base of operations to the new vehicle of primitive Christianity, adopting the symbols of the new cult to conceal those eternal verities which are ever the priceless possession of the wise." -The secret teachings of all ages, Manley P. Hall p. CLXXXV
"...The world, cloaked with a form of righteousness, walked into the church. Now the work of corruption rapidly progressed. Paganism, while appearing to be vanquished, became the conqueror. Her spirit controlled the church. Her doctrines, ceremonies, and superstitions were incorporated into the faith and worship of the professed followers of Christ." -The Great Controversy, p. 50
"The belief in miracle-working objects, talismans, amulets, and formulas was dear to Christianity, and they were received from pagan antiquity . . . The vestments of the clergy and the papal title of 'pontifex maximus' were legacies from pagan Rome. The [Catholic] Church found that rural converts still revered certain springs, wells, trees, and stones; she thought it wiser to bless these to Christian use then to break too sharply the customs of sentiment . . . Pagan festivals dear to the people, reappeared as Christian feasts, and pagan rites were transformed into Christian liturgy . . . The Christian calendar of saints replaced the Roman 'fasti' [gods]; ancient divinities dear to the people were allowed to revive under the names of 'Christian saints' . . . Gradually the tenderest features of Astarte, Cybele, Artemis, Diana, and Isis were gathered together in the worship of Mary"--Wil Durant, The Age of Faith, 1950, pp. 745-746.
Langdon tells us that Mary worship came from ancient Babylon where the virgin mother-goddess was worshiped under the name "Ishtar." Elsewhere in the Near East, the mother-goddess was called "Astarte, Ashtoreth, Persephone, Artemis, [Diana] of Ephesus, Venus, and Isis." This goddess, considered to be greater than any god, was called by these heathen the "virgin mother, merciful mother, Queen of Heaven, and my lady" [which is what "Madonna" means in Italian]. Langdon says she was often sculptured in mother-and-infant images, or as a "mater dolorom" [sorrowful mother] interceding for men with a wrathful god. And thus ancient paganism was brought into the churches and lives of Christians.--see S.H. Langdon, Semitic Mythology, 1931 edition, pp. 12-34, 108-111, 341-344. Laing mentions several other corruptions by which the mother-goddess was worshiped by heathens, that Rome adopted into Christianity: holy water, votive offerings, elevation of sacred objects [lifting of the host], the priest's bells, the decking of images, processions, festivals, prayers for the dead, the worship of relics and the statues of saints.--see Gordon J. Laing, Survivals of Roman Religion, 1931 edition, pp. 92-95, 123-131,238-241.
Two dominant elements brought into Christianity from paganism by Rome were Sun worship symbols and the religious practices of ancient Babylon. "The solar theology of the Chaldaeans [Babylonians], had decisive effect . . . [upon the] final form reached by the religion of the pagan Semites, and following them, by that of the Romans when [the Roman emperor] Aurelian, the conqueror of Palmyra, had raised 'Sol Invictus' [the invincible sun-god] to the rank of supreme divinity in the Empire"--The Cambridge Ancient History, vol. 11, pp. 643, 646-647. From Palmyra he transferred to the new sanctuary the images of Helios [the sun-god] and Bel, the malaise patron god of Babylon--see Cumont, The Oriental Religions In Roman Paganism, 1911 edition, pp. 114-115, 124.
"The [Catholic] Church took the pagan philosophy and made it the buckler of faith against the heathen. She took the pagan Roman Pantheon, temple of all the gods, and made it sacred to all the martyrs; so it stands to this day. She took the pagan Sunday and made it the Christian Sunday. She took the pagan Easter and made it the feast we celebrate during this season . . . The Sun was a foremost god with heathendom . . . The sun has worshipers at this hour in Persia and other lands . . . Hence the Church would seem to say, 'Keep that old pagan name [Sunday]. It shall remain consecrated, sanctified.' And thus the pagan Sunday, dedicated to Balder, became the Christian Sunday, sacred to Jesus"--William L. Gildea, "Paschale Gaudium," in The Catholic World, 58, March, 1894, p. 809 [A Roman Catholic weekly].
"The removal of the capital of the Empire from Rome to Constantinople in 330, left the Western Church, practically free from imperial power, to develop its own form of organization. The Bishop of Rome, in the seat of the Caesars, was now the greatest man in the West, and was soon [when the barbarians over-ran the empire] forced to become the political as well as the spiritual head."--A.C. Flick, The Rise of the Mediaval Church p. 168.
"Whatever Roman elements the barbarians and Aryans left . . . [came] under the protection of the Bishop of Rome, who was the chief person there after the Emperor's disappearance . . . The Roman Church in this way privily pushed itself into the place of the Roman World-Empire, of which it is the actual continuation; the empire has not perished, but has only undergone a transformation . . . It [the Catholic Church] is a political creation, and as imposing as a World-Empire, because [it is a continuation of] the Roman Empire. The Pope, who calls himself 'King' and 'Pontifex Maximus' [the title of the Roman Emperor in the time of Christ], is Caesar's successor."--Adolf Harnack, What is Christianity? 1963, pp. 269-270.
"Long ages ago, when Rome through the neglect of the Western emperors was left to the mercy of the barbarous hordes, the Romans turned to one figure for aid and protection, and asked him to rule them; and thus, . . . commenced the temporal sovereignty of the popes. And meekly stepping to the throne of Caesar, the vicar of Christ took up the scepter to which the emperors and kings of Europe were to bow in reverence through so many ages."--American Catholic Quarterly Review, April, 1911.
[Speaking of the time, about 500 A.D., when the Roman Empire was crumbling to pieces:] "No, the [Catholic] Church will not descend into the tomb. It will survive the Empire . . . At length a second empire will arise, and of this empire the Pope will be the master--more then this, he will be the master of Europe. He will dictate his orders to kings who will obey them"--Andrea Lagarde, The Latin Church in the Middle Ages, 1915, p. vi.
"From the foregoing, which treats merely of the more important solar festivles, it is clear that these products of paganism are as much in force at present... as they ever were, and that Christianity countenances, and in many cases has actually adopted and practiced, pagan rites whose heathen significance is merely lost sight of because attention is not called to the source whence those rites have spring. So heavy was this infiltration that Sir Samuel Dill exclaims: "Christianity is only a sect of the Mithraists." -Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius. P. vii
NOTICE THE LIST BELOW. NOTICE HOW BABYLON INVENTED THE DOCTRINE TO WORSHIP THE PAGAN SUN GOD. THEN NOTICE THE "CHRISTIAN" CHURCH OF ROME ADOPTING 100% OF THE PAGAN DOCTRINES GIVING THEM CHRISTIAN NAMES.
INVENTED FOR THE PAGAN SUN GOD BAAL Became CATHOLIC DOCTRINES OF THE VATICAN
1. The nativity of the Sun, the birth of Tammuz Dec. 25 became The nativity of Jesus, Christmas Dec 25.
2. The Midsummer festival held Jun 24 became The Nativity of St. John held June 24.
3. The assumption of Semiramus who became the mother godess became The assumption of Mary, who became the mother of G-d.
4. The mother goddess was worshipped as the Queen of Heaven. Jer. 7:18 became The Virgin Mary worshipped as the Queen of Heaven.
4.a "Queen of Heaven" is wrath suduer of the Pagan god became Mary, "Queen of Heaven" subdues the wrath of Christ and His Father against sinners.
5. Cakes decorated to the goddess with a "+" drawn on it. Jer. 44:17,19 became Hot cross buns.
6. 40 days fasting for Tammuz, Ezek. 8:14 became the 40 days of Lent.
7. Pagan festival of Easter. Ezek 8:16 became The festival of Easter.
8. The ressurection of Tammuz at Easter and the procession of graven images during holy week became The procession of graven images of Jesus, Mary, and Peter, and of the saints during holy week.
9. Veneration of graven images of Baal, Ishtar, Tammuz and lesser gods in the heavens
became the Veneration of graven images of Jesus, Mary, Peter, and of the "lesser" saints in the heavens.
10. The belief of immortality of the soul and burning place of torment became The belief of immortality of the soul and burning place of torment.
11. The doctrine of purgatory became The doctrine of purgatory.
12. The belief of the dead visiting the living, feast held for all in November, (All souls day)became The festival of all souls day held Nov. 2, and all saints day held Nov. 1 (All souls day).
13. Burning incense and candles Jer 11:17; Ezek 8:11 became The burning of incense and candles.
14. Chants and repetative prayers. Beaded prayer chains became Gregorian chants and the Rosary.
15. Symbol of the cross as symbol of Sun worship. Mesopotamian cylinder seal depicted the "cross in the sky" as a symbol of sun worship. Ancient carvings of an Assyrian king has a huge cross carved on his chest. The oldest pictures in the world from Mesopotamia has text with is explaining the "cross" in the sky as the sun. This particular find is on display at the University Museum in Philadelphia. became The crucifix.
16. Amulets and idols ro scare away evil spirits became The wearing of crucifixes and medals displayed for protection. (Scapular = main example)
17. The round disk "sun" wafer IHS symbol of Isis, Horus & Seb, eaten as food for the soul. Some wafers also had a large "+" sign engraved on them as well to symbolize Baal. became The wafer used in the Eucharist is round with IHS engraved on it on on one side, and many have a large "+" engraved on the other side.
18. Painting of the child (Tammuz) and mother (Semiramus) with the glory of the Sun around their heads became Paintings of the child (Jesus) and mother (Mary) with halos or of the Sun around their heads.
19. Infant baptism, and sprinkling of holy water became Infant baptism, and sprinkling of holy water.
20. Necromancy (Talking to the dead) Mysticism became(Novenas (prayers) to the dead.
21. The first day of the week kept sacred to honor the Persian sun god Mithra. "SUN"day became The admitted change of 7th day Sabbath to "SUN"day.
22. Title Pontifex Maximus name for chief head of the pagan Babylonian system of idolatry became Pontifex Maximus one of the first names for the office of Pope.
23. Janus and Cybele, holders of the keys to Heaven and Hell became The pope claims to have the keys of Peter.
24. The high priest kings carried on a throne to the to the Temple of his god became The Pope carried on a portable throne to the Basilica of St. Peter (Sedia Gestoria).
25. The Pagan high priest king believed to be the incarnate of the Sun god became The Pope proclaims to be Christ's Vicar (replacement) here on Earth. It is also recorded in numerous documents that the pope believes he is god on earth.
26. Offerings of "good works" to appease the gods became Penance, indulgences, salvation by works.
27. Houses for the virgin priestesses (Prostitutes) to be employed at Pagan temples to "service" priests that were not 'gay' Nuns.became (Recent modern day sex scandals.)
28. Human sacrifices burned by fire as offering to appease Sun god became Opposers of doctrines of the Roman Catholic church burned at the stake.
29. Gold was considered the flesh of the "Sungod" Vatican and numerous Catholic Cathedrals are lietrally drenched in gold throughout.
30. Gargoils = a pagan god of protection Vatican as well as thousands of Catholic churches have gargoils on their roofs for 'protection'.
31. Phallic symbol of the male sex organ placed on roofs as a sign of allegiance with Baal Largest phallic symbol in center of St. Peter's square as well as steeples on all Catholic churches.
32. Solar wheel as symbol for Baal worship can be found carved into ancient as well as modern Buddhist temples,, carved into ancient ornament representing Osiris. Stone carvings showing a whell to represent and Assyrio Babylonian altar. St Peter's square has largest solar wheel on planet. ALL Catholic churches have numerous solar wheels in stain glass windows as well as many other areas of the church. Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris sports a very huge one on it's face. There is a great one in ceiling as well as the floor tiles of the monastery of St. Ignatius Loyola in Spain. Numerous paintings, statues, ornaments, and letterheads of all Catholic churches have one or more "solar wheels" depicted upon them. And the ONE WORLD CHURCH that started on June 26, 2000 uses the solar wheel as its official logo.
33. Symbol of serpent on numerous Roman bath houses. became Symbol of serpent on numerous Catholic church in door handles, Papal crests, etc.
34. Atlas carries the universe on his soilders became Numerous Popes depicted in paintings in same manner.
35. Symbols of the "Unicorn, Peacock, and Phoenix" used to signify sun god became Symbols of the "Unicorn, Peacock, and Phoenix" used to symbolize the Christ in many churches on doors or chapels as well as sanctuarys holding the 'eucharist'.
36. Crescent moon used to signify moon goddess "Nanna" became Crescent used to cradle Eucharist in the Monstrance of the Catholic church. As well as depicted in numerous paintings and scupltures with Mary standing within it.
37. Three letters "S.F.S" within a small blaze is used to represent the universal symbol for the number "6" in the Pagan mysteries became S.F.S in a small blaze is carved into the Vatican Monstrance in the Vatican museum as well as many monstrances the world over.
38. Alternating rays of the sun burst used to represent unity of "man and woman" common in all aspects of Paganism.became (Curved ray = female "yonic" Straight ray = male "phallic") Monstrance of Catholicism as well as many paintings and sculptures all depict same rays of both the "phallic and yonic" symbolism can be found literally all over the Roman Catholic church.
39. Carvings of "nature spirits" (fauns or satyrs) depicting a horned, hoofed-god were a common feature in all Pagan cultsbecame Carvings of "nature spirits" (fauns or satyrs) depicting a horned, hoofed-god are found all over the Treasury of the Vatican beneath St Peters square as well as many Cathedrals.
40. Statues of a "Madonna" found in all Pagan cults as well as Egyptian Madonna Isis with her son Horus, or Hindu cults with Divaki and her son Krishna Statues of Mary can be found in all Catholic churches holding baby Jesus.
41. Statue of Zeus holds symbol of thunder and a lightening bolt to symbolise his position as a god. Mary depicted in many statues holding the pagan symbol of thunder.
42. Demi-gods holding crooked diving staff representative of the serpent and lightening boltbecame Pope carries exact same staff (serpent crosiers).
43. Adad, Enlil, Baal, Neptune, Poseidon and other "gods" of storm and sea were depicted as carrying tridents became Crosses as well as statues of Jesus and Mary in Cathedrals all over the world carved with tridents on them.
44. Hand gestures in the form of a trident found depicted in Jupiter, Buddah, Appollo, Hindu diety's, as well as "votive hands" in pagan temples became Statue of St. Peter (Actually the old Jupiter statue of Rome) as well as millions of other statues, painitings, photos, and videos of everyone from Jesus and Mary to priests, cardinals,bishops, all the Popes, Vatican guards and even lay people in the Catholic church seen holding up the three finger trident salute of pagan Rome. (Now called the salute to the Trinity)
45. Pine cones used to represent the diety of a solar god Osiris, Bacchus, Dionysus, as well as Mexican gods, Hindu gods, and Assyrian gods became the largest pine cone sculpture in the world found in the "Court of the pine cone" at the Vatican. Pine cone is also found carved into the crooked pagan staff (serpent crosier) or the Popes of Rome. In fact the pine cone is found all throughout the Vatican as well as Cathedrals as decoration.
46. Oanne, Babylonian fish-god (half man half fish) was depicted by Pagan high priests by wearing a fish head mitre (head dress) upon a man's head to symbolize man and fish joining when the "sun god" sets into the ocean. (Neptune = case in point. Half man & half fish) One particular Biblical diety = "Dagon" Dag=fish On=sun Mitres are worn by all Popes of Catholcism.
47. The Roman sun-god with the alternating yonic and phallic symbols surrounding his head was found carved in excavated Roman bath houses in England. It is also found as "Apollo" on the facade of the Pergamum Museum in East Berlin. Almost all Catholic churches have the exact same carving above their pulpits, pillars, on statues, as well as carved into ceilings above altars. Some Catholic churches actually have it carved into the Eucharist itself.
48. Statues of the Romanized Egyptians Isis with globes in hand, Hercules as a solar diety carried the very same globe in hand, and the Persian sun-god Mithra is also depicted with the globe in hand as a sign ruler of the Universe. The Vatican has a solid gold statues of Jesus with the globe in hand, plus a black marble statue called "the black virgin of Montserrat" and a statue of a "child Jesus" with globe in hand, the list goes on...
49. Coptic shells were carved to symbolize the Universe. Roman grave stones used them to represent the Heavens. Statues of Atlas can be found carrying the "universe" shell upon its shoulders. Pagan Rome carved Poseidon with the shell in his head. Venus was said to be born IN a coptic shell. St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican has the Pagan symbols within the papal crest upon the wall. The Coptic shell is found over the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. This cosmic symbol is often used as a font for holy water in Catholic churches the world over. They even have statues of angels holding the pagan symbol.
50. Large evil eye can be found carved on a Roman sarcophagus in the National Archaeological Museum in Rome Italy. Masonic pendants have them as well. Hathor the "eye of Osiris" can be found all over Egyptian temple. It was commonly used as protection against evil magic. This very same evil eye within the pyramid is found on Roman Catholic pulpits, ceilings, altars, doors, pendants, medals, etc.
It is also on the back of the dollar bill of the USA on the left side.
51. The multi-level crown was first worn by old Babylonian gods in 1800 BCE. The horned tiara was carved atop Assyrian winged-bull cherubims. The Jewish Kabbalistic solar diety wore this very same tiara, as did Krishna. The bronze tomb of Pope Sixtus (Pope 6) has this three ringed tiara on his head. On that tiara you can also see 6 serpents upon it. All the Popes have word the tiara as a symbol of their authority as "gods of the earth, heaven, and hell" Hence, the "three rings" upon it. The Vatican has a solid gold tiara on display in the Vatican treasury.
52. Quetzalcoatl, the lord of life and death in the Aztec and Toltec cultures of 1000AD had an open chest with an exposed heart displayed. This was believed to be nourishment offered to the sun gods. Literally hundreds of thousands of statues, paintings, posters, lithographs, etc have Jesus as well as Mary depicted in the same manner with what the Catholic church calls "The sacred heart." Notice that these "sacred hearts" also have the symbols of the sun god Mithra glowing rather boldly behind them.
53. Assyrians carvings show eagles as genies hovering over the dead. Their "book of the dead" depicts just such a picture on its cover. Eagles are used as symbols all over the Roman Catholic church. See Rev 18:2 speaks of the Vatican as the "hold of ever foul spirit, and a cage of ever unclean and hateful bird."
Now do you understand WHY the Vatican is declared the "WHORE OF BABYLON?"
WHO AND WHAT IS BABYLON ?
Below data was compiled by... Let There Be Light Ministries
Descriptions and delineations of the characteristics of Babylon derived from the Bible
1. Abundant in treasures--Jeremiah 51:13.
2. All connected with her are made rich (not riches of heaven)--Revelation 18:19.
3. Are liars--Jeremiah 50:36.
4. Are mad (lost their reason) upon their idols--Jeremiah 50:38.
5. Beasts inhabit--Isaiah 13:21-22.
6. Believes that G-d does not dwell with humanity (Christ's nature before fall)--Daniel 2:11.
7. Believes they are gods--Isaiah 47:8, 10.
8. Besieges G-d's professed church until it falls captive--2 Kings 24:10-12, 25:1-4; Jeremiah 39:1-2.
9. Breaks bones of G-d's people--Jeremiah 50:17.
10. Breaks down walls of G-d's professed church--2 Kings 25:9; 2 Chronicles 36:19; Ezra 5:12; Jeremiah 39:8.
11. Builds city and tower whose top reaches unto heaven--Genesis 11:4.
12. Builds great image of man for all to worship--Daniel 3:1-7.
13. Burns with fire G-d's professed church--2 Kings 25:9; 2 Chronicles 36:19; Jeremiah 21:10, 38:23, 39:8.
14. Camps against G-d's professed church until is succumbs--Jeremiah 52:4-7.
15. Carries away treasures (precious truths) out of G-d's once faithful church--2 Kings 24:13; 2 Chron 36:7, 10, 18.
16. Carries away all the mighty men--2 Kings 24:14.
17. Casts out G-d's people--Jeremiah 51:34.
18. Causes G-d's people to be slain--Jeremiah 51:49.
19. Celebration is in her midst--Jeremiah 51:39.
20. Commands all to worship image of man at sound of music--Daniel 3:1-7.
21. Completely captivates majority of members until only a remnant remain--2 Kings 25:11-12, 22; 2 Chronicles 36:20; Ezra 5:12; Jeremiah 39:9-10, 40:11.
22. Completely removes all precious vessels which were once held by God's church--2 Kings 25:13-17.
23. Connected with hell--Isaiah 14:9.
24. Connected with Mysteries of spiritualism--Revelation 17:5.
25. Connected with scarlet-colored beast (secret societies)--Revelation 17:3.
26. Connected with ships (other churches)--Revelation 18:17.
27. Connected with spiritualism--Ezekiel 21:21.
28. Corrupts earth with fornication--Revelation 19:2.
29. Crushes G-d's people--Jeremiah 51:34.
30. Cuts down people as trees--Isaiah 14:8.
31. Cuts in pieces precious vessels of God's once faithful church--2 Kings 24:13, 25:13; 2 Chronicles 36:19.
32. Deals in slaves--Revelation 18:13.
33. Deals in souls of men--Revelation 18:13.
34. Deceives by sorceries--Revelation 18:23.
35. Defiles sacred vessels and precious things of God's design--Daniel 5:2-4.
36. Destroys all the earth--Jeremiah 51:25.
37. Destroys G-d's heritage--Jeremiah 50:11.
38. Devours G-d's people--Jeremiah 51:34.
39. Does evil among God's people--Jeremiah 51:24.
40. Does not consider her possible destruction (does not lay these things to heart)--Isaiah 47:7.
41. Does not glorify G-d--Daniel 5:23.
42. Does not remember warnings given about her destruction--Isaiah 47:7.
43. Does not want to fight outwardly--Jeremiah 51:30.
44. Does violence to G-d's people--Jeremiah 51:35.
45. Does what she wants to, yet believes she will see no sorrow (no punishment or judgment for her actions)-- Revelation 18:7.
46. Drunken with the blood of G-d's saints--Revelation 17:6.
47. Dwells carelessly--Isaiah 47:8.
48. Dwells upon many waters--Jeremiah 51:13.
49. Employs reapers to harvest fields (sown with seeds of falsehood)--Jeremiah 50:16
50. Employs sowers (to spread seeds of falsehood)--Jeremiah 50:16.
51. Fears not the Lord--2 Kings 17:25.
52. Full of astonishment--Jeremiah 25:10.
53. Full of falsehoods--Jeremiah 51:17.
54. Full of pomp--Isaiah 14:11.
55. Full of unclean birds--Jeremiah 50:39.
56. Full of wild beasts--Jeremiah 50:39.
57. Full of vanity--Jeremiah 51:18.
58. Given to pleasure--Isaiah 47:8.
59. Glorifies herself--Revelation 18:7.
60. Great majority of wise men are liars and corrupt--Daniel 2:2, 9.
61. Grows fat (on sin)--Jeremiah 50:11.
62. Has broad walls--Jeremiah 51:58.
63. Has daughters--Jeremiah 50:42.
64. Has high gates--Jeremiah 51:58.
65. Has trial (inquisition) to determine crimes against her decrees--Daniel 3:13-15
66. Heart is lifted up--Daniel 5:20.
67. Her captains are drunk and asleep--Jeremiah 51:57.
68. Her cities (churches) are a dry land (no refreshing of the latter rain)--Jeremiah 51:43.
69. Her cities (churches) are a wilderness--Jeremiah 51:43.
70. Her cities (churches) are desolate (no Saviour)--Jeremiah 51:43.
71. Her cry (glory) is found in ships--Isaiah 43:14.
72. Her men are brutish in their own knowledge--Jeremiah 51:17.
73. Her mighty men are drunk and asleep--Jeremiah 51:57.
74. Her princes are drunk and asleep--Jeremiah 51:57.
75. Her rulers are drunk and asleep--Jeremiah 51:57.
76. Her waves (ministers--those raised up above the level of the sea or people) do roar--Jeremiah 51:55.
77. Her wise men are drunk and asleep--Jeremiah 51:57.
78. Highest leader becomes angry when his will is disregarded for G-d's will--Daniel 3:19.
79. Highest leader makes hasty decisions--Daniel 2:15.
80. Holds G-d's people captive--Jeremiah 50:33.
81. Is clothed in gorgeous apparel (but not the robe of Christ's righteousness)--Revelation 17:4, 18:16.
82. Is covetous--Jeremiah 51:13.
83. Is desolate--Jeremiah 25:10; Revelation 17:6.
84. Is filled with delicacies--Jeremiah 51:34.
85. Is full of abominations--Revelation 17:4.
86. Is full of filthiness--Revelation 17:4.
87. Is full of mingled-people (mixed-multitude)--Jeremiah 50:37.
88. Is great and mighty in eyes of world--Revelation 17:18, 18:10, 16.
89. Is intimately connected with merchants--Isaiah 47:15; Revelation 18:3.
90. Is lustful--Revelation 18:14.
91. Is naked--Revelation 17:16; Isaiah 47:3.
92. Is perverted--Isaiah 47:10.
93. Is proud against the Lord--Jeremiah 50:29, 31-32.
94. Keeps G-d's people captive as prisoners--Isaiah 14:17.
95. Language was confounded (confused)--Genesis 11:7-9.
96. Lifts up self against the Lord--Daniel 5:23.
97. Lives deliciously--Revelation 18:7
98. Lucifer is her king--Isaiah 14:4, 12.
99. Made up of many nations (churches) flowing (uniting) into one--Jeremiah 51:44.
100. Makes all nations (churches) commit fornication with her--Revelation 14:8, 18:3
101. Makes all nations (churches) drink of her wine (false doctrines)--Revelation 14:8, 18:3
102. Makes all the earth drunken--Jeremiah 51:7; Revelation 17:2.
103. Makes all the earth mad (without reason)--Jeremiah 51:7.
104. Makes G-d's people empty--Jeremiah 51:34.
105. Makes inhabitants of earth commit fornication with her--Revelation 17:2.
106. Mind hardened by pride--Daniel 5:20.
107. Mounts up to heaven--Jeremiah 51:53.
108. Not humble of heart, even though aware of G-d's will--Daniel 5:22.
109. Once had (heavenly) craftsmen in her, but no more--Revelation 18:22.
110. Once had (heavenly) music in her, but no more--Revelation 18:22.
111. Once had the light of a candle in her, but no more (no more light of G-d's truths--candlestick removed)--Jeremiah 25:10; Revelation 18:23.
112. Once had the sound of a millstone in her (grinding out seed or hammering out the truth), but no more--Jeremiah 25:10; Revelation 18:22.
113. Once had the voice of the bride in her (was once the true church), but no more--Jeremiah 25:10; Revelation 18:23.
114. Once had the voice of the Bridegroom (Christ) in her, but no more--Jeremiah 25:10; Revelation 18:23.
115. Once had the voice of gladness (gospel of Christ) within, but no more--Jeremiah 25:10.
116. Once had the voice of mirth within, but no more--Jeremiah 25:10.
117. Once was clean and pure, but now is a cage (closed structure) of every unclean and hateful bird--Revelation 18:2.
118. Once was the habitation of G-d's angels, but now is the habitation of devils--Revelation 18:2.
119. Once was the hold of the Holy Spirit, but now is the hold of every foul spirit--Revelation 18:2.
120. Oppresses--Isaiah 14:4; Jeremiah 50:16, 33.
121. Persecutes by fire all who do not bow and worship image of man--Daniel 3:6.
122. Places relatives in high positions of leadership (nepotism)--2 Kings 24:17.
123. Practices abundant enchantments--Isaiah 47:8, 12.
124. Practices divination--Ezekiel 21:21.
125. Practices sorcery--Isaiah 47:9, 12.
126. Produces evildoers--Isaiah 14:20.
127. Produces other harlots--Revelation 17:5.
128. Puts on pretense of piety--Isaiah 47:1.
129. Refuses to be healed of sin--Jeremiah 51:9.
130. Refuses to let go of G-d's people--Jeremiah 50:33.
131. Reigns over others--Revelation 17:18.
132. Reigns without a king (being a widow, or divorced by Husband)--Revelation 18:7.
133. Replaces G-d's people with pagan believers--2 Kings 17:24.
134. Sins have reached unto heaven (corporate probation closed)--Revelation 18:5.
135. Sits on seven hills--Revelation 17:9.
136. Sits upon many waters--Revelation 17:1, 15.
137. Shows no mercy--Isaiah 47:6.
138. Shows no respect for age--Isaiah 47:6.
139. Sleeps a perpetual sleep--Jeremiah 51:39.
140. Smites--Isaiah 14:6.
141. Speaks with a great voice--Jeremiah 51:55.
142. Strives against the Lord--Jeremiah 50:24.
143. Swallows up G-d's people--Jeremiah 51:34.
144. Takes away precious things belonging to G-d's people--Isaiah 39:6.
145. Teaches immortality of the soul (a lady for ever)--Isaiah 47:7.
146. Teaches that she will never be destroyed (a lady or church for ever)--Isaiah 47:7.
147. The praise of the whole earth--Jeremiah 51:41.
148. Tries to be worshiped as G-d--Isaiah 14:14.
149. Tries to hide her nakedness--Isaiah 47:3.
150. Tries to hide her shame--Isaiah 47:3.
151. Tries to make themselves a name--Genesis 11:4.
152. Tries to prevent separation (lest we be scattered)--Genesis 11:4.
153. Tries to serve G-d and false gods at same time--2 Kings 17:32-33.
154. Tries to unite all into one--Genesis 11:4.
155. Trusts in wickedness--Isaiah 47:10.
156. Unites G-d's precious vessels (truths) with corrupt vessels (false doctrines)--Ezra 5:14.
157. Uses intimidation to bring about submission of will to worship image of man--Daniel 3:13-15.
158. Uses slime as mortar for the walls of Babylon--Genesis 11:3.
159. Waters are dried up--Jeremiah 50:38.
160. Worships false gods--Isaiah 21:9.
161. Worships idols--Jeremiah 50:2.
Why Does G-d's Once Faithful Church Become Part of Babylon
1. Because her precious vessels are removed--Daniel 1:2.
2. Because her precious vessels are united with Babylonian treasures--Daniel 1:2.
3. Because her shepherds (ministers) caused their sheep (members) to go astray--Jeremiah 50:6.
4. Because her sins reach unto heaven (corporate probation closed)--Jeremiah 51:9.
5. Because her strength is placed in the church, not in God--Ezekiel 24:2, 21.
6. Because highest leader becomes blind--2 Kings 25:7; Jeremiah 39:7; Jeremiah 52:11.
7. Because highest leader does evil in G-d's sight--2 Chronicles 36:5.
8. Because highest leader hardens neck against G-d--2 Chronicles 36:13.
9. Because highest leader is among thorns--2 Chronicles 33:11.
10. Because highest leader makes covenant with Babylon leaders--Ezekiel 17:13.
11. Because highest leader stiffens neck against G-d--2 Chronicles 36:13.
12. Because majority of leaders and ministers follow after the abominations of other nations (churches)--2 Chron 36:14.
13. Because majority of leaders and ministers transgress against G-d--2 Chronicles 36:14.
14. Because of a famine occurring (no word of G-d) in midst of church--Jeremiah 52:6
15. Because of arrogance--Isaiah 14:5.
16. Because of evil--Isaiah 13:11.
17. Because of evil doing--Jeremiah 32:30, 32.
18. Because of iniquity--Ezekiel 24:2, 23.
19. Because of pride--Isaiah 14:5.
20. Because of worshiping false gods--Acts 7:43.
21. Because of rebellion--Ezekiel 17:12, 24:3.
22. Because of there being no bread (no Saviour) in midst of church--Jeremiah 52:6.
23. Because of transgressions--1 Chronicles 9:1.
24. Because of wickedness--Isaiah 14:5.
25. Because she allowed abominations to be practiced in midst--Jeremiah 32:33.
26. Because she allowed scum to remain within her--Ezekiel 24:2, 6.
27. Because she allowed strangers into midst--Jeremiah 51:51.
28. Because she became polluted--2 Chronicles 36:14.
29. Because she broke covenant made with God--Ezekiel 17:19.
30. Because she chose to unite with Egypt (world) which occurs just before becoming part of Babylon--Ezek 17:15-18.
31. Because she despises oath made with G-d--Ezekiel 17:19.
32. Because she filled land (whole structure) with sin against the Lord--Jeremiah 51:5.
33. Because she follows other gods--Jeremiah 32:35.
34. Because she forgot her resting place (Jesus)--Jeremiah 50:6.
35. Because she forgot sacredness of G-d's Sabbath--2 Chronicles 36:21.
36. Because she harkened not to G-d's instructions--Jeremiah 32:33, 36:31.
37. Because she is full of blood--Ezekiel 24:2, 6-9.
38. Because she is full of filthiness--Ezekiel 24:2, 11.
39. Because she is full of iniquity--Isaiah 14:5.
40. Because she is full of lewdness--Ezekiel 24:2, 13.
41. Because she is full of lies--Ezekiel 24:2, 12.
42. Because she obeyed not G-d's voice--Jeremiah 40:2-3.
43. Because she provoked G-d to anger--Jeremiah 32:32.
44. Because she provoked G-d to wrath--Ezra 5:12.
45. Because she refuses to be purged by G-d--Ezekiel 24: 2, 13.
46. Because she sacrificed her children to false gods--Jeremiah 32:35.
47. Because she sinned against the Lord--Jeremiah 50:7.
48. Because she trespassed against G-d--Ezekiel 17:20.
49. Because she turned back and not face to G-d--Jeremiah 32:33.
50. Because the desire of her eyes was for the church, not for G-d--Ezekiel 24:2, 21
51. Because the joy of her glory was not Jesus--Ezekiel 24:2, 25.
Principles and Things to Remember About Babylon
1. All inhabitants (members) are partakers of Babylon's sins--Revelation 18:4.
2. All inhabitants (members) are to receive of Babylon's judgments or plagues--Revelation 18:4.
3. All inhabitants (members) will fall in the midst of Babylon--Jeremiah 51:47.
4. All who are part of, or joined with, Babylon shall be destroyed--Isaiah 13:15, 14:22.
5. Babylon falls piece by piece--Jeremiah 51:31.
6. Babylon is likened to a destroying mountain--Jeremiah 51:25.
7. Babylon is the dwelling place for dragons--Jeremiah 51:37.
8. Babylon will fall suddenly and is completely unaware--Jeremiah 50:24, 51:8.
9. Blood is upon all the inhabitants (members) of Babylon--Jeremiah 51:35.
10. Even highest leader of Babylon will fall down and worship at feet of G-d's saints--Daniel 2:46.
11. Even the ungodly realized that G-d's once chosen and faithful church was part of Babylon because she obeyed not G-d's voice--Jeremiah 40:2-3.
12. G-d's once faithful church became connected with Babylon, but while many of His professed people were being slain because of it, G-d extended mercy to those who had no connection with the rebellious church--Jeremiah 39:16-18.
13. G-d's once faithful church makes covenant with Babylon, but after it is made, the only way the church can continue to stand is by continuing with covenant--Ezekiel 17:14.
14. G-d restores all His precious vessels (truths) only to those who separate from Babylon--Ezra 1:11, 5:14-15, 6:5.
15. G-d's true people are to be delivered from midst of Babylon--Micah 4:10; Zechariah 2:7.
16. Highest leader of G-d's professed church was captured and made prisoner, but finally gave up warfare and agreed to become a leader in Babylon--2 Kings 25:27-30; Jeremiah 52:31-34.
17. Kings of the earth commit fornication with Babylon--Revelation 17:2, 18:3.
18. Merchants lived on Babylon's delicacies--Revelation 18:3.
19. Message of the fall of Babylon begins the time of harvest--Jeremiah 51:27, 33.
20. Names changed when become part of Babylon--Daniel 1:7.
21. No one is forced to leave Babylon to rebuild G-d's church--Ezra 7:13.
22. Only health reform kept a small remnant pure while in Babylon--Daniel 1:8, 16.
23. Only those who separated from Babylon to rebuilt G-d's church, and who were of one accord, can be written down on the new membership list of God's church--Nehemiah 7:5-13, 8:1.
24. Only those who separate from Babylon will have G-d's covenant of peace--Jeremiah 32:36-44.
25. Some of those who separate from Babylon are made to wear crowns of gold--Zechariah 6:10-15.
26. Souls are held guilty of Babylon's sins if remain part of her--Jeremiah 51:6.
27. Souls are lost if they remain part of Babylon--Jeremiah 51:6.
28. Takes about three years to try and defile and corrupt G-d's people with Babylonian meat and wine--Dan 1:5, 8.
29. The blood of all G-d's servants is found within Babylon--Revelation 18:24, 19:2
30. The least (weakest) of G-d's flock brings Babylon down--Jeremiah 50:45.
31. There were three different attacks against church until it was completely conquered--Jeremiah 52:28-30.
32. Those who separate to rebuild G-d's church are supported with freewill gifts--Ezra 7:15-17.
33. Three parts make up Babylon the great--Revelation 16:19.
34. When Babylon captures church only a poor remnant left--Jeremiah 52:16.
35. When Babylon captures church she breaks down all her walls--Jeremiah 52:14.
36. When Babylon captures church she breaks down all the great pillars supporting it--Jeremiah 52:17, 20-23.
37. When Babylon captures church she burns it with fire--Jeremiah 52:13.
38. When Babylon captures church she takes away all the precious vessels (truths)--Jeremiah 52:18-19.
39. When church becomes part of Babylon, blindness occurs (eyes put out) and cannot really see that church and membership are indeed part of Babylon--Jeremiah 39:7; Ezekiel 12:13.
40. When church becomes part of Babylon, her members become lost sheep--Jeremiah 50:6.
41. When G-d calls for His people to separate from Babylon, it is a new beginning (1st day of 1st month)--Ezra 7:9. See Revelation 18:4
Well dear one, are you involved in counterfeit or real doctrines? Why not leave them all and go on to perfection? Hebrews 6:1-8 we read: "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward G-d, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if G-d permit. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted (Revelation 3:20) of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost (1 John 2:27), And have tasted the good word (John 10:27) of G-d, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of G-d afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from G-d: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned."
You have to hear the real G-d dear one - if you really want to obey Him! Shalom!
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