Why people struggle to understand Christianity...

  It is very hard for a non-Christian to understand why there is such a diverse set of beliefs between churches. It is true that in the past, non-believers would have simply reacted to contact by a Christian, but in today's society people are ever more knowledgeable about the world and religion. Leading many non-believers to have formed impressions about certain religions based upon TV and the internet, and it does not matter whether the information is true or not. A non-christian can clearly and easily notice differences between Catholics, born-again Christians, Mormons and others. Would you not agree that to a non-believer, that they would see the diversity of belief as justification to think that no-one knows exactly what to believe? So if non-believers think that no-one really knows what to believe, then it only confirms to him that they should not bother to believe anything.

The truth is simply hidden from all non-believers behind a mask of religion and that we as believers are fully to blame for it. Believers will obviously know and understand that Christianity is all about a personal relationship between the individual and God, a path to give your life to Him, and to improve yourself and do the best you can with your life. Sure there is a lot of other stuff; like attending church, reading the Bible, praying and lots more, but essentially the most basic belief is all about that relationship between a person and God.

Yet if that very relationship was explained to to non-believers; they would clearly see that because every human is different, they could conclude that every relationship with God is unique, and therefore that would help to explain to them about the differences that they see in Christianity, such as Methodist churches, Presbyterian churches and Pentecostal churches. Christian individuals normally join a church which suits their own personal relationship with God, which will more than likely include people with similar relationships and beliefs.

As you may know I was brought up within born-again churches, and I think that I would not be unfair in saying that fellow believers, either excluded other churches from being within the one-true-path (such as Catholics) or simply didn't know which Church did or did not fall within the requirements of being part of the one-true-path. It is one of those grey areas of Christianity that is very rarely talked about, except by non-believers because such things of squabbling between churches only confuses things more. But once again we are back to talking about impressions, we all have our own impressions about religion and about groups of religious people. Our impressions are not always true!

But I would like you forget your impressions for a while, and consider this question; Does a relationship begin only when a person starts to believe in God? Indeed it is not a question that I had ever heard before, yet I believe that it is vital to consider it. Think about it for a second, God knew about you and your whole life before you were ever born (that's what the Bible says). Therefore would it not be right to assume that there was a relationship before you became a believer. Sure this relationship might have consisted of you ignoring him for long lengths of time among other things, yet the relationship was still there. How else would he have guided you into believing in him; the relationship was only one sided perhaps, yet it was still there.

I think it is a very refreshing thought to understand that every human on this planet has a relationship with God, the thought alone can show you the potential of such a wonderful thing. I have heard it said many times from Christians, that non-believers need faith not to believe. To some extent I would agree but I think in many cases that non-believers just don't care and are simply too busy living their lives to think about it.

So what am I suggesting? I am suggesting that instead of preaching to people that they need to come to church and turn to God, that we teach them about their relationship with God. To tell them that even though their back has been turned away God, that he has been watching them for their whole life; that God has seen everything that they ever done, their wrongs and their rights, the failures and achievements. We need to teach that God has wanted to be there for them to help them through all of their problems. To explain to them that God wants to start afresh with them, that he is willing to forgive all their wrongdoings if they will walk with him in their lives, and accept him into their heart.

 There is no price for us to pay to earn forgiveness, because Jesus came to the world and took all our sins onto his shoulders and paid the price for us. That's right, he knew about all of your sins and about all of your future sins and paid the price for them, and all you have to do is accept the free gift and accept Jesus's sacrifice that he made for you.

See more basic beliefs CLICK HERE

Isaiah (est. 740-681 BC)

Victims beheaded during Egypt's civil war

Isaiah, son of Amoz and he was given a message about Judah and Jerusalem, that they should turn from their wicked ways or face destruction.  Isaiah is told about Immanuel who will be born in the line of David and will be born of a virgin, and is also told about the coming of the Holy Spirit.  Isaiah says that he trusts the Lord, despite knowing that God is no longer pleased with Israel.

The philistines and arameans attacked Israel but even still people did not turn from their wickedness, the the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh turned against each other but then joined forces to attack Judah.  So God says that the Assyrians will attack Jerusalem and Mount Zion, but Isaiah is told to tell the people that once they trust in God then he will punish Assyria for their crimes, even destroying the forests of Lebanon.

The destruction of various places are foretold such as Babylon, Moab, Zoar, Damascus, Ethiopia, Tyre, Canaan, Sidon, and even the destruction of the world.  A civil war in Egypt is foretold, later an angel kills 185000 Assyrian soldiers who were on their way to destroy Jerusalem and it is declared that "None who are evil will live in peace."

Mani (216 - 276 A.D.)

Mani was a prophet and the founder of a gnostic religion than became known as Manichaeism, a religion that was once widespread but it now extinct.  He was born in around Seleucia-Ctesiphon in Assyria (modern-day Iraq).

He received visions at the ages of 12 and 24 telling him to leave his father's Jewish Christian sect and to teach the true message of Christ.  From there he traveled to India and Afghanistan and may have been influenced by Buddhism.  When he returned in 242 A.D. he became favoured by King Shapur, yet when Bahram succeeded to the throne everything changed, Bahram was a supporter of Zoroastrian movement and persecuted the Manichaeans, Mani was caught and put in prison and later crucified.

It is said that he wrote seven works, although none of these have survived in their complete form, they include the Mani-Codex and the Book of Giants.  His teachings that have survived tell us that he believed that good and evil existed in a constant struggle.  He believed that salvation was possible through education, self-denial, fasting and chastity.  He claimed to be the last of the prophets, and followed the teachings of other prophets; Seth, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Nikotheos, Zoroaster, Buddha and Jesus.

Enoch (7106 - 6741 B.C.)

The story of Enoch the Scribe is only briefly mentioned in the Bible, yet his story is told elsewhere such as the Book of the Giants.  For this article I will refer only to that which is said about Enoch in the Book of Enoch and the Fragment of the Book of Noah.  He was seventh generation from Adam and also the grandfather of Noah.

The story starts as two hundred angels descended from heaven following the one but bound by an agreement to him, the angels took women and taught them secrets of herbology, astrology, forging of metals, how to write and other secrets.  But the women gave birth to giants who could not be sustained by the supplies of the community, so the giants turned against men, making war.

So Enoch was given visions and was told that because of the wickedness the Deluge would come to punish the wicked.  So he was given power over the 200 and the wicked and he took the message to declare the coming destruction to the two hundred, the giants and the wicked.  But they pleaded with him for mercy, and so he promised them to make a petition of their behalf.  But their petition was refused and their fate was decided.

The story carries on, telling how he sought wisdom "I wish to know about everything" and so angels come and start to teach him knowledge about everything., although sometimes the vision become too much for him to bear.  He is shown the places where the 200 will go for imprisonment.  He is shown where souls go after death, the good separated from the bad and is shown how the spirits of the giants will become the evil spirits as they are neither man nor angel (angel as in the 200).

Then he was shown all the secrets of the earth and the universe, the laws of the universe and then a vision of the end of all things.  He is then shown the future, of the one who will be like the Lamb (Jesus) and everything that happens between the deluge and Jesus concerning his descendants.  One prophecy relates to the moon changing orbit and stars changing position suggesting a polar shift.

At the end Enoch spoke to his family in regards to all his knowledge, and his son Methuselah is taught and given Enoch's books of knowledge and from there Noah is taught, books are to be kept safe to ensure safety for future, one book contains a complete doctrine of wisdom.  Then he was taken from the earth and did not die like all other men.

Old Document Review 'On the Seven Seals of the Apocalypse'

This ancient document was written by Joachim of Fiore (d.1202) and features his interpretations of what the seals in the Book of Revelations represent.  Joachim sees the seals as representing the story of the church between the first and the second coming of Jesus.

However his understanding goes much deeper, when Joachim looks at history he sees a link to the Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are matched to the Old Testament, the life of Jesus and the New Testament.  Whats more, is that each of these eras can be broken down into seven periods of time which will match with the corresponding period in the next era.  These seven periods are also represented by the seven seals which are laid out in the Book of Revelations.  As always periods of time divided into seven can also be linked to how the Mayans viewed time, each period of time is seen to have seven days and six nights.

For example the first period in the Old Testament is seen from Abraham to the promised land, which is matched to the New Testament period of time from John the Baptist to the early church.  This matching carries on as far as the sixth seal which Joachim seen as matching against his own era, and everything that was happening during his lifetime such as the crusades and so on.  Joachim foretells that soon the Catholic Church shall be overthrown or challenged by a new church (the rise of Protestants?) and he sees this as the time where Satan will be bound up into his prison.  Then in the seventh seal will be the second coming.

Old Document Review 'A prophecy on the Antichrist'

This prophecy is one that can be found in the Mirabilis liber which was an ancient document published in 1522, a document which was a vast collection of prophecies from many older sources including this prophecy which gives details about the Antichrist.

It is said in the prophecy that the Antichrist or the false prophet will come from the 'land of Leo' and will influence many powerful people through false signs and wrong doctrines, it his said that deep within his mind he despises Christianity yet he hides this, and gains powerful sway even over the Roman Catholic church, it is said that 'even the wisest shall be misled'.

Yet despite the trial which is forecast to put on the church by his existence, it is a part of what is meant to happen, part of the bigger plan.  In a sense the Antichrist is seen here as part of God's plan, not in the sense that he serves God, but more in the sense of Judas who betrayed Jesus, yet that too was part of God's plan as it was meant for Jesus to die.  So here the Antichrist has been given his time and his moment so that he can test believers, to put them through a trial to see if they should pass.

To read about the other prophecies in the Mirabilis liber CLICK HERE

Quadratus (est40-129A.D.)

Very little is known about Quadratus as a person other than what is said of him from others. Montanism pointed him out as a prophet who taught prophecy to others but there is no clear evidence of this, however other reliable sources can tell us a few things about him, first of all that he was a disciple of the apostles and that he was based in Athens, Greece where he eventually became the bishop.

Eusebius mentioned Quadratus and said how he had talked about the people who had been healed or raised from the dead by Jesus, and that how these people had lived extra long lives and some were still alive in the second century.

Quadratus is also mentioned by Jerome and of how he wrote a compelling document to the Roman Emperor Hadrian on behalf of Christianity full 'of sound argument and faith and worthy of the apostolic teaching' and spoke of how Christians have been treated unfairly and wrongly by others. However this document, despite mentioned in various sources has not survived the test of time.

Old Document Review 'Book of the Bee'

The Book of the Bee is a collection of theological and historical texts compiled by Solomon of Akhlat in the thirteenth century(est1222). The book consists of 55 chapters discussing various topics including the creation, heaven and earth, the angels, darkness, paradise, Old Testament patriarchs, New Testament events, lists of kings and patriarchs, and the final day of resurrection.

I have to say upon the reading of this book I am very intrigued as its like it gives partial history that complies with the Bible yet it gives additional information on many topics. For example Chapter XXXII is a history on how all the prophets died, listing some as dying in peace and others who were killed or assassinated. This is strange to me because when I researched the biblical perspective of the 12 minor prophets, very little is actually known about many of them, so, this collection of histories of their demise is very interesting to me and I wonder where the original content comes from. It may be that the author collected various beliefs or maybe he simply published a copy of some earlier document concerning the prophets.

In many places this book attempts or succeeds to fill in the missing facts from the Bible, including for example the details of the wise men who came to visit Jesus after his birth, this document names 12 kings who made the journey to visit him (please note the bible does not provide a quantity of visitors only that there were three gifts).

I have had my own theory about the authorship of Revelations for a while now knowing that there was still some debate on the matter. In Chapter XLVIII it is said when the disciple was on Patmos that he himself had a disciple called John who later became the bishop of Ephesus, and that he was the author of the Book of Revelations and that everything he had written down he had heard from John the disciple.

Furthermore there is a chapter dedicated to the end of times and another dedicated to the Antichrist, yet these are written with the ideal that there will be peace after tribulations, that cities will be rebuilt and everything will continue on except in peace.

Old Document Review 'On the Apocalypse of the Apostle John

This old document was written by the dominican preacher Nicholas of Gorran (d.1295) and was composed between 1263 and 1285 A.D. only four copies of the manuscript have survived through the passage of time.

In this document Nicholas analyses the Apocalypse (Revelations) , the most intriguing part of this read was finding both the similarities and differences between Nicholas and another dominican preacher of the same time and same location by the name of Hugh of Saint Cher.

Nicholas believes that the Seven Seals represent the seven parts of the life of Jesus; conception, nativity, death, descent into hell, resurrection, ascension and the coming judgement. Very similar to Hugh's version yet to two preachers cite different references from the Old Testament.

Furthermore he recognizes that the visions from chapter five of Revelations is a continuation of the vision from the previous chapter. To Nicholas, the seven seals also mirror the seven days of existence, that all time is enveloped into seven days. This is obvious not literal to actual days but symbolic days of a greater calender. This is something that the Mayans also believed, that the world goes in cycles of seven days and six nights, that belief was centre to their infamous calender.

Old Document Review on 'The Expositions on the Apocalypse'

This old document was composed around 1235 A.D. by Hugh of Saint Cher (d.1263) under the title of Aser pinguis. Hugh was a dominican preacher and also a theology professor. In this document, he gives comments about the meanings behind the Apocalypse ( otherwise called Revelations).

His views are somewhat similar to that of Apringus, in that the Seven Seals mentioned in the book refer to prophecies sealed in time that were broken by the coming of Christ, in fact he goes as far as to say the 'the book is Christ'.

Hugh goes on to describe the various references from the Old Testament which are the seals, the incarnation, nativity, passion, resurrection, ascension, the sending of the Holy Spirit and lastly the coming judgement. These are all referenced to the seven miracles of Jesus. Note the slight differences to beliefs of Apringus from hundreds of years previous, this may be due to passage of time that ideas may change, but this document gives insight to what was believed within church circles in the 13Th century.

Most profound was a reference which claimed that Mary was not just the mother of Jesus, but in fact she was a prophetess!! This is formulated based upon one of the prophecies that formed one of the seals and quoted from Isaiah.

Prophet Hosea (est750-715BC)

Prophet Information:

Hosea son of Beeri, of the tribe of Issachar and was from the town of Be'elmath, according to the Book of the Bee he died in peace and was buried in his own land, yet modern beliefs is that he was buried in the cemetery of Safed

Mission/Message:

Hosea’s mission from God was to have a relationship with his wife that was similar to God’s relationship with Israel, Hosea seen Israel’s main problem as a failure to acknowledge God.

Documentation:

Hosea is identified as the first of the twelve Minor Prophets and is the only prophet to come from the Northern kingdom of Israel, the book of Hosea is dated by reference to the current kings of Judah; the author of the book is unknown.

Best known for:

-His dramatic relationship with his adulterous wife.

Attributes of his personality:

He was obedient to God’s commands. He had the ability to rebuke his wife in a harsh way, but similarly to take her back in a loving and supportive way. This would point at a man that is slow to anger (his wife bore three children before he rebuked her) yet someone that considers the person not just by their actions, and therefore takes his wife back if she promises not to be with another man again.

Supernatural Aspects:

It says that the “word of God came to him”, and it is said also that “the Lord began to speak through him”

Examples of prophecies:

-He told people about God’s opinion of their way of life, opinions about the kings and foretold their destruction and repentance

-Ch6 verse two it mentions references which could easily be linked to the death of Jesus or the tearing of the old covenant and the making of the new covenant.

End Times Prophecies:

Although some theorists have taken words from Hosea’s prophecies in an attempt to apply them to modern times, my belief is that they applied to his times, and the coming invasion of the northern kingdom.