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 'The prophecy of Saint Severus'

This ancient document forms part of the Mirabilis liber, a collection of prophecies that was published in 1522, however this fourth section of the prophecies is believed to have originally been a 4th century composition or a 15th century composition with some confusion over who the author might be.

This set of prophecies is unlike anything I have read, and is somewhat disjointed in ways.  In places it mentions things such as 'the Church that shall be called diabolical' which could easily relate to modern time Catholic priest scandals, and there is also a reference to the 'time of the giants' which would suggest that the author would have considered other ancient texts about the giants as being the truth such as The Book of Giants and The Book of the Bee.

There is a long and specific prophecy in relation to the city of Ravenna (Italy), the author calls it the 'city of philosophers, built by the children of Noah', yet there will be a great struggle over this place, and indeed in history there has been struggles over Ravenna; with it being at points belonging to the Roman Catholic Empire and at other points it belonged to Italy and has switched between them many times.

However, despite the name, there is the possibility that this prophecy is actually talking about New York, it is called 'city of the peoples and of riches' yet its enemy shall rise and 'shall take into the air' and then says that 'The towers that are your joy shall fall into the dust'.  Could this very clear prophecy actually be predicting the 9/11 attacks?

Either way this moment in time is seen as a turning point leading to battles and wars that have not been seen since the beginning of the world, yet that faith and unity will be reborn in Ravenna (or New York) and the enemies of the Christians will be destroyed until the times of the Antichrist.

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

Old Document Review The Book of Giants

From the Dead Sea Scrolls

This scroll is very hard to read as there are words missing and it is broken into many sections with many parts missing. The document is mean as a record to tell the story of where giants came from and also to tell the story of the battle between the angels and demons.

The scroll tells a couple of stories, the first is of how two hundred demons came down to earth and fought battles, taking women as their trophies, enslaving them and subjecting them to torture, then once it was realised, angels came down and done battle with them and destroyed most of them. Part of this story includes one section mentioning how the demons revealed mysteries and arts to men which brought rebellion and ruin. It says that the demons were eventually sealed up on a prison deep in the earth, beneath the mountains.

A strange character mentioned in several parts of the text is someone called Enoch (an apostle) who is compared to Christ and other religious figures. It is clear that wherever this character goes that he is feared and also obeyed. At one point the addresses a gathering of demons and criminals, at another he commands an angel from a distance to change direction and give instruction. Enoch is also mentioned in the story of the demons being imprisoned. Enoch is also mentioned in the bible in the list of descendants of Adam and also in the book of Hebrews where it is said Enoch did not die but was taken up to heaven because he had pleased God.

The giants themselves are said to be the offspring from demons and women, they are said to be war-like, they fight with each other and for other people, but also that the life expectancy of the giants is a long time of around a thousand years, so long that they are considered to be immortal. The giants lived in 36 different towns that were specifically designed to support their needs. It is because of their origin, and their nature that they were damned or cursed and their children.

There are a couple of very strange issues I came across, the first is the mentioning that earth is a sphere (knowledge of the universe), the second ‘three worlds’ are mentioned, possibly meaning heaven hell and the earth but this is perhaps something that fuels belief in aliens! Lastly I came across the mentioning of ‘five elements’. The five elements form the basic understandings behind Buddhism, and Buddha is mentioned elsewhere in the documents, here it is noted that the five elements are being consumed in great quantities by the Giants (earth, water, air, fire, the fifth of things that are beyond the material world).