Over the past ten years I have been researching family ancestors of my husband’s line who came to America in 1638. It was very exciting to find their signatures in records dating back to the late 1600s in Connecticut’s town records as well as many historical books that included the family names in the libraries and historical societies in that area. I believe that some of their stories will help us to live better lives and to consider the part we play in helping the lives of our future generations.
The late philosopher and theologian Francis Schaeffer summed things up most clearly when he wrote: “There is a flow to history and culture. This flow is rooted and has its wellspring in the thoughts of people....their thought world determines how they act."
Francis Shaeffer
One classical scholar featured on a recent History Channel DVD noted about Pompeii: "These people did not have a book to follow...they didn't have something to give them a set of rules to obey....they didn't have a 'Bible' per say, in which to guide them and so we find that their value system was extremely different than what we have in America....parents could kill their children....there was rampant sexuality....and a huge gap between the rich and the poor and no one in between; no middle-class.”
The History Channel: Pompeii Buried Alive 1996
For Herod and Israel, the consequences of the birth of Jesus could have involved war, or restrain their lusts, thus, even all of Jerusalem desired no king but Herod at that time. The great Bible commentator,
Matthew Henry
, notes: "The slavery of sin is foolishly preferred by many to the glorious liberty of the children of God, only because they apprehend some present difficulties that necessary revolution of the government in the soul. To Herod and Jerusalem, the kingdom of the Messiah would clash and interfere with the secular powers. To the wise men, however, the star that proclaimed Him king plainly initmated that His kingdom was heavenly, and not of this lower world."
According to the late great philosopher/theologian, Francis Schaeffer, the Greeks popularized humanism, man’s attempt to solve his world without God, the Romans popularized the Greek culture and humanism spread until the time of Christianity, and then Catholic thought took the position of the dominant thinking of the ages. For ancient Rome, society was the absolute. All values had meaning in reference to the city-state (Socrates chose death over exile), but this proved to be an insufficient base to build a society. When they shifted to the worship of finite gods as grounds of accepted values, they found that the gods were limited. The gods were only amplified humanity, not divinity. There was no sufficient reference point intellectually—not big enough or permanent to which to relate their thinking or living. Their weak value system could not bear the strains of life. As a result of the collapse of ideals, Julius Caesar became dictator (100-44 B.C.) and in response to civil disorder, Augustus had authoritarian rule (63 B.C.-A.D. 14; declared Pontifix Maximus in 12 B.C.). As they maintained a facade of republican constitution, they claimed to give peace. The people were ready to accept absolute power for peace. In time the emperor was seen as god. Although religious toleration was supported, the people also had to worship Caesar. Christians were persecuted for not worshipping Caesar and there was a growth of cruelty, decadence, rampant sexuality, and lust for violence. A general apathy was seen in the art and with an expensive government the economy declined. As internal rot weakened the society, barbarians invaded with ease.
“Who is the wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. THIS WISDOM DESCENDETH NOT FROM ABOVE, BUT IS EARTHLY, SENSUAL, DEVILISH” (James 3:13-16). The doctrine of demons is the dissemination of false doctrine: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times SOME SHALL DEPART FROM THE FAITH, GIVING HEED TO SEDUCING SPIRITS, AND DOCTRINES OF DEVILS; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth”(1 Tim. 4: 1-3). The goal of ancient pagan mysteries has been to unite mankind to ensure the survival of the human race and eliminate the fear of war, poverty, sickness, and all elements that comprise God's curse upon mankind. The ancient mystery religions, known in general as "THEOSOPHY," are PAGANISM, WITCHCRAFT, HUMANISM, AND SECULAR SOCIETY. They plan to blend science and religion to create a UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD OF MAN under a one-world state. To the esoterists (deists, theosophists)Christianity is anathema and Christians must be converted to accept all religious expressions. Through aberrant teachings, they comprise a networking system of individuals and groups. John Wimber's Vineyard movement, with its emphasis on signs and wonders, inner healing, Jungian psychology, and church growth leads to "a mystical mindset" that eventually leads to greater religious deception. II Thessalonians 2:3 reveals that there will be a great 'falling away' from the faith that was once delivered to the saints and that this deception would come from within the Church.
CONSTANTINE WAS THE FIRST ECUMENIST. He merged Christianity with paganism. But man in his fallen condition cannot create a utopian society. "The signs of our day indicate that the formation of the last false religious systme is very near. There are three factors working toward that goal: 1) Ecumenism; 2) The New Age Movement; 3) The Rapture. "Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come, until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and exalt himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is HOLDING HIM BACK, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; BUT THE ONE WHO NOW HOLDS HIM BACK will continue to do so UNTIL HE IS TAKEN OUT OF THE WAY." The "He" that is the restrainer is the HOLY SPIRIT. He and only He has been around for two thousand years....
Mystery Babylon~Pastor Jim Mooberry
Syncretism, ecumenism, and unity in diversity are biblically impossible. Although occult literature calls the “New World Order” a “Golden Age,” the Bible describes it as a time of sorrow. Aurelio Peccei, co-founder of the Club of Rome, hold an occultic worldview, biases against Christianity, and believes that orthodox religious beliefs are primitive: “One of the greatest socio-political and economic differences between the future and the present is that the increasingly intertwined structures of the entire global system will produce ‘A Progressive Convergence of the Futures of all Peoples.’ All societies will be bound together even more closely by a network of vital interlinkages, which will condition their relationships with each other for better or for worse. Breaking these links will no longer be conceivable. It would throw the whole system into chaos—which no one would want.”
If these links of which he speaks are truly unbreakable, individual freedoms are very much a thing of the past. Peccei also justifies the establishment of a new universal religion: “....Certain points of doctrine.... have been magnified, provoking schisms, apostasy,.. ‘Without A Sincere Spiritual Awakening, The Renaissance of our True Humanity Will Be Impossible.’”(24). THE ACT OF UNIFYING UNDERLIES ALL OF OCCULTISM. It is a false syncretistic unity instead of true unity in Jesus Christ. The dangers of trying to gain control over society should be self evident. Those who feel we should so will be receptive to a dictatorship that the antichrist will ultimately impose.
Under the new world view, national sovereignty will be unjustifiable. National sovereignty is the right of each individual nation to act as an individual nation, making its own laws and executing its own laws among its people. To the internationalist, national sovereignty is the epitome of global selfishness. Nations need to share their wealth and resources with other nations to eliminate present problems of other countries. To the new world advocate, there is no other viable alternative to the future survival of civilization than of a new global community under a common leadership!
Theosophist Foster Bailey, husband of Alice Bailey, refers to Hitler’s role as Satan’s disciple in his book “The Plan”: “Another approved hierarchical project is the uniting of the nations of Europe into one cooperating peaceful community... One attempt was to begin by uniting the peoples living in the Rhine River Valley using that river as a binding factor. It was an attempt by a disciple but it did not work. Now another attempt is in full swing, namely the.... European Common Market.”
IDENTICAL TO THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT OF TODAY, THE NAZI WORLDVIEW ALSO GREW OUT OF THE SAME OCCULTIC ROOT: THEOSOPHY. In fact, the New Age Movement could easily bring forth another Adolf Hitler as well as another holocaust. Joseph Carr, in his book “The Twisted Cross,” exposes that THE NAZI'S WORSHIPPED PAGAN GODS AND THE GESTAPO CONDUCTED MYSTERY INITIATION RITES AND SWORE BLOOD OATHS TO SATAN, and the top Nazi leaders were dedicated students of the black magic arts and witchcraft. The Nazis also believed in evolution, karma, and reincarnation, which are all New Age concepts (Hunt, "Occult Invasion").
The SS did send scientists and medical men to Tibet in 1938 ... the same men who would come back and authorize horrific experiments in the death camps. Himmler did send an SS officer to search for the Holy Grail. And Hitler did read a lot of occult literature while penniless and starving in Vienna.
TV Preview: Nazi Prophecies on the History Channel
"Nazi Prophecies" will go some way towards explaining the intellectual atmosphere and social context in which all this occult obfuscation took place. It goes even further, though, with commentators such as Nancy Snow and Marla Stone who speak about the ability of Hitler to control the masses through violence and intimidation, and how societies are often guided onto a path they would not consciously choose if they thought they actually had a choice."
NATURE RELIGION is a religion of ritual. It is a universal religion and it is ecumenical. PRACTICING WITCH Patricia Telesco and AMERICAN INDIAN Don Two Eagles Waterhawk write of UNITING ALL OF MANKIND INTO A GREATER COMMUNITY which we are all a part of: THE EARTH AND HER PEOPLE. In their book “Sacred Beat,” they believe that as we all come together we grow and transform the coming together of the “All” in community will round out the whole. THE “ALL” IS THE TOTALITY OF OUR DIVERSITY AND HARMONY OF WILL AND THOUGHT THAT CREATES THE “POTENTIAL” TO RAISE THE DIRECT POWER FOR THE GOOD OF THE “ALL.” To the Indian tribal religions, the unity of life is manifested in the existence of the tribal community, for it is only in the tribal community that any Indian religions have relevance.
Ecumenical Sacred Mesa
On Oprah’s fall 2003 show, the second week of October, she was sporting a bright purple sweater. She commented to the camera, “Well, we all know how much I like the color purple.” A few years back Oprah appeared in and promoted “A Color Purple.” If you read this book you will encounter, lesbianism, the power of women, the belief that “God is in everything,” and New Age thoughts like “feeling like the bark of a tree.” The color purple promoted nature worship with the statement: “I think it pisses God off when you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.” God was believed to “be in everything” and they thought they needed to love “everything.” “The Color Purple,” describes the main character, Celie, formulating a new god with the help of a woman friend Shug. She creates a god that has no gender and few rules of behavior, except that she should love all creation. It is an essentially feminist, antipatriarchal, antiviolence novel in which good comes out by the actions of women. “Harpo” is a character central to this story (Oprah’s Harpo Productions). Most men think they are superior to women and have a right to control them, but Harpo runs a happy marriage with his comical need to dominate. A new way for men and women to relate evolves as women find strength from their support and love of their women friends and the men feed into that network of love and support when they give up their old misguided values and return to their truer selves. In her July 2003 issue of “O” magazine, on page 27, Oprah says “May the force be with you.” She reveals, “I believe every living thing carries its own energy force, and when we connect with the positive vibes in the air around us, we also infuse our aspirations with a breath of life.” She invites her readers to power up with her articles on energy—how to get it, manage it,..”
Dr. B, Angelina, Oprah and the Nature of Things Purple~Fairchild
“The scientific culture no longer has a God that is independent of nature. We share a common master, Gaia.” We are not to dominate nature as taught in the Bible, but we are to become co creators with nature in a life sustaining way. Breathing techniques, biofeedback, and meditation will allow our organism to be “released.” “Our revolution is not just for us, but for our children, for the generations of living being to come,” claims Rosemary Radford Ruether, a professor of theology and author of “Gaia & God.” She concludes that spirituality and corporate liturgies will symbolize and express our “altered consciousness” and that this can be brought through the streets in protest marches and demonstrations. Not only does she promote “public liturgies” that can be sought through the arts of music and dance as a model of “transformed consciousness,” but that we have to “think globally because we are all interdependent.”
The Second Great Awakening (1800-1830) was also a time of spurred interest in MANY ALTERNATIVES TO CHRISTIANITY. The “psychic highway” followed the Erie Canal through New York west of the Catskills and the Adirondack Mountains. Rochester and Utica became known as the “Burned-over District” as religious revivals spread across the district.
The Burned Over District
Early Mormonism was started there as well as Spiritualism, which eventually developed in different directions. During the years from 1812-1860, a “hothouse” atmosphere surfaced for social experimentation and religious creativity. As our country moved into commercial greatness, crowded cities staged popular speakers and held demonstrations were political and religious ideas were exchanged.
Western Civilization has largely been shaped by the esoteric philosophies of secret societies working through the influence of members in strategic political positions. Most secret societies are based on the basic philosophy of deism which is based on human reason rather than revelation (Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, Illuminsim, etc.). They all plan to establish a one-world society based on human reason and personal freedom. A democracy can be easily changed into a world society, especially if wars can be used to persuade the masses to seek safety and peace in a world federation of states.
Scripture tells us that man’s inward thoughts and intents of the heart are corrupt (Jeremiah 17:9). Scripture also tells us that the love of many will grow cold toward the end of the church age and that sin will abound (Matthew 24:12). Even in the Millennium Jesus and His saints will need to rule with a “rod of iron” against those who will rebel against His government (Rev. 2:27; 12;5, 19;15). God always allows evil to exist in the world to test the hearts of men so that none will be without excuse. We are not to take for ourselves what He has not ordained.
Esoteric Christianity is secret teaching known only to the “inner circles of Christian initiates.” The Esoteric perspective in this context means the "inner" (eso-), in the sense of the inner consciousness; the contemplative, Gnostic, wisdom perspective, as opposed to the "outer" (exo-) or Exoteric, i.e. the outer or surface or everyday consciousness. Estoteric and Exoteric are the two basic ways of looking at reality – the intuitive and the rational. In the early days it was carefully hidden from the masses of ORDINARY IGNORANT CONVERTS. “Inner Christianity” had adopted the secret wisdom of the ancients, handed down from generation to generation. Anna Bonus Kingsford used chloroform to ALTER HER CONSCIOUSNESS TO OPEN UP TO THE UNDERWORLD so that she could work through dreams and magic. She and her companion, Edward Maitland, identified “THE SPIRITUAL ALCHEMY” of the gnostic and Hermetic teaching of the early Christian world along with the wisdom of the Neoplatonist philosophers and Muslim Sufis. In the 1880s they founded the “Hermetic Society” and had close contact with Theosophist Madame Blavatsky and the “Order of the Golden Dawn.”
HermeticismAnnie Beasant
later took over after the death of Blavatsky. In Beseant’s book, “Esoteric Christianity,” she claimed that her purpose was to THROW SOME LIGHT ON THE “DEEP TRUTHS UNDERLYING CHRISTIANITY.” Many gnostic churches began to spring up in France and England and Edward Schuris’ 1889 book, “The Great Initiates,” stated that there is a similarity of the teachings of all the major religions and their founders. He suggested that Jesus of Nazareth had been trained by the unorthodox Jewish sect of the Essenes and was subsequently initiated into the mysteries of Ancient Egypt.
Ecclesia Gnostica
; The Esoteric Perspective:
The Estoteric Perspective
Theosophists and anthroposophy became well established throughout Western Europe and in the United States through Waldorf Schools. Waldorf Schools integrate sensual experience of art and music with more traditional curricula to nourish children’s bodies and minds. The Theosophical Society became successfully institutionalized in the early twentieth century and published books devoted to promoting esoteric knowledge and Asian religious thought. The Anthroposophical movement, which was started by former Theosophist Rudolph Steiner through his 1911 book “The Submerged Continents of Atlantis and Lemuria,” blended Rosicrucian (today’s Freemasons), Christian, Theosophical, and occult thought and stressed the natural accessibility of divine wisdom.
Psychic and founder of Arcane School, Alice Bailey was influenced by the Theosophical Society and adopted the Spiritualist practice of medium ship. Her school promoted a program set forth by beings she channeled called the “Great White Brotherhood,” a group of spiritual masters that included a Tibetan teacher. Bailey was responsible for popularizing the terms “New Age” and the “Age of Aquarius.” She believed in karma and reincarnation as well as some aspects of Christianity. She, and psychic Edgar Cayce, set the standard for New Age channelers and described a world populated by disincarnate spirits, spirit guides, devas, and angels.
"The World Council of Churches (WCC) is the broadest and most inclusive among the many organized expressions of the modern ecumenical movement, a movement whose goal is Christian unity....For its member churches, the WCC is a unique space: one in which they can reflect, speak, act, worship and work together, challenge and support each other, share and debate with each other. As members of this fellowship, WCC member churches:- are called to the goal of visible unity in one faith and one eucharistic fellowship." But "EUCHARISTIC" IS A CATHOLIC TERM. In fact, a priest must perform the mystical ceremony, or occult ritual, which is said to actually create the real body of Christ for a continual sacrifice since the Catholic faith does not understand Jesus words on the cross when he said "it is finished."
The Roman Catholic Church is at the forefront of this movement to unite religions, specifically Pope John Paul. The World Council of Churches promotes church unity and the unity of the human family. Ecumenism in the Middle East is in the process of making churches more open. It is also an attempt to bring the church, the synagogue, and the mosque closer to one another. It is a vision of one god for all the faiths. Rome curses those who hold to “justification of faith alone.” She teaches that grace is conferred continually through her sacraments. This makes a place for her as a necessary means through which inner righteousness is given (1994 Catechism: “Justification is conferred in baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy.”) Inner righteousness is located in the person, not Christ, and it can be lost and may need to be conferred again and again. Rome uses conferred justification to claim that the work of her sacraments is the work of the Holy Spirit: “Sacramental grace is the grace of the Holy Spirit, given by Christ and proper to each sacrament.” Sacraments replace Jesus Christ.
Catholic Answers
The New Community (worldview): 1) Patriarchal (Father God)-----Matriarchal (Mother Earth—Gaia) 2) Hierarchical Leadership-----“Decentralized”—Totalitarian in a Crisis 3) Accountability to God-----Accountability to fellow man/earth
The late American psychic Edgar Cayce, directed by a spirit guide, claims, “KNOW SELF AND YE WOULD KNOW THE OCCULT (33443-1).” “Each spirit, each manifestation of Life is One, and a manifestation either in this, that or the other sphere...or space of development towards the knowledge, ...the conception of the One—Him—I Am Jehovah—Yah—All One!” (262-32) In conclusion, in the manifestation of all force, power, motion, vibration,...is in its essence of One Force. (Frejer, B. Ernest, “The Edgar Cayce Companion,” 1995, Barnes & Noble, Inc.)
Edgar Cayce continues, “…changes are coming, this may be sure—an evolution, or revolution, in the ideas of religious thought. The basis of it for the world will eventually come out of Russia; not Communism, no!—but rather that which is the basis of same, as Christ taught—His kind of Communism.” Cayce describes occult forces as the application of unseen or unfelt laws to the physical or material life...(4185-2). “Know self and ye would know the occult (33443-1).” “Each spirit, each manifestation of Life is One, and a manifestation either in this, that or the other sphere...or space of development towards the knowledge, ...the conception of the One—Him—I Am Jehovah—Yah—All One!” (262-32) In conclusion, in the manifestation of all force, power, motion, vibration,...is in its essence of One Force. (Frejer)
A number of people who are promoting the 'New World Order,' 'the Age of Aquarius,' or the 'ascended masters,' are sadly uninformed as to where all this is leading. For the many people who participate in the many organizations and groups related to the New Age and the New World Order, simply from a desire to further international understanding or make the world a better place, it will be a rude awakening when they learn of the 'planetary initiation' and 'global cleansing action,' especially for the Jews, that is planned by the New Agers. In the "Amazing and Accurate Expose' of the New Age by a Secular Jew" by Tim and Barbara Aho, a threat to Judaism is exposed that is presented by the Lubavitcher/Kabbalist Movement, which is Jewish mysticism derived from the same Chaldean source as the New Age. Not only is the New Age explained thoroughly, but the genocical plan which has been determind for the Jews. Attention is made specifically to the fact that the average Jewish/Christian conservative believes that the New Age/New World Order conspiracy is extrinsic to orthodox Judaism and Christianity, and fails to discern the infiltration of his respective religion/government by the false prophets of evangelicalism who are part and parcel of the very conspiracy which they pretend to espose.
Expose of the New Age
According to the false "Gospel in the Stars," the Church Age will transition into an Age of the Spirit. The occult refers to the pre-flood era as the Golden Age. This Golden Age/Age of the Spirit will be ushered in by monastics. Not only are the Gnostics are preparing and making plans for the Golden Age, but Reformed Protestants and Roman Catholics are promoting Amillennialism. This false Milennium is attempting to return mankind to the pagan pre-flood society called Atlantis, known as the Golden Age, the Age of Aquarius, Age of Michael,, New Age or Age of the Spirit. According to the Scriptures, it will be halted by the Lord Jesus Christ after 3 1/2 years, following the near destruction of mankind and planet earth. At this time Satan will be released for the final deception.
In Revelation 3:16 God reveals his disgust with those who compromise in the Church when He says, "I will spit you out of my mouth." The lukewarm church will cease to be God’s witness on earth and the church will only continue until the end of the church age. At the end of the church age true born again believers will be raptured into heaven, marking its end, after which, follows the seven-year Tribulation period.
“And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up” (Matt.13:4). Some seeds fell beside the road and birds came and devoured them. Later, Jesus says IT IS THE DEMONS WHO COME AND TAKE THE WORD FROM THE HEART SO THEY CANNOT BE PRODUCTIVE. “Which indeed is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof”(Matt.13:32). This plant that is going to be planted is smaller than all of the other seeds, but when it is fully grown it is larger than the other garden plants and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air can come and nest in its branches. THIS IS CHRISTENDOM today, those denominations that profess to be Christian, yet we see the demonic—just as the Lord predicted would occur. THAT WHOLE BODY OF CHRISTENDOM WILL GO ALL THE WAY INTO THE BABYLONIAN SYSTEM ONCE THE TRUE CHURCH IS REMOVED BECAUSE ALL THAT WILL BE LEFT IS THE DEMONIC.
Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therin” (Hebrews 13: 8, 9).
“Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. …It there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed. For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” (2 John 9-11; KJV)
