Chapter 36 Preview: (Prequel to: “I and My Father Are One.”) This chapter briefly explains the common thread of ten “Christian heresies” as well as tracing the same teaching into other world religions. Most of the original heresies deal with Yeshua’s (Jesus’) nature”. Even now these heresies are tainting the “Seven Churches”. We also look at why the Greek word for “heresy” also doubles for “sect” or denomination! This chapter sets the stage for the sequel: , explaining the “overlooked” Biblical explanation to the mystery: “The mystery of the true religion that was revealed in the flesh is truly great ...”
Have you accepted heresy into your religious beliefs? Unfortunately, many people have. How do you know that some of your beliefs are not heretical? A common thread of heresy has infiltrated Christianity since the first century. In fact, so “many antimessiahs” had “arisen” that the apostles thought that “the end times” were presently upon them! (1 John 2:18). Intriguingly, the other major religions of the world have been infected with a very similar ploy that will in the end time serve the “false prophet”.
There are many actions that the Bible says are unacceptable, but actions are essentially thoughts being acted on. “Heretical” thought leads to sin—usually involving at least the first three of the Ten Commandments. For the purposes of this chapter, “heresy” is any belief that will keep you from being in the best resurrection! It is very important to know whose definition of heresy is being used!
Here is the traditional definition of “heresy” from the Encyclopedia Wikipedia as it is used in the English speaking world:
“Heresy, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is a ‘theological or religious opinion or doctrine maintained in opposition, or held to be contrary, to the catholic or Orthodox doctrine of the Christian Church, or, by extension, to that of any church, creed, or religious system, considered as orthodox. By extension, heresy is an opinion or doctrine in philosophy, politics, science, art, etc., at variance with those generally accepted as authoritative.’ The study of heresy is heresiology.
“The word “heresy” comes from the Greek ..., hairesis (from ...haireomai, “choose”), which means either a choice of beliefs or a faction of dissident believers. It was given wide currency by Irenaeus in his tract Contra Hae“choose”reses (Against Heresies) to describe and discredit his opponents in the early Christian Church. He described his own position as orthodox (from ortho- “straight” + doxa “thinking”) and his position eventually evolved into the position of the early Christian Church.
“Thus it will be perceived that “heresy” has no purely objective meaning [other than sect!]: the category exists only from the point-of-view of a position within a sect that has been previously defined [by themselves] as “orthodox”. Thus, too, any nonconformist view within any field may be perceived as “heretical” by others within that field who are convinced that their view is “orthodox”; in the sciences this extension is made tongue-in-cheek.
“... For instance, Roman Catholics held Protestantism as a heresy while some non-Catholics considered Catholicism the “Great Apostasy.”...For a heresy to exist there must be an authoritative system of dogma designated as orthodox, such as those proposed by Catholicism.”
The above definition and commentary was derived from the Catholic usage of the word. Wikipedia goes on to explain the primary use of the word as used since at least the time of Irenaeus:
“While the term is often used by laymen to indicate any nonorthodox belief such as Paganism, by definition heresy can only be committed by someone who considers himself a Christian, but rejects the teachings of the Catholic Church. A person who completely renounces Christianity is not considered a heretic, but an apostate, and a person who renounces the authority of the Church but not its teachings is a schismatic.”
It is very important to note that the Biblical Greek usage of “hairesis” or “heresy” means belonging to ANY “sect” (or any denomination)—and has NOTHING inherently to do with belonging to the WRONG sect or being “dissident believers” as Wikipedia states! In fact the Greek word for “heresy” and “sect” is the very same word—not two separate words!
Here is the complete Greek definition of heresy/sect:
According to Paul, you are either 'chosen ones' (saints) or not. The early 'cherished ones' didn’t have a corporate name! However they were soon being called “Nazarenes” and “Christians”. The true body of the Messiah wasn’t divided in Elohim’s (God’s’s) view. It has always been a spiritual body of Commandment Keeping
1 Corinthians 1:11-13 Friends, members of Chloe’s household have reported to me that there is some strife among you.
12 I’m telling you that one of you says, “I’m of Paul”, and another says, “I follow Paul”, and another says, “I follow Apollos”, and another says, “I follow Cephas”, and another says, “I follow the Messiah.”
13 Now was the Messiah divided? Or was Paul crucified for you? Or were you immersed in Paul’s name?—The Gabriel Bible Unfortunately, ever since the ministry of Paul there have been divisions in “My faith”. The body of Messiah is presently divided into Seven “Churches” (Revelation 2-3) “Seven Churches”
Acts 20:29-30 I know that after I’m gone ferocious wolves will come in among you and they’ll have no mercy on the flock. 30 Also, some of your own men will rise up and oppose the true path in order to lure disciples into following them.
And the collective “flock” will be relatively “little”:
Luke 12:32 Don’t be afraid little flock, because your Father is delighted to give you the Kingdom.
Luke 18:7-8 Won’t Yehovah give His Select justice when they call on Him day and night, even more readily, tho He seems slow in acting on their behalf? 8 I tell you, He’ll give them justice quickly. Yet when the Human Son comes, will He find faith on the earth?
Of course a very large flock of people claim to be Christians. On Judgment Day, many who claim to belong to Jesus or Yeshua will be told but that is another topic.
The Biblical use of “heresy” is commented on in Is Exclusivity “The Unpardonable Sin”?
Rather than use a corrupted word such as heresy has become, it would be better to use terms such as “false prophets”, “false apostles”, “false brethren” or “false teachers”. Yet we are stuck with the word heresy.
From this point on in this chapter the COMMON ENGLISH USE of the word heresy will be used.
The vast majority of the earliest heresies have to do with the relationship between Elohim (God) the Father and His Son. Heresies, once established, don’t seem to ever go away; they just adapt. The “primordial heresies” of the early Antimessiahs dealt with a term commonly christened the “nature of Jesus”. Anyone teaching that Yeshua is not truly One with the Father is Antimessiah (as defined by the Bible). Many serious misconceptions have been adopted by Yehovah’s children, but they are still Yehovah’s children. However a teaching that excludes Yeshua from the “God Family” will cost its proponents their opportunity to be “blessed and holy” in the best resurrection. (Revelation 20:6)
2 Peter 2:1 There have been false prophets in the world, and there will also be false teachers among you who will introduce destructive heresies [1], and contradict the Sovereign who bought them and bring on themselves swift and eternal destruction.
[1] Sect and heresy are the same word in Greek.
John explained the significance of Yeshua’s name—meaning His character and everything 'special' (holy) about Him to His audiences. Understanding that Yeshua was Yehovah in the flesh along with keeping the Commandments are prerequisite signs of being a true Believer. The converse, to make the point even more clearly, is also stated, that being one “who doesn’t confess that Yeshua the Messiah has come in the flesh” is not “of Aloha” (God). While the following passage does not elaborate on exactly how “the spirit of the Antimessiah” was and is being packaged, we do know that it has to do with Yeshua coming as a human being—“in the flesh”. Notice that this is literally an “eleventh commandment”! (Ignore the added Chapter break.)
1 John 3:23 This is His Commandment: that we believe in His Son Yeshua Messiah’s name [5] and love each other as He has commanded us [6].
[5] This is demonstrated by obedience to the first four Commandments. [6] This is demonstrated by obedience to the last six Commandments
1 John 4:1-4 Dear friends, don’t believe every spirit [1], but scrutinize the spirits as to whether they are from Yehovah, because many false prophets/teachers 'wander' the world. 2 This is how the 'special' spirit can be recognized: every spirit that admits that Yeshua Messiah has come in the flesh is from Yehovah. 3 Any spirit that doesn’t admit that Yeshua Messiah has come in the flesh isn’t from Yehovah, but he is of the spirit of the false [Gr. “Anti”] Messiah who you have heard is coming, and is already in the world. 4 But you, new converts, belong to Yehovah, and you have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than those who are in the world.
[1] The Lamsa version arbitrarily replaces “spirit” with “prophecy” in the first three verses.
John equated rejecting the most elemental identity of Yeshua with Commandment breaking. Here are a couple of my favorite Bible verses that illustrate the significance of abiding by Yehovah’s Ten Commandments:
Revelation 14:12 Blessed are those who obey His Commandments [2]. They’ll have access to the Tree of Life and be permitted to enter thru the gates into the city.
[2] The Greek omits “Who with blood.”
Revelation 22:14 Blessed are those who obey His Commandments [2]. They’ll have access to the Tree of Life and be permitted to enter thru the gates into the city.
[2] The Wescott & Hort versions of Revelation (most modern versions) inexcusably substitute “wash your robes” for “obey the Commandments”, unlike the Peshitta and the Majority text versions (the KJV “family”). See Matthew 19:16-19.
The Catholic position was developed over the centuries. Each time a “heretic” espoused a “new and improved” version of Yeshua, the Catholic Church, over a period of centuries, modified its creeds and terminology in response. Usually at the core of the dissention was the belief that Yehovah, as a Trinity—three persons but one essence—made no sense. The official response was in essence that it did not need to make sense! The Trinity was said to be a mystery beyond human comprehension, and that it was meant to be a matter of faith, not logic.
The words heresy (and heretic) essentially mean a belief, (or believer) that differs from the majority belief. That being the case, one man’s “truth” is always another man’s heresy! Of course the term is used for beliefs that are so objectionable to the majority faction that they seek to eradicate the concept. Historically, when the “authorities” decide that a belief is heretical, they have always removed the offending supporters by either excommunication or extermination. Those who were vocal always received the final solution. “Ultimate truth” has always been ascertained beginning with a pen and ending with a sword. At one time the Nestorian church (more on them soon) had the largest number of adherents, but most of the followers were later exterminated.
First, I want to address the “Christian heresies”, then I’ll touch on “Substitute Messiahs”. The next chapter: “I and My Father are ONE” focuses on the elementary explanation of the nature of Yeshua—hidden in plain sight!
Below is a synopsis of Ten better known heresies, (needless to say, this is my point of view) which span the extremes of Yeshua being purely human to His being purely heavenly.
“Adoptionism” is an error concerning Christ that first appeared in the second century. Those who held it denied the preexistence of Christ and, therefore, His deity. Adoptionists taught that Jesus was tested by God and after passing this test and upon His baptism; He was granted supernatural powers by God and adopted as the Son. As a reward for His great accomplishments and perfect character Jesus was raised from the dead and adopted into the Godhead.”
“Apollinarianism”...heretical doctrine taught by Apollinaris or Apollinarius (c.315–c.390), bishop of Laodicea, near Antioch. A celebrated scholar and teacher, author of scriptural commentary, philosophy, and controversial treatises, he propounded the theory that Jesus possessed the Logos in place of a human mind, and hence, while perfectly divine, he was not fully human. Apollinarianism was popular in spite of its repeated condemnation, particularly by the First Council of Constantinople.” (I had to find a new live link.)
“Arianism” ARIUS, one of the most famous heretics; b. about 256, in Libya (according to others, in Alexandria); d. 336, at Constantinople. He was educated by Lucian, presbyter in Antioch, and held a prominent position as presbyter in the church of Alexandria when the Arian controversy with Bishop Alexander began (about 318) concerning the eternal deity of Christ and his equality with the Father (homoousia), which he denied, holding that Christ was of a different essence, and a creature of the Father, though created before the world. He is described as a tall, lean man, with a downcast brow, very austere habits, considerable learning, and a smooth, winning address, but quarrelsome disposition. The Silence of his enemies conclusively proves that his general moral character was irreproachable (like that of Nestorius and Pelagius); and, if it had not been for his heresy, he would have been highly esteemed. His enemies said that the real cause of his opposition to Alexander was a personal grudge, because he was not himself elected bishop; but the subordination views which he had imbibed in the Antiochian school are sufficient to explain the direction of his development and the course of his life. Condemned by the synod of Alexandria (320), he left the city; but he was kindly received both by Eusebius of Caesarea and Eusebius of Nicomedia, and it was evident that not a few of the Asiatic churches favored his ideas. A reconciliation was brought about between him and Alexander; but hardly had he returned to Alexandria before the strife broke out again, and with still greater violence. A letter from Constantine, addressed to Alexander and Arius, and carried to Alexandria by Hosius of Cordova, availed nothing: the whole Christian world rang with the contest ....”
“Docetism”,(from Greek dokein, “to seem”), Christian heresy and one of the earliest Christian sectarian doctrines, affirming that Christ did not have a real or natural body during his life on earth but only an apparent or phantom one. Though its incipient forms are alluded to in the New Testament, such as in the Letters of John (e.g., 1 John 4:1–3; 2 John 7), Docetism became more fully developed as an important doctrinal position of Gnosticism, a religious dualist system of belief arising in the 2nd century ad which held that matter was evil and the spirit good and claimed that salvation was attained only through esoteric knowledge, or gnosis. The heresy developed from speculations about the imperfection or essential impurity of matter. More thoroughgoing Docetists asserted that Christ was born without any participation of matter and that all the acts and sufferings of his life, including the Crucifixion, were mere appearances. They consequently denied Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension into heaven. Milder Docetists attributed to Christ an ethereal and heavenly body but disagreed on the degree to which it shared the real actions and sufferings of Christ. Docetism was attacked by all opponents of Gnosticism, especially by Bishop Ignatius of Antioch in the 2nd century.
“Monophysitism” is the doctrine that Jesus Christ had only one nature, rather than two—divine and human. This belief is sometimes known as Eutychianism, after Eutyches, a mid–5th–century archimandrite of a Constantinople monastery. Eutyches taught that in Jesus Christ the humanity was absorbed by the divinity, “dissolved like a drop of honey in the sea.” Eutyches fought against the Nestorian doctrine that the two natures of Christ represented two distinct persons. His doctrine was condemned as heretical, however, at the Council of Chalcedon in 451.
“Strict Monophysitism”, or Eutychianism, explains Yeshua’s one nature in one of four ways:
“Nestorianism” “A native of Germanicia in Syria, Nestorius became Patriarch of Constantinople in 428. Having studied in a monastery in Antioch, probably under Theodore of Mopsuesta, he became a fierce opponent of heterodoxy, his first official act as patriarch being the burning of an Arian chapel ....
“The dispute between Nestorius and Cyril centered in the relationship between the two natures in Christ and represents the divergence between the two major schools of ancient Christology, the Antiochene and the Alexandrian. The former emphasized the reality of Christ’s humanity and was wary of any true communicatio idiomatum, or communication of the attributes from one nature to the other (hence Nestorius’s aversion to the notion of the Logos’s being born or suffering; later Reformed theologians have maintained the same kind of concerns). The latter emphasized Christ’s essential deity, tended to affirm a real communicatio, and was equally wary of what sounded like division in Christ’s person (Lutheran theologians have tended to follow the Alexandrian emphases).
“... Today the Nestorian Church) is found in small communities in Syria, Iraq, Iran, and India.
“Nestorius and his followers fled from persecution in the Byzantine Empire after the Council of Ephesus 431 banned him and his teachings. They migrated to Persia and from there launched one of the most significant missionary movements. By the end of the 8th century they had spread to China and from Central Asia through Afghanistan to India, probably becoming the most numerous church in the world by the 9th century.
“However, the Mongol invasions and the consolidation of Islam throughout these areas have now reduced this church to its present-day numbers of around 100,000.”
There is a Nestorian website; I really did not spend much time on it:
Then there was Sabellianism:
“Sabellianism One of several forms of Modalistic Monarchianism that appeared in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, Sabellianism was a Christian heresy named after Sabellius, a priest excommunicated by Pope Callistus I in 220. Denying the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, Sabellius contended that Yehovah is three only in relation to the world, in so many “manifestations” or “modes.” The unity and identity of Yehovah are such that the Son of Elohim did not exist before the incarnation; because the Father and the Son are thus one, the Father suffered with the Son in his passion and death (a view called Patripassionism)”.
“Socianism” is from the Latin word “socius”, meaning “companion”. This heresy is extant in two widely divergent forms: Unitarianism and the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
“Socianus asserted that Jesus was truly a mortal man. He was born of a virgin. He was separated from all other men due to the holiness of his life. He was not God, but he received inspiration from God. Thus, he had divine vision and divine power although he was not their author. He was sent by God with His supreme authority on a mission to mankind. Socianus supported these beliefs with a comprehensive citation and confident [exegesis?] of the relevant passages from the Scriptures. His subtle and able argument gave a rational meaning to the word of Christ. Jesus was not the Word made flesh. He was a man who achieved victory over wrong action in his life in the flesh. He did not exist before the world came into existence. It was permissible to invoke the help of Jesus in prayer as long as he was not worshiped as God.
Charisma is the best tool of deception of any heretic:
“So great was the author and patron of this sect [Socianism] in whom all the qualities, which excite the admiration and attract the regard of men, were united; so that he charmed, as it were, by a kind of fascination all with whom he conversed, and left on the mind of all a strong impression of admiration and love. He so excelled in the loftiness of his genius and suavity of his disposition, such was the strength of his reasoning and the force of his eloquence, so signal were the virtues which he displayed in the sight of all, which he...possessed...in an extraordinary degree; so great were his natural endowments and so exemplary was his life that he appeared to captivate the affection of mankind.
Here is a fine definition of Trinitarianism:
“The Trinity affirms the unity of God, but requires us to conceive of His unity, not as an abstract or indeterminate self-identity, not as ‘sterile, monotonous simplicity,’ but as a unity rich in distinctions and perfections, —the unity of an infinite fullness of life and love, the unity of a Godhead in which there are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a trinity of persons, a diversity of properties, a variety of offices, a multiplicity of operations, yet sameness of nature, equality of power and glory, oneness in purpose and affection, harmony of will and work. It finds its dogmatic expression as to what is ultimate in it in the formula —One substance in three persons, of which the first eternally generates the second, and the third eternally proceeds from the first and second.”—[deleted title] Dr. Robert Flint, Encyclopedia Britannica, Art. “Theism.”
Huh?...And now for some straight talk from the same link.
There is a revealing Trinitarian saying: “If you try to explain the Trinity, you will lose your mind. But if you deny it, you will lose your soul.” This confounding statement makes me wonder if the writer himself had lost his mind or his eternity or was simply trying to encourage the gullible not to dwell on what the church was saying without studying the Bible for themselves.
Many excellent articles are on the net that expose the Trinity doctrine as being pagan in origin. They primarily show the numerous trinities that have existed in history, beginning with Nimrod, the grandson of Noah. They also describe in great historic detail how the Trinity was adopted into the Catholic Church centuries after Yeshua died.
A simple primer on the topic exposing the flaws in this heresy can be found on this offsite link.
In addition to this article, many incredibly well written historical articles on the evolution of the Trinity can be found on Unitarian web sites. There have been about sixteen centuries to accumulate evidence disproving the Trinity and the Unitarians have assembled all of these facts. Unfortunately, once they have dazzled you with the overwhelming evidence, shattering the dominant viewpoint, they invariably try to get you to disregard Yeshua’s eternal nature, before you can get back on your feet.
A classic history book, written in 1858, The Two Babylons records considerable information about the original trinities; as well as information about the origin of many other “Christian” ideas. The entire book is Online.
Christian Unitarianism: (Not Unitarian Universalist, most of whom do not claim to be Christians) denies that Yeshua is Yehovah. Calling this “Christian” is actually a contradiction in terms because they deny the Messiah (Jude 1:4). Christianity without Yeshua as Elohim defeats the whole purpose. Since there is but one Yehovah, they believe that Yeshua must not be Yehovah. Some believe that Yeshua was an angelic type of being who got promoted; others believe that He was created when He was born to Mary.
Unitarians believe in an incredible conspiracy theory that says, in essence, that all of the Bible translators, of all versions deliberately altered dozens of passages concerning the Deity of Yeshua.
I have encountered one excellent article on a Unitarian web site. I have been extremely reluctant to cite this site because of the threat Unitarianism poses to salvation. They do credit Yeshua with being an excellent “person” (as do the Muslims). This offsite link adds an enlightening dimension to His last statement as a human that is quite inspiring. Should anyone find this kind of information on another site, without involving plagiarism or copyright infringement, please let me know!
Tolerance of Unitarian teachings among Sabbath keeping groups has gained a foothold as explained in an excerpt from this Wikipedia article:
“Occasionally, especially in Protestant history, traditionally trinitarian groups grow friendly to or incorporate unitarianism. Friendliness toward unitarianism has sometimes gone hand-in-hand with anti-Catholicism. In some cases non-trinitarian or unitarian belief has been adopted by some, and tolerated in Christian churches as a ‘non-essential’. This was the case in the English Presbyterian Church, and in the Congregational Church in New England late in the 18th century. The Restoration Movement also attempted to forge a compatible relation between trinitarians and unitarians, as did the Seventh Day Baptists and various Adventists. The unitarian tendency in these last-mentioned groups is probably due to the in-built skepticism about Catholic history as a reliable guide to the Christian tradition of interpretation.”
Every conceivable deception exists. John explained that many antimessiahs had already begun to proliferate in his own time:
2nd John 1:7 Many deceivers have gone out into the world who don’t confess that Yeshua Messiah came in the flesh [that is, fully human]. 'Such a person' is a deceiver and antichrist. [1]
[1] John uniquely adopted “antichristos” from the Greek here. All other references in the Peshitta actually refer to a “false Messiah.”
“Antichrist” is the merger of two Greek words. “Anti” (an-tee’) meaning “opposite” or “instead of” (substitute for), and of course “Christos”. In this instance the “anti” would mean both “opposite” in purpose and one who masquerades as some sort of a Messiah or is worshiped “instead of Christos”.
Who is the Messiah? What is He like? Is He a man or an angel? Is He Yehovah or Yehovah’s Son? It appears that all of the world’s “great” religions want to answer these important questions for you! They all await a “Messiah”. They all have someone to venerate instead of Yeshua! What a coincidence!
Many men will claim that they are representatives of the Messiah.
Matthew 24:5 Many will come in My name and say that I’m the Messiah and they’ll deceive many.
One powerful antimessiah will even claim that he is better than the messiah. (Daniel 11:36-39)
Others, being “name droppers” will try to gain credibility on the coat tails of “Jesus’” name.
Islam regards the Biblical view as blasphemous. To the Muslims, the Messiah was merely a great prophet, but of much lesser stature than Mohammed:
“The Holy Prophet Muhammad has prophesied about several events that will occur just before the advent of the day of judgment. Among these, Rasulullah has foretold the return of Isa (Jesus), which will materialize, when a one eyed claimant to divinity (Dajjal) will attempt to misguide the humanity into worshiping him. Messiah will descend from the heavens in Damascus, pray behind Imam Mahdi, pursue and kill the Dajjal, destroy the savage and unbelieving armies of Gog and Magog, and bring peace and brotherhood to the world.”
This site goes on to say:
“He will destroy the Antichrist and will live on the earth for forty years and then he will die. The Muslims will pray over him.”)
“By Him in Whose Hands my soul is, surely Jesus, the Son of Mary will soon descend amongst you and will judge mankind justly (as a Just Ruler); he will break the Cross and kill the pigs and there will be no Jizyah (i.e. taxation taken from non Muslims). Money will be in abundance so that nobody will accept it, and a single prostration to Allah (in prayer) will be better than the whole world and whatever is in it.” Abu Huraira added “If you wish, you can recite (this verse of the Holy Book):—And there is none of the people of the Scriptures (Jews and Christians) But must believe in him (i.e. Jesus as an Apostle of Allah and a human being) before his death. And on the Day of Judgment He will be a witness against them.” (Quran 4:159)
What do the Jews expect from their Messiah? In Judaism, belief in the Messiah is recognized, but their Messiah is merely a man, a great man, but only human:
“The King Messiah will in some future time come, restore the kingdom of David to its former power, build the Temple, bring together the scattered of Israel, and all the ancient laws will again be in force. Sacrifices will be offered, and years of release and Jubilees will be kept as prescribed in the Torah. Whoever does not believe in him, or does not hope for his coming, shows a lack of faith not only in the prophets, but also in the Torah…Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Melachim XI-XII.
“You must not imagine that the messiah must prove his messianity by signs and miracles, doing something unexpected, bringing the dead to life, or similar things. The principle thing is this: the statutes and precepts of our Torah remain forever, and nothing can be added to them or taken from them.
jewsforjudaism
“Kalachakra (‘Cycles of Time’) is a system of Buddhist tantric practice for the attainment of enlightenment to be able to benefit others as much as is possible .... The Kalachakra picture of history—with its false and true messiahs, the invasion of the mythical kingdom of Shambhala, an apocalyptic battle, and a new golden age—not only parallels, but also represents aspects of the Kalachakra spiritual path ....
“The Abridged Kalachakra Tantra warns against a future invasion by a non-Indic people who will follow the line of prophets: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mani (the founder of the primarily Iranian religion Manichaeism), Muhammad, and Mahdi (the Islamic messiah). To meet the threat, the king of the mythical land of Shambhala united the Hindus and Buddhists into one caste with the Kalachakra initiation. As a united society, the people of Shambhala would then be able in the future to follow a Buddhist messiah-king in defeating the invading forces and establishing a new golden age.
“Externally, the non-Indic-speaking invaders refer to followers of late tenth-century messianic forms of Islam who will claim to have the messiah Mahdi as their political and spiritual leader. Mahdi will unite and rule the Islamic world, restore Islamic purity, and convert the entire world to Islam before the coming of Dajjal (the Muslim version of the anti-Christ), the Second Coming of Christ (who is a Muslim prophet), the apocalypse, the end of the world, and the Last Judgment.” —kalachakra
1st John 4:2-3 teaches. ‘This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the-spirit of the antichrist.’ The implication of Helen Shuchman’s statement is that ‘Christ’ as a condition came upon Jesus at some time in his life (usually considered to be his baptism) and left him when his mission ended. That same ‘Christ condition’ had previously come upon other great religious teachers of other faiths and will come upon the New Age ‘messiah’ who is believed to be coming for our Time. This is actually the Hindu idea of the ‘avatar’, the divine mediator who comes at different times of world history to bring in new revelations for that period or age. La Vedi Laffeny and Biid Hollowell writing in The Eternal Dance (p.2) express this view, ‘We acknowledge the World Teacher who appeared as Jesus the Christ, also known variously as the Lord Matreya and the Bodhisattva, as well as other appearances of the Christ through such personalities as Melchizedek, Krishna and Mithra.’
“Since the New Agers believe that the present age is the astrological age of Pisces, which is the sign of the fish, a sign associated with Christianity [actually stolen from the ancient worship of Dagon], this idea actually becomes a formula for rejecting Jesus as the Christ, because they believe that the Piscean Age is a ‘dark violent age’ which is giving way to the Aquarian Age—‘a millennium of love and light.’ In order to bring us into this New Age a new messiah will have to come, receiving the ‘Christ spirit’, which is ‘transpersonal’ (i.e. can go from one person to another living in another time). New Age writings abound with expectations of a new messiah coming for our age and a consequent rejection of Jesus as Messiah. In April 1982 the Tara Centre publicized the coming of a New Age Messiah through full page newspaper advertisements in many countries:
“The Christ is now here…pointing the way out of our present crisis .... He comes not to judge but to aid and inspire…The World Teacher, Lord Matreya, known by Christians as the Christ. And as Christians await the Second Coming, so the Jews await the Messiah, the Buddhists the Fifth Buddha, the Moslems the Imam Mahdi. and the Hindus await Krishna. These are all names not One individual. His presence in the world guarantees there will be no third World War .... With His help, we will build a new world.”
“Jesus and Maitreya work together in the closest relationship and harmony. But when we talk about Maitreya, we’re talking about the head and leader of the large group of whom Jesus is a major figure. We can call Maitreya by different names: The spiritual hierarchy of our planet, the esoteric hierarchy, the masters of wisdom and the lords of compassion to name a few. Maitreya is one of the great lords of compassion, the embodiment of the divine energy we call love, and which is essentially the Christ principle. And so from the Christian point of view, he is the Christ and is awaited. Most Christians would say they await the return of Jesus, but in fact, Maitreya worked through Jesus 2,000 years ago in Palestine, inaugurating the age that has now come to an end. Maitreya and his group of masters, including Jesus, have returned and are returning to the world to inaugurate the New Age—The Age of Aquarius. So what we are seeing is an extraordinary congruence of events: The return of the Christ from a Christian point of view, but from the Buddhist point of view the coming of the fifth Buddha–Maitreya Buddha. Two-thousand six-hundred years ago, the Buddha made a prophecy in which he said another great teacher would come into the world at this time—a Buddha like himself by the name of Maitreya.
“Christ and Krishna: Benjamin Creme teaches that ‘the Christ’ is the same as the Lord Maitreya, as the Messiah, as the Iman Mahdi, and as Krishna. According to Creme, the adherents of Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam and Hinduism are waiting for these beings to come. Also according to Creme, “these are all names for one individual”.
The Biblical Messiah is far removed from today’s “Christian Messiah”.
2 Corinthians 11:3-4 because I’m afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve with his chicanery, in a similar way your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity of the Messiah. 4 Because if someone comes to you proclaiming another Yeshua—one we hadn’t proclaimed, or should you receive a different spirit than the one you received, or a different Good News than the one you accepted, you could easily be persuaded!
Many of the problems associated with the popular version of the “Christian Messiah” are listed in my “Statement of Beliefs”. There is another major heresy concerning the true Messiah’s “Good News”. It is essential to know for certain that you stand on the right side of this issue:
As already mentioned, Commandment keeping is prerequisite to being a true follower of Yeshua, and inheriting the Everlasting Kingdom on Judgment Day.
Matthew 19:16-19 Someone came to Him and asked, “Good Sovereign, what good thing should I do to have eternal life ?” 17 He replied, “Why are you calling Me good? No one is good but One, namely Aloha [God]. But if you want to enter into eternal life, OBEY THE COMMANDMENTS” [2]. 18 Then he asked, “Which ones?” So Yeshua told him, “Never murder. Never commit adultery. Never steal. Never give false testimony, 19 honor your father and your mother, and you must love your neighbor as yourself.”
[2] This is the world’s most important question, but virtually no one believes His answer, even tho it is repeated in Mark 10:17-22 & Luke 18:18-23! These are the six “love your neighbor” Commandments, (counting covetousness, vss.21-22). The first four Commandments are the “love your Aloha” Commandments, while the last six Commandments apply to human relationships. There is a greatly overlooked means of obtaining eternal life for righteous people who are ignorant of the Torah, as explained in Are the “unsaved” Lost?.
Almost all of Christianity has relegated Commandment keeping—the very way of obtaining eternal life—into merely “Ten Suggestions”! However it is the Fourth Commandment concerning God’s Sabbath that draws the most fire from the traditionalists. If you have never read an article on this topic from a Sabbatarian point of view, then you are in for a shock! Even mediocre articles quickly reveal the fraudulence of the arguments promulgated by Sunday advocates. Your getting this right has considerable eternal consequences. Please consider a second “opinion”. Be an impartial judge and hear “both sides”! Here is a good place to start: Is The Seventh Day The Sabbath—Yes or No? (The Eternal life mentioned in connection with the Commandments above, is covered in detail in Chapter 5: Are the “Unsaved” Lost?
Are the true “people of Elohim” Sabbath obedient?
Hebrews 4:9 So it is established that the people of Yehovah are to celebrate the Sabbath [2].
[2] The Aramaic says “Celebravit diem sabbathi”, and the Greek says “Apoleipo sabbatismos.” Check the honesty of your English translations here. Years ago, when people might have cared, the older versions tried to sweep this under the carpet and deleted the “rest”!
Most versions gloss over the word “Sabbath” in “Sabbath rest” and simply say “rest”. Here Green’s Interlinear (that I frequently endorse) shows the “word for word” translation. Notice in verse 4 that we are still talking about the “seventh day”. Then notice in verse 9 that the word Sabbatismos, is rendered Sabbath rest. You can even read the “aBBati” part of Sabbatismos, because these Greek letters are almost identical to English.
However, in the narrow column on the left side of the same page that arranges the words into our familiar English speech pattern, the word Sabbath has disappeared into thin air!
In fact the word Sabbath is missing from Hebrews 4 in almost every English version.
The Strong’s number for sabbatismos is 4520: sabbatismov (sab-bat-is-mos’).
(Sabbatismos is derived from 4521: sabbaton (sab’-bat-on) which is Greek for Sabbath.)
This form of the word Sabbath is unique in the Bible, so the Online Bible Greek Lexicon translators were able to interpret a strictly futuristic application for their second rendering. Still the meaning is inescapable:
The book of Isaiah ends with the following words. The Sabbath is prophesied to be celebrated in the future age that Paul referred to in Hebrews 4. Will you be there celebrating it?
Isaiah 66:22-24 “As the New Heavens and the New Earth that I’ll make will endure in My presence”, declares Yehovah, “So your descendants and your name will endure. 23 “Then, from one New Moon to the next New Moon [every month!], and from one Sabbath to the next Sabbath [every week!], all of humanity will come to worship before Me”, declares Yehovah. 24 They’ll go out and see the carcasses of the people who rebelled against Me, because the maggots devouring them won’t die off. The fire that’s burning them won’t go out. They’ll be abhorrent to everyone.” [3]
[3] Unfortunately, there will be a steady stream of wicked people being thrown into the fire every ‘moonth’ all thru the time of the “New Heavens and the New Earth.” Whatever the fire does not dispose of will keep the maggots well fed. Gehenna was the city dump of Jerusalem, where the bodies of criminals kept th maggots fed continually.This has been a brief introduction to the topic of heresy [sectarianism]. In a somewhat broader sense, heresy involves breaking at least one of the first four of the Ten Commandments—the ones that directly pertain to your personal relationship with Yehovah. Satan was the first heretic, because he “converted” a third of the angels. So be careful to not break the first four. The other six Commandments are already hardwired within you—in your conscience. So long as you don’t sear your conscience, natural red flags go up when you are about to hurt a fellow human being.
Mark 12:29-31 Yeshua replied, “The most important of all the Commandments is, ‘Hear, O Israel; Yehovah is our Aloha, Yehovah is one! 30 And you must love Yehovah your Aloha with all of your intellectual endeavors, with all of your consciousness [psyche, Gr: psuche], with all of your understanding, and with all your ability.’ This is the most important Commandment. 31 The second is similar, ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other Commandment is greater than these.”
Chapter 37 is Which Laws are Everlasting?
The Biblical Messiah is the “Substance” of the next chapter:
Two related articles on the subject are:
Was Jesus Christ God in the Flesh?
And The Nature of Jesus Christ