Rome: The Eastern Empire, Paganism and the Rise of Islam.

     

PSALM 33:11 “The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.”


When we discuss the decline and fall of the Roman Empire many people think of Rome as being Europe. This is often the case in Christianity because of the discussion of the beast rising out of the ocean, in Revelation thirteen, with seven heads and ten horns. The seven heads being the city of Rome on seven hills and the ten horns are ten kings of the revived Roman Empire or the European Union as we know it today.

It is thought Christianity alone brought down Western Rome. It seems more likely that tribalism caused the Western Empire to break up into the country groupings that we see today. France was peopled by the Franks and the Gallic peoples some of whom were a branch of the Celts and may have included migrants from Galatia in Asia Minor. The Huns were a Germanic tribe who invaded Rome and formed the Kingdom of the Ostrogoth's while Spain was inhabited by the Visigoths, Seuvi and Basques.

Thus the Western Empire was divided in to separate entities and other influences like the use of mercenaries in the army. Government corruption and insufficient military resources to control Roman interests in Western Europe. This coupled with an over reliance on slave labour the decline of overt paganism inserting different values all combined into a perfect storm that dissolved the political Western Empire in A.D. 479.

However, not many people realise that while we are speaking about the Western Empire and that the Emperor Constantine was instrumental in initiating the transference of the political power of Western Rome into the Church State of the Holy Roman Empire. There is an essay in discussing the evolution of the Western Empire in itself. However, I want to discuss something else which I didn’t really know much about until recently. The continued dominance of the Eastern Empire in the region.

The Eastern Empire continued on after the changes in Western Rome and remained a dominant power until it was finally invaded by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 A.D.. The Eastern Empire was directed by the Emperor based the in the capital city of Constantinople (Modern Istanbul). I was surprised that it continued after the decline of Western Rome for nearly a millennium (1000 years). I had heard that Roman Triremes patrolled the Mediterranean until the end of the ninth century from the Eastern Empire. But the empire actually persisted for another 453 years beyond that.

From a purely Christian point of view God seems to have used the Eastern Empire to protect his people and the word of God from the attack of the enemy through the period of the Dark Ages and up until the end of the Medieval period. Without the Eastern Empire it is doubtful that Christianity would have the had the Received Text and therefore many versions of the bible based on it like the King James Version of 1611 A.D.. It is also likely that Christianity would have been all but snuffed out. For nearly a thousand years the Byzantine Empire provided a relative safe haven against the activities of the Roman Catholic Church (Pagan Rome) and the rise of the newly formed and militant religion of Islam.

The bible speaks of the Mystery of Iniquity which Paul says was active in his time of the first century A.D.. This is the active work of Satan that I believe is called by the Apostle John in the book of Revelation Mystery Babylon. It was established at the fall of the Tower of Babel and has worked insidiously for evil ever since. This organisation has sort to corrupt the minds of the wicked and the wealthy to garner power so as to attack and thwart the plans of the Almighty Yahweh Elohim. In short, during the last two thousand years, to counteract and if possible stop the spread of Christianity by killing Christians and destroying the Church.

Many believe Paganism was defeated by Constantine as he set about Christianising Rome. However I believe that this was far from the truth. Paganism continued (over the last fifteen centuries), to powerfully insinuate itself into the priestly culture. It then moved into every form of government while consolidating a strangle hold on the Christian Church in Europe and then to all levels of government in the countries of Europe, the United States of America and then onto most the rest of the World in the current era.

Well known organistions that are purveyors of Paganism in recent centuries are the Illuminati, Bilderburgers, Free Masons, Rosicrucian's, Jesuits, Theosophical Society, Communism and there are many others. The main vehicle for furthering the cause of Paganism and countering Christianity has been to unite the values of socialism with science to create secular atheism. This has been used to discredit Christianity as myth and legend while replacing Christian moral values with a secular rights based inclusivism. This has seen the rise of a secular agenda aimed exclusively at Christianity and pushing forth a manifesto of paganism including the promotion of homosexuality and abortion. The emphasis on alternate sexuality and the sacrifice of children were strongly integrated into the practices of various pagan religions in the past.

It could be said that the Eastern Roman Empire and the Eastern Orthodox Church mitigated the impact of Western (Pagan), Rome and the Bishop of Rome on the bible believing Church by purifying Christianity and stopping the worship of saints. The Byzantine Empire also fought the good fight until it’s demise in 1453 A.D., against Mohammad and the newly rising crescent of Islam.

Islam was founded the seventh century in the area of the Arabian desert south of Mesopotamia in the towns known in the current era as Mecca and Medina by Mohammad. The military expansion of Islam was almost immediate with Jerusalem, Damascus, Alexandria and Byzantine Cairo falling under Islamic control soon after the founding of the religion in the seventh century. Obviously this had a profound impact on Christianity as these were some of the most important cities to the theological and political basis of the faith at the time.

This had an effect on the bible with the Syrian Text being sent to the Byzantine Empire for safe keeping and becoming the Received Text. It is believed the Vaudois Church kept the Received Text safe after the eventual demise of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. This occurred when the Turkish Muslim group who were descendants of Othman conquered Constantinople after which it became a central hub in the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottoman Empire ruled the region until it’s gradual demise after WWI. I believe many Christians were gladdened to see the crescent of Islam on the wain and that bought about the possibility of the formation of the nation of Israel in 1948 A.D.. In the last seventy years we have seen secularism rise into dominance in the West. The USSR fell and the walls separating Western and Eastern Europe fell at the same time. I think many saw this as a victory to Capitalism but in reality it was a victory to liberalism. The values of socialism had become equally those of the West and there was no longer a need for a wall.

By making war on the Middle East with it’s ally Saudi Arabia the United States has created the perfect environment to allow Islam to spread across the West and via the restraint and manipulation of secularism has allowed Islam to begin to supplant Christianity. There can be little doubt that this is a ploy of paganism reborn and the rise of the New World Church. It will enable a rapid movement to more totalitarian style government and the support of all of the pagan and anti-christian religions while attempting to root out Christianity at last.

And so the Age of Grace will have come to an end at the conclusion of the second millennia after Christ. The Eastern Empire played it’s part with the saints in the battle against pagan Rome and Islam and fought the good fight during its season of endurance until it’s end in 1453 A.D.. The final period of seven years known as the Tribulation will soon be upon us and so as we witness the beginning of the final act before the return of the Son of God Jesus Christ our own final act must be to spread the word of his salvation to as many as can be reached in his name.


JOHN 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
 

Reference List.

Brown D.L. EARLY WITNESSES TO THE RECEIVED TEXT.  http://www.logosresourcepages.org/Versions/received.htm 21.04.19

Byzantine Empire. https://www.ancient.eu/Byzantine_Empire/ 21.04.19

Eight Reasons Why Rome Fell. https://www.history.com/news/8-reasons-why-rome-fell 21.04.19

Galatians (people). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galatians_(people) 21.04.19

Revelation of Jesus. https://revelationofjesus.net/en/important-questions/revelation-13-beast-with-seven-heads-and-ten-horns/ 21.04.19

The Barbarian Tribes of Europe. http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view_print.php?book=96713 21.04.19

The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire. http://www.themontrealreview.com/2009/The-Ottomans.php 21.04.19

Western Roman Empire. https://www.ancient.eu/Western_Roman_Empire/ 21.04.19

Where did the Gaels Originate. https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/289/where-did-the-gaels-originate 21.04.19

Bringing Christ to the Lost in Secular New Zealand

As a Christian I have viewed New Zealand as a Christian nation. As time has passed by the country has shifted to become a secular democracy. Much of the philosophy that underpins the various secular groupings is diametrically opposed to Christianity. In fact, Christianity has become the pariah of our culture in the second decade of twenty first century New Zealand. It is aligned with Far Right Extremism as being incompatible with liberalism in our time.

 

It is clearly apparent that in New Zealand we battling a tidal wave of liberal fervour almost identical to the leftist hysteria that is consuming the Democrats in the United States as a backlash to the election of President Donald Trump. Despite the fact that the conservative right is adopting morally defensible positions on issues like abortion where liberals are advocating abortion to the day of birth and including new born infants in some states. Whereas it would seem logical to most conservatives that we should protect the most vulnerable or preserve our cultures from the values and agendas of other ethnic and religious groups. Especially those seeking to immigrate to Western Democracies with the avowed intention to dominate them through a process of reverse assimilation. This approach from the right seems to do nothing but incense the left.

 

I am not for a minute suggesting we should stop holding to Christian values to placate the angry mob. Although I do think though we could look at what Jesus of Nazareth did in the gospels. The Savior tackled the establishment and left them grasping at straws but to the individuals who needed his help. To these he showed only love. He healed them, he advised them, he called them to follow him and he told them to go and sin no more. 

 

I think we too should fight the political battles as we need too but we should not shun the lost as sinners unworthy of our time. In the last couple of years in my job as a relief teacher I have seen youngsters walking the difficult path of transgender.These young people are largely confused, unhappy and sad. They desperately want to be the opposite sex and to fit in but are not really accepted by their peers. Most staff are at pains to avoid these students other than to teach them in their curriculum area. I can only surmise that this is because they don’t want to cause offense to the transgender student by treating them differently so they avoid them. If you have a young woman in your class called Jack how do you minimise the embarrassment of simply using their name and having other students smile or even snigger. You don’t engage with them.

 

This often leaves these children socially isolated at school and the only support they have is from school counselors who are already over committed from dealing with other students who have more immediate behavioral issues or factors in their home environment. This leaves the deans or health and physical education teachers to assist these students who I think do a good job because most of the transgender students do settle down over time and seem happier.

The point I’m making here is that these youngsters need all the love, support and help they can get. So if we as Christians could in our personal lives actually be Christ to them and give them love and acceptance instead of the cold shoulder and a judgemental stare. Well, we might develop a relationship where we could demonstrate our Christian values as being relevant in secular society.

 

Lets face it the devil is never going to let up on us but in the Early Christian Church people weren’t won to the faith by judgement and condemnation but by love and compassion from Christians as brothers and sisters in the faith. Look at Pentecost and what was happening in the early Church where each shared and was given according to their need. A type of communal living which set the Church in good stead to weather intense persecution that intended to wipe Christianity from the face of the Earth in the first centuries after Christ. A situation where the blood of martyrs became the seed of the Church. The more they persecuted the early Church the more Christians there became.

 

My friends there is nothing wrong with pointing out the error of the world and putting forward the strong Christian values laid out in the Bible. I am simply saying make your life shine with the love of Jesus. Become that person that people seek out for godly advice. Always encouraging in them in their walk to find Jesus or to grow in the faith. 

 

You see we tend to look at the sins of others and judge them. We see transgender or homosexual, adulterer or agnostic but we don’t look at our own sins. When have we looked at someone in anger and wished they didn’t exist. Didn’t Jesus say that if we murder in our heart that, that is murder in deed (Matthew 5: 21-22). That if we lust in our heart that, that is lust in deed (Matthew 5: 27-28). So are we any less guilty and deserving of judgement than the transgender or homosexual person.

 

Paul says in the book of Romans that “There is non righteous not even one.” Further “All have sinned all fall short of the glory of God.” and finally “The wages of sin is death but the freely given gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 3:10, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23). So we not only cannot judge others but we dare not judge them. Instead we accept them in love with open arms. We give them counsel not condemnation. We listen and we pray with them and for them that they will be chosen of God in Jesus Christ. That their sins will be forgiven and their biggest problems will be resolved into matters of little consequence before the Ancient of Days.

 

Finally my friends as the apostle Paul counseled us we should seek God to walk in the Spirit. “For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.”(Galatians 5:5). Which is the true purpose of our walk in faith through Jesus Christ. We are being perfected to be like him and that is why by letting his love show through us to the lost. Then through us he can speak to them and when they ask him into their lives he can perfect them through the indwelling Holy Spirit to be like him also. So stand for righteousness but reach out to those in need in love.

 

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Galatians 5: 22-26.

 

By showing the love of Jesus to the World we destroy the efforts of the secular liberal elements of society as they endeavor to group Christianity with Far Right Extremism. More than that we act as salt and light to the society that we live in and we draw the lost to salvation and eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. We live in the time of the “Great Falling Away” but because of that we have a great deal of seed to sow before the tribulation time begins.

 

All scriptures reproduced from http://www.biblegateway.com and http://www.biblehub.com