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Da Vinci Code
TRUTH
What is all the
fuss about? 
On May 19th the
most anticipated movie of the year will be released worldwide. The
Da Vinci Code, staring Tom Hanks and directed by Ron Howard, is
based upon the best-selling novel that has over 45 million copies in
print. Its thrilling plot puts a murder in the silent after-hour
halls of the Louvre museum. Behind the murder is an ancient
conspiracy that could cripple the church and rock the foundation of
society.
As expected, The Da Vinci Code has drawn fire
because of its portrayal of Catholicism, the Masons, and the Opus
Dei society. Just recently a Vatican official close to Pope Benedict
blasted the book as being full of anti-Christian lies and urged
Catholics to boycott the film. Cardinal Francis Arinze, a Nigerian
who was considered a candidate for pope last year has urged legal
action against the film. “Christians must not just sit back and say
it is enough for us to forgive and to forget,” Arinze said. The
Catholic Church and indeed all of Christianity should be prepared to
combat many of the preposterous claims presented in the book.
However, the truth presented on page 232 of The Da Vinci
Code cannot be debated. Historians and educators agree that the
facts found in this section are undeniably true. Sadly, the truth
found in these few paragraphs is much more damaging to the Church
than the entire Code book and all the hype surrounding the movie.
What could be so harmful and negative? Read the quote and decide:
“Historians
still marvel at the brilliance with which Emperor Constantine
converted the sun-worshipping pagans to Christianity. By fusing
pagan symbols, dates, and rituals into the growing Christian
tradition, he created a kind of hybrid religion that was acceptable
to both parties.’
‘Transmogrification,’ Langdon said. ‘The
vestiges of pagan religion in Christian symbology are undeniable.
Egyptian sun disks became the halos of Catholic saints. Pictograms
of Isis nursing her miraculously conceived son Horus became the
blueprint for our modern images of the Virgin Mary nursing Baby
Jesus. And virtually all the elements of the Catholic ritual— the
miter, the altar, the doxology, and the communion, the act of
‘God-eating’—were taken directly from earlier pagan mystery
religions.’
Teabing groaned. ‘Don’t get a symbologist
started on Christian icons. Nothing in Christianity is original. The
pre-Christian God Mithras—called the Son of God and the Light of the
World—was born on December 25, died, was buried in a rock tomb, and
then resurrected in three days. By the way, December 25 is also the
birthday of Osiris, Adonis, and Dionysus. The newborn Krishna was
presented with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Even Christianity’s
weekly holy day was stolen from the pagans.’
‘What do you
mean?’
‘Originally,’ Langdon said, ‘Christianity honored the
Jewish Sabbath of Saturday, but Constantine shifted it to coincide
with the pagan’s veneration day of the sun.’ He paused, grinning.
‘To this day, most churchgoers attend services on Sunday morning
with no idea that they are there on account of the pagan sun god’s
weekly tribute—Sunday," from pages 232- 233 of the Da Vinci Code by
Dan Brown, published by Bantam.
The previous
quote is in a fiction novel but is not fiction. A person can argue
Church history all day long, but the facts remain. History shows
that shortly after the death and resurrection of the Savior, the
Roman Empire harshly persecuted the early believers. The more the
faith was persecuted, the more it grew. The maltreatment continued
until the time of Constantine the Great, who blended the true faith
with pagan ideas and evil institutions. Most people are familiar
with the story of how Constantine “the Great” conquered the known
world with his Roman rule. During a religious experience, he
reportedly saw the vision of a cross in the sky. Shortly after this,
Constantine declared the entire empire “Christian” and stopped
harassing believers. Instead, Constantine proved the old adage, “if
you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” And join them he did, but not without
making many changes to the true faith.
In August, 314AD, he
held an imperial church council. At this meeting Constantine
organized church government. He instituted the Bishop of Rome as
ruler over the universal, or “catholic,” church. Today, the Bishop
of Rome is called the “Pope.” From this day forward, church and
state were mixed, and the entire empire was under Constantine’s rule
for government AND religion. (Imagine President Bush as the head of
the church and get the picture!)
Later, in 321AD the
“Christian” Emperor Constantine praised Apollos, the sun god, worthy
of worship on the first day of the week. He then decreed the
official day off for of the Empire as Dies Solis, the Day of the
Sun. This is where history records the Sabbath day was changed from
the seventh day of the week to the first. This is also where the
name Sunday has its origin. Sun-day is the day to worship the
sun/apollos. Constantine did not allow any other day to be regarded
as holy for worship. Constantine said, “this day should be regarded
as a special occasion for prayer,” says the book History of the
First Council of Nicea. Harsh fines and even death were imposed on
those who kept the seventh day holy, as the Ten Commandments state.
In 325AD, the Nicean Council was held. History records that
the purpose of this meeting was to decide when the early church
would celebrate the feast of Passover. (The first believers kept the
Holy Days of Leviticus 23.) However, at the Nicean Council the
“Easter Edict” was passed. This Edict, written by Constantine
insisted the believers keep the holiday of Easter instead of
Passover. Why was it important to change from Passover to Easter?
Because, the majority of people in the Roman Empire already
celebrated Easter.
“Easter came to be celebrated instead of
the Passover for two fundamental reasons: in an attempt to escape
Judaism and to conform to paganism. Most every Christian knows that
the name Easter is the name of a pagan goddess, variously called
Eostre in ancient Anglo-Saxon, Ishtar in Arabic, and Isis in
Egyptian. She was and is known as mother earth, the goddess of
fertility, and the queen of heaven. Her day was celebrated
throughout the Roman Empire on the first Sunday after the first full
moon, on or after the vernal equinox. The result was that the church
picked up all the ancient customs of Easter: egg coloring and bunny
rabbits for fertility celebrations; Sunday sunrise service for
homage to the sun coming up from the east; and the honoring of
Sunday as the Sabbath. The people enjoyed the festival of Easter.
For the church, which rejected all Old Testament traditions on
anti-Jewish grounds, it was necessary to invent another tradition
for stability stake. Adapting pagan traditions was both convenient
and popular, and whatever increased the influence of the church
became the rationalization for its adoption,” wrote David Hargis in
his book The Constantine Conspiracy.
At the Nicean Council
Constantine said the Jews had been rejected by the Almighty because
they were guilty of killing the Savior. Because of this, any Old
Testament tradition should be abandoned. He claimed that the more
popular holidays already being kept by various Pagan religions were
better then anything from the Old Testament. Constantine wrote, "It
was, in the first place, declared improper to follow the custom of
the Jews in the celebration of this holy festival, because, their
hands having been stained with crime, the minds of these wretched
men are necessarily blinded. ... Let us, then, have nothing in
common with the Jews, who are our adversaries. ... avoiding all
contact with that evil way. ... who, after having compassed the
death of the Lord, being out of their minds, are guided not by sound
reason, but by an unrestrained passion, wherever their innate
madness carries them. ... a people so utterly depraved. ...
Therefore, this irregularity must be corrected, in order that we may
no more have any thing in common with those parricides and the
murderers of our Lord. ... no single point in common with the
perjury of the Jews," Theodoret's Ecclesiastical History.
Constantine’s influence upon Christianity is undeniable. His
ruling actions over the church and government drove the world into
the Dark Ages. During this gloomy time in human history, learning
was thwarted and the Roman Catholic Church ruled worldwide. Bibles
were banned and science was stalled. Years later Martin Luther led
the Protestant Reformation against many errors. However, mainstream
Christianity continues to still follow Constantine. Yes, Luther
nailed his 95 Theses to a church door, but his reforms were not
enough. Baptist, Methodists, Lutherans, and Charismatics are still
joined to Catholicism and Constantine. “If Protestants would follow
the Bible, they would worship God on the Sabbath Day. In keeping the
Sunday they are following a law of the Catholic Church,” said Albert
Smith, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Encyclopedias and
history books prove that Easter, Sunday worship, and even Christmas
were additions to the faith by the Catholic Church. These days were
celebrated long before the Messiah came and mixed into the original
faith by various Bishops. “In 321AD, Constantine the Great, the
first Christian Roman emperor, introduced Christmas as an immovable
feast on 25 December. He also introduced Sunday as a holy day in a
new 7-day week, and introduced movable feasts (Easter). However,
even though Constantine officiated 25 December as the birthday of
Christ, Christians, recognizing the date as a pagan festival, did
not share in the emperor's good meaning. Christmas failed to gain
universal recognition among Christians until quite recently. In
England, Oliver Cromwell outwaled Christmas festivities between 1649
and 1660. Still, Christmas was not even a legal holiday until the
1800s,” says www.didyouknow.com
Who would have thought the
origin of Christianity’s holy days would be found in pagan rites?
Who knew there was so much truth in The Da Vinci Code? A historic
cover up is finally been exposed.
The dark ages have finally
ended. The light of truth is exposing the deception that has cloaked
the church for hundreds of years. At the heart of The Da Vinci Code
is a conspiracy theory, which alleges a massive, conspiracy by the
church about the nature of Christianity. According to this idea, the
faith founded in the name of the Savior did not develop as he
intended. Why doesn’t the church return to its roots and forsake
pagan practices? In general, our culture doesn’t inquire about the
past. Few study history. Even fewer know about church history.
“Ignorance is bliss” for the majority of people that warm pews. Yet
the scriptures tell us to “study to show ourselves approved” in 1
Timothy 2:15. We are told to “remember the days of old; consider the
generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your
elders, and they will explain to you,” Deuteronomy 32:7.
The
truth is that the first believers were very “Jewish” in their
worship and lifestyle. In fact, historical writings prove that the
early followers of Messiah were so Jewish that most people could not
tell them apart from the majority of the Jews. “The Nazarenes do not
differ in any essential thing from [the Orthodox Jews], since they
practice the customs and doctrines prescribed by Jewish Law; except
that they believe in Messiah. They believe in the resurrection of
the dead, and that the universe was created by the Almighty. They
preach that The Lord is One is One, and that Messiah is his Son...
They are very learned in the Hebrew language. They read the Law,”
wrote the early Church Father Epiphanius in his doctrinal book:
Adversus Haereses, (Against Heresies) Panarion 29.
The Savior
Himself said, “Salvation is of the Jews,” in John 4:22. This doesn’t
mean that one must convert to Judaism to be saved. What Messiah was
teaching is that the true pathway of faith can be found within the
lineage and lifestyle of the Hebrews. The Jewish people make up just
a small portion of the greater Israel family that has been scattered
all over the world. This nation of Israel is being regathered as
millions of people around the world are recognizing their Hebrew
roots. This isn’t about being Jewish. It is all about recognizing
that “if you belong to Messiah, then you are Abraham’s seed, and
heirs according to the promise,” Galatians 3:29. Multitudes are
rejecting false worship and returning to the ancient path set by the
Savior. He came teaching, healing, and proclaiming a message of
repentance. A message that said, “the kingdom of heaven is here.” A
message that included the words, “think not that I have come to
abolish the Law and the Prophets,” Mathew 5:16.
Fortunately,
the sins of our fathers have been exposed. A growing remnant of the
church is recognizing its error and returning to its Hebrew roots.
The true faith of the Messiah and the Apostles is returning with
power and understanding. Revelation 2:5 explains, “Remember the
height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did
at first.” Saints should take heed. We need to see the reality of
history and learn from these mistakes. One should ask, seek, and
knock to know the truth behind fossilized customs followed by the
masses today. Then, as truth is revealed one should reject error and
accept the ancient path.
The truth is out there; it just
remains to be found by most people. It is sad that millions had to
be exposed to the pagan roots of the church through a murder and
mystery book by Dan Brown. Brown simply wouldn’t have much of a plot
if everyone knew the truth.
Learn more about the Hebrew roots of the
Bible
Click here to visit our home page
| Emet
Ministries
Rabbi Daniel Rendelman
phone: 803-940-6643 |
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