SITTING ON A VOLCANO

"‘Peace, peace!' When there is no peace. ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace.” (Jer. 6:14; 8:11).

“They have seduced My people, saying, "Peace!' when there is no peace. . . “The prophets... prophesy... and see visions of peace when there is no peace;

therefore you shall no longer envision futility nor practice divination; for I will deliver My people out of your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.'' (Ezek 13:10, 16, 23).

Peace in Bosnia; Peace in Chechnya; Peace in Sri Lanka; Peace in Northern Ireland; Peace in Cambodia; Peace in Rwanda; Peace everywhere. Almost all of a sudden, the world is awash with peace. Even in the Middle East, an area that has not known peace for nearly 50 years, since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, peace has broken out with the signing of the peace accord between the Palestinians and the Israelis. What if people continue to die in most of these places long after they have been declared “peaceful”, if politicians tell us that they are at peace now what are we supposed to do but to believe it? The families that keep loosing their sons in this “peace” might wish that they were at war.

After the accord, the Palestinian authorities received arms to enforce peace in their areas. And what happened this year when Israel opened a tunnel near the Al-Aqsa Mosque? Those guns were turned on the Israeli soldiers themselves. When asked to comment about it, Shimon Perez, the architect of that peace, said: “Peace is not poetry! Peace is not a song!” (Lateline, ABC TV, Oct. 10, 1996). And we who thought that peace were poetry and a song!

Politicians - a wonderful breed of people - have given us a new meaning for the word “peace”. They made sure that we know exactly what they mean when they talk of peace. Yet, strangely enough, the Bible does not condemn them for giving the world a false vision of peace, but the “prophets”. Why? Because traditionally national leaders have not been responsible for people’s spiritual education, for giving them a vision of the future and telling them what life is all about. This has been the role of the prophets, a role which they have conveniently abandoned exactly when their voice needs to be heard the loudest.

The Bible ascribes the title of “prophet” to anyone who holds a spiritual position and is involved in preaching or teaching spiritual matters. In Old Testament times, God made a clear distinction between Israel’s national leaders and its prophets. The prophets were God’s messengers, and the leaders His executive bodies. This was to become a model for all nations, but the system has failed not only in Israel, but also in the entire world. This is why God says that the time will come when the present politico-religious systems will be replaced by a new, universal system, in which the leaders will play the roles of both priests and kings.

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants-- things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (Rev 1:1-6).

And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.

Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.'' (Rev 5:6-10).

It is a well-known fact that messianic religions expect major prophetic developments around the turn of this Millennium. Cynics however say that there is no difference between this and the end of the first Millennium. Many people expected major developments then, yet nothing happened. But how right are they, is there no difference between then and now?

In the first case, people’s expectations were based on the fact that religious deception had already covered the world, and the Church of God had suffered major persecutions and been forced underground. The true believers saw that as an omen and an opportune time for the return of Jesus Christ. They hoped that the much waited for Millennial Kingdom would be established then and there, and they would be saved from their troubles. Yet their expectation proved to be in vain. Why? The reason is quite simple: their understanding of biblical prophecies about the end of this age proved to be very limited. All major biblical prophecies have been written in such a way that they could be understood only in the context of their own time. The difficulty with this prophecy came from the fact that some of the signs connected with the end of this age have been manifest in the world ever since the time of Jesus Christ. This is why, throughout the history of Christianity, there have been people who have fallen victim to premature expectations.

When we look at the most comprehensive prophecy about the end of this age, we find that the theme of religious deception runs through it from the beginning to the end. This could easily have led people to believe that the return of Jesus Christ was possible at any time. As long as they did not become disheartened and lost their zeal, or abandoned their struggle, this was not necessarily a bad thing, for it kept them on their guard. This time however is different. There is ample evidence that virtually all the signs leading to the conclusion of this age have been fulfilled except the one about the “abomination of desolation”, and this is now in the final stages or its preparation. Let us have a look at that prophecy:

“Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.’ Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’ And Jesus answered and said to them: ‘Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, "I am the Christ,” and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. Therefore when you see the "abomination of desolation,” spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place’ (whoever reads, let him understand), ‘then . . . there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.

Then if anyone says to you, "Look, here is the Christ!” or "There!” do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand . . .

Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.” (Matt 24:1-31, 42).

We are much too familiar with religious deception, wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, persecutions, lawlessness, and the like, things which have been fulfilled many times over during the centuries since the time of Jesus Christ. But nothing equals what has happened this century when it comes to wars and rumors of wars, and what has been happening in the last few years, since we started this work, in regard to pestilences, famines and natural disasters. As if on clue, these things have intensified to such an extent that it is not uncommon now to hear people in authority talk about the real possibility of extinction of all life on earth. Here is a sample of how bad things are out there in the world:

“DISASTROUS YEAR. MUNICH: The world was shaken by a record number of natural disasters in 1995, with damage from floods, earthquakes, storms and volcanic eruptions trebling to $244 billion compared with last year, according to Munich Re, the world’s largest reinsurer.” (Reuters, Sydney Morning Herald, December 29, 1995).

From 1990 until last year the damage from these disasters has been between $80 and $100 billion a year, in itself way above previous averages. This year, the damage from floods in China alone has been estimated to exceed $100 billion. This is why the end of this Millennium is different from the first. But there is one other major factor which was not present at the end of the first Millennium: the existence of nuclear weapons which could destroy life on earth in one big conflagration.

Russia may have collapsed economically, but its strategic forces still pose awesome destructive power. What is happening in that country at present is hard to imagine even by the standards of third world countries. A catastrophe beyond imagination. After his re-election, President Yeltsin appealed to his countrymen to pay their taxes so that the government can pay the soldiers and workers who have not been paid for months. In other words, Russia’s infrastructure is such that the government cannot even collect the money it needs to keep the country going.

Can anyone imagine what would happen if the American or European workers and soldiers were not paid for months?

Now what will those hungry people, with their finger on the nuclear trigger, do when hunger reaches their bones? Or what will the man who will soon replace Yeltsin do to pull the country out of its mire? We all know what Zhirinovsky said he would do if he became president. He would force the West Europeans to pay. If the Israeli people suffered grievously during the Second World War to be entitled to the billions of dollars that have been pouring into the country since then, the Russians suffered more, he said. The West breathed a sigh of relief when he failed in his bid for the Presidency, but who knows what the new leader will do to help his countrymen? One thing is sure, things cannot continue much longer the way they are now. In 1993, in the No 3 edition of The Christian Herald, we wrote:

“The former Soviet Union gave us Chernobyl then it collapsed. The world breathed a sigh of relief in the hope that the Cold War and the danger of nuclear confrontation were over. What the world did not know then was that the legacy of communism is just as catastrophic for the world as the danger from its nuclear arsenals: "Russia's nuclear-powered submarines and ice-breakers pose a greater danger of nuclear accidents than do its atomic power plants, according to Jane's Intelligence review" (The Sun-Herald, Aug. 8, 1993).

People who are environmentally conscious know about the devastation caused by the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. But how many people know that in the vast Russian wilderness, four times that amount is being spilled every day from the decaying antiquated oil installations? The damage done to the environment by the oil spill and its many accompanying fires is incalculable. The topsoil is being destroyed and the ground below, which was permanently frozen, is beginning to melt. Scientists fear that this will affect the global climate. Already in 1990, the temperature in the Arctic Circle reached 40 degrees Celsius, eight degrees above the normal.

On the political scene, things are hardly better. The West has put all its hopes in President Yeltsin's ability and determination to introduce democratic reforms in Russia. But what will happen when he is no longer on the scene? He is in poor health, and while there seem to be no obvious contenders who can step in his shoes and continue his reforms, there are many powerful rivals who call for the restoration of Russia's empire. On the economic sphere, the one great resource that gives Russia its hard currency and keeps its grossly outdated industry going is oil. But now it has been estimated that its oil reserves will dry out within a decade. What will the political and military leaders do when they see their people being decimated by hunger and their nuclear arsenal brought to nothing for lack of fuel? The dangers coming from that part of the world are yet to be comprehended.”

We are already seeing the people of Russia being decimated. The question is how long will they meekly accept their fate? Having been brutalized psychologically and physically by seventy years of communism, they need a little time to rise again. Make no mistake about it, rise they will, because God Almighty has given them a great role to play at this time.

Now compare what we wrote in 1993 with the current state of the world in regard to oil reserves and supplies:

“Running on empty” “All numbers are wrong - that much we know. The question is: “by how much?” ask international petroleum geologists Dr Colin Campbell and Dr Jean Laherrere at the beginning of their landmark, but controversial, study of the world’s oil supply. In a report for oil industry analysts Petroconsultants, the two turn the conventional view about the continuing availability of cheap oil on its head, drawing conclusions that market conditions are fast approaching for another oil price shock similar to the two in the 1970s that played havoc with the world economy. Unlike both industry and government forecasts, the data in the Swiss-headquartered Petroconsultants’ report brings forward the timing of the peak in world oil production by several decades, from the middle of the next century to as soon as 2000. They forecast a sharp decline in the supply of cheap-to-extract crude oil thereafter. . .

US Department of Energy deputy assistant secretary Dr Joseph Roman was quoted in a news report last January as saying: “it’s pretty clear there is going to be another oil crisis some time. I would say in the next 10 years”. . .

At the time of the first oil shock in late 1973, the world had consumed 250 billion barrels of oil out of a total estimated global reserves of about 1800 billion barrels. By 1995, it had consumed 800 billion barrels, with consumption running at 25 billion barrels a day and only about 7 billion barrels a year being discovered in new fields. . .

Without cheap oil, economic globalization would come to a shuddering halt and many of the private tollways either proposed or being built would become uneconomic, especially if the price of crude oil was to double or triple - as Campbell believes it will do once the crunch approaches.” (The Australian, Oct. 24, 1996).

Does anyone remember what effect the rise in oil prices in the 1970s had on the world economy? Third world countries became bankrupt overnight and the USA turned from being the world’s biggest creditor to the world’s biggest debtor nation. At present, the USA owes more than 6 trillion dollars and is unable to pay even the interest on that amount. Each year part of the interest is being added to the main with the result that the debt keeps growing with no end in sight. One way the Americans could slash that debt is by devaluing the dollar. But that would mean an astronomical rise in inflation and an end to the much-vaunted American way of life. Like the Germans before Hitler came to power, the Americans would go shopping with bags of money to buy one loaf of bread. But such things could not happen in America, could they?

The reason the American economy has been running smoothly so far is that foreigners have been pouring money into the country. Why? Because the United States offers a safe and secure environment. Safe and secure, that is, until the next crunch or until they get a leader who says enough is enough - let everyone pay their way. Now if the first oil crunch had such a devastating effect on the world, what will the next one do? Bear in mind that the first time there was still plenty of oil around and only the price increased. But this time not only will the price go up, the oil sources will begin to dry up too. The question is, will the leaders take the necessary measures to prepare their countries for this eventuality, or will they wait until they are forced to do so? The place to start would be with agriculture. At present this is in a shambles worldwide. While parts of the world experience famine and starvation, others waste enormous amounts of resources on poor farming practices. The next oil crunch will put an end to economies of scale in farming. That is because such farming relies heavily on petrochemicals.

What happened in Russia after the collapse of communism, when the farmland became littered with abandoned machinery, will happen in the rest of the world. A nation can survive without advanced industry, but not without farm produce. The worldwide trend of people moving from country to city will reverse, and farming will once again become an honorable occupation. Now given the importance of that report you would think that such information would make front-page headlines in the world media. Or, if not front-page, maybe the second or the third pages. Or even the ninth and tenth pages where world events are usually reported. But no, that article was buried on page 27, in the business section amidst the usual chain of trivial business news and advertisements. You see, that kind of information in not for the general consumption. It is for the business leaders who know how to take such news in stride and keep quiet about it lest they rock the boat and loose their jobs. If the general population knew about what lies ahead they might stop buying those cars and bring the industry to a standstill.

Have you ever wondered why they keep on building cars that are unsuited for the purpose for which people use them? They have enough power to carry two tons when they only need to carry a few people, and can travel at speeds that exceed 200 kilometers an hour when the speed limit is usually half that. They could slash fuel consumption by building cars that are slower and safer, instead of those destructive petrol hungry machines that appeal to the hotheads who should not even be on the road. The world would slow down and be a safer and more enjoyable place, and people would find time to talk to each other instead of being on the run all the time. But since the leaders are unlikely to engineer such changes of their own volition, nature will force it on them. Nature or, shall we say, God? There is a reason why the Bible talks about the need for a great tribulation at the end of this age. The world simply needs to be cleansed of its pollutions and its polluters.

Notice how shortly after the Gospel is witnessed to the world God will destroy “those who destroy the earth”:

""And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire. Now when they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here.’ And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand men were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly. Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’ And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: ‘We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth.’'' (Rev 11:3-18).

Now are these things mere coincidences? Is it so difficult to understand that we are living in those times? What this passage indicates is that the great tribulation, which will “destroy those who destroy the earth”, will erupt shortly after the two witnesses finish their mission and are killed by “the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit”. The question, of course, many people would want to know is, who is this “beast”? We have written extensively on this topic (See The Christian Heralds Nos. 3 and 4), so we won’t spend time on this now. Sufficient to say that this has been identified with the one who holds the title of Pontifex Maximus. Here is a passage which we wrote in 1993, which has particular relevance at this time:

“Jesus Christ said that if we want to be the sons of God we must love even our enemies . . . This raises the question, must we forgive the "abomination of desolation" and the false prophet? The answer could only be ‘yes’. They are the enemies of the people of God, but Jesus Christ told us to love our enemies, and since we are His followers we obey Him. We do not avenge ourselves on anyone, regardless of what they may have done to us. Vengeance belongs to God (Rom. 12:19). We lay our problems and burdens before Him and before our Savior, knowing that "all things work together for good to those who love God" (Rom. 8: 28).

“At the time of writing this article, it was announced that the Israeli government has extended a formal invitation to the Pope to visit that country. The Pope is said to have accepted the invitation with tears in his eyes. It will be the first time in the history of Israel that a Pope has visited that country and its capital Jerusalem. A visit to Jordan and parts of Jerusalem in 1963 by Pope Paul VI, can be discounted as having served any prophetic purpose for the following reasons: (i) Daniel's prophecies are about the Jews and the people of God, not about the Arabs. (ii) At that time it was not known who the "abomination of desolation" was, or where the holy place located. Since Jesus Christ said that if people are not aware of their sins they are not held accountable, Pope Paul VI could not have profaned the holy place even if he happened to pass unwarily over it. (iii) Jesus Christ said that when the "abomination of desolation" stands in the holy place, it would be the beginning of the great tribulation and the end of this age. Since neither of these events has occurred, that visit could not have fulfilled the prophecies associated with the end of this age. However, when the present day Pontifex Maximus goes to Jerusalem and steps on the holy ground, it is a different story.

The significance of this event is well known because we have sent this magazine to the leaders of all nations, including the Pope and other religious leaders. How soon after this event do we expect to see the world plunged into catastrophe? We cannot tell. All we can do is quote what Jesus Christ said. You draw your own conclusions from this . . . Bear in mind that 1997 is the last year of what we call the ‘age of man’ - six thousand years since the creation according to the chronology of Bishop Usher - and the beginning of a new age, the last thousand years called the Millennial Kingdom. This transition cannot happen overnight. The years immediately prior to and following this event are fraught with danger for the world.

There are people who have gone to great lengths to calculate the exact date of the return of Jesus Christ. Most of the dates they have come up with revolve around that year. We believe that even if this is correct, it is a very dangerous practice. Jesus Christ said that it is not for us to know the exact date of His return, that only God knows that (Matt. 24:36). And that for a very important reason: human beings are to be ready to receive their Lord at any time. Setting dates could cause them to lose their guard and be caught unprepared. Anyone who tries to outguess God places himself in competition with Him, and that is a sin. Jesus Christ spoke in general terms about the signs leading to that event, and we advise you to read the entire 24th chapter of the book of Matthew. The only sure sign He gave as indicating the imminence of those events, is the one about the "abomination of desolation" standing in the holy place. That is the one discussed and revealed in the pages of this magazine for the first time. It is not a mere coincidence that God has revealed this mystery to us now just prior to its fulfillment and so close to the conclusion of this age. This is a sign that He is about to intervene in world affairs, to bring humanity to account for its waywardness. The Polish priest who is now in the chair of Pontifex Maximus does not have to be the man who profanes the holy place. He can drop his garbs, get on his knees before the Almighty, not before the statue of Mary or whatever, declare that he was not aware of what he stood for, ask for forgiveness, then run from that place as fast and as far as he can go. He can let another take his place, for there are many people who care little about pleasing God, and more about pleasing themselves. Anyone who goes to Jerusalem as Pontifex Maximus and steps on the ground in which Jesus Christ shed His blood, conscious of what that gesture means, makes himself the "abomination of desolation." That sin will not be forgiven in this world or in the world to come.

‘For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has TRAMPLED THE SON OF GOD UNDERFOOT, COUNTED THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT BY WHICH HE WAS SANCTIFIED A COMMON THING, AND INSULTED THE SPIRIT OF GRACE?’ (Heb. 10:26-29, emp. added).” (The Christian Herald, No 3, pp. 38, 39).

If you wonder what is wrong with Pontifex Maximus and why he is such a despised figure in the Bible, this is why: a) He was the spiritual leader of the Roman Empire at the time Jesus Christ was crucified, and is held responsible for that act and for countless other crimes against the people of God. Bear in mind that this is a title and an office, and Jesus Christ referred to this, not to a specific individual. People have the choice of taking on this mantle or not. It is not imposed on them. They freely do so, knowing full well what that means.

b) One of the main characteristics of people in this office has been their infatuation with idols. The men who have held this position have raised idolatry to a fine art. The effect this has had on their followers has been devastating. Notice:

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man-- and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” (Rom. 1:18-32).

Have you ever wondered why the Catholic Church and its priests have been embroiled in so many homosexual scandals? This biblical passage should give you an idea. Next time you see the images of “corruptible men-- and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things” adorning their buildings think of the words of Apostle Paul.

c) One of the greatest blasphemies human beings can commit is assuming one of God’s titles. Jesus Christ specifically told his followers: “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven”? (Matt 23:9). What title has Pontifex Maximus assumed for himself? “Holy Father”. What do his followers call him? “Holy Father”. Do they honor Jesus Christ when they so blatantly do what He told them not to do? Yet, they still call themselves Christians.

Do you see now what Apostle Paul meant when he wrote?

“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God [as "Holy Father"] in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God ["Holy Father"].” (II Th 2:1-4).

d) In October this year, the Pope delivered a lecture to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in Rome in which he said that: “Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was ‘more than a hypothesis’” (Sydney Morning Herald, Oct. 5, 1996). Charles Darwin was an atheist. So the man who goes around the world as “Universal Shepherd”, who sits in the temple of God as “Holy Father”, challenges God to His face, defies the Lord whom he claims to serve, undermines the Bible publicly, and honors at atheist who has done more to destroy people’s faith in God than any other man in history except Pontifex Maximus himself.

Is it a mere coincidence that at this particular junction in world history, as this age draws to a close, that this man reveals himself for who he is and what he stands for by upholding an anti-God philosophy? Can you see now why Jesus Christ said that when this man will stand on the ground in which He shed His blood, the world will explode into a tribulation such as the world has never seen?

The Vatican announced recently that next year - in 1997 - Pontifex Maximus would visit Jerusalem.

The world is indeed sitting on a volcano ready to explode.

RELIGION UNDER MORTAL ATTACK

‘But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” (Gal 1:8). “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” (2 Cor. 11:13-15).

Has science finally landed a fatal blow to religion? Darwin’s theory of evolution did not prove to be the mortal danger many people thought it would - future generations will wonder in disbelief how so flimsy a theory should have taken hold of a world that prided itself in being enlightened and progressive - but recent scientific discoveries in the fields of medicine, molecular biology and psychology have rocked religion to its core and thrown in disarray some of its most cherished beliefs and practices.

Scientists are now telling us that human behavior and attitudes are not so much the result of education, environment and social influences, as the product of one’s own biological make-up. In-born genes determine not only our physical shape, but also our character, sexual orientation, predisposition to crime, moods, etc.

“Genes are suddenly seen as being responsible for everything, from poverty to privilege, misdemeanors to murder. I seem to recall watching television one night and seeing a man on murder charges offer as a defense the presence of a ‘criminal gene’ in his family . . .

“The problem with genetics and this new particulate understanding of ourselves, it occurred to me, is that it’s at once so central to who and what we are and yet so beside the point of just being us, of going about the business of living.” (Charles Siebert, “Living With Toxic Knowledge”, SMH - Good Weekend Magazine, March 9, 1996).

If this is true, if nature rather than nurture determines who we are and what we do, then the traditional notions of salvation must be discarded, and a more adequate explanation for the purpose of human life must be found. We have been led to believe that salvation depends on people’s ability to repent and change their way of life. But if people are beholden by their nature to a way of life which is not conducive to repentance, what purpose does it serve preaching to them about salvation? People cannot be saved if they cannot repent, and they cannot repent if nature rather than logic rule their life. What these scientific discoveries have done is turn traditional wisdom on its head, open a Pandora's box which many thought was closed long ago, and turn the clock back thousands of years - to the very beginning of the debate of free will versus predestination. For in the final analysis, this is what the current debate is all about.

Since ancient time people have wondered, searched, debated, and fought over the question of the purpose and destiny of human life. At the root of it all is the question of salvation - is this the result of free will or of predestination? Each of these notions ascribes a different role to God and to human beings. If predestination is true, the destiny of human life is entirely in God’s hands and salvation is a grant from Him. But if free will is true, then man is master of his own destiny and salvation is a reward for the good use of his free will.

Over the years, the tendency has been a move away from predestination, and towards free will.

Ancient people were particularly fond of predestination, ascribing all things to divine powers - fortune and misfortune alike. But modern religions are more kind to God. They lay the blame for man’s misfortunes entirely at man's feet. This, of course, is where the problem lies. Science is now telling us that this is not the case: people are committing all sorts of misdemeanors and anti-social acts, or are leading unconventional life styles (e.g., homosexuality), not because they freely choose to do so, but because they have been programmed that way from their mother’s womb. The question is, can religions afford to be seen to be constantly contrary to science? At stake are not only the reputations of many people, but also the reliability of the Bible and the faith of billions of people. Put simply, the inspired Word of God and true science cannot be at odds with each other. That is why we must establish once and for all whether science or religion is right, whether science and the Bible are indeed at odds with each other, whether religions and the Bible are in agreement, and whether salvation is determined by man’s free will or by divine providence. For this reason, we will have a careful look at what the scientists have been saying lately, at what the churches have been preaching, and at what the Bible has had to say on these matters from the very beginning.

REVOLUTIONARY SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES

Here are some of the reports of the scientific discoveries that have led to the current controversy:

“Mean gene’ theory sparks racism controversy in US” “Are some kids born to be bad? Can there be a ‘treatment’ to block them from murder? These explosive questions are back. And the even more explosive answer, in some quarters, is yes.

The renewed debate is sending chills down the spines of those who fear it will bring a Brave New World of mind control to the children of America's violent inner cities. The issue, which has simmered for decades, owes its latest revival to a University of Maryland conference this weekend on the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay, about an hour from Washington. The conference for the first time will gather scholars from a wide array of disciplines to discuss the ethical implications of research seeking a genetic foundation for violence and other criminal behavior. Authors of the research and their supporters say it is hardly sinister. "Almost every day, we're hearing about a gene for this and a gene for that," says David Comings, a medical geneticist at the City of Hope Medical Centre in Duarte, California. If you can have a gene for obesity, it certainly can become acceptable that a gene can be involved in violent behavior." But opponents say the research raises the spectre of Nazi eugenics - the science of breeding people in quest of a superior human race. They foresee frightening possibilities such as compulsory genetic screening, sedation and sterilization, and believe the research discriminates against blacks.” (The Sunday Telegraph, October 1, 1995).

“The brains behind our sex life” “Homosexuals, heterosexuals and transsexuals are born, not made, claims a leading United States neuroscientist who says that sexual orientation is wired into the brain before birth. Research shows that sexual preferences can be detected in tiny structures in the limbic or emotional, centre of the brain, according to Professor Roger Gorski, of the University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine. The differences are produced in the womb, said the man who first discovered 20 years ago that the brains of male and female mammals are different. The findings raise the possibility that in the distant future sexual orientation may be open to medical manipulation. ‘This work is at the very beginning but it’s profound,” said Professor Gorski, adding that the events which produce homosexual, heterosexual and transsexual brains probably result from a ‘complex’ interaction’ of sex hormones, genes and environmental circumstances. But sex hormones are vital to setting the orientation of the unborn child, said professor Gorski. A hormonal alteration at a given time in development might alter one component of brain function which could lead one to become homosexual or transsexual. That’s the theory.’ Professor Gorski told the Herald that his research - along with that of Dr Simon Le Vay, formerly with the Salk Institute in California, and Dr Richard Swaab of Amsterdam - shows that these changes appear as differences in tiny structures in the brain called the interstitial nucleus of the anterior hypothalamus (INAH).” (SMH, Oct. 27, 1995).

“Genetics link with petty crime claimed” “London: Pimping and petty theft appear to be genetically conditioned - but a person’s genes have little influence on their propensity for committing crimes of violence, according to research unveiled at a controversial scientific meeting in London yesterday. Two American studies comparing identical twins, who share the same genes, with non-identical twins, have supported the contentious suggestion that some criminals may be born, not made” (SMH, Feb. 15, 1995).

“The Common Face of Evil” “In 1993, Dr Lyll Watson sat in on the trial of the two English schoolboys charged with murdering the toddler James Bulger. Though this killing convulsed a nation, perhaps the sharpest impression made on the best-selling author and biologist came from outside the court, where "terrifying lynch mobs were howling for blood". "These were perfectly ordinary people, neighbours and friends of the family, suddenly behaving like something out of the wild west frontier," Dr Watson recalled in Sydney this week.

The famously unorthodox scientist understood that parents reacted in this way because of a fear that the child tortured to death beside a railway track could have been their own. But he also asserts: "I think an even larger part of that [the mob's reaction] is this real fear that it could have been your children doing the killing. That's much more frightening." In this comment, and in his latest book, Dark Nature, Watson, 57, up-ends one of the articles of faith of Western civilisation - the innocence of childhood. (It was the Bulger trial that sparked his interest in writing a book about evil.) In Dark Nature, he asserts that there is a biological equivalent of original sin, and that if we don't confront this, current social and environmental upheavals will draw us irrevocably towards a new barbarism...

Humans, like animals, are genetically programmed for a ruthless selfishness that is often bad or evil. Or, as Watson puts it: “Every child is born with genetic instructions which say, 1. Be nice to insiders because they're your own people, you share genes with them; 2. Be nasty to outsiders because you don't (share genes with them); and 3. Cheat, lie, steal, kill to get your own way." Crucially - and unlike animals - humans have long realised the importance of suppressing evil impulses, and of acquiring the pragmatic altruism necessary for workable societies. But as we approach a new millennium, Watson thinks the tremendous pressures of overpopulation, poverty and social dislocation increasingly put us at the mercy of primitive genetic urges - and not just in war zones such as Bosnia...

The author, whose previous subjects have included the nature of crowds, the paranormal and the wind, found himself reflecting on mass murder (and even pack rape among ducks) because he thinks theologians, moral philosophers and criminologists have failed to understand the nature of evil. He admits his findings are "cavalier in some ways because many theologians have thought about this very carefully, but they haven't come to any useful conclusions. They are tied by religious necessity to believe that everything that is good comes from God, and everything that isn't comes from the devil. They have created this polarity, which is wrong. We all have good and bad in us. Every one of us" (The Weekend Australian, November 4-5, 1995)

“The Secrets Twins Tell Us” “The evidence is finally in from a battery of tests on separated twins. And they challenge our most cherished beliefs about human nature... A set of identical twin girls were surrendered to an adoption agency in New York in the 60s. The twins, who are known in psychological literature as Amy and Beth, might have gone through life in obscurity had they not come to the attention of Dr Peter Neubauer, a prominent psychiatrist at New York University's Psychiatric Institute.

Neubauer, who was also an adviser to the adoption agency, believed that twins posed such a burden to parents, and to themselves in the form of certain developmental hazards, that adopted twins were better off being reared apart from each other.

It was clear that such a separation would also offer Neubauer exceptional research possibilities. Studies of twins reared apart are the most powerful tool that scholars have for analysing the relative contributions of heredity and environment to the make-up of individual human natures. Identical twins are rare, however, and twins who have been separated and brought up in different families are particularly unusual... Broadly speaking, the differences between the girls as they grew older would be a measure of the validity of the most fundamental assumption of analytical psychology, which is that - and, in particular, our family background - shapes us into the people that we become.

The agency that placed the children shortly after their birth informed each set of potential adoptive parents that the girl they were adopting was already involved in a study of child development and strongly urged the adoptive parents to continue it. However, neither the adopted parents nor the girls themselves were ever told that the subject of the study was twins... The girls were adopted into families that were, in certain respects, quite similar - both were Jewish and lived in New York State... All in all, the research team characterized Amy’s family as a well-knit threesome - mother, father and son - plus an alienated Amy. It was a family that placed a high value on academic success, simplicity and emotional restraint. Beth’s family, on the other hand, was sophisticated and full of energy - “frenetic” at times. It tended to put more emphasis on material things than on education. Clearly, Beth was more in the centre of her home than Amy was in hers... In almost every respect, Beth’s personality followed in lockstep with Amy’s dismal development. Thumb-sucking, nail-biting, blanket-clenching, and bed-wetting characterized her infancy and early childhood. She became a hypochondriac and, like Amy, was afraid of the dark and of being left alone. She, too, became lost in role-playing, and the artificial nature of her personality was even more pronounced than Amy’s.

She had similar problems in school and with her peers. On the surface, she had a closer relationship with her mother than Amy had with hers, but psychological tests revealed a longing for maternal affection which was eerily the same as her identical sister’s. Beth did seem to be more successful with her friends and less confused than Amy, but she was also less aware of other feelings.

The differences between the girls seemed merely stylistic; despite the differences in their environments, their pathology was fundamentally the same. Did their family lives men so little? Were they destined to become the people they turned out to be because of some genetic predisposition towards sadness and unreality? And what would psychologists have made of either girl if they did not know that she was a twin? Wouldn’t they have laid the blame for the symptoms of her neurosis on the parents who raised her? Finally, what did all this say about the fundamental presumptions of psychology? But the story has a darker and more threatening side and this may be the real secret of its grip on our imaginations. We think we know who we are. We struggle to build our characters through experience; we make ourselves unique by determining what we like, what we don’t like, and what we stand for. The premise of free will is that we become the people we choose to be. Suppose, then, we meet an Other who is, in every outward respect, ourself. It is one thing to imagine an identical Other who, having lived a separate and dismal life, has been marked by it and become different from us. But what if, in spite of all the differences, we and the Other arrive at the same place? Isn’t there a sense of loss? A loss not only of identity but of purpose? We are left wondering not only who we are but why we are who we are.

The Neubauer twin study is just one among thousands that have raised these questions. Over the past decade, there has been a tidal wave of twin-based scholarship. Recent studies of twinship have challenged our most entrenched views of human development and have capsized cherished beliefs about human nature - in particular the bedrock notion that character is created by experience. But then, twins have been confounding humanity from the earliest times - almost as if they were a divine prank designed to undermine our sense of individuality and specialness in the world. If twins are important to science because they allow us to ask how much of our nature arises from our genes and how much from our circumstances, the answers have equally profound implications for social policy. The hallmark of liberalism is that changes in the social environment produce corresponding changes in human development. But if people's destinies are written in their genes, why waste money on social programs? Even matters that would seem to be entirely a reflection of one's personal experience, such as political orientation or the depth of religious commitment, have been shown by various twin studies to be largely under genetic influence. ... And yet twins may have a different lesson to teach us. It may be threatening to see ourselves as victims of our genes, but that may be preferable to being victims of our environment. A trait that is genetically rooted seems somehow more immutable than one that may have been conditioned by the environment. This seems to leave aside the possibility of free choice - or even consciousness of choice at all. And yet people who are aware of their natures are constantly struggling with tendencies they recognize as ingrained or inborn. It makes little difference how such tendencies were acquired, only how they are managed. If it is true that our identical clone can sort through the world of opportunity and adversity and arrive at a similar place, then we may as well see that as a triumph of our genetic determination to become the person we ought to be.” (Sydney Morning Herald, Nov. 4, 1995).

Well, there you have it! There cannot be much argument about it. It is quite obvious that these findings are accurate, reliable and convincing. They are based on extensive research and carry the signatures of renowned personalities in the fields of medicine, biology and psychology from as far a field as Marylands, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, New York, Baltimore and London. The evidence that all human beings are not equal, that some are predisposed from their mother’s womb to anti-social behavior is so overwhelming it cannot be dismissed even with the perennial and ubiquitous, “more research is needed”.

These discoveries will have a great impact on human society. Governments will want to know whether it is wise spending large amounts of taxpayer’s money on correctional programs for people that get little benefit out of them. Educational authorities will wonder whether their teaching strategies get the best results knowing that the outcomes are determined more by the pupils’ natures than by the amount of money, time and effort spent on them. Insurance companies will want to screen people to find out those that pose the greatest risk. Parents will want to know what will become of their children. Will they be tempted to terminate their pregnancy if they discover that their children’s genes predispose them to unconventional behavior - crime, homosexuality, etc.?

But the greatest impact will, no doubt, be felt by religions. The universal message of salvation, which holds that all human beings have an inborn ability to choose to live a godly life, preached in its various forms by virtually all religions, is suddenly on shaky grounds. We now know that human beings are neither equal nor equally capable of repenting. Some people are predisposed from conception to live a life that is not conducive to salvation. This means that the traditional message of salvation has been based on false premises all along. The question is how did religions get it so wrong? Did they get their message out of the Bible or out of their own imagination? This is what we intend to find out now.

PREDESTINATION AND FREE WILL

IN RELIGIOUS LITERATURE

The New Catholic Encyclopedia has divided this topic in three sections: “Predestination in the Bible”, “Predestination in the Catholic Theology”, and “Catholic Teaching”. One might have thought that “Predestination in the Bible” is the same as that in “Catholic Theology” and “Catholic Teaching”, but, apparently, this is not the case. We shall see.

“Predestination in the Bible” “In the sense that all things are foreknown and foreordained by God, predestination is coextensive with the providence of God and is a constant theme of the OT and the NT. Predestination, in the sense of foreordination of man to glory, is clearly taught only in the NT. Predestination is just as clearly taught in the Old Testament, as we shall show.”

Hmmm! Does this make sense to you? “Predestination . . . is clearly taught only in the NT. Predestination is just as clearly taught in the Old Testament.” If an undergraduate student went to his lecturer with this kind of logic, you can well imagine what mark he would get. But these people are Doctors in Theology, and who can question their wisdom?

“The ‘book’ mentioned by Moses when he said "strike me out of the book that you have written" (Ex 32.32) is undoubtedly the Book of Life, which is mentioned also in Ps 68(69).29 and Dn 12.1. But in the NT, when Our Lord says “Come, blessed of my Father, take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Mt 25.34) or tells His disciples "Rejoice rather in this, that your names are written in heaven" (Lk 10.20; see also Jn 10.29), He is teaching predestination.

It is in St. Paul, however, that one finds the most explicit statements on predestination. ‘Now we know that for those who love God all things work together unto good, for those who according to his purpose are saints through his call. For those whom he has foreknown he has also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He should be the firstborn among many brethren. And those whom He has predestined, them He has also called; and those whom He has called, them He has also justified, and those whom He has justified, them He has also glorified’ (Rom. 8.28-30). In these verses Paul sees the unique and eternal act of God as involving five decisions: elective knowledge, predestination, calling, justification, and glorification. The first two are invisible and outside of time; the second two are on earth; and the last is properly in the next world.”

While this passage appears to make a good case for predestination, the next one makes just as good a case for free will.

“Man's freedom still remains: he must respond to the love and call of God. Nor in St. Paul's concept is there any initial confirmation in grace, for he tells the Philippians to work out their salvation ‘with fear and trembling’ (2.12).”

Then again we are brought back to the notion of predestination:

“In another important passage, Eph. 1.3-14, Paul repeats 10 times that predestination is ‘in Christ’: ‘He chose us in him before the foundation of the world’ (v.4); it was done according to the ‘good pleasure of his will . . . to the praise and glory of his grace . . . in his beloved Son’ (v.5-6). Predestination is clearly a free act of God, a choosing of all men for glory, in, with, and through His Incarnate Son. There is no basis in St. Paul for any doctrine of positive reprobation: ‘For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all’ (I Tm. 2.5; see also 1 Tm. 4.10; Mt 18.14).”

This is all the New Catholic Encyclopedia has to say about predestination and free will in the Bible. Not very much, you would agree.

If you are confused, you are not alone. First we were told that God “predestined [us] to become conformed to the image of His Son”, then that our “freedom still remains”, then again that “predestination is clearly a free act of God.” Now, can one be predestined and retain his freedom at the same time? The implication is that this topic is not very well covered in the Bible. That is why people need the next two chapters, “Predestination in Catholic Theology” and “Catholic Teaching”. This is perfectly in line with the Catholic teaching that the Bible is incomplete. Catholic leaders maintain that people need the wisdom gained from tradition and the church “Fathers”, and especially from the revelations of the Pope, to come to the full knowledge of the truth. For those of us who believe that the Bible is complete, this is anathema. It would be enough to cause us to abandon any further study of their sources. Nevertheless, in our search for truth, we must leave no stone unturned. So let us see what they have to say in the next two chapters.

“PREDESTINATION IN CATHOLIC THEOLOGY”

“Predestination is the plan eternally conceived by God whereby He conducts rational creatures to their supernatural end, that is, to eternal life. Of necessity this plan is very complex. It must be concerned, first of all, with the ‘supernatural order: its end, which is eternal life; its means, the complexus that we term supernatural grace (sanctifying and actual, efficacious and sufficient grace, the infused virtues, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit). Predestination also closely involves the divine foreknowledge of future free acts, the exercise of the free will of man, and divine predilection.”

Catholic theologians have raised the art of prevarication and obfuscation to a high level. Here we have a deliberate juxtaposition of the two doctrines. How can predestination involve “the divine foreknowledge of future free acts, the exercise of the free will of man, and divine predilection”? By their own definitions, predestination and free will are opposites and incompatible with each other.

“Predestination and Related Concepts” “In its most general sense, predestination is a decree of God, an inner decision of the divine wisdom and will, whereby God resolves and determines what He Himself will bring to pass.”

“According to St. Paul, it is the counsel of the divine will whereby God works all things (Eph. 1. I 1), or, according to St. Augustine, it is that whereby He disposes within Himself what He intends to accomplish (Persev. 17.41; PL 45:1018). In this general sense, divine predestination has a bearing on all the works of God. Everything that He does and effects is predestined by Him through an eternal decree before it is carried out in time. More precisely, however, predestination signifies the ordination of God by which certain men are led efficaciously to the attainment of salvation. On the part of God, this divine ordination involves two actions. There is, first, an act of the divine intellect, by which God infallibly foreknows which men are to be saved and the precise means whereby they will attain this salvation.”

“Second, it includes an act of the will of God by means of which He decrees to save these men in the very fashion that He Himself has planned. For this reason, St. Augustine has defined predestination as ‘the foreknowledge and preparation of those gifts of God whereby they who are liberated are most certainly liberated’ (Persev. 14.35; PL 45:1014).” “According to Augustine, the object of predestination is salvation, the freeing from servitude of sin, and all the benefits through which salvation is attained, i.e., efficacious graces, including the gift of final perseverance. The infallible connection between these benefits, that is, the means and the freeing from servitude, has its ultimate foundation in God Himself. The subject of predestination is all men who are in fact saved.”

Well, what do you make of that. Would you trust your salvation and eternal life to someone who tells you that, “they who are liberated are most certainly liberated”, and “The subject of predestination is all men who are in fact saved”? If people are already saved, why predestine them any more? Isn’t this what predestination is supposed to do - to assure them of salvation?

" . . . Viewed therefore, in its totality, predestination includes on the part of God the following: (1) the provision of the end; (2) a determined grade or degree of glory; and (3) the ordination of the means. These three factors are concerned with acts of the divine intellect. In addition, there are the following, which are concerned with the divine will: (I) the first calling of the elect to justification; (2) the decree to confer efficacious graces; and (3) the decree to confer the final perseverance.”

“Although the act of the divine will is most simple, it nevertheless does not attain its created objectives in the same way. Hence, predestination has been considered by the theologians in concepts of varying comprehensiveness.

( I ) Predestination viewed in its totality. This is predestination insofar as it is concerned with the complete series of graces by which man is saved. Predestination in this sense considers the entire process from beginning to end, from the first calling of a soul to the way of salvation to the conferral of final glory.

(2) Predestination partially viewed. This is predestination considered in only one aspect of the entire series of effects. It is derived from the division of the entire process of predestination into its logical, component parts. Thus, one may consider predestination faith alone, predestination to justification alone, or even predestination to glory alone.”

The Bible makes no such divisions and differentiations. They complicate the issue by introducing concepts that are irrelevant, incomprehensible, or plainly unbiblical. It makes one wonder, who are these people writing for? Obviously not for the average people like you and me. They have forgotten that theology is supposed to be expressed in simple language, like the Bible, so that all people understand it. Did not Apostle Paul write that God prefers the simple people to those who think that they are wise?

“For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.” (1 Cor. 1:26-29).

This chapter is hardly more enlightening than the first one. But, we must not despair, for we are yet to look at the “Catholic Teaching”. Surely, they won’t leave millions of their followers in suspense about such an important matter.

“CATHOLIC TEACHING”

“The mystery of predestination stands in the middle of two extremes each of which either completely abandons one or the other of its two organically connected elements, or, at any rate, puts such excessive emphasis on one that the other is neglected. Either the independence and self-activity of man is overly stressed to the exclusion of God's initiation and guidance of man's preliminary steps and continued progress (Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism), or the divine initiative and guidance is represented as inexorably driving and hurrying man along in such a way that his own free movement and advance are obscured or completely denied (predestinationism).”

“Prior to the time of St. Augustine the Fathers of the Church were not preoccupied with the problem of predestination.”

This is a very important statement that tells us much about the state of affairs in the early church. It forces us to ask why is it that predestination and free will were not a major issue with the early Christians? Could it be that they knew the answer? We shall find out.

“It was the bishop of Hippo who first treated the mystery exhaustively, with the theological decisiveness so characteristic of him.

From 418 until 531, there took place in the Western Church many grave controversies concerned with explaining the ultimate foundation for the salvation of those who are saved (the elect) as well as ascertaining the reason for the condemnation of those who are in fact not saved (the reprobate). This theological ferment centered around the Pelagian and Semi-Pelagian controversies. “

Notice that this became a major problem only after “Christianity” became the official religion of the Roman Empire. (For a detailed analysis of what really happened then and why so much “theological torment” ensued afterwards, see The Christian Herald No 4).

“Pelagianism” “This heresy denied the necessity of supernatural grace and consequently did not admit of predestination in the true sense of the word. It maintained that man, by the mere use of his free will and by his other natural powers is able to believe and act in a salutary manner without the assistance of supernatural grace and thus obtain eternal beatitude. According to this doctrine, some species of predestination could be admitted. It would be nothing more, however, than the foreknowledge of God through which He foresees which men will attain salvation through their own efforts. Consequently God, through His divine prevision, chooses as the blessed those whom He has foreseen would be saved solely through their own powers.”

Although the Pelagians come under criticism here, their theology does not appear to have been very different from that of present day Catholic theologians. The idea that God, through His divine prevision, foresees and chooses those who are saved “solely through their own powers” was present in the previous chapter too. If human beings have free will and attain salvation through their own actions, not even God can have foreknowledge of those who will be saved. By its very definition, foreknowledge means predestination, and predestination implies the absence of free will.

“Semi-Pelagianism.” “On the other hand, Semi-Pelagianism attempted to mitigate the extreme position of Pelagianism. It affirmed that without the assistance of divine grace fallen man is unable, by his natural powers, either to be justified or to posit acts that would be meritorious of eternal life. But above all else, the universal salvific will of God must be maintained. It was felt that this salvific will would really be denied, unless it was unequivocally affirmed that the ultimate foundation for the salvation of the saved and the condemnation of the reprobate is to be found in the good use or abuse of human freedom. If God truly and sincerely desires all men to be saved, He must, on His part, will the salvation of all with a complete equality and indifference. He must show no favoritism or special preference regarding the salvation of one man over that of another. If this were not the case, then the salvation of one man and the damnation of another would he directly due to God's action alone. This would destroy any semblance of a universal salvific will and would be unjust.”

Do human beings have the right to judge God by their own standards? Has He not made it clear that He does not give men the right to define or question His sense of justice? What did Apostle Paul write in his epistle to the Romans?

“For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.’ Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

You will say to me then, ‘Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?’ But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’

Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?” (Rom. 9:17-24).

It is obvious that whatever differences there may have been between the Pelagians and semi-Pelagians, they had one thing in common: they both believed in salvation through the good use of one’s free will.

“Semi-Pelagianism claimed, therefore, that Augustine's basic principle, of the gratuitous predilection and preelection of God being the ultimate reason for the salvation of the elect, is irreconcilable with the dogma of the universal salvific will. The ultimate foundation for salvation must be found in man, not in God. Man, though he is fallen, is able through his own natural powers to desire and ask for salvation. He is able to believe and thus posit the first step in the process of salvation, which is faith. God then comes and confers the rest, i.e., justification, meritorious acts, and glory. Despite the disparity between man's meagre natural efforts and the conferral of the supernatural gifts by God, it is, nevertheless, this unaided free use of his will directed toward God that is the ultimate reason why one man rather than another attains justification and salvation.” (The New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. XI, Mc Graw-Hill, 1967, pp. 713-715).

So, the Semi-Pelagians, who were supposed to “mitigate the extreme position of Pelagianism”, assured us in the end that, “The ultimate foundation for salvation must be found in man, not in God.” One wonders what would they have made of these statements:

“O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” (Jer. 10:23).

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:44).

THE AMERICAN ENCYCLOPEDIA

“In Christianity, this is the doctrine that God foreordains, or wills, some men to eternal life. In its broadest sense predestination is God's providence or plan for all things toward reestablishing harmony with him. More narrowly, it is the doctrine of election, holding that some men are elected, or chosen, by God to fulfil his purpose. "Election" usually refers to chosen groups and individuals, while "predestination" tends to refer only to individuals. Predestination is based on the Old Testament concepts of Israel as God's chosen people and of chosen persons such as judges, prophets, and kings. It is further developed in the New Testament concept of the church, or body of believers, as the elect. Paul is especially concerned with the predestination of individuals (Romans 8:28-30).

The Bible does not make clear, however, how many are to be saved. On the one hand, God wills salvation for all (Matthew 18:14; John 3:16; Romans 11:32; 1 Timothy 2:4). On the other, the very concept of the chosen means some but not all (Luke 18:7; Romans 11:8); and there is the further implication that "some" means "few" (Matthew 22:14). This ambivalence presents the problem of why a wise, merciful, just God can permit or will that not everyone should be saved.

A further problem arises in that Paul and other biblical authors insist that predestination to salvation is by God's free gift of grace undeserved by sinful man. Yet they also maintain that it does not deny man’s free will and responsibility.

Christian thinkers since biblical times have wrestled with these difficulties. Augustine was one of the earliest to develop the doctrine, but he left room for much reinterpretation. At one extreme is the deterministic doctrine of double predestination, which holds that God grants irresistible grace to those sinful men whom he predestines to salvation and withholds it from those others, no more sinful, whom he predestines to damnation. Such a view, originally stated by a 5th century priest, was developed by Luther and especially by Calvin, who maintained that sinful man has no right to question the justice of God's arbitrary actions. At the other extreme are universalist views that deny or modify predestination by maintaining that a just God desires salvation for everyone. Pelagianism, a 4th century doctrine opposed by Augustine, held that man can attain salvation through his own effort, without grace. Semi-Pelagianism held that grace is necessary, but man must request it on his own initiative. God predestines those whose merit he foresees. According to Arminianism, developed in the 16th century, God knows who will freely choose his resistible grace and who will reject it, but he does not will their rejection. Arminianism, adopted by Methodists, modified most Protestant teaching. The Catholic view, stated most concretely by Aquinas, tries to maintain a balance between the extremes. It holds that God wills salvation for all and offers sufficient grace to all, which man can freely reject. But God also grants an additional, irresistible, efficacious grace to the elect predestined to salvation. The coherence of these juxtaposed doctrines is a mystery. Predestination is part of Judaism and Islam in the broad sense that everything is under God's providence. Islam also teaches individual predestination, which on the popular level is fatalistic and on the theological level is linked with free will in a mystery.” (American Encyclopedia, 1992, Vol. 22, p. 536).

This pretty well sums it all up. “The coherence of these juxtaposed doctrines is a mystery” not only in the Catholic Church, but virtually in the theology of all who have tackled this subject. We are no closer to knowing whether salvation is a matter of divine providence or a reward for one’s good actions, than we were at the beginning of our search.

“PREDESTINATION IN NON-CATHOLIC THEOLOGY”

For this purpose, we return briefly to the New Catholic Encyclopedia. We found this encyclopedia to offer a better explanation of non-Catholic theology than their own theology.

“At the very beginning of this article it should be clearly stated that actually there is no single doctrine concerning predestination that would be acceptable to all branches of Protestantism. Therefore, it would be inaccurate and ill advised to present this article as being the Protestant theology of predestination. All that one can do is treat of historic Protestantism as it has faced the problem of predestination, i.e., trace the theories of election and reprobation that can be found in the main currents of Protestantism as it has flowed through the history of the past 400 years . . .”

“Martin Luther” “The two men who played key roles in the early history of Protestantism, Martin Luther (1483-1546) and John Calvin, were both deeply influenced by the theological thinking of the centuries previous to those in which they lived. St. Augustine, as understood by them, was a great influence. So were Gottschalk of Orbais in the 9th century and, more proximately, John Wyclif in the 14th. Luther, in his earlier years at least, maintained as extreme a doctrine of predestination as Calvin himself was later to profess. This is important to note since, by and large, modern Lutheranism rejects the extreme approach to predestination that was so emphatically taught by its founder. There are some who claim that in his later years Luther mitigated his doctrine of predestinarianism to a less rigid form of predestination. Actually, however, it seems that although there is a difference in the technical terminology utilised by Luther in the first and later form of his theology, nevertheless the later form does not constitute a radical departure from his earlier conception.

When Luther first began to grapple with the problem of predestination, about 1509 or 1510, he accepted the solution that was common among the schoolmen, that predestination is in some way to be explained by God's foreknowledge of man's conduct. But upon more assiduous study of the Bible and St. Augustine, Luther gradually underwent a complete reversal of opinion and finally professed the doctrine of predestinarianism, which he claimed to be the true teaching of the Bible as well as of St. Augustine.

The most complete sources concerning Luther's teaching on predestination are his commentary on the Epistle to the Romans and his work De servo arbitrio (The Will Enslaved), the latter being written in answer to Erasmus's attack on his doctrine, De libero arbitrio (Free Will). Essentially, the doctrine contained in these works may be summarised as follows. There exists on the part of God an irrevocable election of some souls to eternal beatitude and positive rejection of the rest, who go to eternal perdition. As proof, Luther gives Paul's references to the scriptural stories of God's election and rejection in the three cases of Isaac and Ismael, of Jacob and Esau, and of David and Saul. According to Luther, all objections to predestination, as he understands it, come from human reason and not from the wisdom of God. The objections:

1. Man has been given a free will by which he can earn either merit or demerit. (Luther replies that man's will in itself has not the least ability to secure justification, because the will itself is totally corrupt, totally unable to choose anything but sin. Indeed, the will is not free but captive.)

2. Predestination, as held by Luther, is inconsistent with the teaching of Sacred Scripture, which states (I Tm 2.4) that "God our Saviour . . . wishes all men to be saved." (Luther's reply is that all such statements are realised properly in the elect. One must make a distinction between “the apparent will" and "the hidden will" of God. It is interesting to note that in his translation of I Timothy Luther renders the above as "God wills that all be assisted."). (The New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. XI, Mc Graw-Hill, 1967, p. 715).

Luther started well, but in the end he stumbled over the notion of divine justice. When he could not explain it, he decided to change the Bible. His remodeling of I Timothy 2:4 from, “God our Savior . . .wishes all men to be saved”, to, “God wills that all be assisted”, places him on a collision course with Jesus Christ, who gave a strong warning to anyone who dared to tamper with the Scriptures. (Rev. 22).

Luther’s “apparent” and “hidden” wills of God are also non-biblical. Friedrich Richter quoted Luther as having said that, “God acts according to an arbitrary will, and there is no telling what He will do”. (Martin Luther and Ignatius Loyola, trans. from German by L. Zwinger, Newan Press, 1960, p. 103). Any wonder that people have lost their faith in God and in His sense of justice? Other people who have written on this topic include Huldrych Zwingly, Phillip Melanchton, Jacobus Arminius and Karl Barth, none of whom having resolved the dichotomy between predestination and free will or adding anything new worth mentioning here.

FREE WILL IN THE JEWISH THEOLOGY

“Free will, a philosophical and theological notion referring initially to the observation that man is able to choose between a number of possible courses of action, becoming, through his choice, the cause of the actions which he selects. Among philosophers some accepted this observation as the true account of how men act, while others held that though man appears to be free to choose, his actions are, in fact, compelled, either by God or by laws of nature. While there were some Jewish philosophers who inclined toward a deterministic position, the majority affirmed that man, through choice, is the author of his own actions. Jewish philosophers generally considered a doctrine of free will as indispensable for accounting for man’s moral responsibility for his own actions, and they considered it necessary for explaining God’s justice in punishing evil-doers. Closely related to the notion of free will are those of divine providence and divine omniscience.”

As was the case with their Catholic and Protestant counterparts, Jewish theologians also stumbled over the question of divine justice. While some people inclined towards predestination, the vast majority believed that only free will could hold people morally responsible for their actions and explain divine justice. Encyclopedia Judaica, from which we took this quote, went on to list a long line of theologians who have written on this topic. Here are the views of some of the most prominent:

Philo. “The question of the freedom of man’s will is discussed in a number of places, but his position on this matter is not sufficiently defined . . . Pilo's notion of man’s free will contains a certain innovation in contrast to traditional Greek philosophy, since Aristotelians, for example, tended to view man’s free choice as a defect and deficiency, contingent on his material being.”

Saadiah Gaon. “It appears that according to Philo, there is almost no connection between the notion of man’s free will and the problem of divine justice. In contrast, Saadiah, who was heavily influenced by Mu’tazilite philosophy, maintains that the idea of God’s justice necessarily implies the freedom of man’s will.”

Bahya Ibn Paquda. “He briefly presents the ideas of those who believe that all of man’s actions are predetermined by God, as well as opposing views, which maintain that man’s will is free. He reaches the conclusion that whoever delves into this question must fall into error.”

In Talmud and Midrash. “The doctrine of free will, expressed in the idea that man is free to choose between good and evil, was at the core of Pharisaic outlook. Josephus indeed characterises the differences between the Pharisees and their Sadducean and Essene opponents as between those who accepted both the freedom of man and divine providence (the Pharisees), those who ascribed everything to chance, denying providential guidance (the Sadducees), and those who denied human freedom, maintaining a doctrine of predestination (the Essenes).”

In Modern Jewish Thought. Mordecai Kaplan believes that the idea of free will as it was formulated in the past is out of step with the spirit of the present which looks for causality in everything. He therefore interprets the doctrine of free will as the expression of the idea that there can be no responsibility without freedom. The problem of freedom therefore becomes a spiritual one having to do with the significance of individuality and selfhood on the one hand, and liberation of personality from self-worship and desire for power, on the other.” (Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol 7, 1971, pp. 126 - 132).

And so it is that our search through religious literature led us to nowhere. Theologians of all persuasions, from ancient time to the present, have embraced the belief in free will, not because God has revealed it to be so, but because they reasoned that this is the only way to reconcile man's moral responsibility for his actions and God's notion of divine justice.

This places them at odds with science. As we’ve seen, the latest scientific discoveries, which we established are both credible and irrefutable, tell a different story. It is not free will that determines who will or will not be saved, but one’s own genes and make-up.

This raises serious questions about the theologians' credibility. But all is not lost, for we are yet to look at the wisdom of the academic theologians. Since they are not bound by religious dogma, and always speak the truth with authority, they must surely have found the answer and come to the rescue of their religious counterparts.

ACADEMIC SOURCES

Two academic theologians who published their views in the prestigious Sophia magazine gave a new twist to this debate recently. First, David Basinger, of John Wesley College, Michigan, said:

“The orthodox (classical, traditional) Christian God is usually described as a transcendent, infinite, totally self-sufficient being. It should therefore not be surprising that orthodox Christians affirm the following four statements: (1) God exists, (2) God is omnipotent, (3) God is omniscient, and (4) God is wholly good. But such theists also acknowledge that, (5) Evil exists.

Some philosophers have claimed that to affirm (1-5) is self contradictory. The orthodox Christian, it is argued, must deny one of the five statements in question or abandon his belief in the existence of the orthodox God. In response, the Free Will Defence (FWD) is often proposed. This theodicy has a number of variants, but the most sophisticated seem to incorporate the following line of reasoning:

(6) God cannot bring it about that a moral agent (human or non-human) do X and yet X be freely chosen.

(7) Free choices can result in either good or evil consequences.

(8) Therefore, an omnipotent God cannot create any co-possible set of free moral agents without also bringing about the possibility of evil.

. . .

(14) The existence of a created universe containing moral agents who freely perform both good and evil actions and contains more good than evil overall is a more valuable state-of-affairs than the existence of a created universe containing only robots who must always do what is right or a state-of-affairs in which there is no created universe at all . . . A number of these premises can be (have been) challenged most notably (6) and (14). But my purpose is not to discuss the soundness, nor even the validity, of (6-20). I am concerned rather with the relationship between the concept of divine omnipotence entailed by the FWD and the concept of divine omnipotence implicit in orthodox Christian thought. I shall argue that these two concepts are fundamentally incompatible and that, even if such were not the case, the FWD would be of very limited apologetical value for the orthodox Christian theist . . .

The FWD (free will defence) is normally proposed to circumvent well known problems surrounding the affirmation of (a-c). The basic strategy, we have seen, is to attempt to transfer responsibility for the possibility (or actual occurrence) of gratuitous evil from God to free moral agents by denying that God can bring it about that moral agents always freely make the decisions he desires them to make (i.e., by affirming (6)).

But if the free will accorded moral agents is responsible for the possibility (or actual occurrence) of gratuitous evil, in what sense can it be said that God maintains control over his created universe? . . . According to the FWD, because God cannot bring it about that moral agents always make the free choice he desires of them, God cannot create any copossible set of free moral agents without also bringing about the possibility of gratuitous evil for which he is not responsible. In other words, the Free Will Defender must acknowledge that in any given universe containing free moral agents, some events might occur which his God does not desire but cannot prohibit (e.g., instances of gratuitous evil resulting from the free choices of moral agents) . . . I believe the FWD successfully demonstrates that no being can both create a world containing free moral agents and insure that that such agents will always freely choose to do right (i.e., successfully demonstrate that the Free Will God cannot create just any logically possible state-of-affairs he can conceive) . . . We must conclude then that the FWD has functioned as an abused overused apologetic tool for the orthodox Christian. As a response to the traditional logical problem of evil, it is an irrelevant solution to the main issue and a trivially true response to the issue to which it is usually addressed. This is not to deny that the concept of a FWD is coherent. But even this fact is of limited value to the orthodox Christian since the concept of a Free Will God is incompatible with the type of omnipotent being to which such a theist must give allegiance.” (“Christian Theism and the Free Will Defence”, Sophia, Vol. 19, July 1980, pp. 20-33).

There are a number of problems with Basinger’s theology. First, as you may have noticed, he contrasts man’s free will with God’s omnipotence, rather than with predestination. Why so? Because predestination is linked with salvation, and salvation is not a topic of discussion among academics. To use the words of one of their own, who said, “Many people would sooner die than think. In fact they do” (Bertrand Russell, Thinking about thinking) - Academics would sooner die than acknowledge salvation. In fact they do.

Second, Basinger’s conclusions are based entirely on his own reasoning. Not once did he refer to the Bible to support his views. He believes that he can find the truth about God, human beings and the universe without looking, at least out of curiosity, into those books which are said to be inspired by God. This is what passes as academic wisdom these days.

Third, given his mastery of the Scriptures, not unexpectedly, he makes sweeping generalizations which are contrary to what the Bible teaches. He assures us that: “no being can both create a world containing free moral agents and insure that such agents will always freely choose to do right”, because such a world can only contain “robots”. Had he known the power of God and His plan for mankind, or the history of Christianity, he may have understood why thousands of people have given their lives to become “robots” in a world which contains no evil, yet in which they enjoy complete freedom of the will.

Basinger says that the present world is perfect because human beings have free will. Their ability to commit evil is his guaranty of that. Now, given the fact that they have used their freedom to bring the world to its present sorry state, is this really such a great virtue? Would it not have been better if human beings had been conditioned by God to always do what is right, just, good, true, and live in a harmonious, clean and peaceful world, than to benefit from such freedom and live in a world in which the law of the jungle prevails?

Why is it imperative that people commit evil in order to prove that they have freedom of the will? Is it not more reasonable to expect that left on their own, thinking people would use their power of reasoning to create conditions that ensure the preservation of life rather than the wanton destruction we see all around? What do all these things prove? Either that human beings are shortsighted fools, or that they have unwittingly been driven by forces which are inimical to their survival.

Basinger found himself a critic in Thomas P. Flint of the University of Notre Dame (“Divine Sovereignty and the Free Will Defence”, Sophia 23, July 1984, pp. 41-52).

Unfortunately, his writings exhibit all the weaknesses of Basinger, plus a few of his own. He agrees with Basinger in most points, but takes issue with him in the question of free moral agency and God’s omnipotence. He says that these are not incompatible because God had a choice: He could have avoided the situation in which His omnipotence is being questioned by not creating human beings in the first place.

This may be a convenient explanation, but one can hardly answer a fact with a hypothesis. The fact is, God did create the world, placed human beings in it, then allowed them to commit evil and bring catastrophe upon themselves.

The question is why, and how can they get out of it? How can they save themselves from their present sorry condition? Can they do it on their own, through the exercise of their own will power, or do they depend entirely on God’s grace for their salvation?

Since no source has given us a satisfactory answer, our only choice is to go directly to the Bible.

THE BIBLICAL CASE FOR FREE WILL

There are not too many passages in the Bible which directly support the idea of free will, but the few that are, are invariably quoted by those who subscribe to this belief. The most often quoted example is found in the New Testament, in one of Apostle Paul’s epistles:

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Phil 2:12).

Since men can work out their own salvation, the reasoning goes, they must have free will.

Another powerful example, this one in the Old Testament in the book of Deuteronomy, says this:

"I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” (Deut. 30:19).

These two statements form the main support for the belief in free moral agency. For people to be able to work out their own salvation or choose between life and death, they must have freedom of the will. Therefore it can be said that this doctrine is based on solid biblical principles. Other examples which support this doctrine, are usually associated with God’s warnings that if people commit wrongdoing, and transgress His statutes and commandments, they will be punished. The argument being that He would not punish them if He did not consider them to be morally responsible for their actions. There are many such examples in the Bible, and we cannot look at them all, but here are couples which are typical.

“Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem; see now and know; and seek in her open places if you can find a man, if there is anyone who executes judgment, who seeks the truth, and I will pardon her. Though they say, ‘As the LORD lives,' surely they swear falsely.’ O LORD, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, but they have not grieved; you have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return. Therefore I said, ‘Surely these are poor. They are foolish; for they do not know the way of the LORD . . .’ ‘For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously with Me,’ says the LORD. They have lied about the LORD, and said, ‘It is not He. Neither will evil come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine. And the prophets become wind, for the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them.’

Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts: ‘Because you speak this word, behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. Behold, I will bring a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel . . .’ And they shall eat up your harvest and your bread, which your sons and daughters should eat. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds; they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; they shall destroy your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.

Nevertheless in those days,' says the LORD, ‘I will not make a complete end of you. And it will be when you say, "Why does the LORD our God do all these things to us?” then you shall answer them, "Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve aliens in a land that is not yours.”’” (Jer 5:1-4; 11-19).

In the end, both Israel and Judah paid heavily for their disobedience. The conclusion being that they had freedom of the will and exercised it wrongfully. A conclusion which could also be drawn from the following passage:

“Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds; to Me their way was like the uncleanness of a woman in her customary impurity. Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it. So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds.

When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name -- when they said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, and yet they have gone out of His land.' But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went. Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD,'' says the Lord GOD, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes.” (Ezek 36:17-23).

The idea that man has free will and is in charge of his own salvation, correlates well with modern philosophy which holds that man is the center of his universe and master of his own destiny. By judicious use of his will, he can either save or destroy himself.

The role of the Holy Spirit has been diminished to the point of almost total exclusion from the process of salvation. As Friedrich Richter pointed out, “In time, the work of the Holy Spirit loses its universal character and is limited to the subjective experience of the individual. Rationalism eventually supplants the Holy Spirit with the spirit of man.” (Op. cit., p. 109).

THE BIBLICAL CASE FOR PREDESTINATION

The most obvious examples of predestination also come from Apostle Paul, the one who provided the ammunition for those who believe in free will too.

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth-- in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.” (Eph. 1:1-12).

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” (Rom. 8:28-30).

You can see that here, unlike in previous examples in which the words “free will” or “freedom of the will” or “free moral agency” were never used, but merely implied, the word “predestined” is specifically mentioned several times.

Other statements indicate that God has a Book of Life in which He wrote the names of those who are to be saved before the world was created. In other words, they were predestined to be saved before they were born.

"Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.'' (Luke 10:20).

"Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’” (Matt 25:34).

“And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.” (Phil 4:3).

"The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.” (Rev 17:8).

This idea is also found in the Old Testament:

“Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, ‘Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin – but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.’

And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin.’” (Exod. 32:31-34).

Other examples that support the idea of predestination include the following:

“The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. ‘I have loved you,’ says the LORD. ‘Yet you say, "In what way have You loved us?” Was not Esau Jacob's brother?'‘ Says the LORD. ‘Yet Jacob I have loved; but Esau I have hated, and laid waste his mountains and his heritage for the jackals of the wilderness.''(Mal 1:1-3).

Apostle Paul amplified this in his epistle to the Romans:

“As it is written, ‘Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.’ What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.'‘ So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.’ Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

You will say to me then, ‘Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?’ But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’

Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?” (Rom. 9:13-24).

These examples not only prove predestination, but emphasize the fact that it is the will of God which determines who is to be saved and who is not, rather that the will of man. “He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.” Our problem comes from the fact that Apostle Paul seems to have contradicted himself. Could he be so lose in his thoughts as not to realize that in one place he supported free will and in another predestination? Something isn’t right, but what? Since predestination has a stronger biblical case than free will, we have no choice but to go back to the Bible and examine once again those Scriptures that appear to support free will.

FREE MORAL AGENCY, OR FREE MORAL DECEPTION?

Before we look again at Paul’s letter to the Philippians, which assured us that people can work out their own salvation, we will have a brief look at another Pauline statement which just as strongly seems to deny this fact.

‘What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written: ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offence, and whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’'' (Rom. 9:30-33).

Here, Apostle Paul speaks of two kinds of righteousnesses: one attained by faith and another by works of the law. Righteousness by works of the law can be equated with working out one’s own salvation: both ideas relying on people’s active involvement in working out something that leads to their salvation. Now while work can be a reflection of one’s faith (''Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works”, James 2:18), work can never generate the faith required for salvation because this is a gift from God: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9). This creates a major problem for those who use Philippians 2:12 as proof of free will in man. How can one work out his own salvation if this is entirely dependent on God’s grace and gift of faith? The Scriptures never contradict themselves, yet those who preach free moral agency would have us believe that they do. How then do we explain that statement in the epistle to the Philippians? Let us have another look at it.

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Phil 2:12-13).

Did you notice the difference? We were naughty here in that we quoted the entire verse rather than just part of it. The result is nothing short of electrifying. All of a sudden the free will case is on a shaky ground. Rather than proving free will, or free moral agency, or whatever they call it, this verse proves the very opposite - it proves predestination?

Those who have used this verse to “prove” freedom of the will have invariably stopped at the word “trembling”. They have left out the most important part of the verse, the one which qualifies it and gives it proper meaning: “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure”. Now if it is God who, at His own pleasure, puts it in human heart to will and to do something, how can anyone claim that they do it out of their own volition? Isn’t it rather obvious that whatever human beings do it all comes from God?

What about the example in Deuteronomy, have theologians placed a veil over people’s eyes with this one too? Let’s see.

"See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.”

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.'' (Deut. 30:15-I6; 19-20).

Again, can you see the miraculous metamorphosis taking place when we look at the whole passage rather than just part of it, and do a little independent thinking? When God set before His people life and death, He did not give them a choice between one and the other, He commanded them to choose life. Now I suggest to you that a command is not a choice.

Think of a parent who places an apple and a pear in front of his child, then commands him to choose the apple. If the child stretches out his arm to take the pear he gets a smack on his hand. The father repeats the exercise as many times as it takes for the child to learn the lesson and always take the apple. Now is that a choice? This is exactly what our heavenly Father does with us, His children. He places life and death before us, and then commands us to choose life. Every time we choose death by sinning, He chastens us, and then gives us a new chance. Notice:

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: ‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.’ If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Heb. 12:1-11).

God places life and death before His children, then chastens and trains them until they learn their lesson. Is it not clear then that when God commands people to follow a certain course of action, they have little freedom but to obey? Deuteronomy is another example of a Scripture that has been used for the wrong purpose. Like Philippians, rather than proving free will, it proves predestination. Now what about the other examples? Again, let us have a look at them in their context.

“Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem; see now and know; and seek in her open places if you can find a man, if there is anyone who executes judgment, who seeks the truth, and I will pardon her. Though they say, ‘As the LORD lives,' surely they swear falsely.’

O LORD, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, but they have not grieved; you have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return. Therefore I said, ‘Surely these are poor. They are foolish; for they do not know the way of the LORD . . .’ ‘For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously with Me,’ says the LORD. They have lied about the LORD, and said, ‘It is not He. Neither will evil come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine. And the prophets become wind, for the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them.’

Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts: ‘Because you speak this word, behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. Behold, I will bring a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel . . .’ And they shall eat up your harvest and your bread, which your sons and daughters should eat. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds; they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; they shall destroy your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword.

Nevertheless in those days,' says the LORD, ‘I will not make a complete end of you. And it will be when you say, "Why does the LORD our God do all these things to us?” then you shall answer them, "Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve aliens in a land that is not yours.”’” (Jer. 5:1-4; 11-19).

Now notice what happens if we add the next four verses to this passage:

“Declare this in the house of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah, saying, ‘Hear this now, O foolish people, without understanding, who have eyes and see not, and who have ears and hear not: ‘Do you not fear Me?' says the LORD. Will you not tremble at My presence, who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it? And though its waves toss to and fro, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it. But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart; they have revolted and departed. They do not say in their heart, ‘Let us now fear the LORD our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season. He reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.’''

If “this people has a defiant and rebellious heart”, who made them that way if not God? Remember: “The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; he turns it wherever He wishes.” (Prov. 21:1), and, “O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” (Jer. 10:23). But also: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it? I, Jehovah, search the mind, I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” (Jer. 17:9-10). The next example tells us very clearly who determines what kind of heart is in human beings and how that can be changed. We will not quote again Ezekiel 36:17-23 but will go straight to verses 24 to 36 of this chapter.

“For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations. Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations. ‘Not for your sake do I do this,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!’

Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt. The desolate land shall be tilled instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass by. So they will say, “This land that was desolate has become like the Garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.” Then the nations which are left all around you shall know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, the LORD, have spoken it, and I will do it.’''

As long as the people had a heart of “stone” they continued to go after other gods, but when God put “a new heart and a new spirit” in them, they became His people and they no longer departed from His ways. The message could not be clearer: God allows human beings to stumble and see the limitations of their ways until they turn to Him with humility in prayer and worship and admit that apart from Him they can neither survive nor save themselves. Christians can take comfort from the fact that there is no conflict between the latest scientific discoveries and the Bible. The conflict is only between science and those who have been preaching a false doctrine and a false gospel. They have chosen the easy way out of a difficult situation. In spite of all the evidence to the contrary, they have abandoned predestination in favor of free will because this absolved them of any further need to explain divine justice. It became very easy for them to place all the blame on human beings and make them morally responsible for all the evil in the world. Then they sat on their laurels until science came along and exposed their deception.

The problem therefore is not in finding an answer to the question of free will versus predestination - science and the Bible are in agreement that predestination is a fact - but in explaining the notion of divine justice in view of the fact that God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:3-4), and that He “shows no partiality” with human beings (Acts 10:34), when we know that some people have been predestined to be saved and others to be damned.

Since human beings have not been able to come up with this explanation, our only choice is to go before the throne of God Almighty and seek the answer directly from Him. This is what we intend to do now.

HEAVENLY SUPPER

“It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago-- whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows-- such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man-- whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows--how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” (2 Cor. 12:1-4).

The occasion: a meeting of the Imperial Executive. The location: God’s Imperial Palace. The place: the Banquet Hall. Around a horseshoe shaped table, the guests are seated on the outside and the attendants are serving from the inside.

At the head of the table, shining like the sun, God Almighty is flanked on the right by Jesus Christ and on the left by the Holy Spirit. The guests, shining like stars, include Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Elijah, Daniel, Job, other patriarchs and prophets, John the Baptist, the Apostles, other saints.

The attendants, impeccably dressed and gliding like swans, are serving exquisite, mouth-watering delicacies. When I asked one of them why it looked like a Chinese banquet, he said that it just happened to be the turn of the Chinese to provide the food and the Japanese the drinks. Last time it was Italian food and German drinks. Next time it will be Indian food and Australian drinks. Each nation has a chance to show its culinary expertise and delicacies.

When the banquet is over, he added, you will sit down with us and enjoy some of these delicacies too.

The meal was conducted in an atmosphere of jovial cordiality, with toasts being offered by various speakers to one thing or another throughout the meal. A chamber orchestra, on a stage in an alcove in the far side of the room, was filling the air with soft and soothing classical melodies. Wherever one looked, the eye and the mind were dazzled by the breathtaking architectural splendor of the Palace and an opulence that defied description. The ceiling, with delightful paintings and brilliant relief carvings, was resting on ornamental double columns lined up near a semi-circular wall. In the middle of the ceiling, a glass cupola revealed a deep blue sky and soaring birds of exquisite beauty and songs.

Between the columns, tall narrow stain glass windows, wonderfully glazed with floral and geometric designs, flanked individual alcoves in which additional guests were being entertained. Indoor lush green plants, some in bloom, in masterfully crafted large vases, were interspersed between the columns and the alcoves, creating both a sense of seclusion and a natural uplifting ambience.

Magnificent tapestries on walls complimented a carefully chosen color scheme. In the middle of the wall, in front of the head table, a large clear window, framed by ceiling to floor curtains, opened up to an outside garden from which a fresh sea breeze was filling the room through a gently fluttering veil of transparent silk. The room, located on the second floor, offered the view of a dazzling panorama of colors from beautifully landscaped beds of flowers and tropical plants covering the entire length of the Palace.

On the other side of the garden, a ring of nicely lined trees was making the transition to another ring of dense tropical forest. Beyond that, a few hundred meters away, a sea of crystal clear waters with white sandy beaches stretched on either side of the Palace as far as the eye could see. An opening through the forest, led all the way from the Palace to the beach. Far on the horizon, across the waters, in a distant mist, one could see the faint outline of snow-capped peaks of a chain of mountains soaring into the clouds, indicating perhaps that the waters belonged not to a sea but to a very large lake. Whatever, it was big enough to make ideal surfing waves.

On either side of the Palace, at a fair distance, two navigable rivers were discharging their healing waters into the lake. They had their origin in front of the Palace from where they flowed together in a parallel formation a long way until they split and wound their way through towns and villages until they came back to the lake, forming as it were the shape of an open heart. This reminded me of the following biblical passage:

“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” (Rev 22:1-2).

On the beach, groups of people and children were sunbathing, surfing and frolicking in the water. Right in front of us, a group of children were playing with birds and fish which, instead of running away from them, seemed to enjoy their company. Some of the children were performing balancing acts on the back of whales and dolphins, holding birds in their arms, heads and shoulders, while others were flying through the air propelled by whale tails.

Near the Palace, in an opening in the forest on the right, a dozen deer and gazelles were blissfully grazing away unperturbed by a family of lions which were lazing nearby.

A little dog, a lion cub, and two deer kids were playing a kind of catch-me game. The kids were running in circles jumping over the dog and the cub, while these were trying to catch them by the tail.

As I was happily watching this sight I came to realize that the little dog looked very much like one of my former pets. This made me think about the destiny of animals. Wouldn’t it be wonderful, I thought, if animals, people’s pets in particular, were given a place in the Kingdom of Heaven too? But then I remembered a sad incident and a discussion between a lady and her priest regarding the fate of animals. She had a little dog which she loved very much but which died in an accident. She went to her priest and asked him whether she will ever see her dog again. He said no, because "animals have no souls and cannot go to heaven. They are here for our use, and when they die they are finished.”

She became very upset and started crying. But her friend, who was sitting nearby, said: “Most certainly animals go to heaven.”

“How do you know that?” she asked.

“Because without pets heaven would not be heaven!”

The priest, perhaps wondering that a woman would contradict him, ended the discussion by walking away slowly.

Now who do you think made more sense: the priest who based his views on religious conviction, or the lady who based hers on logic?

A priest once told me that when he was a seminarian it was only in the third year that he was introduced to the Bible. Most of the time was taken by learning the church’s doctrines and how to administer the parish. This is why whenever I want to find the truth about anything heavenly I go directly to the Bible.

The question to which we want an answer now is this: if God created the enormous variety of birds, fish and animals for our enjoyment in this temporary world, would He deny us such a pleasure in His eternal Kingdom? Would it be unreasonable therefore to imagine that He will please His children by resurrecting the pets which were once their lovable companions? Did not Jesus Christ say that with God all things are possible? (Matt 19:26; Mark 9:23).

The problem is, what do we do about the soul? If animals have no soul how could they be resurrected? Our only hope is for the priest to be wrong and the lady right. If this is the case, the implication is serious: every church and denomination in the world would need to change its beliefs and doctrines, for they all preach the same thing. So what is the truth?

As I was thinking about this topic, my mind took me right at the beginning of God’s creation. When He created the world and breathed life into His creatures, He used the same word 'nefesh', meaning soul, for both animals and human beings? This is what the New Catholic Encyclopedia says:

“In its most ordinary present day usage, the term soul (Lat. anima), when used alone, refers to the human soul; to say soul is to mean human soul. If one intends to speak about other sorts of soul, he uses expressed qualifiers; e.g., he says plant soul, or animal soul. There is nonetheless a use of the term soul that means simply a principle of life, or a source of life activities, at least that of nourishing. According to this usage, soul designates the mark of a living thing, or what separates the living from nonliving.” (New Cat. Enc., 1967, Vol. 13, p.447).

And the Encyclopaedia Judaica:

“The personality was considered as a whole in the biblical period. Thus the soul was not sharply distinguished from the body. In biblical Hebrew the words neshamah and ruah both meant “breath” and nefesh refers to the person or even the body (cf. Num. 6:6). (Enc. Jud. 1971, Vol. 15, p.172).

Now compare this with Wilson’s Old Testament Word Studies:

“The animal life, or that principle by which every animal, according to its kind, lives; hence life, vital principle, animal spirit, which is often translated soul, or spirit . . . The rational soul, mind, animus, as the seat of the feelings, affections, emotions of various kinds.”

If soul is the seat of feelings and affections, then clearly animals have soul. Any observant pet owner would tell you that animals have feelings and affections, and show signs of pleasure, anger and curiosity. This is confirmed by Vine’s Expanded Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words who says that:

“Soul Psuche denotes the breath, the breath of life, then the soul, in its various meanings: (a) the natural life of the body, Matt. 2:20; Luke 12:22; Acts 20:10. . . Lev. 17:11 . . . (h) persons, individuals, Acts 2:41, 43; Rom. 2:9; of animals, Lev. 24:18, lit., “soul for soul”. . . (j) an animate creature, human or other, I Cor. 15:45; Rev. 16:3, . . . The language of Hebrew 4:12 suggests the extreme difficulty of distinguishing between the soul and the spirit, alike in their nature and in their activities.”

Here we have a very important observation, and admission that people have not been able to distinguish between soul and spirit. But more on this later. First let us look at what Solomon, one of the wisest men who ever lived, recorded in the Bible about humans and animals:

“I said in my heart, ‘Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals.’ For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust.” (Eccl. 3:18-20).

He saw no difference between men and animals - they both go in the same place. So then, if some people “go to heaven” is it all that unreasonable to expect that animals could “go to heaven” too? At least people's pets? The fact is, as in so many other things, theologians have made a mistake about the soul too. They have confused 'soul' with 'spirit' and 'Holy Spirit'.

All living things, human and animal, have a soul, but not all have a spirit. The Bible speaks of the spirit in man as distinct from his soul:

“But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.” (Job 32:8).

“The burden of the word of the LORD against Israel. Thus says the LORD, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him...” (Zech. 12:1).

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they have pierced; they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” (Zech. 12:10).

“‘It shall be in that day,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land.’” (Zech. 13:2).

Notice how idolatry is linked with “unclean spirits” and the Holy Spirit with the “Spirit of grace and supplication”. Human beings are under the influence of one or the other at all times. Here is further proof:

“But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.” (Num. 14:24).

“But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the LORD troubled him.” (1 Sam 16:14).

“Are the consolations of God too small for you, and the word spoken gently with you?

Why does your heart carry you away, and what do your eyes wink at,

That you turn your spirit against God, and let such words go out of your mouth?

What is man, that he could be pure? And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous?

If God puts no trust in His saints, and the heavens are not pure in His sight,

How much less man, who is abominable and filthy, who drinks iniquity like water!” (Job 15:11-16).

These quotations tell us the following things:

1. In their natural state, there is no difference between human beings and animals - they all have a soul.

2. Before they repent and are 'born again', people are under the influence of “unclean” or disobedient spirits.

3. Of the three - soul, spirit and Holy Spirit - only the last guaranties eternal life in the Kingdom of God. The other two are not immortal, though God can make them so. Ezekiel 18:4 and 18: 20, tell us that the souls that sin shall die, while Revelation 20:10, Ezekiel 28:18 and Jude 1:6-7 tell us that the Devil and his rebellious spirits will be destroyed into a great lake of fire at the end of this world.

Human beings take on the character of the spirit by which they are guided. Jesus Christ told His disciples that, in their natural state they have no chance of making it into the Kingdom of God.

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’

Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.’” (Matt 18:1-3).

“There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.

Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.’'' (Luke 13:1-5).

The following passage makes it even clearer that human beings are possessed by hostile spirits before conversion:

“Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, ‘Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?’ But He turned and rebuked them, and said, ‘You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them.’ And they went to another village.” (Luke 9:51-56).

This is why human beings need the presence of the Holy Spirit to be able to come out of the disastrous condition in which they had fallen as the result of sin. Animals do not sin. Nor could they take a conscious decision to repent and be baptized in order to receive the Holy Spirit. They only do what God has put it in their hearts to do, unlike human beings that often do what they ought not to.

So while all living things need a soul to be alive, human beings, being made of carnal nature, come under the influence of disobedient or unclean spirits from the moment they are born. Here is proof from both the Old and the New Testaments of this fact:

"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me." (Ps 51:5).

"For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God-- through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin." (Rom. 7:22-25).

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors-- not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father.''

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs-- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ""For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.'' Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:1-39).

Jesus Christ was a Man born of carnal nature like you and me, but He had the seed of the Holy Spirit in Him from conception, and that gave Him the power to keep under control the pulls of carnal nature and withstand Satan's temptations.

As humans grow and become conscious of their condition, and become aware of the possibility of eternal life in a better world, they must ask God to grant them the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13). The act of repentance, conversion, baptism and laying on of hands by people who possess the Holy Spirit results in them receiving the Holy Spirit too. From then on they begin to develop a new character, one which eventually allows them to become “free moral agents” in the Kingdom of God, not in this world. In this world no one is a free moral agent. People are either guided by their natural rebellious spirit, or by God’s Holy Spirit.

The presence of the Holy Spirit is what makes Christianity different from other religions. True Christianity, that is. Other religions have no such concepts. That is why the Bible says that there is no other name under heaven by which men can be saved:

“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: if we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the "stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’’’ (Acts 4:8-12).

Animals do not need to go through trials in order to develop a new character. They are led by instinct, not by spirits, and God can change that anytime, without the need for repentance, baptism and laying on of hands. Moreover, the Scriptures make it clear that animals will be given a new instinct in the Kingdom of God.

"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” (Isa. 11:6-9).

Many animals and pets have suffered grievously at the hands of cruel people. They too demand their justice. The Kingdom of God cannot be established until all injustices and injuries done to any of God’s creatures have been atoned for.

Jesus Christ said “for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.” (Matt 12:36). If men will give account for every idle word, how much more will they give account for every evil thing they have done? Therefore people ought to be careful how they treat their animals, for in the Day of Judgment they will certainly to give account of their actions.

As I was thinking about these things, it occurred to me that being so close to the Father and the whole Heavenly Executive I could go and discuss these things with Them. That is, if I gathered enough courage to go and present myself, in my filthy condition, before them. But when I turned around and looked at the Father, He was looking at me with a benign smile as if to say: “Son who do you think has put these thoughts in your head? What you thought is perfectly all right. In My Kingdom there is certainly enough room for My children’s pets too.”

At that time one of the attendants approached the Father and said: “Father, have you seen what the children have been up to lately?”

“What son?”

“Can You come to the window to see?”

As the meal was finished and it was time to clean the tables, the Father said: “All right, let us all go to the window and see”.

In another opening, on the left side of the palace, a group of children had gathered an array of animals and were performing a show that would have put to shame an earthly circus. Two of them were racing a horse and a giraffe, apparently in an attempt to find out which run the fastest. It was a dead heat, though I think the giraffe just stuck its neck in front. But the animals did not appear to over extend themselves. I think they were more concerned not to bounce the children off their back than to set new records.

Other children were playing a balancing act on a beam high up between two tall trees. Below them, a group of alpacas were forming a soft landing bed. As I looked closer to see why they were falling down so easily, I realized that the slippery beam was not a beam at all but a giant anaconda stretched out between the trees.

Other children were flying through the air like trapeze artists, being propelled by the swinging heads of a number of giraffes set up in a wide circle. Some of the heads did not seem to belong to giraffes at all but to prehistoric animals like dinosaurs. Indeed, their huge and cumbersome bodies were largely hidden by the forest, but their heads and necks were surprisingly agile for the size of the animals.

Then one of the children noticed the distinguished audience at the window and alerted the other children. They all stopped playing, ran towards the window, knelt down and bowed their heads in a sign of worship and respect. Amazingly, the animals followed suit, knelt behind, and they too bowed their heads.

After a few minutes, the children looked up, and the Father smiled, clapped His hands, and said: “Well done children!” The other guests clapped too. The children then stood up, waved their hands, and took off in the direction of the lake, running, shouting and calling on their pets to follow suit. When they reached the lake, they playfully started scrubbing and washing their pets in a cacophony of noises that could be heard from miles around. On the shore, a little piglet was crying his heart out trying to say something, but no one seemed to notice. Then a little girl saw him, came near and asked, “What’s the matter, babe?”

“I can’t swim, I can’t swim!”

“C’mon dear, I will teach you how to swim”.

“Promise you won’t let me drown?”

“You promise to play with me afterwards?”

“Yes, I will, I will,” said the piglet.

“Then I promise not to let you drawn.”

So they went into the water and disappeared among the other children and animals.

By this time, the guests had returned to their places and were getting ready for the business section of the meeting. Much as I would have liked to continue watching the children and their pets at play, I had to settle down in my corner and take notes of the proceedings. So here they are, notes of the world's first eyewitness account of heavenly proceedings, unedited and uncensored.

HITLER’S JUDGMENT

The Father began by calling everyone to attention. He made a few comments about the wonderful meal, the great service; the “unexpected” show presented by the children, and then said, “Let us begin by reviewing the proceedings in the Judgment Hall”.

Looking at Apostle Peter, He said, “Last time we decided that you, being the Apostle to the ‘circumcised’, should judge Hitler, the man who caused the holocaust among your people, while Paul, the Apostle to the ‘uncircumcised’ should judge Stalin, the man who decimated the Christians. So how has it been going?”

“Wonderfully, Father. At times it was almost comical. But I think we should see the proceedings on the screen.”

A virtual reality film, projected widely on a wall, showed Hitler raging and extolling the achievements of his great empire, one which "he had built with his own hands, but which was betrayed and dismantled by an inferior race, the rotten Jews, and sold to the filthy Bolsheviks.”

“It wasn’t all that great if it was so easily dismantled and sold by a handful of people, was it? And how did this ‘inferior race’ do this to your empire" asked Peter.

“They did it through an international conspiracy organized by the Jewish bankers and media moguls”.

“Those Jewish bankers of whom you said you would wipe off the face of the earth if they started another war against your nation?”

“Well, I said that earlier in my reign, but I did not really think they would actually do it to us again as they did in the First World War.”

“And why did they do these things to you?”

“Because we stood in the way of their empire.”

“What empire?”

"Don't you know it?"

"No, I don't, but I am sure you will enlighten me."

“The Bolshevik empire. What do you think that was all about?”

“What?”

“It was a Jewish empire in disguise. The idea was Jewish, the founders were Jewish, the first government was dominated by the Jews, the security apparatus was in Jewish hands, and the finances came from the Jews.”

“Given the problems they had among the Gentiles, could you blame them for wanting to establish a communist empire in which brotherhood and co-operation was emphasized and religion and nationalism were abolished?”

“Brotherhood and co-operation? They treated their subjects, their supposed brothers, worse than we treated our slaves.”

“Could that be possible? What was the difference between their empire and yours?”

“We were national socialists, and they were internationalists. They emphasized the supposed equality of all nations while we emphasized the superiority of our nation. Those who obeyed us did very well under our rulership.”

“Why do you say ‘supposed equality’?”

“They pretended to be equal, but in fact their subjects became slaves in their own lands.”

“What is worse, being a slave in your own land or being burned in an oven?”

“Ah, there you are, you fell victim to their propaganda too. We never burned healthy people. We weren’t fools; we needed them for work. We only burned the sick, the weak, the old, the young, the gypsy, the homosexuals, the communists, and the subversives.”

“Is that all?”

“Absolutely!”

“And the Jews?”

“That goes without saying. They were not people, they were sub-humans.”

“What about the other ‘sub-human’ people, what would you have done with them if you had won the war?”

“Oh, I would have built a wonderful civilization. My superior Aryan people would have ruled the world and the other races would have gained their pleasure from serving them. As the song goes: ‘Germany uber alles’”.

“And the Americans, what would you have done to them?”

“Well, if they had behaved and played by the rules, they would have retained most of their country and lived in peace.”

“What rules, and what part of the country would they have lost?”

“The rules set by me and my generals. They would have had to stop meddling in other people’s affairs, would have renounced any pretence of greatness, and would have accepted the size of army and navy I would have dictated for them. I would have been quite generous to them. They would have lived safely in their own land and never would anyone have invaded them. We would have been neighbors.”

“Oh, how is that?”

“Well, you see, the southern belt of their States, from Florida to California, plus northern Mexico, Hawaii and their other overseas possessions, would have made a wonderful colony for my generals and their families.”

“All that land for just a few generals and their families?”

“Are you kidding? My whole nation would have become a garrison of generals. How do you think we would have been able to keep in submission those inferior Slavic races from the Balkans to the Pacific?”

“Those races that were going to get their pleasure from serving your Aryans?”

“Precisely!”

“And the British, what would you have done to them?”

“Oh, Britain without America would have been nothing. But I would have been generous to them too. I would have allowed them to live peacefully in their island. Without their empire, of course. They would have been governed by a national socialist government, and on their throne there would have been a friendly monarch.”

“Which one?”

“The Duke of Windsor, of course.”

"And France?”

“France would have become part of my Greater Germany. The French Empire, like the British, would have been incorporated into my Reich. What a world of happiness that would have been.”

“How unfortunate that those ‘inferior races' dismantled your Reich.”

“Yeah, I knew you would understand me. That’s the most unfortunate thing that happened in the history of the world.”

“Do you regret any of the things you have done?''

“Like what?”

“Like what you did to the Jews?’

“The Jews? Regret? Yes, I regret! I regret I did not start earlier and finish them off.”

“Why did you hate them so much? What have they done to you?”

“What have they done to me? It is not what they’ve done to me; it is what they have done to the world? They killed Christ, didn’t they?”

“But Christ forgave them, why didn’t you?”

“Forgive them? Me? What do you think I am God? I never forgive anyone. Certainly I would never forgive those filthy mongrels.”

“So you do not repent of anything you have done in your life, do you?”

“Repent, forgive! Why don’t you ask me to go embrace and kiss them too? Never! I will never give them the pleasure of touching me, or even coming near me, even if I have to spend my life in a concentration camp and end up in an oven as they did.”

“They must be heart-broken to hear you say that. Nevertheless, as you have spoken, so it shall be done. You shall spend your life in a concentration camp until you are old, then you shall end up in an oven like your prisoners. And while you are there, some of your own doctors and fellow prisoners will perform on you the kind of medical experiments you performed on your prisoners. Like castrating you and cutting off limbs from you, all live and anaesthetized, then giving cold showers in the dead of winter, so that you may know how your prisoners felt. Then, as I said, when you are old and no longer fit for anything, you will be finished off in an oven alive, and your memory shall be wiped off from the land of the living forever. That should atone for the sins you committed against mankind and God's creation.”

“This is how we finished the judgment of this fiend Father”, said Apostle Peter. “We gave him the opportunity to defend himself, yet all he did was to sink even deeper in the morass of his horrible crimes. We found no redeeming features in him at all. We had no choice but to finish him off that way.”

“You did well, Peter. I don’t think anyone would have relished the thought of meeting that creature even in the furthest corners of the universe. Had you decided otherwise, you would have had to do a lot of explanation to those who were his victims”, said the Father and adjourned the meeting until next time.

STALIN’S JUDGMENT

At the next meeting, the Father asked Apostle Paul how Stalin’s judgment went.

“Quite an event, Father." Stalin’s fury was against the Christians just as Hitler’s was against the Jews. He filled his labor camps with the Christians just as Hitler filled his concentration camps with the Jews. But shall we see the recording of his judgment?”

“Of course, let us see it.”

Stalin was seen in his generalisimo attire being led by two polite attendants to the Judgment Hall, then being offered a seat in front of the judging panel. Before sitting down he ordered the attendants to turn the armchair towards the window. As he sat down, he yawned widely and said: “Umm, I feel as if I’ve just woken up from a long sleep. Anyway, what are we gathered for here today for? No, don’t tell me, let me guess it. We are here to see whom we are nailing to the wall today.

Who are our latest enemies? You know, Beria, I think you did a marvelous job with those stubborn Ukrainian peasants. They drove me crazy with their refusal to join the collective farm. The idea to starve them to death was marvelous. It looked as if everything was natural. Well, we couldn’t allow a bunch of peasants to stand in the way of glorious communism. Look, let me make this absolutely clear: the end justifies the means. The future of the world depends on us building a perfect society here in the Soviet Union. This is why we must show no mercy to the ‘enemies of the people’.

Hah, ‘enemies of the people’, what a joke. But it works. It helped me get rid of my enemies. And my enemies are your enemies.

The point is how much is a leader like me worth it? Let’s face it, when a country invests so much in a leader, it cannot afford to change him often as they do it in the West. It needs to keep him in power long enough to make that investment worthwhile. This is why when I place someone in a position of leadership in any satellite country, he stays there for life. Or until he crosses me, in which case he is finished before he knows what happened to him.

Communism cannot be built without a wise and strong leadership. Millions of people in the Soviet Union and in the satellite countries, and soon in the whole world, trust me and extol my virtues. This is why no one can stand in my way – all my enemies end up being crushed.

You know, it’s funny how the world condemns Hitler for his atrocities against the Jews. I created havoc among my enemies; I destroyed churches, I imprisoned Christians, and filled labor camps in freezing Siberia with all who opposed me. My secret police, as you all know, is more effective than his Gestapo. Put it this way: who needs gas ovens when you have a place like Siberia. Ten times more people perished in our prisons and labor camps than did in their concentration camps, yet no one says a thing about me, while everybody condemns Hitler and his regime. This is what I call a good propaganda machine.

Of course, there is one other major difference between us: we won the war and they lost it. It is the victor’s justice, but who dares call it that way? Naturally, the Jews have their brothers - the media barons in America and elsewhere - to speak for them and to denounce Hitler’s crimes, whereas my victims have no one to speak for them. But, that’s life, it’s nobody’s fault.

It’s a pity that that fool, Trotsky, forced me to lay my hand on him and on a few of his fellow Jews. But in the end it worked out to their advantage. They could claim that they were as much a victim of communism as everyone else.

Can you imagine what would happen if the true history of communism was ever made public? You know, I laughed the other day when someone told me the definition of a communist historian: one who predicts the past. Was it you, Beria, who told me that? It must have been you, for I cannot imagine anyone coming to me with that kind of slander at our historians.

Of course, that is the kind of propaganda Hitler spread about us. That imbecile - he nearly gave it to us. I trusted him and the peace treaty that he signed with us, yet he crossed me and betrayed us all. I couldn’t recover for days from the shock of his invasion. When he proved to be unstoppable in the first few months, and we were so close to giving in, I nearly fell on my knees in prayer. Would you believe it, me, the atheist, who abandoned a seminary to become a communist, and killed people for their belief in God, praying to God for help in my hour of need? Don’t you think that’s funny? Imagine what my enemies would do with this kind of knowledge, but how are they ever going to know about it?

Coming to think about it, would any of you ever betray me? See I trust you with my innermost secrets because I regard you as my friends. Well, I don’t think I need to remind you what would happen to you if you ever crossed me? Think of Trotski. He was a lot stronger than any of you. He had the army under him, but it amounted to nothing, because I had the brains and the ideology. And in this country he who is faithful to the ideology wins. Think what would have happened if Hitler had won the war, where would you all be now? You would all be in big trouble, wouldn't you? Or maybe you would have changed your colors too. Would you? Would you have become traitors and changed your allegiance from communism to National Socialism? I see, you’ve all lost your voices now.

This is getting serious; why isn't anyone saying anything? Why are you all suddenly afraid to speak?”

Startled by the silence, Stalin turned around and faced the panel. He looked intently at the people behind it, rubbed his eyes, and then looked again. His face tuned red and he shouted angrily: “Who are you? I don’t recognize any of you?”

The panel remained silent, some smiling in anticipation of what he might do when he realized where he was.

He turned around, walked briskly to the window, pulled the veil aside, and then remained transfixed for a few minutes. He could not believe his eyes. Was it a dream; was it reality, what was this?

Through heavy falling snow he could see the stooped silhouettes of human beings laboring heavily in a Siberian labor camp. Among them, he could recognize many of his friends and comrades in arms: Lenin, Beria, Molotov, others from his Politburo.

Stunned and in disbelief, his legs began to weaken and his face changed from red to pale. He turned around, faced the panel again, and said in a weakening voice: “All right, guys, who are you? Why did you deceive me? Why did you let me reveal all those state secrets? What power do you represent and who conquered my empire and turned things up-side down like this?”

“No one deceived you, Stalin”, answered Apostle Paul. “You never gave anyone a chance to speak. Wasn’t this the rule in your empire? When you spoke, no one was allowed, no one dared, to interrupt you. So we let you speak your heart out. Out of your own mouth you revealed the crimes of which you are guilty, and the punishment you deserve.”

“I see, so this is the judgment of God, is it? I should have known. No earthly power could have overturned my empire. I should have realized that God had a hand in this disaster. Well, if you represent God, and if God really exists, why did you not reveal yourselves to us and stop us from committing all those crimes?”

“God gave everyone an equal chance. It was a matter of trust, faith and belief. God revealed Himself to those who obeyed Him, who loved and worshiped Him, and who endured patiently the trials that you subjected them to. You started well, but then changed and became a deadly enemy to God’s people. Like everyone else, you had the Bible, and a lot of people who were willing to show you the way. But instead of listening to them, you tortured them, killed them, and threw them in freezing prisons and concentration camps from which few came out alive. Now it’s your turn to taste that medicine.”

To everyone’s astonishment, Stalin fell on his knees pleading for his life. “I am sorry; I did not know that there would be a judgment. Forgive me, please! If I had known I would not have done what I did.”

“But would it be fair to your victims if we forgave you? Nevertheless, since we cannot turn our backs on people who seek forgiveness, we will do a deal with you. We will show you as much mercy and forgiveness as you have shown to all of your victims put together. Surely, that would be enough to save you and your comrades. Fair enough, isn’t it?”

“I suppose you expect me to say that this fair, but I know that this won’t save us. We never showed mercy and forgiveness to anyone.”

“To no one? You mean to say that in all the years that you ruled that empire, you never forgave and showed mercy to anyone?”

“Mercy? We did not build our empire on mercy, we built it on terror! Those who showed mercy to their victims became victims themselves. I do not know how your empire can survive if you built it on mercy?”

“Not only mercy, Stalin, but love, charity, truth, humility, justice, sacrifice, and whatever other virtues there are that make life worth living. Had you tried these things, your “invincible empire” would not have collapsed like a house of cards, or a castle built on sand.

You didn’t practice these things because you were evil. You were bent on destroying people not on building them. You deserve harsher punishment that we can give you.”

Turning to the guards nearby, Apostle Paul said: “Take this creature out of my sight and put him where he belongs, alongside his beloved friends and comrades in that labor camp. Let them rot in there until their days come to an end and then finish them off in the lake of fire. Then let their names be removed from the Book of the Living and never be heard of again forever.”

JESUS’ “JUDGMENT”

At the next meeting, Apostle John, who was sitting near Jesus Christ, opened a little magazine and said: “Lord, have you seen what the ‘free moral agents’ want to do to you?”

“What, John?”

“They want to judge You again.”

“Do they? And why, pray tell, would they want to do that to Me?”

“Because You let their little sister die, because You did not stop the massacres in places like Bosnia, Somalia and Rwanda, because You allowed famine and disease in the world and, strangely enough, because you gave them the freedom to choose between good and evil.”

“Really? And who are those ‘free moral agents’?”

“The Seventh Day Adventists.”

“The Seventh Day Adventists? Let Me see!”

“Lord, I ... don’t ... think it is a good idea to read this.”

“Why not?”

“You won’t like it. They say nastier things than these.”

“Like what?”

“They call Your work a ''messy thing'', they doubt Your wisdom, they question Your ways, they want to know why You created Satan, why You did not destroy Adam and Eve, why was it important for humans to choose between good and evil, etc.”

“Let Me have that magazine” said Jesus Christ angrily as He took it from John’s hands. Then He read this article:

“No harps for me” . . . “I have so many questions to ask of Jesus. Why did my older sister have to die when she was born? Why does anybody have to die? I'm angry about death and I want some answers. I'm looking forward to the time when Jesus can tell me why. And what about events like the killings in Bosnia and Somalia and Rwanda, and what of famine and AIDS? Why is there pain and suffering? I believe that Jesus is all-powerful. So if He's all-powerful why can't He - won't He - stop things like Rwanda from happening? Sure there's a war going on between good and evil. But sometimes it seems like evil is winning.

I get really frustrated because I know Jesus could stop it all right now if He wanted to. Which brings me to the main reason why the second coming is important to me. For most of my life I’d thought that when Jesus comes back all the people who ever lived would be judged. I thought that was the reason for the second coming. But it's almost the opposite. I’ve gradually come to the realization that what is really going to happen is we're going to judge Jesus. We’re going to look at Him and ask Him those questions.

Why did He even make Satan? Why did He let sin happen in the first place? Was His way of handling the whole messy business the best way? Why didn't He just wipe Adam and Eve out? Was it really important that human beings be free to choose between good and evil? Look at the massive suffering that’s happened in this world because we were given free choice. I'm really looking forward to the second coming of Jesus. I don't expect it to be easy. After all, it's the end of the world. But I will finally get to be with Jesus. I can ask Him all those questions. I can thank Him for dying for me. But best of all, I'll be able to relax in His closeness. Jesus is going to be there. And I'm going to be there with Him.” (Trudy Rankin, “No Harps for Me”, Signs of the Times, Vol. 110, No 6, p.43).

“So, this is what those who call themselves My ministers are writing in their publication. And they call it Signs of the Times”. A more appropriate name would be, Signs of the Adventist Church.”

“What signs would these be, Lord?”

“Blasphemy, ignorance, Satanism. They plant doubt in people’s hearts about God’s ways and wisdom just as Satan planted doubt in Adam and Eve’s hearts about God’s intentions in the Garden of Eden. And are they so ignorant about the purpose of human life that they don’t know why God created Satan? Don't they know that human beings have to undergo certain trials in order to qualify for eternal life in a better world? Who can provide those trials if not Satan?

Like those academic theologians, they consider this world to be a finished product and an end in itself. They do not know that this is a temporary world designed to prepare people for eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Nor do they know the power of God, how He can resurrect people and reward or punish them in accordance with the kind of life they lived. Have they forgotten that before that little girl became their sister she belonged to God and that He can do what He wants with His creation? As for the suffering in the world, has anyone suffered more than I have? Yet did I question God’s ways or complain that He gave Me over to be crucified by wicked people? And for what, for My sins? No, for theirs, yet they want to judge Me again. What did I say in My moment of grief: “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.’’ (Luke 22:42). And before I gave up My soul, I prayed to the Father and said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.'' (Luke 23:34). Now, instead of being grateful for having had their sins forgiven, and the threat of death removed from them, they question God’s wisdom, and want to judge me again. Well, we shall see who will judge whom.

They think that they are smart by not addressing their questions to God but to Me, thinking perhaps that they are safe from committing blasphemy. No doubt they remember these words of Mine:

“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.” (Matt 12:30-32).

When I was in the world I was the Son of Man. I showed human beings what they could become if they followed Me. At that time, when they did not know who I was, they were forgiven for speaking against Me, for thinking that I was just another person. But now it is different. They know, or should know, that after I was resurrected I became One with My Father. Why do you think I commanded you not to tell anyone who I was when We came down from the mountain? Remember?

“Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, ‘Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.’'' (Matt 17:9).

It was to save people from committing blasphemy. But after I was perfected and raised to heaven, it became a common knowledge that I was more than the Son of Man, I was the Son of God, I was God. Therefore when they speak against Me now, they offend the Father and the Holy Spirit. And why do they do it? Because they neither know, nor believe the Scriptures. Their ignorance will cause them to lose their salvation.

“Which Scriptures are You referring to, Lord?"

“These:

“But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?” (Rom. 9:20-21).

And these:

“If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or indeed he has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better than he--for it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness. Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man, even if he lives a thousand years twice--but has not seen goodness. Do not all go to one place?” (Eccl. 6:3-6).

And these:

“And He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ So I answered, ‘O Lord GOD, You know.’

Again He said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, “O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!

‘Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.

I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.’”’” So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. Then He said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.’”’” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, “Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!”

Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it,'' says the LORD.' '' (Ezek. 37:3 -14).

''Don’t these Scriptures and many more, make it clear that this life is not the end of it all? As I said, they don’t know that this life is but a preparation for something better, that God will resurrect young and old alike and judge them. The people who have died young are in a better position than those who have grown old and remained ignorant.

These people have not only wasted their life, but also put it to an evil use. Their writings raise doubt in people’s hearts about God’s power, ways and wisdom. Doubt, being the opposite of faith, is the enemy of Christianity, and the death of humanity. What do the Scriptures say about those who do not believe?

“‘Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, ‘How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one.’

Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, ‘Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?’ The Jews answered Him, saying, ‘For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Is it not written in your law, "I said, ‘You are gods’”? If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, "You are blaspheming,' because I said, "I am the Son of God’”? If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.’”

Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand. And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. Then many came to Him and said, ‘John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.’ And many believed in Him there.” (John 10:24-42).

These people do not believe in Me, for if they did they would believe the Scriptures and would know this:

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; the voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; for the child shall die one hundred years old, but the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, and My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for trouble; for they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them. It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,’ says the LORD.” (Isa. 65:17-25).

Had these people understood My parables of the talents (Matt. 25), they would have known that ignorance is not the way to salvation. Those who grow in knowledge and spiritual understanding receive ample reward, but those who make no profit will lose even what they have.

They are asking about the events in Bosnia and Rwanda, and the pain, suffering and evil in the world, and say that, “sometimes it seems like evil is winning.” Have I not told them that My Kingdom is not of this world, that these things will happen before I return to take those who believe in Me to where I am? (Matt. 24; John 16, 17).

Why do they want Me to get involved in a world that is not Mine, but Satan’s? What did Satan say when he tempted Me?

“Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, ‘All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.’ And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.”’” (Luke 4:5-8).

This world was created the way it is and was given over to Satan so that people may aspire for a better world. Those who have set their heart on this world cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Isn't this what the Scriptures say?

"We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.'' (Acts 14:22).

“My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord-- that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.” (James 5:10-11).

“For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness-- by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (1 Pet 2:19-25).

“And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:29-34).

These people’s heart is set on this world, therefore this is what they shall have. And to those who want to judge Me again, and question My ways and My wisdom, this is My answer:

“It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.” (Heb. 6:4-6).

ADAM AND EVE’S SIN REVEALED

Lord, what about Adam and Eve? There seems to be a lot of confusion in people’s minds about their sin. You saw what the Seventh Day Adventists said:”

“Why did He even make Satan? Why did He let sin happen in the first place? Was His way of handling the whole messy business the best way? Why didn't He just wipe Adam and Eve out? Was it really important that human beings be free to choose between good and evil? Look at the massive suffering that’s happened in this world because we were given free choice.”

“You know that certain sections of the Bible are written in symbolic language and require interpretation”, said Jesus Christ. “Such is the case with the book of Genesis. The tree of life is symbolic, the tree of knowledge of good and evil is symbolic, the snake is symbolic, and so on. But all these things could be understood in light of ulterior developments and revelations.

The idea that the forbidden tree was an apple is a late invention and it is not true. There was no literal tree of life or tree of knowledge of good and evil. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if people could just eat of a fruit and attain eternal life? I went into the world to show them that eternal life can be achieved only through the death of the old self and the rebirth of a new person. That way, death no longer has any power over a person.

""Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. ‘Father, glorify Your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” (Jn. 12:24-28).

“True Lord, but what these people are saying is that if Adam and Eve had not sinned, if they had not been given the freedom to choose between life and death, there would have been no need for You to come into the world and die, nor for anyone else to die.”

"Yes, I know that this is what they are saying, but they say so because they do not know the Scriptures. Does not the Bible tell them that I was predestined to die for the sins of the world before the world was created?'

"And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”

“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:5,24).

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.” “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.” (Eph. 1:3-6, 11-12).

“For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: ‘So I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest,’ although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.” (Heb. 4:3).

''And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.” (1 Pet 1:17-23).

So then, if the works of God were finished from the foundation of the world and I had been foreordained to die for the sins of the world before the world was, if God has chosen His people before the foundation of the world and has determined that they must be born again in order to receive the Holy Spirit and made ready for eternal life, how can anyone say that things could have been different if Adam and Eve had not sinned? Is it not obvious that I died for their sins too, and that they were expected to sin? How did God know that they were going to sin? He knew it from the fact that they did not have the Holy Spirit. They had the spirit of the world, a spirit which is in bondage to Satan and not obedient to God. Notice:

“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors-- not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father’.” (Rom. 8:7-15).

“The problem with Adam and Eve was not that they sinned, but that having done so they did not face up to their responsibility. In other words, they did not repent of it, but blamed someone else for it.

Being the first humans they knew that they had a greater responsibility than the people that would follow them. When they sinned, they did not just disobey and dishonor a human being but their Creator God. By preferring Satan’s advise to that of their heavenly Father, they elevated Satan to equality with Him. That is why their sin can not be forgiven.”

“Lord, we understand this now, but what about the trees? If they were not literal trees, what were they?”

“Aha, you must tell Me this.”

They looked at each other and shook their heads as a sign that they had no idea.

“All right boys let us get back to the Bible. What is sin?" said Jesus as He broke the silence.

“The breaking of the law”, answered Apostle Paul.

"Right Paul. Now which law did they brake? Let us discuss every commandment.

‘You shall have no other gods before Me.’ (Ex. 20:2-3). Could they have broken this commandment?”

“They did accept Satan before God, but the context of their rebellion indicates that this was not their sin.”

“Correct! What about the second commandment: ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” (Ex. 20:4-6).

“This was not their sin either. They had no reason to make any idols, and probably did not know how to make them anyway. ”

“Right again. What about the third commandment: ‘You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” (Ex. 20:7).

“No, this wasn’t their sin either” answered Apostle Paul.

“And the fourth commandment? ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.’ (Ex. 20:8).

“Clearly, this was not their sin either”, answered Apostle Thomas.

“Right, Thomas! So then, the first four commandments, which regulate man's relationship with God, were not the cause of Adam and Eve’s fall. Therefore their sin must have come from breaking one of the commandments which regulate human relationships, and since there were no other human beings on earth it must have had something to do with the relationship between them. So what could they have done that constituted such a grievous sin? Which commandment did they break?”

“None of them seem to have been broken, Lord,” said Apostle Thomas again.

“Can you explain, Thomas?”

“Well, the fifth commandment says: ‘Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.’ (Ex. 20:12). They had no human parents, therefore this commandment is ruled out.

The sixth commandment: ‘You shall not murder’ (Ex. 20:13), could not have been broken because they had no one to murder.

The seventh commandment: ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ (Ex. 20:14), could not have been broken because there was no one to commit adultery with. The eighth commandment against stealing (Ex. 20:15), the ninth against bearing false witness (Ex. 20:16), and the tenth against coveting the things that belong to one's neighbor (Ex. 20:17), could not have been broken for exactly the same reasons - there was no one against whom they could have done these things.''

“So they did not sin then?'' said Jesus.

“No, Lord, they did sin, but we cannot tell how?”

“Tell Me Thomas, and also the rest of you, were these the only commandments God gave humanity? What about the laws regarding sexual conduct in the book of Leviticus and elsewhere? What did Adam and Eve do immediately after they sinned?”

“They hid themselves from God, they covered their sex organs, and became shameful.”

“Right! Now why do you think they did that Thomas?”

“Perhaps because their sin was of a sexual nature?”

“Precisely! Now what could two human beings - a husband and wife, in this case - do that would constitute sin?”

“Oh, no. I can’t believe it ... they didn’t!”

“They didn’t what, Thomas," asked Apostle Peter.

“Can’t you see it, Peter?”

“See what?”

Jesus and the Father smiled as the two Apostles engaged in a little fracas.

“Can’t you see why they covered their sex organs and became shameful? They committed sodomy and felt dirty, that’s why.”

They gasped in disbelief and fell back in their seats.

“But what about the Garden of Eden and the trees of life and of the knowledge of good and evil. What are they, Lord?" asked Thomas.

“Symbolically, the Garden of Eden is the woman” answered Jesus. “Her sexual organ represents the tree of life - that’s where life comes from with human beings. Her anal organ represents the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Good when it is used for the purpose for which God intended it; evil when it is used unnaturally.

Eve allowed Satan to plant doubt in her heart about God’s intentions. He made her feel curious about sodomy. She started wondering why God would want to prevent them from doing something that would make them wise? The more she toyed with the idea that by sinning they would become wise and immortal like God, the more difficult it became to withstand Satan's influence. In the end she decided to "liberate" herself and her husband from the ‘shackles’ imposed by God and told Adam about it. Adam shuddered at her suggestion at first, but faced with her rebellion and insistence he relented and did what she wanted.

Now although this sin is not specifically listed among the Ten Commandments, there are plenty of warnings in the Bible of what happens to those who engage in it. This sin is so abhorrent in the eyes of God, that those who practice it place themselves outside the human realm. Nevertheless, there is hope for those who repent of it. Remember what I said when I was into the world?

“Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent:

‘Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the Day of Judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the Day of Judgment than for you.’ At that time Jesus answered and said, ‘I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.’” (Matt 11:20-26).

“So, those who have been entrapped by Satan, but who repent, have nothing to fear - they will be cleansed of their sins through faith like everyone else. I have died for all sinners, and I have power to save all who repent and believe in My power of salvation.

Satan was very fond of this sin. It could have stopped humanity in its tracks before it even had a chance to establish itself. But God intervened and restrained him, and gave humanity another chance. Don't you know what happened in the world by the time of the end? This sin became so widespread, it was even defended by legislation by national and international governing bodies, so that it became a crime to speak against it. Those who did so paid heavily for it. This is why the world had to be cleansed a second time - only that this time it would be by fire not by water.”

WHOSE ‘TOYS’ ARE WE?

Apostle John, who was shuffling through the pages of another magazine, turned to the Father this time and said:

“Father, have You seen what the Charismatics are preaching?”

“What, John?”

“That they are not Your ‘toys’, and that salvation must be a matter of choice.”

“Oh, really? And who are these Charismatics, John?”

“Those whom Paul taught to babble in tongues.”

“What are you talking about?” jumped Apostle Paul.

“Don’t tell me you do not know what they have done with your writings?” answered Apostle John.

“They have done what? You are in charge of the library and the archives, so tell us.”

“They babble like mad when they come together and say that it is the spirit who inspires them to do so.”

“Inspired by a spirit they may be, but not by the Holy Spirit. Did I not tell them that if there are people who speak in foreign tongues they must do so in an orderly manner and not unless there are other people who can interpret?

“Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?”

“If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.” (1 Cor. 14:23, 27-28).

“O, they have interpreters, no worry about that. They bubble too.”

“But if they babble in incomprehensible tongues, what do they interpret, and who understands them?”

“That is what I would like to know too.”

“That vile creature, Satan, twisted my words and deceived these people just as he deceived Adam and Eve.''

“Let Me read what these Charismatics are saying" said Jesus as He grabbed the magazine from John’s hand.

“Priceless Pearls. Did you make any resolutions this New Year? Is there some old acquaintance, some continuing problem or past failure, that you'd like to forget?

In a court of law, you have to pay the price for the past. New Year resolutions and singing "should auld acquaintance be forgot" won't save you. Even if the judge wants to be merciful, you can't go scot-free. The judge has to make you an example of what happens when people do wrong.

In God's court you can receive both justice and mercy. He wants to make you an example of what happens when people do good. He knows all the problems and all the failings. He longs to make all things new. But we're not His toys - it has to be our choice. We have to choose to plead guilty and accept that He paid our price on the cross. We have to choose to bury the past and ask Him to make all things new.

"And I will not remember your sins. Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted." (David Green, The Berowra Telegraph, NSW, May 16, 1996; emphasis added).

“I see”, said Jesus when He finished reading it. “First they are encouraging people to keep Pagan observances such as their ‘New Year’, then they preach that people must be able to choose: “Choose to plead guilty” and “choose to bury the past”, because “we are not His toys - it has to be our choice”.

“Well, if they want to choose I will let them choose. Then I will see how good their choosing has been. This preacher does not know that people can’t choose to be saved, that it has to be an initiative from God:

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

“Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.'' ( John 6: 44, 65).

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9).

“Like Adam and Eve, they do not want to trust Me and rely on Me for their salvation”, said the Father. “They want to be able to make their own choice - they want to be ‘free moral agents’. So let them be! Satan wanted to be a free moral agent too, and ever since he has been teaching those who listen to him to follow suit.

If they want to be able to choose, we must give them that opportunity. They have already distinguished themselves by ‘choosing’ to babble in tongues, as if I do not understand normal languages. Have I not created people's tongues? What makes them think that I am happy to listen to their unintelligible utterances?

Since they did not want to be My ‘toys’, they will find out in due course whose ‘toys’ they became."

With this, the Father adjourned the meeting until next time.

DIVINE JUSTICE

At the next meeting, Abraham, who has been following the proceedings quietly in his corner, looked to the Father and said:

“Father, can I also ask you a question?”

“Of course, My friend!”

“We, who lived in the Old Testament times, are somewhat in the dark about many of these things for we did not have the knowledge that became available in the New Testament. I am still having difficulty understanding one thing. The Scriptures say that You show no partiality with anyone (Rom. 2:11), and that You desire all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4)?”

“Not only do I desire them to be saved, I make sure that they are being saved", said the Father. Notice:

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:38-39).

“But, Father, if some people are predestined to be saved and others to be damned, doesn't this go against the principle of impartiality?”

“I condemn no one to death, son! They condemn themselves. I cannot save those who do not believe.”

“‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’'' (Rom. 10:11-13).

“Those who do not call on the name of the Lord cannot be saved. Salvation is for those who are righteous, and righteousness comes through faith. You yourself gave them a good example. Have you seen what Paul wrote about you?

“What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin’ . . . For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” (Rom. 4:1-8, 13).

“I understand this Father, and yet the Scriptures also say that faith is a gift of God: ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.’ (Eph. 2:8). Why then is this gift made available to some and not to others?”

“Oh, you are mistaken here, Abraham. This gift is made available to all human beings, but not all of them avail themselves of it. Have a look at this parable.

“A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’

But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.'

And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.' And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.' And the second came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned five minas.' Likewise he said to him, ‘You also be over five cities.' Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.'

And he said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?' And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.' (But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.') For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.' '' (Luke 19:12-27).

“This parable shows that everyone receives the same gift. The next one shows why some people make good use of it while others don’t.”

“Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

And the disciples came and said to Him, ‘Why do You speak to them in parables?’

He answered and said to them, ‘Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.' But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.'' (Matt 13:3-23).

“Right, Father! So if I understand it right, all human beings receive gifts which they are expected to put to good use and increase their value. Some do and some don’t. Those whose seed fall on good ground and bring forth fruits are the ones who are predestined to be saved, and those who have no depth, whose seed falls by the wayside, on stony places or among thorns are the ones who become unfruitful and are damned.”

“Right! Now what is wrong with that?”

“But if their fate is determined before they are born, what about those who end up being damned?”

“This has been a great mystery, Abraham. And yet the answer has been in the Scriptures all along. Take a look at this parable now:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?'

He said to them, ‘an enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” (Matt 13:24-30).

“So what does this tell you, Abraham?”

“That some human beings are not your people. But if they are not yours, whose people are they, Father?”

“Well, again, what do the Scriptures say in this regard?

“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” (John 8:44).

“O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?” (Acts 13:10).

“He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (I Jn. 3:8).

“Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known.” (De. 13:13, KJV).

“Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.” (1 Sam 2:12, KJV)

“But Father, what is the difference between one human being and another, between Your children and Your Adversary’s children? How would one know who is who?”

“The Scriptures tell you the difference. Notice:

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matt 7:13-23).

“Two important things are emphasized in this passage: first, that human beings are known by their fruits, and second, that although they all look alike on the outside, they are not all human beings on the inside.”

“What are they LORD?”

“Whatever the Scripture calls them:

“Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.” (Acts 20:28-30).

“Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear

you in pieces.” (Matt 7:6).

“Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matt 12:34).

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves . . . Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.' Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?” (Matt 23:13-15, 23-33).

“Well, we thought that these were just figures of speech, Father.”

“Figures of speech? Do you think that I would allow anyone to call My children ‘savage wolves’, dogs', ‘swine’, ‘vipers’, and the like? We don’t play word games in the Bible, son. When I say that someone is a ‘savage wolf’, a ‘dog’ a 'swine', or a ‘viper’, that is what he is at heart.

These are the people who have been predestined to be damned before they were born. They have been taking advantage of My children from the very beginning, causing them all sorts of trials and indignities?”

“But Father, if the Devil and his followers are responsible for these things, why did You not destroy both him and them from the beginning?”

“Because I needed them, son. My children could not have caused the sufferings needed for creating the right character in their brothers - those who were predestined to be saved. My children are known for their love, mercy, humility, cooperation, compassion and spirit of sacrifice, whereas Satan’s children are known for their ruthlessness and desire to advance to comfortable positions at the expense of those who stand on their way. Remember what the Scriptures say:

“We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

“The earth, O LORD, is full of Your mercy; Teach me Your statutes.

You have dealt well with Your servant, O LORD, according to Your word.

119:66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge, For I believe Your commandments.

119:67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.

119:68 You are good, and do good; Teach me Your statutes.

119:69 The proud have forged a lie against me, But I will keep Your precepts with my whole heart.

119:70 Their heart is as fat as grease, But I delight in Your law.

119:71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.

119:72 The law of Your mouth is better to me Than thousands of coins of gold and silver.” (Ps. 119:64 – 72)

“My children know that this has been the only way of attaining eternal life, but such talk is foolishness with Satan’s children. My children hated their life, but Satan’s children loved theirs. That is why the first receive eternal life in My Kingdom, while the latter eternal damnation in the lake of fire.”

“Now I understand why the following Scriptures speak in these terms about Your righteousness, Father:

“‘You are righteous, O Lord, the One who is and who was and who is to be, because You have judged these things. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due.’ And I heard another from the altar saying, ‘Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.’” (Rev 16:5-7).

WHO CREATED THE DEVIL?

“Father, would You, please, allow me to ask You just one more question?’

“You may ask Me as many questions as you like, Abraham."

“What would You have done if Lucifer had not rebelled against You and become Your Adversary? Who would have created the trials needed to develop Your children’s character?”

“Well, if it wasn’t Lucifer it could have been Michael or Gabriel.”

“I do not understand!”

“Isn’t it obvious, son, that I created the Devil? After I created the three leading cherubs I determined that one of them must become My Adversary. And so, I gradually increased their power, beauty and wisdom until one of them snapped. Lucifer became vain, corrupted his ways and compared himself with Me. I then sealed them all in that position: Michael and Gabriel became My great obedient cherubs, and Lucifer My great Adversary. After I unceremoniously cast him down to earth, he mobilized his angels and rebelled against Me again. He wanted to elevate himself to My position, but when he saw that he could not reach Me, he went after My creation. He caused so much havoc in the old world, I had to destroy and cleanse it of its filthiness through a flood. That was the time of Noah’s Flood.

Satan did not realize that in everything he did he was fulfilling My plan. Unfortunately sometimes he went beyond what I expected, causing more damage to the world and more pain to My children that I would have liked. Nevertheless in the end it all worked out well. My children rose to the occasion by withstanding his wiles, thus proving themselves worthy inheritors of eternal life in My Kingdom.

When Satan saw that he could not usurp My position here in heaven, he installed himself “like the Most High” in a temple down on earth, attributing himself My title of “Holy Father”. He did on earth what he could not do in heaven, and from that position he deceived the whole world.”

“Father”, said Apostle John, “if You were in control of this process and it all worked out according to Your plan, why do the ‘free moral agents’ say that Satan created himself? Have You seen what one of their great prophets wrote?”

“GOD DID NOT CREATE THE DEVIL, but a beautiful, perfect superangel. But God did give to His angels free moral agency – minds that were free to think and reason--the right of free choice . . . So God did NOT create a devil. He created a cherub, Lucifer--and Lucifer transformed himself into a devil by rebellion against the Government of God!” (H. W. Armstrong, Did God Create A Devil? Worldwide Church of God, Pasadena, California. Emphasis in the original).

“This is part of Satan’s deception, son. He influenced his ministers to believe that I am a God with a broken heart, that he created himself against My will, and that he wrecked My creation. Did you not see how they bemoan the fact that evil appears to win the battle for the souls of human beings, not understanding that everything has a purpose and that this world is only of a temporary nature? Satan has the ability to place his thoughts into the minds of his children, just as I have the ability to place My thoughts into the minds of My children. As the Scriptures explain:

“Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.'' (Luke 12:11-12).

“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.” (John 8:44-45).

I placed My mind in Jesus when He was a human being, and because He obeyed Me in all things, even to death, He earned the right to become My Son, and My equal. Compare this with what Satan did: he wanted to become My equal not through obedience but through rebellion. I have no problem with My children being thought of as My equals. As long as they understand their position and respect Me for who I am - their loving and benevolent Father - and know that everything I created was for their benefit, it is all right with Me. What do these Scriptures mean?

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.” (Phil 2:5-16).

“This is why I subjected My children to such intense trials and tribulations. Placing My mind in them and conditioning them to always do what is right, and think the way I would think in any given circumstance, has not been easy. But when all is done and over, My children will never rebel against Me, for that would mean I am rebelling against Myself. Nor will they remember the old problems anymore:

“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.

Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’ Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’ And He said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.'' (Rev 21:1-8).

“The problem with Satan’s children”, continued the Father, “is that they refuse to submit themselves to the kind of trials that would allow Me to place My mind in them. They want to be free to do what they want in this life, and then they want to “go to heaven when they die”. To use one of their expressions: ‘they want to have the cake and eat it too’. Sorry, it does not work that way: it is one world or the other.

Since I cast Satan down to earth, he believes and behaves as if he has the freedom to do what he wants, and has inspired his servants to believe and do the same. That is why they are obsessed with 'free moral agency'. But, of course, this is only an illusion. No one is free to do what he wants. People either do what I inspire them, or what Satan inspires them. My children believe Me; his children believe him. My children have placed their life at My disposal; his children have placed their life at his disposal. The tragedy comes from the fact that they all think they serve Me. They do not know that they are deceived. But that is their fault, for they have not tested the spirits as the Scriptures say they should.

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (I Jn. 4:1).

My children know, believe and allow Me to be in control of their lives, just as his children want to be free to choose for themselves. In other words, My children believe in predestination, his children believe in free moral agency. What they do not know is that no one can cross from one side to the other. They were all sealed to be that way from before they were born.

One of the characteristics of Satan’s preachers is that they always quote Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14 to prove that he created himself against My will, but avoid like the plague the more important, and more direct, Scriptures which prove that I was, and am, in command of everything:

“The LORD has made all for Himself, yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.” (Prov. 16:4).

“Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?” (Lam 3:38, KJV)

“I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.” (Deut. 32:39).

“The LORD kills and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and brings up.

The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and lifts up.” (1 Sam 2:6-7).

“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” (Isa. 45:7, KJV).

“Then Moses said to the LORD, ‘O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.’ So the LORD said to him, ‘Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD? Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.’'' (Exod. 4:10-12).

“Now Moses called all Israel and said to them: ‘You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land--the great trials which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great wonders. Yet the LORD has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day.’” (Deut. 29:2-4).

“And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, but your eyes shall see your teachers.” (Isa. 30:20).

"They wanted to absolve Me of every evil in the world, and in so doing they played right into Satan’s hands. He is now feared by more people than I am, even though the Scriptures make it clear that people ought to fear Me not Satan.

“Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!”(Deut. 5:29). (See also Jer. 32:37-42; Matt. 10:20; Rev. 19:5).

With this the Father brought the meeting to an end until next time.

GOD IN THE WORLD

At the next meeting, Apostle Paul began by asking the Father the following question:

“Father, it must have been a terrible experience for You to see Jesus hanging on that cross?”

“It certainly was, son!”

“Did You ever wish that it was You rather than Him then?”

The Father and Jesus smiled broadly knowing very well what Apostle Paul was getting at.

“Of course, I did it, Paul!”

“Excuse me for saying this, but why did You not go into the world Yourself instead of sending Your Son, Father?”

“Oh, I did that too, son!”

“I know You did it, like when You met Abraham at the time of Sodom and Gomorrah. As the Scripture says:

“And the LORD said, ‘Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.’'' (Gen. 18:20-21).

“But what I mean is why did You not go down and live the life of a human being from birth to death, like Jesus did?”

“I did that too, son!”

“You did it? Then why don’t the Scriptures speak about You as they speak about Jesus?”

“Oh, they speak about Me too, but not to the same extent!”

“Which Scriptures, Father?”

“You know, Paul, if anyone should have known this, I would have expected it to be you.”

“Sorry, Father, this beats me too.”

“All right, boys, I can see that you are all in the dark about this. Tell Me now; what is the meaning of these words?”

“The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy, lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’'' (Rev 4:8).

“Where do you think I was supposed to go, on holiday? No, in the world!”

“But then, if this refers to You, it means that You went into the world three times. When was that, Father?”

“Before I tell you that, let us establish something important about this prophecy. The words, “was and is and is to come” indicate the timing of the revelation of this prophecy. The word "is", is showing us that it will be revealed during My second time into the world. As for its historical setting, have a look at the following Scriptures, from the Old and the New Testaments, and tell Me what you think they mean?”

“‘Return, O backsliding children,’ says the LORD; ‘for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.’” (Jer. 3:14).

“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah – not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with them . . . after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” (Jer. 31:31-33).

“But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second… But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another – He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.’ (Heb. 8:6-7; 911-12, 16, 24-28).

“If I understand it right, Father, the God of the Old Testament became the Lord of the New Testament. Because You had a Testament with earthly Israel, You needed to die in order to be free to create a New Testament with spiritual Israel. Therefore Jesus Christ was none other than You. That must have been the first time You went into the world. But when were the second and the third times, and what purpose did they serve?”

“Very well, Paul. To answer your question you must first tell Me what the purpose of creation is?”

“To reproduce Yourself!”

“Correct! One person became a Trinity. Three people in perfect harmony at the top followed by a large number of children, such as you, each with their own role, position and rank in My Kingdom. Now do you remember the following discussion between Jesus and His disciples?

“Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. And He said to her, ‘What do you wish?'' She said to Him, ‘Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.’ But Jesus answered and said, ‘You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?'' They said to Him, ‘We are able.’ He said to them, ‘You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.’'' (Matt 20:20-23).

“Jesus knew about the Trinity and spoke about it later when He told His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations:

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.” (Matt 28:18-20).

“Jesus had a free hand to appoint the Twelve Apostles, but He knew that the two positions, on His right and on His left, were of a different status and rank. He knew that they were reserved for people who would undergo the kind of trials and tribulations that He Himself did – trials which were far greater than those reserved for the ordinary people. What did the two disciples say when Jesus asked them whether they were able to drink the cup that He was about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that He was going to be baptized with? They said, ‘We are able.’ And were they able? What happened when He was arrested, judged and crucified? Did they go and stand alongside Him to be judged and crucified with Him? They all abandoned Him. Jesus knew that they would not be able to stand such trials until they received the Holy Spirit, but He was not going to enter into a long discussion with them then, for He knew that they would not have been able to understand it anyway.

So then, the first time I went into the world I took the identity of Jesus Christ or, as Jesus wisely put it, the identity of a “Son of Man”. Jesus Christ became the Savior of the world; He became My alter ego, so to speak.

The second time, I became Elijah, the Restorer of all things. The third time is yet to come.”

“Can I venture a guess here that the third time You will go into the world it will be for the Holy Spirit, and that You will take the identity of a woman, and that this will happen at the end of the Millennium?”

“You are absolutely right, Paul.”

“But Father, Jesus said that, “Elijah is coming first and will restore all things?” (Matt 17:11). If You restored all things and You were Elijah, how were people supposed to know who You were and listen to You?”