Myths Of Christendom

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"Look out: Perhaps there may be someone who will carry you off as his prey through the philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men."  Paul penned these words to the Colossians in the latter half of the first century C.E.

Nonetheless, beginning in the middle of the second century C.E., some Christians began borrowing  ideas from ancient philosophers to help explain their beliefs.  Why would they do that?  These Christians wanted to be accepted by the educated Romans, and thereby gain new converts.

One of the most well known of these Christians was Justin Martyr.  He believed that God's Spokesman had manifested himself centuries before the appearance of Jesus Christ.  Martyr, and others that followed this belief, thought the addition of philosophy and mythology to Christianity created a truly universal religion.

This amalgamated form of Christianity brought in many new converts.  Even so, the adoption of one myth opened the door for the creation of other myths.  These myths have devolved into Christendom as it is known today.  Let's expose these myths as the farce that they are and see what the Bible says about some common myths perpetrated as Christian doctrine.

Myth 1: The Soul Is Immortal

What are the beginnings of this myth?  The New Encyclopedia Brittanica (1988) Volume 11, page 25 says: "The early Christian philosophers adopted  the Greek concept of the soul's immortality and thought of the soul as being created by God and infused into the body at conception."

What does the Bible tell us happens?  "The soul that sinneth, it shall die."  Ezekiel 18:4 King James Version.

The New World Translation Of The Holy Scriptures says this regarding the creation of the first human soul.  Genesis 2:7 And Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul.

The Hebrew word translated as soul, ne' phesh, means 'a creature that breathes'.  When Adam was created by God, he was infused with, not an immortal soul, only the life force that is maintained by breathing.  Biblically speaking, the term 'soul' refers to the entire living being.  When a separation from the original life force given by  God occurs, the soul dies.

Teaching immortality as doctrine raised questions: Where do souls go after death? What happens to the souls of the good people?  What happens to the souls of the evil people?  When the myth of the immortal soul was accepted by Christendom this brought about the acceptance of another myth

Examine these verses  Ecclesiastes 3:19; Matthew 10:28, Acts 3:23.

At death  a person ceases to exist.

Myth 2: The Wicked Suffer In Hell

How was this myth started?  "Of all classical Greek philosophers the one who has had the greatest influence on traditional views of Hell is Plato"-Histoire des enfers (The History of Hell), Georges Minois, page 50.

"From the middle of the 2nd century AD Christians who had some training in Greek philosophy began to feel the need to express their faith in its terms...The philosophy that suited them best was Platoism [the teachings of Plato] The New Encyclopedia Brittanica (1988) Volume 25, page 890.

Myth 3: All Good People Go To Heaven

What are the roots of this myth?  The early Church Fathers had gained prominence after the death of Jesus' apostles, by the beginning of the second century C.E.  The New Catholic Encyclopedia (2003), Volume 6, page 687, says this of their teachings:  "The general stream of teaching was that heavenly bliss is granted to the disembodied soul imediately after whatever necessary purification follows death."

Is this what is taught by the Bible?  Matthew 5:5 Happy are the mild-tempered ones, since they will inherit the earth.

Despite the fact that Jesus promised his disciples that  he would 'prepare a place for them', he indicated that righteous people do not automatically go there.  Read John 3:13; 14:2,3.  When Jesus gave us the model prayer he said, "...Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth..."  The righteous await one of two destinies.  A small number of uf the righteous will rule in heaven with Jesus Christ, however, the larger part of the righteous will live forever on earth.  Read Revelation 5:10.

Gradually, the early church took a different perspective of itself and its earthly position.  Should this even matter?  The church entrenched itself in politics, in direct opposition to Jesus' direction that his followers be "no part of the world."  Read ? John 15:19; 17:14-16; 18:36.

Also read these Bible verses: Psalm 37:10, 11, 29; John 17:3; 2 Timothy 2:11, 12.

The majority of good people will live forever on earth-not in heaven.

Myth 4: God Is A Trinity

How did this myth get started?  The New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967), Volume 14, page 299 says this:  "The impression could arise that the Trinitarian dogma is in the last analysis a late 4th-century invention.  In a sense, this is true...The formulation 'one God in three Persons' was not solidly established, certainly not fully assimilated into Christian life and its profession of faith prior to the end of the 4th century.

 The Encyclopedia Britannica (1970), Volume 6, page 386 says this:  "The Council of Nicaea met on May 20, 325 C.E.  Constantine himself  presided, actively guiding the discussions, and personally proposed...the  crucial formula expressing the relation of Christ to God in the creed issued  by the council, 'of one substance with the Father.'...Overawed by the  emperor, the bishops signed the creed, many of them against their  inclination."

Is this what the Bible teaches?  "Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God's right hand.  'Look!  I can see heaven thrown open,' he said,'and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.'"-Acts 7:55, 56, The New Jerusalem Bible.

What does this vision tell us?  Stephen saw Jesus "standing at God's right hand.", when he was filled with God's active force, Holy Spirit.  This shows that Jesus did not become God after his resurrection to heaven, rather he is a distinct spiritual being.  A third person is not mentioned in this passage, however we know that Stephen was filled with Holy Spirit, God's active force.

Dominican priest Marie-Emile Boismard wrote of his attempts to to find Scriptural support of the Trinity dogma: "The statement that there are three persons in the one God...cannot be read anywhere in the New Testament."

Constantine had ending dissension within the 4th century church with his new dogma.  Instead, another issue was raised: Was Mary, the woman that mothered Jesus, the mother of God?

Also read these Bible verses: Matthew 26:93; John 14:28; 1 Corinthians 15:27, 28; Colossians 1:15, 16.

The Trinitarian dogma is a late 4th century invention.

Myth 5: Mary Is The Mother Of God

How was this myth started?  The New Encyclopedia Britannica (1988), Volume 16, pages 326 and 327 say this: "Veneration of the mother of God received its impetus when...the pagan masses streamed into the church....Their piety and religious conciousness [that of pagans converted to Christianity] had been formed for millenia through the cult of the 'great mother' goddess and the divine virgin.'"

Is this what the Bible indicates?  "You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus.  He will be called Son of the Most High....And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God.  Luke 1:31-35, The New Jerusalem Bible.

Mary was the mother of the "Son of God" is what that verse tells us; not the mother of God himself. Indeed, is it possible she could have borne the One whom 'the heavens themselves cannot contain'? 1 Kings 8:27  Mary herself  did not claim to be the mother of God.  The dogma of the Trinity is what brought about this misconception of Mary.  In 431 C.E., the Council of Ephesus entitled Mary Thetokos, a Greek word meaning God-bearer and in so doing paved the way for Mary worship.  Ephesus, the city in which the council met, had been the heart of idol worship for centuries, especially the fertility goddess Artemis.

In this manner the multi-faceted worship of the image of Artemis "that fell from heaven", such as processions, were incorporated into Mary worship.  This led to the practice of using images of Mary and others in worship.

Mary was the mother of the Son of God, not of God himself.  The Trinity myth gave birth to the worship of Mary as the Mother of God.

Myth 6: God Approves The Use Of Images And Icons In Worship

What are the beginnings of this mtyh?  Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, by McClintock and Strong, Volume 4, pages 503 and 504 say this: "Images were unknown in the worship of the primitive Christians...The admission of images into the church in the 4th and 5th centuries was justified on the theory that the ignorant people could learn the facts of Christianity from them better than from sermons or books."

 Is this what the Bible teaches?  "You shall not make for yourself  an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth  beneath or in the waters below.  You shall not bow down to them  or worship them."  Exodus 20:4, 5, The Holy Bible New  International Version.  The apostle John wrote this to first-century Christians: "Little Children, guard yourselves from idols."  1 John 5:21.

Churches claim that image use is merely a method of approaching and honoring what they represent, but is this the case?  The Encyclopedia of Religion states: "At first, images may have served primarily didactic [teaching] and decorative purposes; at least they were defended on such grounds.  But soon they came to fill admittedly devotional functions.  This was especially true of the icons that became a prominent feature of Eastern Orthodoxy." The prophet Isaiah asked: "To whom can you compare God?  What image can you contrive of him?"  Isaiah 40:18 The New Jerusalem Bible.

Read these Bible verses:  Isaiah 44:13-19; Acts 10:25, 2617:29; 2 Corinthians 5:7.

God does not approve of the use of images and icons.

Reject Myths Stick To The Truth

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