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THE CULTING OF CHRISTIANITY

The Occult Roots Of

The Rapture Cult - Part VII

 

 

 

 

 

In our last installment of The Culting Of Christianity, we noted how the Occult writings equivocated "confusion" with the tribulation. Further, although the New Testament never speaks of confusion during the Tribulational cycle, the early Christian writers did precisely that. This is a significant indicator the early believers were subtly influenced by the multitude of Gnostic "gospels" circulating in their time.

 

There is a similar parallel between the Occult Sethian writings containing the Pre-Tribulational Rapture, and early Christian writers concerning the "consummation." The Gospel of the Egyptians speaks of the approaching consummation.

 

"Then there came forth from the great aeons four hundred ethereal angels accompanied by the great Aerosiel and the great Selmech, to guard the great, incorruptible race, its fruit and the great men of the great Seth, from the time and the moment of Truth and Justice until the consummation of the aeon and its archons…" (Gospel of the Egyptians, hereinafter G/Egypt, Nag Hammadi Codices, page 140).

 

In Section I of Pseudo Ephraem, the "Christian" writing so widely touted by modern Christian leaders because it supposedly mentions the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, the document from the early church period also mentions the forthcoming consummation:

 

"Dearly beloved brothers, believe the Holy Spirit who speaks in us. We have already told you that the end of the world is near, the consummation remains" (Pseudo Ephraem, hereinafter P/E, Section I)

 

In fact, Section II of the "Christian" writer Pseudo Ephraem, also mentions the "consummation," suggesting the Spirit behind it was also in the devilish writer of the Gospel Of The Egyptians, who claimed Jesus was actually the Egyptian deity Seth.

 

"We ought to understand thoroughly therefore, my brothers, what is imminent or overhanging. Already there have been hunger and plagues, violent movements of nations and signs, which have been predicted by the Lord, they have already been fulfilled (consummated), and there is not other which remains, except the advent of the wicked one in the completion of the Roman kingdom" (P/E, Section II, emphasis mine).

 

One of the most obvious heretical teachers steeped in the occult Gnosticism early in the Christian era was Valentinus, who taught there were 30 heavens, and Christ's real mother was a Spirit being named Sophia (meaning wisdom). Valentinus also mentioned the "consummation."

 

"The final consummation of all things will take place when all that is spiritual has been formed and perfected by gnosis" (quote from Valentinus, cited in Irenaeus, Against Heresies, essay on Valentinianism, emphasis mine).

 

For the sake of clarity amidst all these confusing citations, I want to restate just what this means. The idea of the "consummation" of all things, in the sense of prophetic fulfillment, is certainly not an unscriptural precept. For example, the English word itself is found in the epic Old Testament prophecy of Daniel, and the 70 weeks prophecies, which anticipate the arrival of "Messiah the Prince."

 

"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate" (Daniel 9:27).

 

The "consummation" is never mentioned anywhere in the New Testament, the very body of Scripture which documents the fulfillment of the foregoing promise of Christ, who confirms the covenant. However, the "consummation" is repeatedly mentioned in the Occult, and early Christian era writings – but not the New Testament. Further, the early "Christian fathers" (such as Ephraem the Syrian, Irenaeus, and others) do write about the "consummation," in words and phrases which indicates many of the early "Christian fathers" were influenced by the Occultists:

 

For example, in addition to references to the "consummation" in section I and section II of Pseudo Ephraem, section V mentions it as well.

 

"Whenever the days of the times of those nations have been fulfilled, after they have destroyed the earth, it shall rest; and now the kingdom of the Romans is removed from everyday life, and the empire of the Christians is handed down by God and Peter; and then the consummation comes, when the kingdom of the Romans begins to be fulfilled, and all dominions and powers have been fulfilled" (P/E, section V, emphasis mine).

 

Granted, the "consummation" is only one word connecting the Occult with early Christian doctrinal writings, but we just showed the same thing occurred with the prophesied "confusion" – another key term that is tied to the Occult writings predicting the idea of a pre-tribulation Rapture.

 

The reader will recall how "Seth's" angels Rapture his followers when there is "a great disturbance in the whole earthly area with confusion and flight" (The Second Treatise Of The Great Seth, Nag Hammadi Library, page 364).

 

This "confusion," is equivocated with tribulational events by the "Christian" writers, such as Pseudo Ephraem, who tells us to expect a great "confusion which overwhelms the world" (Section 2, Pseudo-Ephraem). 

 

Significantly, there is not one reference in the entire New Testament comparing tribulational events with "confusion" -- yet the honoured Bishop of the Church, Ephraem the Syrian, repeatedly used that similitude:

 

"Then that worthless and abominable dragon shall appear…And he leaps out from Basan. Basan certainly is interpreted confusion. He shall rise up from the confusion of his iniquity. The one who gathers together to himself a partridge the children of confusion…Also in the last day they shall relinquish him just as confused" (On The Last Times, Section V, P/E).

 

In seeking to perceive just how the wicked Spiritual power which is inherent in the Gnostic and Occult literature could seep into the thought processes of those clergymen and other Christian writers from the early centuries, we are once again confronted with what is seen in the book of Revelation regarding the 6, 7, 8 Cycle.

 

For those unaware of this particular pattern, the 6, 7, 8 Cycle is a formula where the six, representing fallen man (a finite, fallen being created on the sixth day and working six days a week to survive, etc), collides with the seven, representing God and his eternal rest, and the result is the composite of the two – the "eighth [which] goeth into perdition."

 

"And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other [the 7^th] is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition" (Revelation 17:10, 11).

 

Most students of church history know about the process of syncretism, wherein the religious leaders sought to absorb the beliefs of their theological rivals, whoring out their religion to make it more attractive. In early Catholicism, the heathen religions surrounding the organized church cherished their idols, so Catholicism "Christianized" those idols, and re-named them after Catholic "saints."

 

The divine mother-child imagery (associated with the Egyptian goddess Isis and her divine son Horus), were scattered around the Mediteranean nations impacted by Egyptian religion. Isis and Horus were prominently featured in statues, which were eventually renamed Mary and Jesus. Indeed, the Gentiles widely embraced goddess cults, so some "Christian" strategists carefully elevated Mary, eventually promoting her to "co-redemptrix" with Christ. In what is actually a universal pattern, this was just another manifestation of the Biblical cycle which could be computed as a six (Heathen religion), colliding with the seven (the Gospel), resulting in an "eighth" which was comprised "of the seven" (Revelation 17:11).

 

Although the Protestants rebelled against such apostate thinking, they too were impacted by the 6, 7, 8 Cycle. Thus, when Scripture reading Englishmen (the seven in that manifestation of the equation) rightfully broke from the Pope (the Antichrist six), they absorbed the idea of a singular leader sitting in Christ's stead within the "Church," but they substituted the king of the country as the Spiritual head – again resulting in the "eighth" – which was comprised "of the seven."

 

The "eighth" which concludes the pattern with the synthesis of the six and the seven, renews the cycle (the eighth day is the first day of the new week, circumcision on the eighth day symbolized new beginnings, and more), and the formula is repeated.

 

It should be noted that the "six" and "seven" collision is not necessarily driven by a voluntary syncretism (i.e. the unholy idea of absorbing a rival's belief), but it does feature a clash of perspectives (Matthew 10:35). The math is relatively simple, as pre-Christian Rome (the sixth Gentile kingdom of the Old Testament following Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece) collided with the kingdom of God in JESUS CHRIST – the seventh kingdom:

 

"And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed…" (Daniel 2:44).

 

Thus, pre-Christian Rome (which worshiped Saturn) manifested the six, the Kingdom of God in Christ was the seven, and the eighth was the Holy Roman Empire, which combined the six and the seven.

 

This is particularly instructive, for the early Christian leaders primarily fought against the heretical teachings of the Gnostics – including the cult of the Sethians which we've been examining. Ephraem the Syrian (the genuine Ephraem) was specifically known for writing materials which opposed the Gnostics; thus we find a subtle seeding of his thought originated with those he opposed – a process not unexpected in the 6, 7, 8 Cycle. 

 

-- James Lloyd

 

[To Be Continued]

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