Ecumenism
For when they shall say,
Peace and safety; then
sudden destruction
cometh upon them
(1 Thessalonians 5:3}
• And the whole earth was of one
language, and of one speech.
And it came to pass, as they
journeyed from the east, that
they found a plain in the land of
Shinar; and they dwelt there.
And they said one to another, Go
to, let us make brick, and burn
them thoroughly. And they had
brick for stone, and slime had
they for morter. And they said,
Go to, let us build us a city and a
tower, whose top may reach
unto heaven; and let us make us
a name, lest we be scattered
abroad upon the face of the
whole earth. {Genesis 11:1-4}
• “ And the Lord came down to
see the city and the tower,
which the children of men
builded. And the Lord said,
Behold, the people is one,
and they have all one
language; and this they begin
to do: and now nothing will
be restrained from them,
which they have imagined to
do. Go to, let us go down, and
there confound their
language, that they may not
understand one another's
speech.
•
So the Lord scattered them
abroad from thence upon the
face of all the earth: and they
left off to build the city.
Therefore is the name of it
called Babel; because the
Lord did there confound the
language of all the earth: and
from thence did the Lord
scatter them abroad upon the
face of all the earth.”
{Genesis 11:5-9}
The Greek form of the name Babylon
is from the native Akkadian Bāb-ilim,
which means "Gate of the god",
which summarizes the religious
purpose of the great temple towers
(the ziggurats) of ancient Sumer
(Biblical Shinar).[ In Genesis 10, Babel
is said to have formed part of
Nimrod's kingdom. It is not
specifically mentioned in the Bible
that he ordered the tower to be built,
but Nimrod is often associated with
its construction in other sources. The
Hebrew version of the name of the
city and the tower, Babel, is attributed
in Gen. 11:9 to the verb balal, which
means to confuse or confound in
Hebrew. The ruins of the city of
Babylon are near Hillah, Babil
Governorate, Iraq. {Wikipedia Online
Dictionary}
Babylon stood about 60 miles south of Baghdad on the banks
of the Euphrates River where the present city Al Hillah, Iraq,
now stands. Babylon means gate of God. The Biblical or
Hebrew word for Babylon was Babel. The ziggurat, great
Tower of Babel, was a terraced pyramid that stood in the
temple area. It first became an important city about 2,000
B.C. until its fall in 539 B.C. prophesied by the Book of Daniel in
the Old Testament." –
{The World Book Encyclopedia "BABYLON.”}
The Sumerians, the first people who lived in Babylonia about 3,500 B.C.
, built crude huts out of reeds and mud. Sometimes before 3,000 B.C.
the Sumerians began to produce written records in Babylonia. The
writing consisted of picture like symbols scratched on lumps of
clay. The symbols later were simplified to produce cuneiform writing.
Archaeologists have found hundreds of thousands of cuneiform tablets
in Babylonia and as far away as Egypt. The tablets are in Sumerian and
in various dialects of Akkadian, the Semitic language of Babylon
itself. They include historical and legal documents; letters; economic
records; literary and religious texts; and studies in mathematics,
astronomy, medicine, and magic. Later in the Sumerian period, around
2000 B.C., scribes (writers) wrote some law codes. When the Semites
adopted the cuneiform system for their own language, they also
borrowed many of the Sumerian stories.
But they changed the mythological accounts of creation and of the
actions of the gods to fit their own religious system. {NEW RELIGION
BEING SET UP} The most famous of these stories are the Creation Story
and the Epic of Gilgamesh. The first tells the story of the creation of
the world by the god Marduk, patron god of the city of Babylon. The
second describes a great flood similar to the story found in the
Bible. "Epic of Gilgamesh," a Babylonian poem, is one of the oldest
epics in world literature dated before 2,000 B.C.
Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the
LORD's house which was toward the north; and, behold,
there sat women weeping for Tammuz. {Eze 8:14}
And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD's house, and,
behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and
the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the
temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they
worshipped the sun toward the east. {Eze 8:16}
The World Council of Churches (WCC) official website
states that the ecumenical programme is to show a “visible
unity of the church” in which churches are brought
together in “common prayer, shared spirituality and
theological reflection” (www. oikoumene.org)
And the dragon was
wroth with the woman,
and went to make war
with the remnant of her
seed, which keep the
commandments of God,
and have the testimony
of Jesus Christ.
Revelation 12:17
Ecclesiastes 1:9
The thing that hath been, it is
that which shall be; and that
which is done is that which shall
be done: and there is no new
thing under the sun.
AD321, Constantine decreed, "On the venerable day of the Sun
let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all
workshops be closed" (Codex Justinianus lib. 3, tit. 12, 3; trans.
in Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. 3, p. 380,
note 1).
The German historian, H G Heggtveit, describes these events as
follows:
"Constantine laboured at this time, untiringly, to unite the
worshippers of the old and new faith, into one religion. All his
laws and contrivances were aimed at promoting this
amalgamation of religions. He would by all lawful and peaceful
means, melt together a purified heathenism and a moderated
Christianity."
H.R. Boer, in his popular publication of 1976, entitled A
Short History of the Early Church, writes concerning the
Sunday law:
"He designated Sunday by its traditional pagan name - the
Day of the Sun -not the Sabbath or the Day of the Lord.
Pagans could therefore accept it, while Christians gave the
natural sun a new meaning by thinking of Christ as the Sun
of Righteousness...Although Constantine and later
emperors, as well as Church councils, enacted additional
Sunday legislation, it was Constantine's decree of AD 321,
that laid the basis for the universal recognition of Sunday
as a day of rest." 2
“The nominal conversion of Constantine, in the early part of the fourth
century, caused great rejoicing; and the world, cloaked with a form of
righteousness, walked into the church. Now the work of corruption
rapidly progressed. Paganism, while appearing to be vanquished,
became the conqueror. Her spirit controlled the church. Her doctrines,
ceremonies, and superstitions were incorporated into the faith and
worship of the professed followers of Christ.
This compromise between paganism and Christianity resulted in the
development of the “man of sin” foretold in prophecy as opposing and
exalting himself above God. That gigantic system of false religion is a
masterpiece of Satan's power,—a monument of his efforts to seat
himself upon the throne to rule the earth according to his will... {GC88
50}
Satan once endeavored to form a compromise with Christ. He
came to the Son of God in the wilderness of temptation, and,
showing him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of
them, offered to give all into his hands if he would but
acknowledge the supremacy of the prince of darkness. Christ
rebuked the presumptuous tempter, and forced him to depart.
But Satan meets with greater success in presenting the same
temptations to man. To secure worldly gains and honors, the
church was led to seek the favor and support of the great men
of earth, and having thus rejected Christ, she was induced to
yield allegiance to the representative of Satan,—the bishop of
Rome. {GC88 50.2}
It is one of the leading doctrines of Romanism that the
pope is the visible head of the universal church of Christ,
invested with supreme authority over bishops and pastors in
all parts of the world. More than this, the pope has
arrogated the very titles of Deity. He styles himself “Lord
God the Pope,” assumes infallibility, and demands that all
men pay him homage. Thus the same claim urged by Satan
in the wilderness of temptation is still urged by him through
the Church of Rome, and vast numbers are ready to yield
him homage. {GC88 50.3}”
"But since Saturday, not Sunday, is specified in the
Bible, isn't it curious that non-Catholics who profess to
take their religion directly from the Bible and not the
Church, observe Sunday instead of Saturday? Yes, of
course, it is inconsistent; but this change was made
about fifteen centuries before Protestantism was born,
and by that time the custom was universally observed.
They have continued the custom, even though it rests
upon the authority of the Catholic Church and not upon
an explicit text in the Bible. That observance remains as
a reminder of the Mother Church from which the nonCatholic sects broke away - like a boy running away
from home but still carrying in his pocket a picture of
his mother or a lock of her hair." The Faith of Millions
World's future hinges on peace between faiths,
Islamic scholars tell Pope
The future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christianity,
Islamic scholars told pope today.
138 prominent Muslims scholars said that finding common ground between
the worlds biggest two religions was not simply a matter of polite ecumenical
dialogue
Guardian – Thursday October 11th 2007
To reach such a lofty goal, the letter compares certain Bible verses with
similar passages in the Koran in an attempt to show the similarities
between the two religions.
United Press international October 13
“On Wednesday April 17, 21 Seventh-day Adventist pastors
joined four hundred Anglicans, Pentecostals, Salvation Army,
Methodists and other denominations for an "Adventures in
Evangelism" seminar sponsored by the Willow Creek
Association, Chicago, USA. The main speakers, Lee Strobel and
Mark Mittelberg are leaders in the organisation that has
become famous in Christian circles around the world, for its
"Seeker Services" and reaching the secular mind……..
Whatever the views of the participating Adventist pastors,
two things can be said about the seminar: it was very well
organised, and Willow Creek have a clear vision for
meaningful and relevant contemporary evangelism. Certainly
the day offered useful pointers and stimulated the mind to
evaluate our own evangelistic methods and styles” (Entered
from Dalbert Elias delias@adventist.org.uk in BUC news April
24, 1999) [http://www.tagnet.org/adventist.fm/lnews.htm
lnews.html]
When the leading churches of the
United States, uniting upon such points
of doctrine as are held by them in
common, shall influence the state to
enforce their decrees and to sustain
their institutions, then Protestant
America will have formed an image of
the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction
of civil penalties upon dissenters will
inevitably result. {GC 445.1}
"And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the
children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was
since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people
shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book." Daniel
12:1.
188
When this time of trouble comes, every case is decided; there is no longer
probation, no longer mercy for the impenitent. The seal of the living God is upon
His people. {CET 187.4}
This small remnant, unable to defend themselves in the deadly conflict with
the powers of earth that are marshaled by the dragon host, make God their
defense. The decree has been passed by the highest earthly authority that they
shall worship the beast and receive his mark under pain of persecution and
death. May God help His people now, for what can they then do in such a fearful
conflict without His assistance! {CET 188.1}
Courage, fortitude, faith, and implicit trust in God's power to save, do not
come in a moment. These heavenly graces are acquired by the experience
of years. By a life of holy endeavor and firm adherence to the right, the
children of God were sealing their destiny. Beset with temptations without
number, they knew they must resist firmly or be conquered. They felt that
they had a great work to do, and at any hour they might be called to lay off
their armor; and should they come to the close of life with their work
undone, it would be an eternal loss. They eagerly accepted the light from
Heaven, as did the first disciples from the lips of Jesus. When those early
Christians were exiled to mountains and deserts, when left in dungeons to
die with hunger, cold, and torture, when martyrdom seemed the only way
out of their distress, they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer
for Christ, who was crucified for them. Their worthy example will be a
comfort and encouragement to the people of God who will be brought into
the time of trouble such as never was. {CET 188.2}
Not all who profess to keep the Sabbath will be sealed. There are
many even among those who teach the truth to others who will not
receive the seal of God in their foreheads. They had the light of truth,
they knew their Master's will, they understood every point of our
faith, but they had not corresponding works. These who were so
familiar with prophecy and the treasures of divine wisdom, should
have acted their faith. They should have commanded their
households after them, that by a well-ordered family they might
present to the world the influence of the truth upon the human
heart. {CET 189.1}