ZEUS was the king of the gods, and god of the sky, weather, fate and law. Zeus is well-known for seducing many women, both human and goddesses. In many of these stories, Zeus assumes a form other than his true self.
Name: Zeus Parents: Cronus and Rhea Married: Metis, Themis, Eurynome, Demeter, Mnemosyne, Hera Role: Ruler of Mount Olympus, God of weather, Zeus was the king of the gods and the greatest of the Twelve Olympians. He is often seen with a lightning bolt and an eagle. When he was born his father, Cronus was swallowing all of his kids because he had heard that one of them would overthrow him. When Zeus was born Rhea, his mother wanted to save him from being swallowed. She wrapped a rock in Zeus’s clothes and Cronus swallowed it. Rhea hid Zeus and when he grew older he overthrew his father. After that he beat the titans in the Titan War and locked them away. He had many wives and affairs and children.
Ancient Greek theology was polytheistic, based on the assumption that there were many gods and goddesses. There was a hierarchy of deities, with Zeus, the king of the gods, having a level of control over all the others, although he was not almighty. Some deities had dominion over certain aspects of nature.
The gods acted like humans and had human vices. They would interact with humans, sometimes even spawning children with them. At times certain gods would be opposed to others, and they would try to outdo each other.
Mythology: Zeus's Wives & Affairs
Zeus was always known for being naughty in the Olympian god circle, even though he was married to Hera. Most of the time Hera knew about his love affairs and made sure that most of his bastard children were hunted down. The following is a list of the most well-known cases:
METIS
Metis was Titaness. In the beginning she knew Zeus because he came to her. Zeus came to Metis because his father, Cronus, had swallowed all of his brothers and sisters. Together they came up with a plan to convince Cronus to throw up the children. Zeus disguised himself and Cronus hired him. Zeus gave him the potion in a drink and Cronus threw up the kids. Metis later became Zeus’s first wife. Together they gave birth to Athena who came out of Zeus’s head.
THEMIS
Themis was the Titan goddess of divine law. She was one of the early wives of Zeus and bore him six children. All of them were girls. She helped Zeus plan the Trojan War and was his counselor. She is seen next to him on the throne telling him what to do for laws and punishments.
EURYNOME
Eurynome is the titan goddess of water meadows and pasture lands. She was the mother of the charities and the nurse of Hephaestus. She used to be the ruler of Olympus but was overthrown my Cronus.
DEMETER
Demeter was the goddess of agriculture and grain. Demeter was often known as being something like Mother Earth.
Zeus is her brother and husband. Her daughter by Zeus was named Persephone. Persephone was kidnapped by Hades (Zeus’s brother, and god of the underworld) and was named Queen of the Underworld.
MNEMOSYNE
Mnemosyne was the Titan goddess of time, remembrance, and memory.
She and Zeus had 9 children (the 9 Muses). She is also known as being one of the three elder Titan Mousai who were the muses of music before the nine that she and Zeus had.
HERA
Hera is Zeus’s sister. She is the goddess of women and marriage. She is often known as being very jealous and full of hatred.
That is mostly because her husband (Zeus) cheated on her all of the time. Her parents are Cronus and Rhea. Zeus came to her as a bird. Hera mothered it and Zeus then changed himself back and seduced her. They had four (there may be more) children.
LEDA (The Swan)
Leda was a Spartan queen. Zeus came to her as a swan and when Leda produced two eggs, the twins, Castor and Polydeuces were born.
The other set of twins, Clytemnestra and Helen of Troy were born.
Leda was the wife of King Tyndareus. One day, Zeus turned himself into a swan and came to Leda for protection against an eagle. He then seduced her (in some poems and artworks, it’s depicted as rape). She became pregnant and laid two eggs (because why not?). There are conflicting stories about what exactly happened here: some suggest that she also had sex with her husband that night and that some of the resulting progeny was his, but regardless, the general consensus seems to be that the children were Castor, Pollux, Clytemnestra, and Helen — Yes, that Helen, the one with the “face that launched a thousand ships.”
LETO
Leto was a Titan goddess of motherhood. She had the twins Apollo and Artemis by Zeus.
During her pregnancy she was constantly chased by Hera out of the land so she could not find a comfortable place to give birth.
DANAE (The Golden Shower)
Danae’s father was told by an oracle that her offspring would someday kill him. As Danae hadn’t had any children yet, her father did the obvious thing and locked her in a bronze prison.
Not to be deterred by mere bars, Zeus turned himself into golden rain, made his way into her chamber, and impregnated her. She would give birth to Perseus, the guy who would eventually kill Medusa. He would also fulfill his grandfather’s prophecy, killing him accidentally at a sporting event.
GANYMEDE
Ganymede
Zeus didn’t limit his metamorphosing-seduction techniques to the ladies. Zeus was attracted to a young man named Ganymede, so, naturally, Zeus turned himself into an eagle and abducted Ganymede to Olympus.
There, Ganymede became cupbearer to the gods and Zeus’s lover, much to the angst of Hera, Zeus’s wife.
EUROPA (The Gentle Bull)
Europa
In this myth, a beautiful woman named “Europa” and her friends went out into the fields to gather flowers. Zeus saw Europa and decided that he must have her.
He transformed himself into a beautiful, gentle bull — so gentle that Europa pet him and eventually climbed onto his back, at which point Zeus (still in bull form) raced to the sea and began to swim toward Crete. Europa would become the queen of Crete and bear Zeus a number of sons.
EURYMEDOUSA (The Ant)
Eurymedousa, daughter of Cletor or Archelaus.
Zeus had intercourse with her in the shape of an ant (having changed her into an ant as well) and she gave birth to Myrmidon.
Their son was named Myrmidon (Ant-Man).
ALKMENE
ALKMENE (Alcmena) A lady of Thebes in Boiotia (central Greece) who was seduced by Zeus in the form of her own husband. She bore twins: Herakles by Zeus and Likymnios by her husband Amphitryon.
ANTIOPE
ANTIOPE A lady of Thebes in Boiotia (central Greece) who was seduced by Zeus in the shape of Satyros. She bore him twin sons Amphion and Zethos which were exposed at birth.
CALLISTO
CALLISTO - A princess of Arkadia (southern Greece) who was seduced by Zeus in the guise of the goddess Artemis. She was transformed into a bear by a wrathful goddess into a bear and in this form bare a son named Arkas.
"The Great Bear (Arktos Megale)--Hesiod says she [Kallisto] was the daughter of Lykaon and lived in Arkadia. She chose to occupy herself with wild-beasts in the mountains together with Artemis, and, when she was seduced by Zeus, continued some time undetected by the goddess, but afterwards, when she was already with child, was seen by her bathing and so discovered. Upon this, the goddess was enraged and changed her into a beast. Thus she became a bear and gave birth to a son called Arkas. But while she was in the mountain, she was hunted by some goat-herds and given up with her babe to Lykaon. Some while after, she thought fit to go into the forbidden precinct of Zeus, not knowing the law, and being pursued by her own son and the Arkadians, was about to be killed because of the said law; but Zeus delivered her because of her connection with him and put her among the stars, giving her the name Arktos (Bear) because of the misfortune which had befallen her."
The Mother of Alexander the Great: Olympias
OLYMPIAS An historical queen of Makedonia, the mother of Alexander the Great. According to legend, her son was fathered by the god Zeus.
Alexander the Great was one of the greatest leaders and conquerors that the world has ever seen. However, Alexander would have never gone on to create one of the largest empires in the ancient world without his mother, Olympias.
Olympias, originally named Myrtle, was the daughter of King Neoptolemus I of Epirus, who was the king of the ancient Greek tribe in Epirus: Molossians. Her brother, Alexander I would later rule the tribe from 350–331 BC. Her family claimed to be descendants of the former mythological Greek king, Aeacus. They also claimed to descend from Achilles – the Greek hero of the Trojan War.
Her father died in 360 BC, and her uncle, Arybbas took the throne. Arybbas made a treaty with the King of the Macedonians, Philip II. As a result of the new alliance, Arybbas married Olympias off to Philip in 357 BC. Philip would win a horse race in the Olympic Games the following year, and it was at this point that she started being referred to as Olympias. This was the same year that she gave birth to their first child, Alexander. In circa 355 BC, their second child, Cleopatra was born.
Philip walked in to find Olympias sleeping with snakes, which basically brought an end to their relationship. Olympias was known to be a devout member of the cult, Dionysos. Dionysos, in Greek mythology, was the son of Zeus and Semele who had a cult dedicated to him. Olympias, who was a longtime member of the cult, may have introduced the practice of snake handling to the cult.
Olympias made it her life’s man mission to ensure that Alexander would one day be king. Olympias was a devoted mother to her young son and was constantly reminding him of his ancestral lineage to Achilles, which would have a powerful impact on Alexander. He reportedly carried a copy of the Iliad with him at all times. Moreover, he made sure to visit what was left of Troy to pay his respects to his ancestor when he entered Asia Minor. Olympias was also determined to provide Alexander with an excellent education. She had him taught by Leonidas of Epirus and the famed Aristotle.
Problems arose when Philip divorced Olympias to marry Cleopatra-Eurydice. As Alexander was only half-Macedonian, many desired Philip to marry a full blood to provide him with a full-blooded heir. Philip went so far as to claim Alexander was not even his son. Olympias was also in danger of no longer being a diplomatic link between Macedonia and Epirus. This was due to her daughter, Cleopatra marrying Olympias’s brother, Alexander – the current King of Epirus.
Olympias and Alexander would return to Epirus after Alexander had gotten up to fight his father after a verbal assault at the latter’s wedding. Some believe Olympias intended to convince her brother to declare war on Macedonia in revenge. However, Philip reconciled with his son and allowed both Alexander and his mother to return to Macedonia.
In 336 BC, Philip was assassinated. Some believe this was ordered by Olympias since she had Cleopatra-Eurydice and her children killed after Alexander came to the throne. Reportedly, Olympias told her son, before he headed to Asia Minor, that Zeus was his true father, and he must “act with courage, something suitable to his divine origin,” according to Professor Wasson.
Tragically, he would not see his mother again after he began his travels to Asia. He died in 323 BC, and Olympias wanted her grandson to be king. To see her grandson reign, she chose to join forces with Aeacides, King of Epirus and her cousin. With him, they attempted to invade Macedonia, where she had Alexander’s half-brother Phillip and his wife Eurydice killed along with hundreds of Macedonians who were loyal to Cassander. Cassander, the current regent, was who Olympias believed to stand in the way of her grandson, Alexander ascending the throne. The invasion failed, and Olympias was captured by Cassander. While Cassander had originally promised to not execute her, he took back his offer and saw that she was put to death in 316 BC. He would go on to put her grandson and daughter-in-law to death six years later.
Olympias has been described by historians as “arrogant, meddlesome, and headstrong.” She was arguably the most influential person in Alexander’s life and the driving force behind his rise to the throne. Professor Donald Wasson from Lincoln College said, “From her, he inherited not only his love of learning but also his fiery nature, [his] strength of character and as one historian put it — ‘his thirst for blood’.”
Pandora - The First Human Woman...
Pandora was the first human woman in Greek mythology. She was created by the gods Hephaestus and Athena, following the instructions of Zeus, who wanted to punish Prometheus for stealing the fire from the gods to give it to humans.
The woman was molded of earth and water and once the body was ready, the Four Winds breathed life into it. She was then given gifts from all the Olympian gods. Aphrodite gave to her unparalleled beauty, grace and desire. Hermes, the messenger god, gave her a cunning, deceitful mind and a crafty tongue. Athena clothed her and taught her to be deft with her hands. Poseidon bestowed on her a pearl necklace that would prevent her from drowning. Apollo taught her to play the lyre and to sing. Zeus gave her a foolish, mischievous and idle nature and last but not least, Hera gave her the wiliest gift, curiosity.
Thus, the first mortal woman was born and she descended down to earth. Her name was Pandora, meaning all-gifted, implying all the gifts she had received from gods. Along with her, Hermes gave a gilded and intricately carved box, a gift from Zeus with an explicit warning that she must never open it, come what may. Draped in raiment fit for the gods, she was presented to Epimetheus, Prometheus' half-brother.
After Prometheus stole the fire and humans gratefully accepted the gift, Zeus decided to give humans a gift that would balance their acquisition of fire. He asked Hephaestus to create the first woman, who would be endowed with numerous seducing gifts that would plague humanity from then on. Athena dressed Pandora in a beautiful silvery gown, a veil and a crown, and taught her weaving. Other gods also contributed to Pandora's creation, by endowing her with such gifts as deceitful nature and a speech of lies.
However, the natural gifts of Pandora were not the problem for humanity. The gods also offered her a jar that held within numerous evils, diseases and other pains. With the jar in hand, Pandora was given to Epimetheus, Prometheus' brother, who accepted the divine gift despite his brother's warnings. One day, out of curiosity and not of malice, Pandora opened the lid of the jar, releasing all evils into the world. Shocked by what had happened, she quickly tried to put the lid back, only managing to trap Hope in it. This is how the ancient Greeks believed there was evil in the world.
Pandora had released all the wickedness and malevolence that Zeus had locked into the box. That time, she understood that she was a mere pawn in a great game played by the gods. In that gilded box, Zeus had hidden all everything that would plague man forever: sickness, death, turmoil, strife, jealousy, hatred, famine, passion... everywhere the evil spread. Pandora felt the weight of the world on her shoulders and looked at the gilded box that had turned rusty and hideous. As if sensing her need, a warm and calming feeling shrouded her and she knew that not all was lost. Unknown to her, along with the evil feelings, she had also revealed hope, the only good thing that Zeus had trapped inside the box. From now on, hole would live with man forever, to give him succor just when he felt that everything was coming to an end.
Pandora and Eve
In this myth, we can observe some similarities with the Christian story of Adam and Eve. Just like Pandora in ancient Greece, Eve was known as the first woman on earth in Hebrew history. Even the creation of the two women is similar: Pandora was made of earth and water and Eve from the rib of Adam, the first man on earth, who was in his turn made of slay. Another similarity is that they both disobeyed god: Pandora opened the box and unleashed evil in the world and Eve tempted Adam to eat the forbidden apple, against God's will. Some accounts maintain that Pandora tempted Epimetheus into opening the box. However, both women brought ruin and misfortune upon men who had so far lived in a paradisiacal world, free from all sins. Pandora and Eve are considered as the progenitors of the human race and because of their curiosity, the world is cursed today. Interestingly, Pandora was created with vicious intentions but not so Eve, who was simply created to be Adam's companion. The treachery lay in the role of Hermes and the Snake respectively. In Pandora, Hermes instilled that she must never open the box and had Hera not gifted her curiosity, it may have remained closed forever. In the Garden of Eden, the Snake tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge and Life, bringing about realization and shame. From these two stories, we can imply that women have forever been seen as perpetrators of all that is deceitful and therefore women are to blame for every evil on this world.
IO - Lust of Zeus
Io was an Argive princess and the daughter of Inachus, an ancient hero or river god of Argos. She also had the misfortune to be subjected to the lust of Zeus.
Zeus, in an attempt to avoid the rage and jealousy of Hera, his wife, transformed Io into a handsome white heifer. Hera, who knew Zeus was up to no good, asked for the heifer as a present.
Zeus could not refuse. Hera deposited Io in the safe keeping of Argus, the watchman with a hundred eyes. She was eventually rescued by Hermes, though Hera still dogged her by sending a gadfly to sting her wherever she went.
This tale she eventually ended up telling to Prometheus, while he was bound to his rock. Prometheus, though he couldn't provide direct comfort, told her that, though her future would be fraught with hardship and toil, she would, upon reaching Egypt and the Nile, be restored by Zeus and bore him a son, Epaphus.
PHTHIA
PHTHIA A girl from Aegion in Akhaia (southern Greece). Zeus seduced her in the guise of a pigeon or dove.
Aelian, Historical Miscellany 1. 15 (trans. Wilson) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to 3rd A.D.) : "There are traditions in Akhaia that even Zeus himself took on the appearance of a pigeon (piresteros) when he fell in love with a girl called Phthia. This Phthia lived in Aegion."
Semele - (the only mortal to parent a god).
Semele was a princess of Thebes in Greek mythology, daughter of the hero Cadmus and Harmonia. She was the only mortal to become the parent of a god.
Zeus fell in love with Semele while watching her sacrifice a bull on his altar and visited her many times afterwards. When Semele became pregnant, Hera found out and jealous of her husband's affair, set out a plan to punish Semele. Hera appeared in a different form to Semele and they became friends; Semele later confided to the goddess about her affair with Zeus, but Hera made her doubt about it. So, Semele decided to ask Zeus to grant her a wish, and he took an oath on the river Styx that he would give her anything. She asked that he appear to her in all his glory; Zeus was forced to comply. However, mortals could not look upon Zeus without bursting into flames, which is what happened to Semele.
Zeus managed to save the unborn baby by sewing it inside his thigh; a few months later, god Dionysus was born, who managed to save his mother from the Underworld and brought her to Mount Olympus, where she became the goddess Thyone.
Jesus, IESOUS, ISA, ZEUS...
The name of Jesus is a 400 year old name approximately, because the English language never had the letter "J" till then. This is very important, because it says in the Bible by one name only shall you be saved. So it becomes frightfully important. Because it is a recent name not known by THE ALMIGHTY. In fact the Original King James Bible had the name Iesus inside. This is also a historical record of the fact the name Jesus is a very modern name in terms of history. Then on the flip side of the subject, we have the Greek god Zeus who is a representation of The Sun god who is The Devil as known by ancient cultures.
Defaming the Christ with a Pagan Name. Replacing his Hebrew name with a pagan Greek name that honours a pagan god.
The Messiah's True Name "Originally, the name of the Messiah was , pronounced Yahushua or (Yehoshua). This is the Messiah's original name. ...the Messiah's name is actually the same name as Joshua, Son of Nun... correctly pronounced "Yahushua". It is quite evident that the modern form "Jesus" doesn't even remotely resemble the original name that the disciples used.. This is a fact. "
"Jesus Christ....Matthew (1:21) interprets the name originally as Jehoshua, that is, 'Jehovah is Salvation,'" -Encyclopedia Americana (Vol.16, p. 41)
"The name Jesus is NOT a derivative of YHWH (Jehovah). There is great cause for alarm when this hybrid Greek name is being plied onto Messiah because not only is it NOT the sanctified given name of Yeshua (Jehoshua) but prophetic and sanctified unity within the Word of YHWH is lost! Early Christo-Pagans syncretized Greek culture into Greek Christianity, which "smoothed" the way for Christo-Paganism to become the "state" religion." -Is the name "Jesus" holy? Baruch Ben Daniel "They (the Graeco-Roman World) had worshipped Zeus as the supreme deity. Their savior was Zeus, so now they were ready to accept Jehoshua as Jesus - Iesous, meaning - hail Zeus. Now our translated scriptures say that Jahwah's (Jehovah's) Son's name is Jesus, which is a compound word made up of Ie and Zeus (Hail Zeus)." - The Origin of Christianity by A.B. Traina "This name of the true Messiah, Jahshuwah (Jehoshua), being Hebrew, was objectionable to the Greeks and Romans, who hated the Judeans (Jews), and so it was deleted from the records, and a new name inserted. Jahshuwah (Jehoshua) was thus replaced by Ie-Sous (hail Zeus), now known to us as Jesus." - The Origin of Christianity by A.B. Traina "It is simply amazing to think that all these years, hundreds of years, mankind has been calling the Saviour by the wrong name!! It's hard to give up the name of Jesus because it's so deeply ingrained in us and much has been said and done in that name." - Gospel of The Kingdom, True Names and Title Dr. Henry Clifford Kinley 1931 - Ohio USA
Some scholars think that Jesus name was corrupted by the early Roman Apostasy - in order to make his name look more Graeco - Roman rather than "Jewish". After the Apostles and Jesus had been removed from the Jewish scene - Rome took over the Christian Faith and attempted to Mould and conform it to her own Graeco-Roman heritage and Flavour. Zeus was one of the most popular gods at that time. And conjecture has it that perhaps Jesus name was changed to please the pagans in the empire - who were reluctant to accept the New Faith - of the Roman Emperor.
Do They Know???
"It is known that the Greek name endings with sus, seus, and sous were attached by the Greeks to names and geographical areas as means to give honour to their supreme deity, Zeus." -Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend Professor J. C. J. Metford "In the 1611 KJ New Testament the name Yahshua (Yehoshua) appeared originally wherever the Messiah was spoken of. Yehoshua means Yehovah's (Jehovah's) Salvation. Later the Messiah's name was replaced with Iesus (Greek) which later in the 1600's it became Jesus starting with the new English letter "J" which was introduced at that time. Further, the Greek "Iesus" comes from the name Zeus, the ruling God in the Greek pantheon." -Gospel of The Kingdom True Names and Title Dr. Henry Clifford Kinley 1931 - Ohio USA
"Some authorities, who have spent their entire lives studying the origins of names believe that "Jesus" actually means - "Hail Zeus!"
For Iesous in Greek IS "Hail Zeus." "Ie" translates as "Hail" and "sous"
or "sus" translates as Zeus. The English name "Jesus", therefore, stems etymologically from "Jupiter-Zeus" the chief god of the ancient Greek Olympus." -"Yeshua" or "Jesus" -- Which? Biblical Research Institute; 1996 by Les Aron Gosling "‘Jesus’ is a transliteration of a Latin name Ioesus, pronounced heysus - which means nothing in Hebrew, but in Latin it means ‘Hail Zeus’. If Yahshua’s name had been transliterated into our language, it would have been closer to Joshua (or Jehoshua).." -Winds of Praise Broadcasting Believer or Follower? The Sound of the Shofar - By Jon Thompson "It is interesting to note - that throughout his life - Christ never did hear himself being called by that name - "Jesus"...." - "Man’s Great Adventure," by Edwin W. Pharlow, professor of history, Ohio State University. "It is known that the Greek name endings with sus, seus, and sous which are phonetic pronunciations for the chief Greek god of Olympus - were attached by the Greeks to names and geographical areas as means to give honour to their supreme deity, Zeus." -Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend by Professor J.C.J Melfurd (1983, pg 126)
"The name of YAHshua has been replaced by the names of G-zeus (Jesus), meaning Hail Zeus (Iesus, and Iesous) which are pagan in origin." -Seek God The True name of Christ "research reveals that the name "Jesus" is linked to the Greek Sun-god "Zeus" " -COME OUT OF HER MY PEOPLE, by C. J. Koster
"Jesus. That was a name given to him by the early church many years afterHis death. They wanted to remove any Jewishness from the new church. They eliminated His Jewish name and blended the name of Zeus into the Christian church to make it comfortable for all those who previously worshipped the Greek and Roman gods. It made it easier for the pagans to become Christians. Since Zeus was the top god of their experience, attaching the name Ioesus to Yahshua gave Him top priority in the worship hierarchy." -Winds of Praise Broadcasting Believer or Follower? The Sound of the Shofar By Jon Thompson
"This new church adopted various deities from the heathen, and discarded the Most High (Jehovah) of the Israelite Scriptures, and they also discarded His blessed Son, Jahshuwah." -Story of the Christian church, Hurlbut p 43.
"The pagans of Greece and Rome had worshipped Zeus as the supreme deity. Their savior was Zeus, so now they were eager to accept Jesus as Iesous, or Zeus as their saviour." - The Origin of Christianity by A.B. Traina
READ MORE >>> HIDDEN BIBLE!!!
SILENT NIGHT - The Savior Is Born!!!
The Son and the Crescent
'Both terms "Father" and "Son" for God are repugnant to the Muslim. Yet they are more than mere metaphors or titles. They are the divine names that most disclose the divine relations.' —J. Scott Horrell, professor of theological studies, Dallas Theological Seminary
Muslims understand Allah in terms of simple monotheism rather than the dynamic Trinitarian theology that Christians profess. Yet Allah, the word for God that Muslims know from the Qur’an, actually predates Islam. Some translators have recovered it so that Muslims reading Scripture for the first time won’t immediately reject the Bible as foreign to their culture.
More than 1,000-year history of Christianity and Islam but yet for so long, Christianity and Islam have been fighting a turf war. Both are trying to poach followers from the other side so that they can boast about how many from their ‘rival camp’ have crossed over to join them.
Muslims will proudly announce that this or that famous Christian person has now embraced Islam. Cassius Clay. Michael Jackson. Lady Diana. Yusuf Estes. Jimmy Cliff. Malcom X. Sheikh Hamza Yusuf Hanson. Cat Stevens. Larry Johnson. Dave Chappelle. Peter Murphy. Richard Thopson.
And the Christians will do the same.
Basically, it is a contest to see how many of your people become my people.
And herein lies the problem. Muslims are leaving Islam to become Christians. And the Christians are very happy that they can win converts from Islam because this means Christianity wins and Islam loses. And this more or less proves that Christianity is better than Islam.
It is the same game both Christianity and Islam have been playing for more than 1,000 years.
Last year, representatives from several prominent mission agencies, both national and expatriate, met to compare notes about the progress of their respective ministries in one Muslim-majority country. (The country’s name is withheld for security reasons.) The representatives rejoiced that more than 1,000 “fellowships,” as they call them, have been established for people from Muslim backgrounds. In fact, many of the fellowships had already planted new fellowships, and those fellowships had planted still more. Many thousands of Muslims in this nation alone, then, had found faith in Jesus.
Several of these fellowships can be traced back to small networks of Muslims who had encountered Christ and in turn began sharing with family and friends what they had discovered. In one case, a middle-aged working mother had inductively studied a new translation of the Bible for a few years. Among other language choices, the translation she used did not refer to Jesus as the “Son of God,” due to confused and angry reactions from Muslims who mistakenly believe this phrase means that the Father engaged in sexual relations with Mary. To avoid this misunderstanding, the new translation called Jesus “the Beloved Son who comes (or originates) from God.”
The woman, who eventually professed Jesus as Lord and Savior, began inviting friends and family to read the Bible too. At first, about 10 people met with her. This was cause enough for celebration, since Muslims in her country rarely study any religious books other than the Qur’an and the Hadith (collections of Muhammad’s sayings and deeds). Three months later, another group formed nearby to discuss one New Testament chapter per week, and an elderly member of the family accepted the Good News of Jesus. Within two years, seven more reading groups had sprung up. Today, no one knows exactly how many such groups have formed. But new believers in Jesus have spread the message to nearby towns, and several hundred professions of faith can be attributed to this network alone, according to a group of long-term field workers in the country.
READ MORE >>> The Son & The Crescent!!!
Saving A Prayer... Of Gods & Men!!!
These and many other Muslims live in places where Bible translations have been available in their languages for decades, even for more than a century. So why the sudden surge of interest in Scripture? Some translators attribute the response to the new Bible versions that use religious vocabulary familiar to Muslims. And that’s precisely the problem, according to other translators and missionaries who work among Muslims.
They charge their colleagues with compromise that undermines belief in Jesus Christ as the pre-existent, only begotten Son of God. Both sides eagerly long to take the Good News to the nations and make it discernable to Muslims in their heart languages. Both respect Muslims; neither wants to alter Jesus’ message. Yet a dispute over the most faithful and effective way to render the common biblical phrase “Son of God” is dividing missionary from missionary, scholar from scholar, in a time of evident mistrust between Western Christians and Muslims. It also underscores how few Christians in the West themselves understand this common biblical title for Jesus.
Compromise or Comprehension
Bible translation and contextualization have long divided Christians working to fulfill the Great Commission. When missionary pioneer William Carey translated the Bible into Bengali in 1809, he used the Hindu word for the supreme being, Ishwar, to refer to God. Critics charged him with making a fatal compromise in the name of comprehension. Today, “Son of God” is hardly the only point of contention among missionaries to Muslims. For example, they also tangle over whether Bible translations should use Allah to refer to God. Both sides make a compelling case. Muslims understand Allah in terms of simple monotheism rather than the dynamic Trinitarian theology that Christians profess. Yet Allah, the word for God that Muslims know from the Qur’an, actually predates Islam. Some translators have recovered it so that Muslims reading Scripture for the first time won’t immediately reject the Bible as foreign to their culture.
Beyond Muslim Misconceptions
While we may lament Muslim misunderstanding of Jesus' identity as the Son of God, it's not clear how many Westerners understand the nuances, either. How many Christians could identify "Son of God" as the preferred Christological title used by Jesus as attested by Matthew in his Gospel? For a title so closely related to Christ, "Son of God" is strangely absent from the Old Testament's messianic texts. Or who could explain how the phrase is used differently in the Gospel of John? Here, the Son's pre-existence is often in view. We also see the intimate relationship enjoyed by the Father and his only Son, who perfectly obeys his Father's will (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38; 7:28; 8:29). Indeed, "Son of God" is a rich, multilayered title whose meaning defies simple explanation. Certainly it deserves more than the cursory mentions offered in many systematic theology textbooks. Muslim misunderstanding about "Son of God" poses a significant challenge to missionaries and translators. And the favorable response to Bible versions that avoid the phrase encourages Christians to communicate respectfully in a way that invites Muslims to find faith in Jesus Christ, who is not only a prophet sent by God but fully God and fully man. Must translations accommodate this concern? Or can teaching the true meaning of the literal phrase eventually change perceptions?
After all, one can imagine what Greeks, with their anthropomorphic mythology, thought when they first heard about the "Son of God." Robert Yarbrough, who teaches New Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, travels every year to Sudan, where he teaches ministers. Many of them come from a Muslim background. He doubts these believers would worry too much about finding an alternative for "Son of God." After all, the Qur'an appeared centuries after the Bible. Why tweak our book to accommodate theirs? The Sudanese believers already know—or so they think—that God has no son.
'Messiah' is not an adequate substitute for 'Son of God,' " Poythress wrote. "Both have the same referent, namely Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. But they do not have the same meaning.... The Greek expressions for 'Messiah' and 'the Son of God' do have similar meanings, in that both, in many contexts, indicate something about Jesus' role as kingly ruler under commission from God. Moreover, both expressions evoke what people know or think they know about the great deliverer sent by God. But 'Son of God,' unlike 'Messiah,' indicates an analogy with a human family relationship. And it also has the potential to connote personal intimacy and love."
A Beauty to Jingle All the Way!!! Merry Xmas!!!
In the Qur’an, chapter 12, verse 111, it says that what Allah (through Prophet Muhammad) is revealing (hence it is called the Revelation) is not a new message but a confirmation of the Scriptures before that. In fact, the Qur’an, in chapter 13, verse 39, suggests that all Scriptures come from a single book concealed in heaven called Umm al-Kitab or the Mother of Books.
Some scholars are of the view that the Qur’an is not an independent book or a book to be read in isolation but is a book that has to be read alongside the Torah and the Gospels. In fact, for the first 200 years of Islam, Muslims read both the Torah and the Qur’an together. The Torah was part of Islam (at least in the beginning). And hence it is not strange that Muslim customs, traditions and laws are similar to Mosaic customs, traditions and laws (except for the doctrine of the Trinity which the Qur’an specifically rejects and which is not James’s, the brother of Jesus Christ’s, teachings anyway).
Going by this, Islam accepts the earlier teachings of Moses and Jesus as part of the Abrahamic faiths or the Semitic religions. Judaism, Christianity and Islam are not three religions but three parts of the same religion. And Allah is the God of all ‘People of the Book’, not just the God of the Muslims. In that case, the Jews and Christians, too, can call their God by the name of Allah. In that case, also, why can’t the Christians use Allah in the Bible when Islam says that Allah is the God of the Christians and that the earlier Holy Books are also the books of Islam?
This argument is further strengthened in chapter 3, verse 84, of the Qur’an, which says:
Say: “We have believed in God, and that which has been sent down on us, and that which was sent down on Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the Prophets who were raised in the tribes, and that which was given to Moses, Jesus, and all other Prophets from their Lord; we make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims.”
In this verse, the Qur’an clearly says that there is no distinction (difference, division, dissimilarity, etc.) between Islam and the teachings of Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Jesus, and all the earlier Prophets before Muhammad. Hence Allah is the God of all People of the Book since the beginning of time. Allah is not specific to just the Muslims and Islam does not have monopoly over Allah or over the name ‘Allah’.
No doubt Muslims believe that the Revelation (the Qur’an) is the final Revelation. But the Qur’an does not abrogate or replace the earlier Revelations or previous Scriptures. The Qur’an just makes them complete. Hence the Qur’an can be regarded as Version 3.0 of the earlier Scriptures that we can call Version 1.0 and Version 2.0 if you wish.
The Qur’an makes many references to ahl al-Kitab (ahli kitab in Malay) or ‘People of the Book’. And Islam allows Muslims to eat meat from animals slaughtered by the ahli kitab. In other words, meat from animals slaughtered by Jews and Christians is halal. You do not need Muslims to slaughter a cow or chicken before you can eat that meat.
Some Muslims (in particular the Malays) will argue that only Muslims will go to heaven and kafir (infidels) will go to hell. The Qur’an disagrees with this. In chapter 5, verse 69, of the Qur’an, it says:
Surely, be they of those who declare faith, or be they of those who are the Jews or the Sabaeans or the Christians – whoever truly and sincerely believes in God and the Last Day and does good, righteous deeds – they will have no fear, nor will they grieve.
Where does it say only Muslims go to heaven and that the other People of the Book are infidels? It says: whoever truly and sincerely believes in God and the Last Day and does good, righteous deeds… will have no fear, nor will they grieve. And it mentions the Jews, the Sabaeans and the Christians.
The problem is, because of the later wars between the Christians and the Muslims (in particular during the Crusades) the other People of the Book came to be regarded as infidels. This was how later Muslims came to view things. This is not how the Qur’an sees it. But because most Muslims do not really follow the Qur’an but follow later ‘traditions’, their perspective of the other People of the Book changed over time.
ONE OF US!!! - In a form of Man...
As much as the Christians and Muslims may argue that their religion came from God — and thus are new and separate religions — the truth is both Christianity and Islam are offspring or by-products of Judaism, the religion of the nation of Israel (‘the nation of Israel’ not to be confused with Israel the country or the nation-state).
Some Christians believe that the Kingdom of God refers to the Kingdom in the Afterlife, the place we go to after we die. This is what Paul teaches us, of course. James, the brother of Jesus, however, teaches us that the Kingdom of God means a theocratic state here in this world (similar to the Islamic State that some Muslims talk about).
James was a Nazarene. Paul, however, was a Roman citizen. Hence James would not accept Roman rule while Paul felt that they needed to “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s” (Mathew 22:21). Luke and Mark also report Jesus as having said this.
There is a dispute as to what this quotation really means. Some say Jesus is confirming that the Jews need to accept Roman authority and pay taxes to Rome. Others say this means they need to set up a Kingdom of God or theocratic state (here on earth) and reject Roman authority. The fact that at that time to reject Roman authority was an act of sedition punishable by death (meaning crucifixion, the punishment for rebellion), Jesus was forced to speak in parables.
Nevertheless, parables can mean whatever you wish it to mean. And Paul, being a Roman citizen, chose to interpret that statement meaning the Jews must kowtow to Rome. But James disagreed with this. And this was one of the issues that created the conflict between James and Paul.
Paul eventually left Jerusalem and went to Rome to preach his brand of Christianity, where he then went into conflict with Peter, who agreed with James and disagreed with Paul. Paul then announced his ‘independence’ from the Jerusalem community. And it was Paul who propagated the doctrine of Jesus the Son of God, a doctrine that was rejected by the Jerusalem Judeo-Christians.
Fourteen of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament are attributed to Paul. And in Paul’s books it refers to Jesus the Son of God. In those not written by Paul, it refers to Jesus the Son of Man. And this is the position that Islam has taken — the position of James and not the position of Paul.
Nevertheless, since Paul was Roman, the Romans took Paul’s position and not James’ position. And, in 325, Emperor Constantine officially accepted the doctrine of Paul as the doctrine of the religion of Rome, thus creating a split in Christianity similar to the Sunni-Shia split in Islam 300 years later.
The religion of the Christians is the religion of Judaism. The religion of the Muslims is also the religion of Judaism. Both Christianity and Islam were born from Judaism. You could say that Christianity and Islam were in a way Siamese twins. And these Siamese twins were eventually separated by surgery. And this surgery was the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. That is what separates Christianity from Islam.
Putting aside the ritualistic and iconic aspects of Christianity and Islam, both these religions share the same doctrine of the one God, the Afterlife, and so on. It begins to separate on the issue of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. Hence the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ is very important to Christianity. Without this Christianity would not exist. Hence Christians insist that the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ did happen while the Muslims insist it did not.
If Christians agree it did not happen then they would become Muslims. And if Muslims agree that it did happen then they would become Christians. The only way Christians can remain Christians and Muslims can remain Muslims is to disagree on the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.
Hence is Jesus the Son of Man or is Jesus the Son of God? If Jesus is the Son of Man then the Muslims are the true believers and if Jesus is the Son of God then the Christians are the true believers. And this is why the Christians insist on using Allah while the Muslims insist they should not use Allah — because if the word ‘God’ were to be replaced with the word ‘Allah’ then Jesus would become Jesus the Son of Allah. And this will demolish the Islamic doctrine that Allah does not have children.
It all has to start with the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. If Jesus was not crucified and resurrected then Islam wins. If Jesus was crucified and resurrected then Christianity wins. If Jesus was the Son of Allah then Christianity wins again. But if Jesus was not the Son of Allah then Islam wins.
It is all about winning and losing. And it has been so for 1,400 years — about who wins and who loses. So forget about the law, the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, human rights, civil liberties, freedom of religion, and whatnot. This is not about all those things. This is about whose religion is the true religion, Christianity or Islam? And both Christians and Muslims will not give in and admit that the other side is right.
This is a family squabble. Two siblings are quarrelling over who is right and who is wrong. Two siblings are fighting over the right to be the true religion. The non-Christians and non-Muslims who are so kaypoh and who are taking one side over the other do not really know what the fight is all about.
And one golden rule you should live by is when families fight and two siblings are at each other’s throat do not get involved or pour fuel onto the fire. After all, as far as Christians and Muslims are concerned, non-Christians and non-Muslims are infidels who are going to end up in hell anyway. The Christians and Muslims will say, “Thank you for supporting us. Now go to hell.” Yes, that is the belief of Christianity and Islam.
A Reformative Movement. Of Paganism to Montheism...
Before the birth of Christ we had the Jews and the pagan Romans. And the Jews revolted and were whacked and colonised by the Romans. In fact, even earlier the Jews were whacked by the Egyptians and then by the Persians and both times were taken into slavery. So the Jews were not very successful with their Reformation movement.
Anyway, Jesus started doing his preaching at the age of nine and he was more successful in attracting crowds. The crowd was just captivated by Jesus who could sway them like Marc Antony (the Roman, not the singer) with his ‘friends, Jews, fellow anti-ulama’ speeches.
Jesus eventually went on to form the Jewish Reformasi movement, which was known as the Jesus Movement. The Romans called them the Nazarenes although Jesus was supposed to have been born in Bethlehem in Judea and not in Nazareth in Galilee.
The Qur’an refers to the Nazarenes as Nasrani — so the Muslims accept the Jesus Movement as those from Nazareth — and the Jews as Yahudi or those from Yehudah, meaning from Bethlehem or Judea. Anyway, both places are currently in Israel and it is the British and not Jesus who did this.
The truth is the Jesus Movement was more political than religious (just like Muhammad’s Medina movement). It was about self-rule so that the Jews could pray to God and not to the Roman Emperor, who also needed to be worshipped as God. I mean, the Holy Book says there is only one God so how could the Jews accept a second God, the Roman Emperor?
And in Rome anyone who worships any other God than the Roman Emperor would be put to death. So Jews had to become closet Jews and openly worship the Roman Emperor (and secretly worship Allah) while they could openly be homosexuals, which was quite a popular practice amongst the Romans, as were orgies and toga parties (bless those Romans).
Things, however, started going downhill after Jesus died (as it did with the Muslims after Prophet Muhammad died). The Jesus Movement split into two (just like what happened to the Muslims). And it was all because of the anti-Jesus Saul, who became a turncoat and changed his name to Paul to give an impression he had ‘changed’.
Initially the Jesus Movement preached only to Jews. Saul, however, wanted to increase the membership of the movement by preaching to the Gentiles or non-Jews.
So Saul changed the rules and told the Gentiles that they need not circumcise or stop eating pork to join the movement. And this infuriated James and Peter who considered Saul a Trojan horse who was trying to contaminate the movement by bringing in sick, weak members. Saul also told the non-Jews that once they join the movement they would no longer be considered dogs but would become ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’.
So many slaves who were considered lower joined the movement just so that they could become equal and would no longer suffer a status lower than dogs.
And, yes, you guessed it right, Saul’s ‘Team B’ eventually became bigger than James’ and Peter’s ‘Team A’. Suffice to say that Saul’s ‘Team B’ eventually became known as Christianity while ‘Team A’ died out, except for those who ran off to Syria and to what today is known as Saudi Arabia.
And as refugees they were free to practice what they considered the true teachings of Jesus while Saul’s ’Team B’ took on a new leader 300 years later and was transformed into the Holy Roman Empire.
Meanwhile ‘Team A’ flourished in Syria and the Arabian Peninsula and many Arabs (who believed in 360 gods) eventually converted to the doctrine of the One God. And amongst the most famous of these converts was Muhammad, who started his own Movement that today is known as Islam.
The Gospel of the Nazarenes more or less sealed the split between the Essene Jews and the Nazarene Jews. This first and ‘ground-breaking’ Nazarene gospel was written in Hebrew and was written about 100 years after Jesus. In the year 177, Irenaeus, the Bishop of Lyon, challenged the writings of the Nazarenes and even went so far as to say that Jesus had practiced the wrong religion (or had committed heresy) in his treatise, Adversus Haereses (Against Heresy).One of the Qumran scrolls, Aramaic Apocalypse, actually confirms that Nazarene Judaism (now called Christianity) is a breakaway from Essene Judaism. Hence, in short, Jesus was considered a heretic who had deviated from true Judaism.The bottom line is, around 200 years after Jesus, the two Jewish sects of Judea and Nazareth began divorce proceedings and, another 200 years later, the divorce became final and Nazarene Judaism became known as Christianity. Then, another 200 years later, along came a third group that took some of the Judaism beliefs and some of the Christianity beliefs and thereafter emerged a third group under the name of Islam.
Muhammad understood that the ‘Team A’ Jesus Movement failed because it was poor while ‘Team B’ flourished because it had economic power. Muhammad’s movement, which was Medina based, did not go very far in a decade because of this very fact. So he decided to conquer and occupy Mekah, which was the centre of economic activity.
And this strategy proved correct. One year later Muhammad died but his movement went on to conquer almost half the known world from Europe to India. So it is money and not doctrine that talks. However, if you want to blame anyone for this then you should blame Moses. When Moses brought his tribe out of captivity he crossed the Red Sea and settled in what today is known as Israel. If instead he had brought his people further east or to the south, then today the Jews and not the Muslims would own all the rich oil fields. And Constantine and Muhammad knew this while Moses did not. And that is why there are more Christians and Muslims in this world than Jews. Someone should have told Moses that money talks while religious bullshit walks.
Another Brick In the Wall!!!
The Jews created a Myth about Adam and Eve ! Adam and Eve is Scientifically either an Ape, or a Caveman !! Why did Abraham have to create a Monotheistic God? He was a pendatang from Iran !! Did Canaan not have enough Gods already? MY GOD IS BETTER THAN YOUR GOD? Sure !! The 6,000 GODS of all sorts of religions in the Middle East at that time was “NO MATCH” for the God of Abraham !! ABRAHAM was a HORRIBLE JEW !! He came up with Laws which had the most cruel punishments and specific instructions for the killing of their neighbours !! The famous stories taught in Jewish schools are simple ABHORRENT !!! Marching around a city, and then completely slaying their inhabitants be they Men, Women or Children is NOTHING to be proud of !! Not to mention the countless rapes, and so on !!
Where is this? The story of Joshua teaches GENOCIDE !!! The Jews should BURN !! And so should ANYONE else teaching their doctrine should also be condemned !!!
“And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword. Joshua 6:21
What child should ever be taught to hate?? What child should ever be taught to kill? What child should ever be taught to maim, or take slaves? The Horrible Jews also kept slaves. Not only was it permissable, it was enshrined in their (un) Holy Book !!
Mine, immaculate dream
Made breath and skin I've been waiting for you
Signed, with a home tattoo,
Happy birthday to you!!!
Was created for you...
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