The Coming 360 Day Year Predicted in Revelation

This is interesting hypothesizing on the 360 day/year issue regarding prophecies at the end of this current age.  Which of course seems pretty close to us.  This is one possible answer to the roughly 5 day difference between our years and those at the end of the age...

Everyone knows there are 365 days in a year—except, seemingly, the Bible... In both Genesis and Revelation, there are 360 days in a year and 30 days in all months. You won’t find the 365 day year and variable length months we all know today. Does this mean the Bible is an inaccurate book (as skeptics believe)? Not in the least. Read on to find out the little-known calendar secret of ancient history from Genesis and also Revelation’s hidden prophecy about earth’s change to a 360 day year because of a global catastrophe—before the rapture.\

 

By Tim McHyde

One Tribulation, Three Lengths?

The Book of Revelation contains many insights and predictions to encourage, thrill and scare you. Some are plain and obvious; others are subtle and hidden from most, only to be found by the few inspired to dig deeper (Dan 12:4, 9-10; Rev 1:1-3). For example, that an evil beast-like ruler will dominate the entire earth (Rev 13:7) for the last 42 months of this age (Rev 13:5) is plain and easy to understand. That a major change to earth's orbit is predicted by this and related numbers is not obvious at all. What numbers? Curiously, there are three different time lengths implied for the great tribulation found among six accounts of activities taking place then:

• 3½ Years Daniel 9:27 tells us that the Abomination of Desolation and ceasing of the daily oblation will happen in the "middle" of the 70th week (or final 7 year period) not in the beginning of it. Jesus also says at the time of the Abomination of Desolation that it will be urgent to head to the place of safety (Mt 24:15) as "great tribulation" follows it (Mt 24:21).
  Half of 7 years = 3½ years.
  
  Daniel 7:25 says that the Little Horn (Antichrist) will speak against God and oppress the holy ones for a time, (pair of) times, and half of time or 1 + 2 + ½ = 3½ years
  
  Revelation 12:14 says that the Woman is protected from Satan for the same amount of "times" (3½) as the Little Horn oppresses = 3½ years.
• 42 Months
  Revelation 11:2 says that Gentile armies will trample Jerusalem for 42 months.
  
  Revelation 13:5-7 says the Beast (Antichrist) will blaspheme God and conquer the saints for 42 months.
• 1260 Days
  Revelation 11:3 says that the Two Witnesses prophesy during this same period for 1260 days.

In other words, the 1260 days of the Two Witnesses is the same 42 months that the Temple Mount is trampled while the Little Horn/Beast speaks against God and oppresses the saints (Rev 11:1-3=Dan 7:25=Rev 13:5). It is also the same 3½ years that the righteous "Woman" is protected in the wilderness (Rev 12:14). All these events relate to the tribulation when the Antichrist continues for "a time, (pair of) times, and half a time" as Daniel 7:25 says. Is this consistent repeated length of 3½ years for the tribulation surprising to you? I can appreciate if it is as most Christians have been taught that the tribulation or great tribulation is seven years long." However, as you can see, the only time "seven years" is mentioned in connection with the great tribulation is for entire seven year 70th week. The great tribulation is only the second half of that. The first half is not called "the tribulation" also but has another name given by Jesus: the "beginning of birth pains/sorrows" (Mt 24:8; Mk 13:8). By the way, if you doubt that a basic math error of this kind could really creep into Christian doctrine, then consider how there are not "three days and three nights" (Mt 12:4) between a "Good Friday crucifixion" and an Easter Sunday resurrection!

The Hidden Prediction in Great Tribulation Lengths

So, why do Daniel and Revelation give us three different measurements of length for the same time period when all that was necessary to establish the length is to use one measurement such as "three and one half years?" Good question. The answer will begin to take shape once we do a little math on the numbers above:

• 1260 days ÷ 3.5 years = 360 days per year
• 1260 days ÷ 42 months = 30 days per month

Obviously, this does not match our current cosmology of:

• 365.2422 days per year.
• 29.531 days per lunation. The Hebrews used lunar months, or the cycle from new moon to new moon. This is reflected in the Hebrew word for month (chodesh) meaning also moon, similar to how the etymology of "month" is related to the moon.

It is also a mismatch of both the (fixed, precalculated) Rabbinic Jewish and (observed, lunar-agricultural) Karaite calendars of today. Both of these calendars have 29 day months mixed in with 30 day months instead of consistent 30 day months. Since this amounts to around only 354 (not 360) days per year, every two or three years a 13th or leap month (Adar Bet) must be added to intercalate the calendar (keep it in sync with the seasons).

Read the rest of this article at - http://www.escapeallthesethings.com/1260-day-42-month-tribulation.htm

In Christ Devotion #1 | The Scattered Sheep

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Moon Object (UFO), Eclipse Satellites, Russian Translation

Fascinating telescopic pics from Crrow777, along with an improved translation of the possible Russian scientists revelation of a Lunar hologram which might explain the Lunar Wave phenomena.  Nothing small of course, just some earth-shattering science news, if it can be verified...

This clip covers an object (UFO) crossing the moon & an increase in satellites near the moon during lunar eclipses & the Russian information that is currently being translated. Please follow my articles on the Examiner.com and click the link below to subscribe the author. I will send notifications as new articles are published.

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Terror Experts: ISIS Video Depicting Egyptian Execution Footage ‘Faked’

So the latest Youtube sensation, ISIS, is faking videos?  What a shocker!  Okay, realizing it's a western intelligence construct, I guess we shouldn't be surprised at all...

Guest Post: Shawn Helton21st Century Wire 

Terror experts have ruled that ISIS video footage appearing to show the executions of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians as being fake…

According to Florida-based Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium, the 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians purported to have been decapitated in the video entitled “Signed With Blood: To The Nation Of The Cross,” was ruled to have been ‘staged’ due to the excessive anomalies seen in the dramatic 5 minute film.

IMAGE: ‘Larger than Life’ –  Notice the extreme height difference between the apparent ISIS members, as they dwarf the alleged Egyptian victims. ( Photo link nationalpost.com)

Fake terror & propaganda

In a report this week at 21WIRE, prior to experts releasing their conclusion about the recent ISIS video production, I was able to outline many of the film’s irregularities and inconsistencies – proving that the film was indeed heavily orchestrated for maximum effect.
The overly produced video by ISIS media arm Al Hayat Media Center, was in fact an expensive looking affair, producing a professionally done film with heavy post production, subliminally arresting the viewer with deceptive propaganda.
IMAGE: ‘Jihadi Joesph?’ -  The new ‘terror host’ in the alleged Egyptian executions is seen out of balance with the sea imaging behind him. (Photo linktwitter.com)

In an article appearing today in the Daily Mail, terror experts and horror film professionals, weighed in on the recently staged ISIS video. Some of the video was also believed to have been shot on a ‘green screen’ with the water background added in post production.

Veryan Khan, editorial director of the Florida-based Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium told Fox News:

“The Islamic State’s manipulation of their high-production videos has become commonplace.”

Read the rest of this article at - http://jaysanalysis.com/2015/02/26/terror-experts-isis-video-depicting-egyptian-execution-footage-faked/

William Sawtrey, 1st Lollard Martyr

In 1399, the first time that William Sawtrey was arrested on charges of heresy, he went to prison until he broke down and gave up his beliefs. After he was freed, however, he felt as if he had betrayed Christ. The English priest from St. Margaret's in Lynn, Norfolk, found employment in London.
William was one of many laymen and priests who accepted the teachings of John Wycliffe. These believers were known as Lollards. Wycliffe said that the church of his day had corrupted the plain teaching of the Bible. He made a translation of the Bible in English so that all the people could understand God's word for themselves.

Alarmed by Wycliffe's teachings, England passed a law which made burning the penalty for "heresy." Archbishop Thomas Arundel ordered William to appear at St. Paul's on February 12, 1401 and give an account of his teachings. Arundel questioned William closely.

This time, William Sawtrey stood firm. He had said, "Instead of adoring the cross on which Christ suffered, I adore Christ who suffered on it." He stood behind those words now and it became one of the charges against him by persecutors who considered it proper to bow before crucifixes.

However, it was his beliefs about the mass that finally got him condemned. He agreed that the bread of the Eucharist after consecration was indeed the bread of life, but insisted it was just bread all the same. Roman teaching says it really becomes Christ's flesh, so he was considered a heretic.

William also held that it was a better use of time to preach to the lost than to recite certain prayers. He said that money spent on pilgrimages to save one's soul would be better spent helping the poor. The independent-thinking priest also said men were more worthy of adoration than angels.

Because of his answers, he was indicted. He answered each charge in the indictment with scriptures. Arundel questioned him for three hours on his interpretation of the mass. The archbishop tried to convince William to change his mind, or at least to accept the decision of church authorities. William refused.

On this day, February 26, 1401, his sentence was issued. William was condemned as a relapsed heretic. Under the new law, this meant he would burn. Through seven steps called "degradation" he was removed from being a priest and handed over to the secular authorities to die.

Using the defenses at his disposal, William appealed to the king and Parliament. After his appeal was denied, he was burned to death at Smithfield in front of a crowd of spectators.
He was the first "Lollard" martyr in England.

Bibliography:

1. "Sawtrey, William." Dictionary of National Biography. Edited by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee. London: Oxford University Press, 1921 - 1996.
2. Wood, douglas C. The Evangelical Doctor; John Wycliffe and the Lollards. Herts, England: Evangelical Press, 1984.

Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1201-1500/william-sawtrey-1st-lollard-martyr-11629873.html

Dr. Michael Lake Examines The Son Of Perdition: Part One

by SkyWatch Editor

In my new book, The Shinar Directive, I connect the Son of Perdition with the historic figure of Nimrod within the Word of God.   Nimrod’s directive to both draw all men away from God and possibly launch a war on Heaven itself drew an immediate and personal response from the Almighty.  Nimrod’s directive did not die with the confusing of the languages; it was only postponed.  Since the time of Nimrod, the Mystery Religions have been laboring under the cloak of secrecy to see his directive fulfilled.   The Luciferian Elite are committed to creating the proper conditions on planet Earth for the return of their beloved despotic king, the Son of Perdition. To gain a better understanding of this Luciferian king, I decided to examine Chapter 2 of Second Thessalonians for myself to see if there were clues unnoticed by researchers that preceded this generation.  As we draw closer to the revealing of the Son of Perdition, the sorcerer’s cloak of mystery grows thinner.  It is my desire to take the present day truths that are being revealed by the Holy Spirit in our generation to pierce even deeper through the Babylonian haze that surrounds this Man of Sin.

Read the rest of this article at - http://skywatchtv.com/2015/02/26/examining-son-perdition-part-1/

John Chrysostom, Golden Tongue

Chrysostom resisted, pleaded. The Imperial messengers were deaf to his pleas. They had their secret orders. He was coming with them whether he wished it or not. Outside Antioch they transferred him into a royal chariot and rode for Constantinople.

There, in the capital of the Roman Empire he learned the truth. He was to be Bishop of the imperial city, a position he never wanted but for which many others were fiercely vying. His heart must have sunk as he realized that the other candidates would form implacable resentments against him. But what could he say? The imperial apparatus had brought about his elevation and he was helpless before it. History must play itself out. He would preach with the same authority as he always had. So on this day, February 26, 398, John Chrysostom unwillingly became bishop of Constantinople.
Who was John and why was he in such demand? Born in Antioch, Syria, he had been reared by a widowed mother who taught him Christianity. But John intended to go into law. His mother, trusting God for the outcome, sent him to study with Libanius, the great pagan rhetorician of the day. But John's conscience troubled him. Lawyers must constantly take oaths. His mother had taught him oath-taking was wrong. Furthermore, through the influence of saintly Bishop Meletius, the young man was attracted to Christ.

Converted and baptized, John resisted becoming a bishop. Instead he spent four years in the desert, and two as a hermit in Bible study, during which he practiced austerities. Filled with scripture knowledge, he finally agreed to be made a deacon in 381 and priest in 386. (Unfortunately, some of those sermons were also antisemetic.)

Less than a year later he rose to special attention. A tax increase threw the citizens of on Antioch into a frenzy. Rioting, they tore down imperial statues. While Bishop Flavian rushed to Constantinople to plead for mercy with the emperor, who was expected to take awful revenge, Chrysostom preached a series of sermons to the terrified populace. As they awaited the imperial decision, death stared them in the face. Chrysostom's fierce attacks on sin cut their consciences and many sought the peace of confession and repentance. Fortunately, the Emperor pardoned the city.

John's brilliant preaching had made him famous.* His nickname "Chrysostom" means "Golden tongue." Eloquent preaching won him the designation. When the court in Constantinople could not agree on any of the rival candidates for the empty see, the court turned to John. If the people of Antioch had known that John was being taken in 398, they might have rioted again for his straight talk made him popular with them.

In Constantinople, Chrysostom continued his attacks on sin, especially on greed and the accumulation of wealth. The Empress Eudoxia became angry when John rebuked her in person for depriving a widow of her vineyard. Eudoxia suspected that John was directing other sermons at her. The emperor also became unhappy with John whom he felt had been raised to his position by court intrigue. The imperial couple teamed up with Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria to depose John on trumped up charges through a synod of enemy bishops in 403. These enemies exiled John, but the people of Constantinople were so enraged that the terrified empress quickly ordered him brought back.
However, when John spoke out against excessive ceremonies in honor of a new statue erected to the empress, Eudoxia became so furious she ordered the bishops to exile John again. This time it was permanent. He died on a forced march that was designed to take him even further away from the court which had made him bishop in the first place against his will.

*We are sad to report his sermons, so good in most respects, were sometimes antisemetic.

Bibliography:

1. Baur, Chrys. "Chrysostom, St. John." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
2. Bell, Mrs. Arthur. Saints in Christian Art. London: George Bell, 1904.
3. "Chrysostom, St. John." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
4. Pelikan, Jaroslav, editor. The Preaching of Chrysostom; homilies on the Sermon on the Mount. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Fortress Press, 1967.
5. Willey, John Heston. Chrysostom: the Orator. Cincinnati: Jennings and Graham, 1906.

Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/301-600/john-chrysostom-golden-tongue-11629689.html

CERN Physicist Amit Goswami: We Have No Idea What We're Doing…

If you check physics articles on occasion you may have noticed that major names in the field of scientists have radically differing ideas about what's going on...even about what constitutes reality.  Now one of the founders of CERN admits that they don't know what they are doing.  Reality is rarely what we read in the news...

by Joseph P. Farrell

Overhead view of the Large Hadron Collider

Now, this one was shared by a lot of you who, like me, have been following the developments at CERN's large hadron collider in Geneva with a bit of a jaundiced eye. First we had the sort-of announcement of the discovery of the so-called "god particle," the Higgs boson, allegedly the particle in the quantum pantheon for imparting mass to everything else. I say "pantheon" here because it strikes me as extremely odd and curious that physics seems somehow trapped in the old this-god-does-that-function paradigm: we have gods of "wisdom, fertility, and (pick a function)" and this particle-does-mass and that particle does that... and spin moments, and directionality, and quarks and "colors,"...

I'm reminded a bit of the old nominalist-versus-realist debates of the late Middle Ages. But anyway, back to the Higgs. Then the discovery was sort-of retracted, then sort-of confirmed.Then we even heard, briefly, of some sort of "discovery" of something with "superluminal" velocities, but no, that's impossible because Pope Einstein said so. Then we had the stories coming out of how some physicists were actually toying with the idea of recasting their equations entirely without the notion of dimensionality, allegedly, so the story would seem, because of the High Weirdness they're finding when they crank up their alchemical machine at Geneva. When I heard that one I had to do a double-take, for the idea of modern mathematical physics without dimensionality in the equations would seem to throw the whole last 200 years of physics into a cocked hat. Maxwell, of course, had his quaternions with its scalar potentials, but even he had to get around to dimensionality at some point. Einstein's general relativity is a highly dimensional theory, as are the various early 20th century stabs at unified field theories from Kaluza-Klein to Vaclav Hlavaty and on down even to modern string and m-theory. It's as if they are suggesting that the whole of mathematical physics be recast as a theory of Nothing with lots and lots of scalars and zero-sum vectors (or are those the same thing? One can imagine David Bohm asking such a question).

Then along comes Indian theoretical physicist Amit Goswami, who, fed up with the underlying Cartesian-materialist-epiphenomenalism of it all, just bluntly proposes in Leibnizian fashion that consciousness - that's right, immaterial, incorporeal, metaphysical consciousness, Mind itself, as it were - is the underlying bedrock of physics, and not a bunch of particles emerging from an endless Dirac sea of ...well... nothing once again. Needless to say, his views are controversial.
Well, now Dr. Goswami has joined Stephen Hawking in warning about CERN's Large Hadron collider, fearing that at some point, something catastrophic might happen. In fact, he goes further, in this article, by saying "We (physicists) have no ******* idea what we're doing:"

“We Honestly Have No ******* Idea What We’re Doing”, Admits Leading Quantum Physicist
Now, in case you missed the salient points, here they are once again:

"The University of Oregon professor warned that the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, could potentially wipe out the entire planet if the project is not put to a halt.
“'Seriously, when myself, Higgs and Ben (Benjamin Lockspeiser CERN’s first president) first pitched the idea, we never thought it would get funding. It was gonna cost billions for Christs sake,' he recalled. “'**** knows what the thing does – no one does. Firing particles at each other at the speed of light can’t end well. I’m just worried now we took the joke too far'." (Emphasis added)

Read the rest of this article at -  http://gizadeathstar.com/2015/02/cern-physicist-amit-goswami-we-have-no-idea-what-were-doing/

The Reforming Raven, Anthony Corvinus

Anthony Rabe was just seventeen when Luther posted his 95 theses. The boy was born at Warburg castle on this day, February 27, 1501. Like many humanist scholars, he adopted a Latin form in place of his birth name, which meant Raven. And so we know him as Anthony Corvinus.

Anthony became a monk. At first, he wanted nothing to do with Luther's new ideas. But reading the great Reformer's works and observing his bold stand at the Diet of Worms, changed his mind. He even sent Luther a drink of beer for his refreshment! Anthony was ousted from his monastery because of his Lutheran leanings. He became an enthusiastic supporter of the Reformation, preaching and organizing in Goettingen, Nordheim, Hildesheim, and Calenberg.

The task he had set himself was a dangerous one. Reformation preachers were often hunted men. Threats of heavy penalties hung over their heads.

He won the confidence of Landgrave Philip of Hesse. (A landgrave is a high level count.) During most of the 1530s, Anthony was at the landgrave's side. Philip consulted him on many occasions, so that Anthony attended almost all of the important conferences of the early Reformation.

Philip granted Anthony permission to preach in Goettingen and Hanover. Efforts to bring the Gospel there had resulted in the preachers being hunted. Anthony enjoyed considerable success.

The Duchess Elizabeth, governing for her under-age son, Erich, supported the Reformation. She wrote Luther for assistance. He sent Anthony. This cleared the way for the Gospel in the southern Lower Saxony. Anthony brought the Reformation to Northeim, which had seemed a stronghold of Catholicism.

However, the Duke of Goettingen-Kalenberg sided with Rome. Anthony opposed the Augsburg Interim, a temporary doctrinal formula arranged by Emperor Charles. The Interim made a few concessions to the Lutheran position, such as allowing the clergy to marry and permitting the cup as well as the bread in communion. But for the most part, Lutherans did not feel it went far enough. As far as they were concerned, the real issues were penance, confession and the doctrine of justification. Angered by Anthony's resistance, the Duke threw him into prison. For almost three years, he suffered there.

His health broke. He died in April 1553, "a true and faithful Lutheran Christian" just a few months after his release. His motto in his last years was, "My hope is Christ."

Bibliography:

1. "Antonius Corvinus, the Reformer of Northeim." http://corvinusgemeinde.northeim.bei.t- online.de/geschi/geschich.htm
2. "Corvinus, Antonius." Kirchenlexikon.
3. "Corvinus." Schaff-Herzog Dictionary of Christian Knowledge. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1954.
4. Various internet articles.

Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/the-reforming-raven-anthony-corvinus-11629908.html

Monsters Beneath Our Feet

 

Nick Redfern

Over the years, I have collected a number of very weird stories on one particular subject that doesn’t necessarily always get the coverage it deserves – regardless of whether the subject actually has any merit to it or not! It’s the issue of strange, humanoid creatures living deep below the UK, whether in caverns, caves, huge tunnels, and/or old and disused mines. And we’re talking about the modern era: the 20th and 21st centuries.

Yeah, I know: it sounds like something straight out of H.P. Lovecraft. And, perhaps, that’s all it is. The fact is, however, there are more than a few stories out there that suggest – just maybe – there is something to the controversy. And I stress the maybe! We only have to look at the phenomenal interest that the claims of Richard Shaver still provoke to this day, to recognize that the Human Race has a fascination for secrets and tales of the underground kind.

Indeed, it’s almost as if each and every one of us possesses a kind of vague, inherited memory of times long gone when the under-dwellers were all-too-real, and not just perceived as the stuff of legend and folklore. That may also be the reason why Mac Tonnies’ book, The Cryptoterrestrials caught the attention of so many people when it was published back in 2010.

As for the stories I have personally come across, well, they are a strange bunch, to be sure. And here are just three of what amounts to around thirty or thereabouts.

Before his passing in 2007, Frank Wiley, who spent his entire working life in the British Police Force, told me a bizarre and unsettling tale of his personal memories and investigations of a number of very weird killings on the London Underground, always late at night, in a particular period of time that covered 1967 to 1969. The killings, Wiley said, occurred on at least three stations, and were hushed up by the police, under the guise of being the unfortunate results of particularly vicious, late night muggings.

Read the rest of this article at -

Theodosius Issued an Edict that Stopped the Arian Movement in the Early Church

I don't think many realize how close the Arian idea came to becoming the dominant idea in the early church.  Considering how quickly the "Catholic" church became corrupted, as early as the 6th or 7th century, it may have simply been a different kind of error that had to be historically dealt with.  Of course the Arian idea is still popular today among groups like the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses.


There are many turning points in church history. One of the most significant is little known by most Christians.

After Constantine's conversion he legitimized Christianity. Soon thereafter Christians in the Roman empire divided between Arianism (which denies the divinity of Christ) and Trinitarianism (which sees God as three persons in one being). The first universal church council, held at Nicea in 325, resisted Arianism; all but three of its Bishops voted for a trinitarian creed.*

Shortly after he came to the Imperial throne, Theodosius ended the Arian dispute by the simple expedient of issuing an edict. On this day February 27, 380 (some historians say 381) this edict commanded everyone to be a Christian--but not just any kind of Christian. A Catholic Christian, it said, was one who held that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one Godhead and equal in majesty. This, of course, was the position of the Nicene Creed. Theodosius' decision was the result of his upbringing: he was reared in a Christian home, perhaps the first emperor to enjoy that distinction. (His behavior wasn't always Christian, however, as the premeditated massacre of thousands of civilians at Thessalonica showed in 390).

The following year, Theodosius issued another edict specifically requiring worship of the one God according to the Nicene Creed. Theodosius deposed Demophilus of Constantinople an Arian bishop and replaced him with a trinitarian.

These laws (Theodosian Codes 16.1.2 and 16.5.6) are significant for many reasons. They mark the first time the legal code coerced people to become Christians. They made orthodox catholic Christianity the official dogma of the church and suppressed the Arian factions. The laws established a pattern which would become more pronounced as Theodosius' reign progressed of using the apparatus of the state to suppress diversity of religious opinion. The church can only regret that before all was done, people calling themselves Christians persecuted pagans, Arians, Manichees, and Jews. Many of the persecutors did not hold the name Christian out of zeal for Christ, but because it was politically correct.

*Although the trinity is hard to understand, the basis of the doctrine is found repeatedly in scripture, and some maintain that it makes more sense now than when it was first acceptedh, for we now have mathematics which describe multidimensionality. If God is infinite, as Christians teach, he must inhabit dimensions beyond the space-time we know. A trinity is consistent with this.

Bibliography:

1. Aland, Kurt. Saints and Sinners; men and ideas in the early church. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1970.
2. Durant, Will and Ariel. The Age of Faith. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1950.
3. Fortescue, Adrian. "Theodosius I." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
4. Greenslade, S. L. (Stanley Lawrence). Church & state from Constantine to Theodosius. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1981.
5. Ross, Hugh. Beyond the Cosmos, 2nd edition. Navpress, 1999.
6. "Theodosius I." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
7. "Theodosius I., Flavius." New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1954.
8. Various encyclopedia and internet articles.

Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/301-600/theodosius-issued-an-edict-11629680.html

The Old Cross and the New

By A.W. Tozer

ALL UNANNOUNCED AND MOSTLY UNDETECTED there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental.

From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique-a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before. 

The old cross would have no truck with the world. For Adam's proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. It carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law of Sinai. The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only now he takes delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies instead of singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher plane morally if not intellectually. 

The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into public interest by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level. Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious product is better.

 

The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, "Come and assert yourself for Christ." To the egotist it says, "Come and do your boasting in the Lord." To the thrill seeker it says, "Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship." The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public. 

The philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere but its sincerity does not save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely the whole meaning of the cross. 

The old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road had already said good-by to his friends. He was not coming back. He was going out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had finished its work, the man was no more. 

The race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life. 

That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world, it intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die. 

We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum. 

God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God's just sentence against him. 

What does this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in Christ Jesus? How can this theology be translated into life? Simply, he must repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die. 

Having done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen Saviour, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power. The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ. 

To any who may object to this or count it merely a narrow and private view of truth, let me say God has set His hallmark of approval upon this message from Paul's day to the present. Whether stated in these exact words or not, this has been the content of all preaching that has brought life and power to the world through the centuries. The mystics, the reformers, the revivalists have put their emphasis here, and signs and wonders and mighty operations of the Holy Ghost gave witness to God's approval. 

Dare we, the heirs of such a legacy of power, tamper with the truth? Dare we with our stubby pencils erase the lines of the blueprint or alter the pattern shown us in the Mount? May God forbid. Let us preach the old cross and we will know the old power. (A. W. Tozer, Man, the Dwelling Place of God, 1966)

Kingsman: The Secret Service – Ultimate Conspiracy Film?

Film poster. Image: Wikipedia.

By: Jay

Spoiler Alert

My date and I witnessed an interesting display this evening at the cinema – a bevy of ads for the new Hollywood blockbusters that contained one peculiar revelation that would relate to the feature film.  An “Intel Inside” ad for the latest market processor appeared – it seemed normal enough, yet I recalled something I ominous: “Intel inside” is whispered to be a kind of inside joke, as there have been reports the software contains backdoor technology for NSA spying.  This notion is now standard fare post-Snowden, yet the connection to the film’s plot would prove revealing.  And no, I am not saying there was some deep conspiracy in the fact that the commercial preceded the film.  Rather, virtually all ads, just like film and music, are now common vehicles for predictive programming, as readers here are well aware.

Thus, when Kingsman came on, I was surprised that such a seemingly silly film would be one of the most revealing of late, comparable to Captain America: Winter Soldier, in terms of revealing the real plan of the technocratic cryptocracy.  Kingsman centers around a young British thug named Eggsy recruited into a secret service comparable to MI6 (yet more secret) by Galahad (Colin Firth) that functions something like Mission Impossible, busy saving the “free world” from international villains.  Full of numerous references to classic spy novels, the film is satirical with its lighthearted approach to itself making it bearable.  I was reminded of the insightful (yet box-office failure) 1998 film, The Avengers, where the plot once again revolved around global villains using atmospheric weapons to control the globe.  With Kingsman, it’s much more sophisticated (juxtaposed with humor).

Eggsy is the low-class recruit amongst a group of Cambridge and Oxford elite who must pass a series of trials to don the name of a classic Arthurian Round Table member, suggesting a clear association.  Masonic Templar orders are an integral part of the global cryptocracy, and immediately Anders Breivik comes to mind, purporting to be a European Templar fighting the rise of Islam.  The Arthurian mythology of the grail and the legends of divine right are therefore an integral aspect of the esoteric side of the establishment, especially in the United Kingdom, making the title King’s men clear.  With the center of world Masonry located at the Grand Lodge in England, these associations are not accidental.  These early indicators are intended to cue viewers into the esoteric working that is going to be presented.   According to the documents of the 1312 Council of Vienne, one of the ecumenical councils of the Roman Catholic Church, we read the following accusations against the Templar Order:

“The scandal against the Templars themselves and their order in reference to the crimes already mentioned increased. There was even one of the knights, a man of noble blood and of no small reputation in the order, who testified secretly under oath in our presence, that at his reception the knight who received him suggested that he deny Christ, which he did, in the presence of certain other knights of the Temple, he furthermore spat on the cross held out to him by this knight who received him. He also said that he had seen the grand master, who is still alive, receive a certain knight in a chapter of the order held overseas. The reception took place in the same way, namely with the denial of Christ and the spitting on the cross, with quite two hundred brothers of the order being present. The witness also affirmed that he heard it said that this was the customary manner of receiving new members: at the suggestion of the person receiving the profession or his delegate, the person making profession denied Jesus Christ, and in abuse of Christ crucified spat upon the cross held out to him, and the two committed other unlawful acts contrary to christian morality, as the witness himself then confessed in our presence.”

Breivik the “Templar”

The proceedings go on to ascribe sodomy and occult and gnostic practices to the Templars with the disbanding of the order forcing them to go “underground.”  From this legend came the associations with modern speculative masonry and occult orders, all of which love to claim some vague connection to Templarism.  Crowley’s own Order of the Eastern Templars, the O.T.O., claims descent from this ideology, as well.  With Kingsman we can rest assured connecting these dots is precisely what is intended, since Hollywood is cinematic Gnosticism.  The recruits of the Kingsmen are therefore “knights” of the esoteric round table of the cryptocracy, centered in London, and as the propaganda generally goes, all the dastardly acts of the global villains are actually the modus operandi of the “heroic” establishment.  I’ve highlighted this many times, but Kingsman has a bit of a twist on this narrative, as we will see.

Read the rest of this article at - http://jaysanalysis.com/2015/02/25/kingsmen-the-secret-service-ultimate-conspiracy-film/

The Transhumanist Scrapbook: Artificial Wombs and Motherless Births

by Joseph P. Farrell

In the insane rush of transhumanism to rob humanity of the last vestiges of...well... humanity, there's now the artificial womb (and thanks to Ms. S.S. and S.H. for finding and sharing these articles):

The Artificial Womb Is Born: Welcome To The WORLD Of The MATRIX

Artificial wombs: The coming era of motherless births

Perhaps the story here can be summed up with the opening passges of the first article:

"The artificial womb exists. In Tokyo, researchers have developed a technique called EUFI — extrauterine fetal incubation. They have taken goat fetuses, threaded catheters through the large vessels in the umbilical cord and supplied the fetuses with oxygenated blood while suspending them in incubators that contain artificial amniotic fluid heated to body temperature.
"For a moment, as you contemplate those fetal goats, it may seem a short hop to the Central Hatchery of Aldous Huxley’s imagination. In fact, in recent decades, as medicine has focused on the beginning and end stages of pregnancy, the essential time inside the woman’s body has been reduced. We are, however, still a long way from connecting those two points, from creating a completely artificial gestation. But we are at a moment when the fetus, during its obligatory time in the womb, is no longer inaccessible, no longer locked away from medical interventions.
"The future of human reproductive medicine lies along the speeding trajectories of several different technologies. There is neonatology, accomplishing its miracles at the too-abrupt end of gestation. There is fetal surgery, intervening dramatically during pregnancy to avert the anomalies that kill and cripple newborns. There is the technology of assisted reproduction, the in-vitro fertilization and gamete retrieval-and-transfer fireworks of the last 20 years. And then, inevitably, there is genetics. All these technologies are essentially new, and with them come ethical questions so potent that the very inventors of these miracles seem half-afraid of where we may be heading."

And this passages from the second article:

"Whether Haldane’s view will prove correct about the specific timing of when ectogenesis might become popular, or the numbers of children born that way, it’s certain that he was correct that tAt the same time, he was right that the societal implications are sure to be significant as the age of motherless birth approaches."

"The age of motherless birth approaches..."  That says it all.

And it is this I find so disturbing. There will doubtless be some who view the whole notion as a great boon to humanity: parents unable to have children for whatever reasons of health, a woman unable to bear children but who nevertheless wants them, might, should the arc of technological development suggested in the two articles continue, be able to do so. And of course, all of this will be "sold" to humanity as a good thing. Call me a Luddite, if you will, but I am not so sure. Far from it. Our earliest contact with other human beings occurs in our mother's womb. We hear her heartbeat and breathing and conversation. We might hear, even, distant and muffled, our father's voice. But our human development begins there and not, as some would have it, outside the womb. Our personhood begins there in that primordial ocean, surrounded by the muffled voices of a community of remote indecipherable gods from the get-go.

But now our technology threatens to take away even this most primordial humanizing experience, and, if one read between the lines a bit, it is a profoundly anti-feminine, anti-female agenda that it portends; it is a kind of technological rendering of superfluousness of the feminine and the female that I find so disquieting about this, for our first human interactions, whether we are male or female, is in the womb, with our mothers.  We can imagine, of course, the kind of totally "technotronic era" envisioned by twisted minds, where everything is plotted and planned by the great corporate state: this seminal sample will be matched with that egg sample, be born in an Ehrlenmeyer flask, and nurtured in a test-tube tank with the appropriate "nutrients" monitored by cold and remote technicians until the "time of birthing," when it will all be disconnected and, perhaps like Neo, flushed out of the system, or handed over to pre-selected "parents" to raise "it."  Of course, the scientismists will object that they can play pre-recorded conversations of the selected parents in the artificial "womb" and thus head off all possibility of whatever dehumanizing might occur. And this, of course, is the reduction. And we can envision more horrors of the reductionist kind as well, for "as the age of motherless birth approaches," so too, the age of fatherless conception must lie not far behind. And once the scientismists bring us there, with fatherless conceptions and motherless wombs and births, one can imagine the inevitable psychological impact.

And it will all continue until some bright(or really, just common sensical) psychologist notices that "something tends to be wrong" with the portion of the population "birthed" (or even "conceived") in this way, because the bottom line, folks, in spite of all attempts to reduce it to merely material processes or chemical reactions or statistics, is that love is not a material quantizable phenomenon, and anyone who tells you otherwise, is lying, and knows he (or she) is lying.

Read this article at - http://gizadeathstar.com/2015/02/the-transhumanist-scrapbook-artificial-wombs-and-motherless-births/

Climate Engineering, No Longer On The Fringe

As though no one noticed what was happening in the sky, suddenly the government has made it a point to release a limited amount of truth.  How can they block the sun and put chemicals in our air?  It's all for our own good, of course...

by SkyWatch Editor

When the National Academy of Sciences released a pair of reports earlier this month on geoengineering—deliberate intervention in the climate system to counter global warming—it moved discussion of the controversial topic into the mainstream science community. The NAS-convened experts concluded that geoengineering is no silver bullet, but that further research is needed. David Keith, Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics at Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, has been a leading voice for assessing the risks and implications of large-scale deployment of geoengineering to help cool the planet. Keith’s 2013 book, A Case for Climate Engineering, lays out how geoengineering might fit into a larger program for managing climate change (complementing steps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and devise adaptation strategies). He recently detailed a potential small-scale solar radiation management experiment in which chemicals would be dispersed in the high atmosphere to reflect sunlight away from the Earth’s surface. He has also suggested a scenario for analyzing the risks and benefits of geoengineering, and proposed frameworks for the governance of geoengineering testing by nation states.

Read the rest of this article at - https://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2015/02/climate-engineering-no-longer-on-fringe

The Gentle Hutters Viciously Killed

What was the surest way to make yourself unpopular in 1530? Join the Anabaptists.

Protestant and Catholic alike reviled these usually peaceable, Bible-loving souls and massacred large numbers of them. One group of Anabaptists (the name, given by their enemies, means "re-baptizers") came into being Jan 21, 1525 in Zurich when city authorities ordered two bible teachers, Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz to stop teaching interpretations of scripture that contradicted the city's officially approved doctrines. Believing that governments have no right to dictate religious beliefs, the stalwart pair persisted in teaching and in baptizing adult converts, even if they had been baptized as a child. Manz was soon drowned for his faith. Persecuted in Zurich, these Anabaptists fled to Moravia where they were kindly received.

In Moravia the Anabaptists found leadership from an unlikely source. Jakob Hutter, a hatter with little education, became head of a band of Anabaptists and taught them to share in common what they owned. Sharing was especially important at the time because many families had lost their providers in the trouble. Some were in prison for preaching without licenses. Others had been burnt at the stake and others drowned. Jakob Hutter brought stability to the group.

The Anabaptist position, already injured by the Peasants' War, worsened when a rebel group under the sway of Jan Matthijs tried to establish Christ's thousand year reign at Munster, Germany. Breaking with pacifist principles, the Munster Anabaptists fought government troops. Authorities besieged Munster, where a radical visionary named Jan of Leiden took control. Styling himself King David, he began to practice polygamy. The name Anabaptist took on new overtones of fanaticism because of this, although the majority remained the same peaceable people they had always been. King Ferdinand made no distinction, but ordered all Anabaptists rooted out. The peaceful folk fled into forests and hid in caves to save their lives.

Jakob Hutter and his wife Katherine Purst became hunted fugitives. Tracked down in the Tyrol, they were captured on this day, February 25, 1536. Their captors showed them no mercy, torturing them, whipping them, and immersing them in freezing water. Perhaps the water torture was designed to mock baptism.

Although local officials protested, persecutors, acting on Ferdinand's orders, doused Jacob with brandy and burned him. It appears Katherine was executed later.)

Years later, still oppressed, surviving Hutterites emigrated to the United States. Here they practiced a pacifist and communal lifestyle. Today thousands live in Canada, the United States, and Paraguay. Most still speak German.

Bibliography:

1. "Anabaptists." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
2. Littell, Franklin H. The Origins of Sectarian Protestantism. New York: Macmillan Co., 1964.
3. Braght, Thielman J. Martyrs' Mirror, especially the chapter of George Blaurock and Hans Van der Reve. Translated by Joseph F. Sohm. Amsterdam, 1660.
4. Wegner, John Christian. "The Heroic Witness of the Sixteenth Century Anabaptists." (www.bibleviews.com/evenuntodeath.html)
5. Various encyclopedia and internet articles.

Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/the-gentle-hutters-viciously-killed-11629959.html

Flame Retardants and Cosmetic Chemicals May Jeopardize Your Health

By Dr. Mercola

Unless you live in some remote wilderness, you’re likely being exposed to a wide variety of chemicals on a daily basis that can compromise your health. One class of chemicals that have become ubiquitous in the US is flame retardants.

In the 1970s, the US implemented fire safety standards that led to more and more products adopting the use of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) to meet the stringent regulations.
PBDEs have a molecular structure similar to that of banned PCBs, the latter of which have been linked to cancer, reproductive problems, and impaired fetal brain development.
And, even though certain PBDEs have since been banned in some US states, they still persist in the environment and accumulate in your body. Tests have revealed that as many as 97 percent of all Americans have significant levels of PBDEs in their blood.
Many harmful chemicals also lurk in personal care products that you apply to your body on a daily basis.
A recent article in Environmental Health Perspectives¹ discusses the impact of newer flame retardants and the routes by which people are exposed to these hazardous chemicals—which, surprisingly, may include personal care products.

Hand-to-Mouth Exposures in Adults

In 2005, PBDEs used in foam furniture were voluntarily withdrawn from the US market.² But were they replaced with harmless chemicals? Hardly.
Many PBDEs were replaced by organophosphate flame retardants such as tris phosphate (TDCIPP), and triphenyl phosphate (TPHP), both of which are now used in a wide variety of consumer goods, including furniture, cars seats, carpet padding, and baby products, just to name a few.
According to the featured article:³

“TDCIPP is listed as a human carcinogen under California’s Proposition 65, and a small human study found evidence that exposure to both TDCIPP and TPHP was associated with altered levels of some hormones and lower sperm concentration.
In vitro and animal data have linked TDCIPP to neurotoxicity and both TDCIPP and TPHP to endocrine disruption.”

A recent study⁴ looked at how, and to what degree, people were exposed to these chemicals in their homes. A total of 53 men and women participated in the study, and more than 90 percent of them provided dust samples from their home.
Not only did every single dust sample contain both TDCIPPs and TPHPs, metabolites of TPHP and TDCIPP were also found in 91 percent and 83 percent of the urine samples respectively.

Read the rest of this article at - http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/02/24/flame-retardants-cosmetic-chemicals.aspx?e_cid=20150224Z1_DNL_B_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20150224Z1_DNL_B&et_cid=DM69935&et_rid=853316000 

Ethelbert, 1st Christian King of Kent

The fortunes of Christianity have waxed and waned in Britain. Early in church history, so many Celts converted to Christ that the island could be called a Christian country. One of its sons, Patrick, carried the gospel to Ireland where Christianity also triumphed. However, the Celts fell to an invasion by Angles, Saxons and Jutes in the fifth century. The Anglo-Saxons were pagans, worshipping the Norse gods, whose pantheon was headed by Odin.

Celtic Christians, hating the invaders who had robbed them of their land, made little or no effort to convert them to Christ. In the sixth century, Irish monks crossing from Ireland, began the conversion of pagan England from the north. In the seventh century Augustine of Canterbury brought the gospel to Kent, in the south.

Ethelbert ruled Kent then. He worshipped Odin, the god of his fathers, but allowed his wife, Bertha, to practice Christianity. She was the daughter of a Christianized French king. Perhaps her influence explains why Ethelbert was gracious to Augustine when he came, declaring that he brought news of an eternal kingdom.

According to the eighth-century Anglo-Saxon historian Bede, Ethelbert agreed to meet Augustine and hear what he had to say. The meeting had to be in the open, however. The king believed that Augustine's "magic" could only work on him inside a building.

In spite of his precautions, Ethelbert was eventually converted with thousands of his followers, although he did not compel any of them to become Christians. The king built several church buildings and gave Augustine the ground at Canterbury where the cathedral now stands. It has always been the primary see of England.

Although Ethelbert's most important act was to accept the Christian faith, he is notable for promulgating the first English code of law and for bringing most of Anglo-Saxon England under his rather loose authority.

On February 24, 616 the king died. Because that is the feast of St. Matthias, Ethelbert is commemorated not on his death day, but on the following day, February 25.

Bibliography:

1. "Augustine, St., of Canterbury," and "Ethelbert, St." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
2. Bede. A History of the English Church and People [Ecclesiastical History of England]. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin, 1968.
3. Hook, Walter Farquhar, 1798-1875. Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury. London, R. Bentley, 1865 - 1884.
4. Howorth, Henry Hoyle. Saint Augustine of Canterbury. London : J. Murrary, 1913.
5. McKilliam, A. E. Chronicle of the Archbishops of Canterbury. London: James Clarke, 1913.
6. "St. Augustine of Canterbury," and "St. Ethelbert." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.

Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/601-900/ethelbert-1st-christian-king-of-kent-11629721.html

Oxford University Researchers: Yes, We’re Serious. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Is An Existential Threat To The Human Race

by SkyWatch Editor

Fiction is a imagination of fertile mine but it seems that fiction can be true someday. In the movie series Terminator starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, it was depicted that machines or Artificial Intelligence (AI) would wipe out human race in some unforeseen future.  Well, Oxford researchers believe that this may indeed happen. A team of researchers from University of Oxford has come up with a list of  reasons which, they say, are a existential threat to the entire “human race” and feel AIs possesses maximum potential to destroy human race. A recent report put up by the Oxford University Researchers pointed towards 12 major risks that threaten to end the human civilization. While all the 12 risks are infinite threats to human race, the category of Emerging risks is dangerous. “Artificial Intelligence” (AI) seems to be possessing huge potential to deliberately work towards extinction of human race. Though, synthetic biology and nanotechnology along with AI could be possibly be an answer to many existing problems however if used in wrong way it could probably be the worst tool against humanity.

Read the rest of this article at - http://www.techworm.net/2015/02/artificial-intelligence-ai-is-existential-threat-to-human-race-says-university-of-oxford-research.html

Give Us Back Our Days: Gregory's Calendar Reform

Give us back our eleven days!" protesters shouted. Bristol rioted. In a satirical painting, Hogarth shows a man getting drunk beside a poster demanding back the days.

Because the Julian calendar (promulgated by Julius Caesar) made the year too long by several minutes, it experienced three full days of displacement every 400 years. In 1582 it was out of sequence with the equinoxes by ten days and with Caesar's original dates by fourteen days. Several church councils had already discussed the problem but done nothing about it.

Gregory XIII was an energetic pope. Long active in church affairs and a patron of education, he was not one to let the matter continue indefinitely. He determined to correct the problem and on this day February 24, 1582,* acting on the recommendations of a special council, issued a bull requiring all Catholic countries to follow October 4 with October 15 that year. To illiterate people, it seemed as if real days were being stolen from them.

Although the papal commission, advised by Jesuit scientist Christopher Clavius, aided the Pope in making the reform, a similar plan had actually been propounded by Bishop Robert Grosseteste of England three hundred years earlier. This fact was not generally known, and resulted in an irony. The English, afraid of appearing to give too much deference to the Pope by adopting his calendar, rejected the Gregorian calendar and retained the Julian for another two centuries, oblivious to the fact it had been the proposal of their own native son Grosseteste. Britain and its American colonies adopted the new calendar only in 1752. By then, English calendars were eleven days off. Calendar reform even became an issue in political elections.

The Gregorian calendar was intended primarily for the benefit of the church which needed to plot the variable date of its most important feast, Easter (Paschal). At Easter Christ suffered for our sins and rose from the dead; and to this event Christians attribute all their hope of salvation. Nonetheless, the calendar reform affected the entire world. Although some nations, like China Japan and Russia did not adopt the reform until the twentieth century, all nations now use it for international business and for recording historical events.

*Some histories say the bull was issued February 13th.

Bibliography:

1. "Calendar" and "Gregory XIII." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
2. Crombie, A. C. Grosseteste and Medieval Science. Oxford: Clarendon, 1953.
3. Durant, Will and Ariel. The Age of Reason Begins. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1961; p. 595.
4. Gerard, John. "Reform of the Calendar." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
5. "Grosseteste, Robert." Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Edited by Charles Gillispie. New York: Scribner's, 1970 - 1980.
6. Various encyclopedia and internet articles such as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_Calendar.

Read this article at - http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/give-us-back-our-days-gregorys-calendar-reform-11630031.html

Do Children Who Die Go to Heaven?

This is an often asked question among all people, especially those who are not Christians.  I can't give any other answer that is worthy of being relied upon except the answer in scripture.  But before that, if you know the character of the Lord through Jesus Christ His Son (Hebrews 1:1-3, John 17:3), then you know the Lord, and you know this answer before we even begin.

But Jesus said "Let the little children alone,and do not stop them coming to me; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of Heaven belongs."

Matthew 19:14

As parents, we love our children fiercely and do everything within our power to protect them. As Christians, we know that God created each one of us as unique individuals, and according to the Bible, has a plan for each of our lives.

Psalm 139:13-17 (David is speaking to God)

"It was you who created my inmost self, and put me together in my mother’s womb; for all these mysteries I thank you; for the wonder of myself, for the wonder of your works. You know me through and through, from having watched my bones take shape when I was being formed in secret, knitted together in the limbo of the womb. You have scrutinized my every action, all were recorded in your book, my days listed and determined, even before the first of them occurred. God, how hard it is to grasp your thoughts! How impossible to count them!

God makes it clear that He is in control and makes no mistakes. He is the powerful one, not us.

Job 40:6-9 (God is speaking to Job)

God gave Job His answer from the heart of the tempest. He said: "Brace yourself like a fighter, now it is my turn to ask questions and yours to inform me. Do you really want to reverse my Judgment, and put me in the wrong to put yourself in the right? Has your arm the strength of God’s, can your voice thunder as loud?"

When the life of a child is taken, parents not only want to know why, but they also want to know where the child has gone. Many questions will not be answered until we meet the Lord face to face. In the meantime, He has given us His Word with some answers, as well as comforts. I’ve provided some scriptures that offer hope that children (who have died before the age where they might reason between right and wrong) are waiting for us in Heaven. 

The following are scripture that support evidence of a "Book of Life". These scripture indicate that all names are written in the "Book of Life", blotted out when we sin, and reconciled for life when Jesus Christ sacrificed His life for us, and we confess that we are sinners and believe Jesus is our one and only Savior.

 

Exo 32:33 And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

The encouragement in this verse is that all names are written in the "book" of life when we are born. Those who willfully sin against God then find their names blotted out of the book. It is clear that young children may not willfully commit sin, as their minds are unable to reason yet what is right and what is wrong.

Deu 9:14 Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.

Deu 29:20 The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.

Psa 69:27 Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness.

Psa 69:28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.

Rom 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

Rom 7:8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

Rom 7:9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

Rom 7:10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.

Rom 7:11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.

In the above verses, Paul points out that he was alive (verse 9) before he knew about his sin. When he realized that he had coveted, "when the commandment came", sin was made alive in him and spiritually he died. This is in keeping with the other scriptures which indicate we are born with spiritual life (names written in the Book of Life). We lose that life when "sin comes", or we are aware of our sins. We regain that life again only through accepting Jesus Christ’ blood as payment for our sins.

 

Rev 3:5 He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 

Rev 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defiles, neither whatsoever works abomination, or makes a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

All of the above verses support the views that there is a Book of Life, that all names of every living person are written in this book at birth, that the names are then blotted out when they willfully understand what is right and wrong and chooses to commit sin. They may then be written again in the Book of Life by accepting the blood of the Lamb as payment for their sin. While there is some room for discussion regarding what is the age of accountability (if there is one), when one is old enough to understand right from wrong, etc., the basic premise above seems well supported from the scriptures.

In these verses Christ is speaking to His followers:

Luk 10:20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

Phi 4:3 And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.

Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

2 Sam. 12:23 But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

In this last verse, David had been fasting in the hopes of seeing his sick infant son healed by the Lord. When he was told by his servant that his child was dead, David arose, washed himself, and ate. The servants were surprised by his behavior. He responded in verse 23 that knowing his child was now dead, there was no more reason to fast. He knew he could not bring the child back to life. He then states that "I shall go to him". This means that David knew he would see his child when he died. David in no way believed he was going to the place of the wicked dead, and did not believe his infant son was their either. 

These verses indicate that sin is what causes death.

Eze 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

These verses indicates that when we sin, we are dead in Christ, but if we except God’s gift of Jesus Christ, we can have eternal life.

1Jo 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

1Jo 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

1Jo 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.