American Polytheism

When we explore the religious practices of the ancient Greco-Roman world we see that they did not practice different religions, but they practiced many different versions of the same religion. Basically honoring various gods with temples, rites, and various rituals, and tributes, which is referred to as polytheism.  They had many gods and many temples.  Each god had unique attributes and had control over certain aspects of life, and the world.  Each one would be sought at different times depending on the circumstances of the individual seeking help from the gods, or wanting to honor, or worship a god for a specific perceived blessing that was received.

It has been recorded in the history books that Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in the fourth century AD.  This is a misrepresentation of what actually took place and what the Emperor was endeavoring to accomplish.  He did not convert to Christianity.  What he actually did was he converted Christianity, and adopted the Christian God to the religion of the Empire.

He did not remove all the other gods from the Roman religious repertoire, he merely added another god to the list of very important gods in the Roman religious experience. We see many pagan aspects of this fact when we examine the main religion that eventually emerged from Constantine's corruption of the truth.  The Roman Catholic Church developed as a result of many pagan practices mixed into the corrupt "Christian" framework that Constantine fabricated. It was some years after Constantine that the pure pagan polytheistic practices were removed comletely, and the Roman Catholic Church became the dominant religious influence in Europe.

The polytheism of the empire maintained belief in many gods, and that a person needed to be directed, and obedient to the spiritual revelations of those gods through their particular clergy leaders. The Roman people were highly religious in the sense that they were very careful to observe all the religious directives of the clergy class and obey the rites, rituals, and seasonal observances. They made sacrifices at the prescribed times of the year and maintained all the correct observances in their homes and professions in order to receive the favor of all the gods and be socially accepted.

They adopted a great variety of gods, each one controlling a different aspect of life.  People had their favorite gods or "patron gods" that concerned itself with a particular aspect of life that was important to that person.  Farmers, soldiers, physicians, sailors, merchants and many other types of livelihoods had their own specific god that would be sought for blessings and success in that particular field.  So that all of the gods were at any one time, very beneficial to every person.

Even though each person may have their "favorite" god, everyone was careful to tolerate everyone elses gods and be courteous and respectful to all the gods that were inducted into the culture by the clergy class.  Certain temples were built to various gods in different cities throughout the empire and those cities became famous for the particular gods that were associated with it.  People would make pilgrimages to the different cities depending on their circumstances and the particular god that they wanted to seek for whatever reason. They would buy a representation of that god in the city that they went to so that they could take it home and put it in their "home shrine" to honor the god.  The shrine was usually associated with the hearth or "heart of the home".

Their polytheism and tolerance of other gods was perceived as a great strength for the empire, and in reality it was a great strength that held that civilization together, along with great wealth, resources, and technology.  The fact that their religion was designed in such a way as to allow various gods to be inducted into the pantheon made it an excellent tool to fashion a strong empire made up of many different types of people with many different gods.  With some truth eventually mixed with it and the framework adjusted to fit a corrupted gospel, it became the cement for fashioning the empire of the middle-ages. Not only did they keep the hierarchical framework of the old empire religion, but they also kept many of the pagan practices and beliefs which were: hierarchical clergy class trained in colleges, temples (cathedrals) built in every city,  patron saints (people made worthy of reverence and prayers for certain aspects of life, like the ancient gods), heretical doctrines like purgatory, infant baptism, eucharist worship, talismans, indulgences, worship of the "mother of god" as the queen of heaven (Mary worship), mandatory celibacy, and other practices that can be traced to ancient pagan rites and rituals of the gods of Rome.

It is no wonder that the scriptures refer to Rome as "Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots".  A harlot refers to a woman that has left her husband, and  gives herself to another man.  One of the most interesting aspects about this Babylonian description is that the Mother remains religious, and spreads her false religion all over the world, and not only that, but also winds up having many false religions coming from her. 

The tragic fact is that all of the denominational and non-denominational religious organizations have not only kept the framework of the ancient empire religion, but have actually tailored it to fit the modern "Judeo-Christian" culture, along with many pagan practices similar to their Mother. Hierarchical clergy class trained in colleges, false grace doctrines that remove accountability and sanctification. Also aberrant doctrines concerning temple/church building, divorce and re-marriage, materialism,  feminism,  and dispensationalism just to name a few.  All of the organizations have kept the essential form and practice of the old empire, just like the Roman Catholics, they have rejected the truth and have continually embraced the empire type sociogenic religion that makes a strong empire, but does not create an atmosphere of truth.

The organizations are generational sociogenic fabrications, that encourage worldly social strengths, but in doing so foster an atmosphere of falsehood and compromise.   They actually think that sheer numbers of people, resources, wealth, temples, influence, and enthusiasm represent actual confirmation that God is with them.  In reality nothing could be further from the truth.  Making God what they want Him to be is the basis of all the organizations. Essentially they are creating many versions of the same God, which in reality is simply creating many gods.  Like in the old empire they show tolerance to each others gods and they practice the same religion that their ancestors practiced so many centuries ago.  They are in great denial and actually believe that what they are practicing is something new and improved. Essentially what they are practicing is "Polychrist Neopaganism".

Instead of making disciples of Christ, they are simply making religious people that have not been made aware of the whole truth, along with religious people that don't care about knowing the whole truth.  Either way with regards to the truth,  they are basically standing on the doorstep, and either refusing or simply not being able to enter the doorway of discipleship.

It is important to remember that just because something has existed for centuries,  does not mean that it is right,  and just because something may be popular, or successful, does not mean that it is right. These things in themselves do not represent genuine confirmation from God.  It is also very important to remember that Christ Himself is the one who defines our reality as disciples. 

When we examine the history and revelation involved we see that the Roman empire was in fact the legs of iron, and its influence has developed into the feet of iron and clay, and that this influence has spread all across the earth. It is interesting how the feet denote mobility, and Rome's influence of false religion and organization have spread to many parts of the earth and has created many allies for the vision of the Federation that is to come.

The feet are made of iron and clay, the strength of iron, and the weakness of clay.  The iron is the strength of technology and wealth, aided by the power of the false empire religion to bind the weak human clay that weakens the iron structure.

Many people have said that the United States is not mentioned in scripture, but I would disagree simply because of the fact that out of all the nations that exist on this earth today which one would you pick to be the one that most represents the ancient Roman empire? It would not surprise me if the United States turns out to be one of the ten toes, probably even one of the big ones.

When we read the scriptures and recognize the humble, anti-worldliness, anti-material, anti-hierarchical nature of the true disciples of the first century, it should be enough evidence for us to warrant a close scrutiny of this present system.

We respectfully challenge everyone to take one step back, and remove themselves from the influence of the organizations, even for a short time, in order to take an objective look at the evidence of the scriptures, and the truth that is being suppressed by this present culture.

May the Lord guide, and protect your thoughts during this difficult time,  Your brother, Rich.