If you wanted a nutshell description of the past 2000 years of Western history, you could put it this way: Out of paganism Christianity emerged and won the day, establishing civilisation and civility. But as Christianity waned, civilisation began to crumble and a new paganism has emerged.
That is the broad brush outline. A somewhat more detailed account is found in a letter from Lord Macaulay to an American friend, dated May 23, 1857:
The average age of the world’s greatest democratic nations has been 200 years. Each has been through the following sequence:
• From bondage to spiritual faith.
• From faith to great courage.
• From courage to liberty.
• From liberty to abundance.
• From abundance to complacency.
• From complacency to selfishness.
• From selfishness to apathy.
• From apathy to dependency.
• And from dependency back again into bondage.
You certainly find a cycle like this in the history of ancient Israel, especially as found in the book of Judges. But it well describes the West as well. And if you want an even simpler and shorter spin on all this, the line attributed to Chesterton (but never actually verified) is worth offering here: “When a man stops believing in God he doesn’t then believe in nothing, he believes anything.”
My point is this: the once great West, home of freedom, democracy, rule of law, and other vital social goods, came about because of the Judeo-Christian worldview. As Westerners increasingly reject that essential foundation, the whole structure is beginning to break apart and collapse.
As the West becomes more and more secularised, and less and less Christian – indeed, as it becomes increasingly anti-Christian – the days of the West are now being numbered. As well, into the vacuum left by Christianity are various contenders. What we are witnessing right now is a return of paganism.
What was defeated by Christianity centuries ago is now making a big comeback. And how could it not? When the one, true living God is rejected, then a plethora of false gods re-emerge and are embraced. When biblical Christianity is booted from the public square, then a host of counterfeits rush to fill in the empty space.
And we are now seeing this happening – quite literally. Pagan temples are being built in major public spaces. Consider the pagan altars being erected in New York and London in just over a week. It all sounds rather benign by one of the groups pushing this:
On April 19, 2016, in cooperation with national and international cultural heritage preservation organizations, and in conjunction with World Heritage Week 2016, the Institute for Digital Archaeology will install a monumental scale reconstruction of Palmyra’s Triumphal Arch on Trafalgar Square. Through this project — and others like it scheduled throughout 2016 in cities both inside and outside the Middle East — the IDA seeks to provide an optimistic and constructive response to the ongoing threats to history and heritage that have captured headlines over the past year. Our aim is to highlight the potential for the triumph of human ingenuity over violence by offering innovative, technology-driven options for the stewardship of objects and architecture from our shared past.
But things are rather more sinister than this. Many articles have been penned on this already. Let me mention just one. It begins:
A reproduction of the Temple of Baal is coming to New York’s Times Square next month as a tribute to the 2,000-year-old original structure that was destroyed by ISIS last year in Palmyra, Syria. The reproductions will be made using a 3-D printer, producing a life-size model of the temple’s entrance. Officials say those models will be installed in both New York City and London’s Trafalgar Square this Spring. Many are speaking out against putting up a monument in honor of a temple that promoted worship of a false god.
In an article for World Net Daily, Matt Barber explains some of the elements of Baal worship.
“Ritualistic Baal worship, in sum, looked a little like this: Adults would gather around the altar of Baal. Infants would then be burned alive as a sacrificial offering to the deity. Amid horrific screams and the stench of charred human flesh, congregants – men and women alike – would engage in bisexual orgies,” Barber wrote. “The ritual of convenience was intended to produce economic prosperity by prompting Baal to bring rain for the fertility of ‘mother earth,'” he explained.
Many Christian groups are also springing into action about this, with major prayer and intercession being called for. In the UK the Voice for Justice put out this release: “To the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and Roger Michel, executive director of the Institute for Digital Archaeology: Do not celebrate the occult. Abandon plans to reconstruct the Arch of Palmyra in Trafalgar Square on April 19.”
They said in part:
Even more disturbing is the date chosen for the reconstruction of the monument, because in occult belief, April 19 marks the Feast of Moloch, another ancient Canaanite god, specifically associated with Baal (e.g. Jeremiah 32:35), who also demanded child sacrifice. April 19 marks the first day of a thirteen day period known as the “blood sacrifice to the beast,” and culminates in the high occult holy day of Beltane on 1st May. It was a period regarded as hugely significant in the worship of Baal, dating back to Enmarkar, one of the ancient kings of Babylon – known in the Bible as Nimrod – who eventually came to be worshipped as a god.
In the last few years the occult, and more particularly Satanism, has been enjoying a clear resurgence of interest, as evidenced by claims in The Daily Express that Jimmy Savile was a practising Satanist (http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/370439/Jimmy-Savile-was-part-of-satanic-ring), and the Royal Navy’s acquiescing in the practice of Satanism in October 2015 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3948329.stm).
It need hardly be said that for those who follow the occult, certain dates are seen as highly potent, carrying immense spiritual power. Without question, April 19, marking the period of blood sacrifice leading up to Beltane, is one of the most significant dates in the Satanist, occult calendar.
Was the selection of this particular date to reconstruct an ancient monument to the god Baal random or deliberate? Either way, it is extremely unfortunate, to say the least. If it was a coincidence, it is a highly remarkable and appalling one.
Secularists may well claim that they fail to see any significance in this project and its timing, and that non-believers are religiously neutral. But in fact we are all being presented with a choice: whether to align ourselves with a project with patent Satanic associations, and so to support them, or to distance ourselves from it. There is no neutral or middle way.
If we allow the erection of this Arch we will be placing a symbol of death, murder, child sacrifice and sexual immorality in the heart of London. Any such image is explicitly forbidden in the Bible, so that as a symbol its presence is an insult to Christianity. It also carries spiritual force. Many Satanist groups, for example, believe that some day Baal will be resurrected and take his place as ruler of the world. Equally, some Christian scholars believe there is some sort of connection between the ancient figure of Nimrod and the Antichrist – so that the reconstruction of this Arch may well be seen as opening up a spiritual gateway.
While, therefore, fully supporting the work of IDS and their efforts to preserve the world’s heritage against destruction by ISIS, we call on them to abandon this ill-advised, anti-Christian, and pro-Satanist, project in its entirety. And we call on the Mayor of London to uphold the UK’s Christian heritage and ban the erection of a monument that is clearly hostile to Christian belief.
In the US prayer groups have also mobilised. Jeff Daly from the National Day of Repentance wrote:
This is the same spirit of anti-Christ that drew the Israelites to build the golden calf instead of worshiping the Living God who had just saved them. It’s the same spirit that pulls me and you into the world to spend more time on our Facebook than in our “Faithbook,” the Bible. It lures us to spend wasted zombie hours in front of a television or a computer instead of spreading Jesus’ love one-on-one to family members and neighbors.
The test could not be more obvious. During this same time as the Baal Temple is erected in NYC and London, believers in Jesus Christ in the United States can move closer to the Living God in a significant move of repentance. For example, one ministry in Pennsylvania has declared this a “Week of Repentance” [www.revivalmatters.com]. Also, on Saturday April 9th in Los Angeles “Azuza 2016” [www.thecall.com/azuza] will draw tens of thousands to worship, pray and repent, seeking a mighty move of the Holy Spirit. That same day, God willing, thousands of pastors will come to Washington D.C. to the Lincoln Memorial with “United Cry/DC 16” [www.unitedcry.org] where there will be worship and prayer and times of repentance. A recommendation will be made at that event for further prayers of repentance for the next 21 days leading up to another key event: The National Day of Repentance on April 30th. The National Day of Repentance, along with the National Day of Prayer on May 5th, is also supported by prayer teams in Australia and New Zealand.
Prayer and repentance are certainly crucial here. It is because we have abandoned God and allowed the West to revert to paganism that we see all this taking place. And without heartfelt prayer and repentance we can expect to see much more of this blatant and proud paganism in the days ahead.
And this is not all just because of ‘bad guys out there’. It is also because Western believers have left their first love and allowed themselves to become compromised, carnal and careless. Thus the church must repent big time. Unless the church takes responsibility for so much of this, and confesses its many sins and seeks the mercy of God, we are finished.
So let this revival of paganism in our major Western cities serve as a wakeup call to all true Christians. We better get right with God and quick, or the West may well be history, and we will return to a new barbarism and paganism. And it sure won’t look pretty.
As I read these verses this morning I was thinking, it’s the same old story in 2016:
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Romans 1:21-23
I don’t think it is coincidental at all, re the April 19th date. The arch is being displayed in New York and London, both places long known to be the power-seats and occult centres of the world’s elite. The enemy really is putting it “in yer face”, so to speak, but millions cannot see or understand the occult connections. It is most certainly opening up a spiritual gateway and it is frightening to see how easily it is happening.
If all that is true Chris they can have it. We know that the most important thing is to honor God.God said that if we honor our parents good things will come our way. So let us figure that out and ask forgiveness for the times we have failed. At least it is true for me. God bless you Chris.
Sadly, as fewer people read the Bible in the West, many significant issues such as the erection of this arch will not appear so significant because they don’t have the history and knowledge of what it means.
Postmodernism, with its vacuum of meaning, is being replaced by its natural stepchild: Paganism. We are entering the Age of Re-enchantment.
God forbid that I should glory (i.e. forget) save in the Cross of my Lord, Jesus, Christ by whom the world (paganism) has been crucified (i.e. it is already dead) unto me, and I unto the world. The great shame is: this is unnecessary. It is finished. The Word of the Cross is the power of God … for all who believe. So the church has the call of the five churches in Revelation to repent and return to our First Love. Thankyou for this alert Bill.
Thanks guys. Some folks elsewhere are circulating posts saying the NY Baal temple will not go ahead. But, even if this is accurate, all that it says is it may be deferred. The actual wording is this: “they may transport the London arch there later, or build another one”. So the headlines being pushed may be both misleading and premature! But we can and should keep praying!
There is no coincidence in these things, both Wilhelm Kaiser and Adolph Hitler were directly linked with a worship of Isis and Orisis (Baal, Molech whatever name through history you wish to give it) and recovered ancient statues and re-built temples to them and there has been the same theme running through satanic cults whether they be secret pagan societies or islam etc. of bloodlust, rampant sexual perversion incl homosexuality/bisexual rituals & child peddling, abortion and slavery. Much of this in the world is even propagated under a ‘good’ or even ‘Christian’ guise. I think it’s going to be a big surprise to many who ignorance is only outweighed by their unknowing complicity, when the “Christian” political or ‘spiritual’ leader they lauded so much is discovered to have secretly and knowingly been working for the other side. Hence why we should only champion the cause of Christ. That’s the drum we’re supposed to be bangig.
No surprise as it all comes from the same prince of this world, whose time we know is short, just in different guises.
All through the bible God has repeatedly warned about the slide into these pagan ways and the false teaching that leads us there. What still amazes me is that so little time of each day (including my own) is spent on the spiritual… in prayer waging war seeking revival in our own hearts in our families let alone in our churches and our lands. As you’ve stated above, that’s the only cure.
Yes Bill, this is what is important, this is the spiritual war to be conducted firstly on our knees, and secondly in the marketplace speaking out about these things. So much of the rest is just noise. Our only cause is to pray and speak out against evil and to witness to others of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This is just a further progression of what’s already happening in the West. Millions of babies are already being sacrificed through abortion, and bi-sexual immorality is now openly practised and publicly celebrated. The Spirit of Baal is alive and well. It stands to reason that the natural progression is for this demonic principality to be even more emboldened and want to rebuild his temples and monuments.
Another relevant Chesterton quote:
“Paganism was the largest thing in the world and Christianity was larger; and everything else has been comparatively small.”
On June 23rd 2016 the UK will vote on whether to remain in the EU. The arguments for those on both sides of the argument- those wanting to exit and those wanting to remain in Europe -centre around the economy and territorial borders – nationhood or no nationhood. But the issues are infinitely deeper than this. They are moral and spiritual
However, those in the ‘extreme’ liberal camps, even those on the side who want to exit the EU pour scorn on anyone who proposes that religion or morality should be brought into the debate. They are adamant that this is Britain of the 21st century, not the Middle Ages and that, as Alistair Campbell once famously said, “We don’t do God.” For them the issues, apart from the economic and military ones, which are none the less important, centre around freedom to govern ourselves and to make our own laws and indepencence from an increasingly dictatorial super state, the Soviet European Union.
To suggest that God gave this country over to the EU in 1967, when Roy Jenkins legalised homosexuality, abortion, no fault divorces, relaxed the laws on pornography and ended capital punishment, will be greeted with hootss of derision, but the fact remains that it was only a few years later in 1973 that we lost our sovereignty and became part of the EU and the Roman system of government. No matter how much we might struggle under the yoke of the EU, we will never be a free nation again, until we acknowledge that we are more than lumps of meat, or machines for registering either pain or pleasure, or simply a pile of chemicals but quite the antithesis of this: unprogrammed men and women with free wills made in the image of a Holy and perfect God to whom we are answerable and against whom we have rebelled and as consequence fall under judgement.
Who deliver us from this body of death – ourselves yoked to the European Union? It will not be found in another Churchill or even Oliver Cromwell. What we need is another Martin Luther, John Knox, George Whitfield or John the Baptist, crying in the wilderness, “Repent ye: for the kingdom is at hand. Prepare ye the way of the Lord , make his paths straight.” What we need is to have our eyes opened to the signs of the times and to understand that Jesus Christ is imminently to return, not as a defenceless baby but as judge over all mankind. Are we ready?
David Skinner UK
“Into the wild – the festival of Beltane” is now being advertised as something as a possible replacement for the waning of rock festivals. It emphasises being in the countryside, camping out overnight, celebration of the death of winter and arrival of the queen of the May. It includes the burning of the whicker man as a fun re-run of an ancient pagan festival wherein lots of people were burned as a sacrifice. So far no mention of the 13 days from June 19 – May 1st (Beltane) known as the blood days of the beast and the far more sinister occult and satanic connections. No doubt will attract lots of interest.
And we are now seeing this happening – quite literally. Pagan temples are being built in major public spaces. Consider the pagan altars being erected in New York and London in just over a week. It all sounds rather benign by one of the groups pushing this:
As I read these verses this morning I was thinking, it’s the same old story in 2016:
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Romans 1:21-23
I don’t think it is coincidental at all, re the April 19th date. The arch is being displayed in New York and London, both places long known to be the power-seats and occult centres of the world’s elite. The enemy really is putting it “in yer face”, so to speak, but millions cannot see or understand the occult connections. It is most certainly opening up a spiritual gateway and it is frightening to see how easily it is happening.
If all that is true Chris they can have it. We know that the most important thing is to honor God.God said that if we honor our parents good things will come our way. So let us figure that out and ask forgiveness for the times we have failed. At least it is true for me. God bless you Chris.
Sadly, as fewer people read the Bible in the West, many significant issues such as the erection of this arch will not appear so significant because they don’t have the history and knowledge of what it means.
Postmodernism, with its vacuum of meaning, is being replaced by its natural stepchild: Paganism. We are entering the Age of Re-enchantment.
God forbid that I should glory (i.e. forget) save in the Cross of my Lord, Jesus, Christ by whom the world (paganism) has been crucified (i.e. it is already dead) unto me, and I unto the world. The great shame is: this is unnecessary. It is finished. The Word of the Cross is the power of God … for all who believe. So the church has the call of the five churches in Revelation to repent and return to our First Love. Thankyou for this alert Bill.
Thanks guys. Some folks elsewhere are circulating posts saying the NY Baal temple will not go ahead. But, even if this is accurate, all that it says is it may be deferred. The actual wording is this: “they may transport the London arch there later, or build another one”. So the headlines being pushed may be both misleading and premature! But we can and should keep praying!
There is no coincidence in these things, both Wilhelm Kaiser and Adolph Hitler were directly linked with a worship of Isis and Orisis (Baal, Molech whatever name through history you wish to give it) and recovered ancient statues and re-built temples to them and there has been the same theme running through satanic cults whether they be secret pagan societies or islam etc. of bloodlust, rampant sexual perversion incl homosexuality/bisexual rituals & child peddling, abortion and slavery. Much of this in the world is even propagated under a ‘good’ or even ‘Christian’ guise. I think it’s going to be a big surprise to many who ignorance is only outweighed by their unknowing complicity, when the “Christian” political or ‘spiritual’ leader they lauded so much is discovered to have secretly and knowingly been working for the other side. Hence why we should only champion the cause of Christ. That’s the drum we’re supposed to be bangig.
No surprise as it all comes from the same prince of this world, whose time we know is short, just in different guises.
All through the bible God has repeatedly warned about the slide into these pagan ways and the false teaching that leads us there. What still amazes me is that so little time of each day (including my own) is spent on the spiritual… in prayer waging war seeking revival in our own hearts in our families let alone in our churches and our lands. As you’ve stated above, that’s the only cure.
Yes Bill, this is what is important, this is the spiritual war to be conducted firstly on our knees, and secondly in the marketplace speaking out about these things. So much of the rest is just noise. Our only cause is to pray and speak out against evil and to witness to others of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This is just a further progression of what’s already happening in the West. Millions of babies are already being sacrificed through abortion, and bi-sexual immorality is now openly practised and publicly celebrated. The Spirit of Baal is alive and well. It stands to reason that the natural progression is for this demonic principality to be even more emboldened and want to rebuild his temples and monuments.
Another relevant Chesterton quote:
“Paganism was the largest thing in the world and Christianity was larger; and everything else has been comparatively small.”
On June 23rd 2016 the UK will vote on whether to remain in the EU. The arguments for those on both sides of the argument- those wanting to exit and those wanting to remain in Europe -centre around the economy and territorial borders – nationhood or no nationhood. But the issues are infinitely deeper than this. They are moral and spiritual
However, those in the ‘extreme’ liberal camps, even those on the side who want to exit the EU pour scorn on anyone who proposes that religion or morality should be brought into the debate. They are adamant that this is Britain of the 21st century, not the Middle Ages and that, as Alistair Campbell once famously said, “We don’t do God.” For them the issues, apart from the economic and military ones, which are none the less important, centre around freedom to govern ourselves and to make our own laws and indepencence from an increasingly dictatorial super state, the Soviet European Union.
To suggest that God gave this country over to the EU in 1967, when Roy Jenkins legalised homosexuality, abortion, no fault divorces, relaxed the laws on pornography and ended capital punishment, will be greeted with hootss of derision, but the fact remains that it was only a few years later in 1973 that we lost our sovereignty and became part of the EU and the Roman system of government. No matter how much we might struggle under the yoke of the EU, we will never be a free nation again, until we acknowledge that we are more than lumps of meat, or machines for registering either pain or pleasure, or simply a pile of chemicals but quite the antithesis of this: unprogrammed men and women with free wills made in the image of a Holy and perfect God to whom we are answerable and against whom we have rebelled and as consequence fall under judgement.
Who deliver us from this body of death – ourselves yoked to the European Union? It will not be found in another Churchill or even Oliver Cromwell. What we need is another Martin Luther, John Knox, George Whitfield or John the Baptist, crying in the wilderness, “Repent ye: for the kingdom is at hand. Prepare ye the way of the Lord , make his paths straight.” What we need is to have our eyes opened to the signs of the times and to understand that Jesus Christ is imminently to return, not as a defenceless baby but as judge over all mankind. Are we ready?
David Skinner UK
“Into the wild – the festival of Beltane” is now being advertised as something as a possible replacement for the waning of rock festivals. It emphasises being in the countryside, camping out overnight, celebration of the death of winter and arrival of the queen of the May. It includes the burning of the whicker man as a fun re-run of an ancient pagan festival wherein lots of people were burned as a sacrifice. So far no mention of the 13 days from June 19 – May 1st (Beltane) known as the blood days of the beast and the far more sinister occult and satanic connections. No doubt will attract lots of interest.