Man's Search For Spirituality by E Christopher Reyes (learn to read books .txt) 📕

Sacred Art..
The man that came into the Bishopric of Rome, as a thief and a robber, over the dead bodies of hundreds of his opponents, could not hesitate as to the selection he should make regarding the direction of the ‘New Faith.’ History shows that Pope Damasus had acted in character, that, in assuming the Pagan title of Pontifex Maximux [Pontifex maximus, with tribunician power and imperium superseding all others], he had set himself at whatever sacrifice of truth to justify his claims to that title in the eyes of the Pagans, and as their legitimate representative of a long line of Pagan Pontiffs.
The title of Pontifex Maximus also makes the Emperor the chief administrator of all religious affairs, granting him the power to conduct all religious ceremonies, consecrate religious temples, control the Roman calendar [powers to add or remove days as desirable], appoint the Vestal Virgins and some Flamens, lead the Collegium Pontificum, and recapitulate the dogma of the Roman religion.
In the 8th century B.C.E., a vestal virgin, named Rhea Silvia, finds herself pregnant. But she got pregnant through no fault of her own, she was raped by the God Mars! A recognizable story that predates the Christian account by some 800 years, a woman who has physical relationship with a God, ‘ergo est,’ she remains a virgin, yet gives birth [Silvia Rhea gave birth to twins; Romulus and Remus].
The Romans practiced Emperor Worship, and Julius Caesar undergoes an acqusition of numerous titles, with investment in the Republican offices of consul four times, dictator five times, appointed dictator in perpetuity [dictator perpetuo] in 45 B.C.E., and had attained the title of “Pontifex Maximus” for several decades, being handsomely prepared for his future deification; he did not gain these positions without the majority of a vote by the people nor senate, which will later lead to jealousy, suspicion, and resentment, and eventually, his assassiation in 44 BC.E., after Celopatra convinces him that he is a god, and Caesar has coins struck in his image [Give unto Caesar that, which is Caesar’s].
“Under Roman Law... Christians were liable to suffer penalties imposed by Roman law just because they were Christians, Christian apologists continued to protest that they were innocent of any crime but their protests went unheeded... Those who voiced such protests were told that they might easily prove their loyalty to the [Roman] Empire by worshiping the state gods, and in particular by burning incense to the Emperor's image or swearing by his divinity... The Christians refusal to countenance such claims, and the language in which they ascribed divine honor to Jesus, could easily be given the appearance of sedition. Of all the provinces of the Roman Empire, there was none in which emperor-worship was more thoroughly organized than in Asia. In the Asian city of Pergamum the cult of Rome and Augustus was established as early as 29 BC. Some think that John had this cult in mind when he described Pergamum as the place 'Where Satan's throne is' [Revelation 2: 13], although others think of the cult of Asklepios, the healing-god with his serpent-image, which was also located there. At any rate, in addition to the other forms of Paganism with which Christians in the province of Asia had to live, there was this specially seductive form. Coolness towards the imperial cult might be put down to lack of patriotism. We remember how Paul had friends among the Asiarchs of Ephesus, who warned him not to enter the theater when the riotous demonstration was being held in defense of the great goddess Artemis against her traducers. But it was from the Asiarchs, the leading men in the cities of the province of Asia, that the high priesthood of the imperial cult was recruited, and the Asian aristocracy thought it an honor to serve in this way. The temptation must at times have been strong for Christians to compromise just a little, to avoid giving their pagan neighbors the impression that they did not appreciate the blessings of peace and prosperity which the institution of the empire had brought to that part of the world. But the majority would not compromise, and to them the imperial cult proved a deadly enemy.” ~F.F. Bruce The Defense of the Gospel, Revised Ed., England: Inter Varsity Press, 1982, p. 67.
It is evident also that Caesar, and his successors are accepted in light of that divine character by the Pagans, who, in flocking to the Roman Church, and rallying around the new Pontiff, changed neither their creed nor worship, but bring both into the Church along with them. Many feel that the Catholic Pope is only fulfilling Scripture. ~Daniel 11:36.
A statue is dedicated to Caesar in the temple of Quirinus in 45 B.C., with the words “To the Invincible God.” Before his death, Caesar even had his own temple under the name “Jupiter Julius;” which is the first step in establishing a religious cult; by honoring a living hero according to the Greek tradition, thus becoming, Divi filius, or Son of a God. The second step in the cult of Caesar is taken with his official apotheosis [elevation to divine status] after his death. As a dead hero, Caesar is conveyed to the number of the gods, and the senate and people officially declare him a god, and during the celebration in honor of the Divus Julius the appearance of a comet is taken as divine proof that his soul has been received into the number of the great immortals. The very people most devoted to “The worship of the strange god,” which is introduced into the Christian Church, are victimized by ingratitude and self-interest by those who would conspire to promote the new doctrines, and Jovinian, and all who resisted the newly adopted Christian Pagan ideas and Pagan practices, are excommunicated and persecuted. “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lamp-stands...” ~Messafe to the goddess, Ephesus, Revelation 2:1-7.
Only those who were heartily attached to the new apostacy are favored and advanced, and such men are sent from Rome in all directions, to restore the reign of Paganism, being magnified with high titles, the conquered heathen lands being divided among them, and all to promote “The gain” of the Holy Catholic, the Romish See, to bring in “Peter's Pence” from the ends of the earth to the Roman Pontiff.
Pope Saint Boniface I, AD 418-422, fought his way to the throne, Pope Saint Zosimus I, AD 417-418, whom some historians think as bad as Saint Damasus, Saint Symmachus, repeatedly accused of adultery, AD 498-514, and Hormisdas, whose son, Saint Silvarius, succeeded to the Papacy, all are portrayed with halos. The Church, moreover, gives the first 30 Popes their halo on the ground that most of them earned the crown of martyrdom, whereas, even the Catholic experts on the martyrs like Duchesne, Delehaye, Ehrhard, etc., admit that only one Pope ever died for his faith.
The Persian Zend Avesta says that Ahriman threw the Universe into disorder by raising an army against Ormuzd, and, after fighting against him for ninety days, was at length vanquished by Hanover, the Divine Word. The account of the war in heaven is similar to that held by nearly every nation. The Christian account is given in Revelation 11:7, and in the Apocryphal book of Nicodemus; it is to be found in the Talmud and in the Hindu “Aitareya-brahmana,” written seven or eight centuries before the Christ. The Egyptians' legend told of a revolt against the God Ra. ~from the works of M.D. Aletheia, The Rationalist's Manual. Bank of Wisdom, Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201.
The apocryphal “Gospel of Nicodemus” also gives an account of the descent of Jesus into hell, of his rising again on the third day, and ascending, in company with numerous saints and the first man, Adam, into heaven; and of the attempt of Satan and the Prince of Hell to close the gates of hell against him; when, in a voice of thunder, accompanied by the rushing of winds, is heard: “Lift up ye gates (of hell), O ye Princes, and be ye lifted up, O ye everlasting gates, and the King of Glory shall come in.” 
The name ‘Apocrypha’ was used for ancient religious writings, meaning that such writings were to be read by people from a specific group, because people who were not from this group would not be able to under stand them.
The meaning of the word itself is: “Mysterious, Hidden, Vague and Difficult.” This is the basis of the Roman Church denying its followers the privilege of reading the Bible for centuries.
The Catholic Bible [Douay-Rheims] will modify, and/or delete that which disagrees with the current Catholic Doctrines, sometimes eliminating whole books, such as Ezra I and II, which at one time were part of the Catholic Bible, but fell into disfavor after a few centuries. The word ‘Apocrypha’ will reappear in the early ages of Christianity and is used for some of the illegal writings of the Old Testament as well as the New Testament, in particular the writings, which are about revelation concerning the future and the final victory of God’s Kingdom. Such writings were believed to be superior and beyond the thinking of ordinary people, books for the elite Christians, or clergy, as late as the Middle Ages, the Bible was often times chained to the pulpit to prevent theft and coming into the hands of the masses. The religion of Zoroaster, later to expand and be known as Mithraism, is confessed by the Catholic Encyclopedia to be a divinely revealed Monotheism, worshipping ‘One God,’ and having a ‘Divinely Revealed’ set of rules by which their followers are controlled, a ‘Moral Code’ comparable to the Christian’s, a sacrosanct system claimed by Christians to be a monopoly of the newly founded Hebrew-Christian religion to the exclusion of all heathen systems, thousands of years later. The confession reads, “The Avesta system may be best defined as Monotheism, modified by a physical and moral dualism, with an ethical system based on a Divinely revealed moral code and human free will.” ~Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 2, 156.
The Catholic faith, having borrowed heavily from the religious beliefs of the Roman legionnaires, reluctantly declares that Mithraism is praiseworthy, acceptable, but not quite as good as Christianity.
“Mithraism is the highest religious result to which human reason unaided by Revelation, can attain.” ~Catholic Encyclopedia.
BC 600(?)-Mention is made in Chinese culture of the “I Ching” or “Book of Changes,” a form of wisdom and fortune telling. For over three thousand years, philosophers, mystics, politicians, alchemists, scientists, and oracles as well as mathematicians have used the Chinese “I Ching” for inspiration and guidance in their lives. The translations go back further than its 12th century BC renditions by Yi King.
Five hundred and fifty years before Jesus, Confucius states, “If some years were added to my life, I would give fifty to the study of the Yi, and might then escape falling into great errors,” and “Respect spiritual beings if there are any, but keep away from them.” He had not the least idea of founding a religion, as is usually said, and the system called Confucianism is a unique case in history of the survival of an ethic without religion. Golden Rule: “Do not to another what you would not want done to yourself; thou hast need of this law alone; it is the foundation of all the rest.”
And, “Acknowledge thy benefits by return of other benefits, but never avenge injuries.” ~ Confucian Analects VII, xvi
BC 600-Emperor Jimmu takes the throne as Japan’s first Emperor. Alleged to be a descendent [great-grandson] of the goddess Amaterasu Omikami [the Great Spirit Illuminating