The following information provides an excellent history of the establishment of the Natsarim as the first and only true church or body of believers who walked in the Way. Sha’ul (aka ‘Paul’) was the organizer and chief teacher of the Way. He was personally selected by Yahusha Himself to develop the Gentiles as Natsarim. The ‘Mystery of Lawlessness’ that Sha’ul spoke of was the encroachment of paganism and the rejection of Torah by outsiders who crept into congregations and introduced pagan thought among the people. – JWD
Who were the original followers of the Jewish Messiah? Was Christianity the original “sect” spoken of in scripture concerning the followers of Messiah? Who were the original Protestants? Were most of the early Christian “Church Fathers” antisemitic? Were the scripture translations afterwards tainted by Gentile Christians who sought to usher in Pagan “holidays” and shun Jewish festivals, persecuting Jews and all who didn’t follow their new teachings? Who are “Sabbatarians”? These questions and more will be answered below so that the Truth can finally be told — after so many years of continual falsehoods being told.
I am going to start out by giving you scripture that will enlighten us all to what the name of the people who were the first followers of the Jewish Messiah, or “Mashiach” or “The Anointed One” were called.
Acts 24:5 “For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.”
Acts 11:25-26: “Then Barnabah went to Tarsos to seek Sha’ul, and having found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came to be that for an entire year they came together in the assembly and taught large numbers. And the taught ones were called ‘Natsarim’ first in Antioch.”
Act 24:5-6: “For having found this man a plague, who stirs up dissension among all the Yahuḏim throughout the world and a ringleader of the sect of the Natsarim, who also tried to profane the Set- Apart Place and whom we seized and wished to judge him according to our law.”
1 Peter 4:16: “But if one suffers being Natsarim, let him not be ashamed, but let him esteem Elohim in this matter.”
And did you notice that Paul was considered to be the ringleader of a sect called the Nazarenes (Natsarim)? I will be bringing up Paul’s name later as I discuss the Sabbatarians, who mostly detest — and even disavow — Paul’s testimony in scripture.
The original Hebrew for “Nazarene” is based on the root “natsar,” which means to watch. And this is because the area around the burg Natsareth was named for it, hence the word “Gennetsaret” (vale of Netsar) referred to the whole district. This root word used points to the fact that the town was situated on high ground, which provided a panoramic view of the surroundings.
In fact, the “brow of the hill” which the townsfolk tried to throw the Messiah over gave the name to the town itself. Natsareth (natsar, the root) hence means “watchtower,” and Natsarenes are by extension “watchmen.”
The original followers of the Jewish Messiah were known as “Natsarim” (the plural of Natsari), as you saw above the “sect of the Nazarenes” written in your translations at Acts 24:5.
The Natsarim were known to follow ‘The Way’ and were easily identified due to their use of the Name. The Name of the Heavenly Elohim was banned and forbidden to be used by those practicing Judaism. But the Natsarim used His Name regularly — as did Yahusha Messiah. They also did not teach the traditions of Judaism, which was referred to as the traditions of men.
Revelation 12:17: And the dragon was enraged with the woman and he went to fight with the remnant of her seed, those guarding the commands of Elohim and possessing the witness of Messiah (The Natsarim).
Jerome (Sophronius Eusebius Hieronymus) acknowledged the existence of the Natsarim, and had contact with one of them who validated the meaning of “He shall be called a Natsari” (from Mt. 2:23). The Natsari who spoke with Sophronius/Jerome was quoting from a text he referred to as the apocryphon of YirmeYahu (Jeremiah):
The interesting thing about the quote from Jerome is that it attests that Natsarim actually existed during the 4th century:
“Recently I read in a certain Hebrew book
that a Hebrew from the Natsarim sect brought to me,
the apocryphon of YirmeYahu, in which I found this text
written word for word.”
(Jerome; Commentary on Matthew 2:23)
It seems that the “Hebrew” from the sect of the Natsarim is most likely pointing out YirmeYahu (Jeremiah) 31:5.
The Catechetical School of Alexandria, Egypt and the “church fathers” who were trained and taught there, developed what ultimately became “Christianity,” and later Roman “Universalism,” Catholicism. What these early “church fathers” of Alexandria wrote about a certain “sect,” the Natsarim, may be of interest to those who actually want to trace back to their roots of their beliefs.
Many of these early “Christians” were former sun-worshippers that adopted a belief in the Mashiach (Messiah) of Yisrael, Yahusha. They worked predominantly with Greek texts, yet from reading their Greek letters, we can quickly discern that they despised the ”Natsarim.” One of these Church Fathers’ indicated that these Natsarim possessed the writings of MattithYahu (Matthew), and stated that they were in Hebrew letters, as they had been originally written. These facts clearly contradict what most people today have been led to believe about the original followers of Yahusha. And due to the “Church Fathers,” the Hebrew/Yisra’elite roots of the faith were suppressed, and only the Greek roots were developed, written about and mostly followed.
Romans 11:16-22: ” Now if the first-fruit is set-apart, the lump is also. And if the root is set-apart, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off and you, being a WILD OLIVE TREE, have been GRAFTED IN among them and came to share the root and fatness of the olive tree, do NOT boast against the branches. And if you boast, remember: you do NOT bear the root, but the root bears you! You shall say then, “The branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Good! By unbelief they were broken off and you stand by belief. Do NOT be arrogant, but FEAR. For if Elohim did NOT spare the natural branches, He might NOT spare you either. See then the kindness and the SHARPNESS of Elohim: on those who fell sharpness, but toward you kindness, IF you continue in His kindness, otherwise you also shall be cut off.”
Please understand that it seems that the two most uniform traits among all the “Church Fathers” was their condemnation of the Natsarim, and their rabid anti-Semitism.
Origen of Alexandria taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria and succeeded Clement as Head of the School.
Origen lived from 185 to 254 CE and was self-castrated and a vegetarian, like Clement.
Tertullian and Irenaeus were contemporaries of Orign, and were Classically Educated in Paganism, and error was adopted.
Through modern seminaries (seed-plots) which promote the teachings of the “Church Fathers”, Greek and Egyptian men sought to eliminate the former Natsarim, and the Natsarim were spoken against by those in authority back in the days of Sha’ul (Paul):
“And we think it right to hear from you what you think, for indeed, concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere.” (ACT 28:22).
Acts 11:28 “…And it came to be that for an entire year they came together in the assembly and taught large numbers. And the taught ones were called ‘Natsarim’ first in Antioch.”
This sect, the NATSARIM, was suppressed by the early Church Fathers, and by the developing hierarchy at the earliest formal school of Christianity — THE CATECHETICAL SCHOOL OF ALEXANDRIA (FOUNDED CIRCA 190 CE)
The term by which the early followers of Yahusha of Natsarith were called is found at Acts 24:5, misspelled “Nazarenes.”
IRENAEUS was a mid-2nd century “Church Father” who held that the bishops provided the only safe-guard against false interpretation of Scripture, which laid the groundwork toward papal primacy. Also, in his battle against Gnosticism, and in the interest of unity, he maintained that Doctrinal Authority had to be solely established by Episcopal “Councils.” “Episcopal” means ‘Governed by Bishops,’ and this laid a foundation for later Nicolaitanes and a hierarchical chain of command, culminating in the fascism known as the Roman Catholic Church. Catholic means “universal” in Latin, so Irenaeus’ vision for Unity of Doctrine did actually become a reality.
The name Nicolaitans (meaning “Those Belonging To The Victor Over The People“appears twice in the Bible, twice in REVELATION 2. Through John the Revelator, Jesus praises the congregation in Ephesus for hating the “deeds” of the Nicolaitans, which he also hates (REVELATION 2:6). The congregation in Pergamum, on the other hand, he rebukes for (a) cherishing the teachings of Balaam, namely to eat food that was sacrificed to idols and commit acts of immorality, and (b) thus holding the teachings of the Nicolaitans (REVELATION 2:15).
And for centuries after the resurrection of Yahusha, false teachers arose to draw away disciples after themselves, just as Sha’ul (Paul) predicted would occur in Acts chapter 20.
Acts 20:27 “For I know this, that after MY DEPARTURE (emphasis is mine) savage wolves shall come in among you, NOT SPARING THE FLOCK. Also from among yourselves men shall arise, speaking DISTORTED TEACHINGS, to draw away the taught ones after them selves.”
And Yahuah tells us not to learn the ways of the Heathen, nor serve Him in their way. Dt. 12:30-32
The fourth century “Church Father,” Epiphanius, gave a detailed description of the Natsarim, (SPEAKING AS A DRAGON):
“We shall now especially consider heretics who…call themselves Nazarenes; they are mainly Jews and nothing else. They make use not only of the New Testament, but they also use in a way the Old Testament of the Jews; for they do not forbid the books of the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings… so that they are approved of by the Jews, from whom the Nazarenes do not differ in anything, and they profess all the dogmas pertaining to the prescriptions of the Law and to the customs of the Jews, except they believe in Messiah. They preach that there is but one God, and His Son Yeshua the Messiah. But they are very learned in the Hebrew language; for they, like the Jews, read the whole Law, then the Prophets…They differ from the Jews because they believe in Messiah, and from the Christians in that they are to this day bound to the Jewish rites, such as circumcision, the Sabbath, and other ceremonies. They have the Good news according to Matthew in its entirety in Hebrew. For it is clear that they still preserve this, in the Hebrew alphabet, as it was originally written.”
Epiphanius is informing us that the Nazarenes were different from what he called the “Christians” and “Jews,” and since he lived three hundred years after Yahusha Messiah arrived, the “Nazarenes” and the “Christians” could ONLY be TWO SEPARATE GROUPS at that time!
And there is evidence that the Natsarim Sect continued to exist until at least the 13th century. The Catholic writings of Bonacursus entitled ‘Against the Heretics’ refers to “Nazarenes,” who were also called ‘Pasagini’. Bonacursus says, (SPEAKING AS A DRAGON):
“Let those who are not yet acquainted with them, please note how perverse their belief and doctrine are. First, they teach that we should obey the Law of Moses according to the letter — the Sabbath, and circumcision, and the legal precepts still being in force. Furthermore, to increase their error, they condemn and reject all the Church Fathers, and the whole Roman Church.”
In his book “Judeo-Christianity,” Professor Simon disagreed with what Mr. Epiphanius had to say regarding the “Nazarenes. In an effort to CORRECT HISTORY, the Catholic Professor wrote:
“They (meaning the Nazarenes) are characterized essentially by their tenacious attachment to Jewish observances. If they became heretics in the eyes of the Mother Church, it is simply because they remained fixed on outmoded positions.”
[However…] “They well represent (although Epiphanius is energetically refusing to admit it) the very direct descendants of that primitive community, of which our author knows that is was designated by the Jews, by the same name, of Nazarenes.” [French Catholic Professor and First Century Assembly expert Marcel Simon, Judeo-christianisme, pp 47-48]
Himself a practicing Roman Catholic, Marcel Simon professed that it was indeed NOT the Catholic Christians, but rather the “Nazarenes” who were the “very DIRECT DESCENDANTS of that primitive community,” called the “Nazarenes.”
And by this he means that the “Nazarenes” — and NOT the Catholics — are the DIRECT, spiritual DESCENDANTS of the Apostles of the New Covenant!!!
And the very first Believers in Yahusha were called ‘The Way‘ (comes from ( John 14:6/ Acts 9:2, 19: 9, 23, 22:4 and 24:22).
“Christianity,” in its modern form, it seems was likely started by Simon Magnus (Simon the Magician), who is mentioned in Acts Chapter 8, and who attempted to purchase the power of Elohim, and is actually buried under the altar of “St. Peter’s Cathedral” in Rome. ”Christianity” was later made the Official State Religion of Rome by Constantine. In fact, the Vatican is the Great Whore spoken of in scripture.
”Christianity” was certainly not started by “Saint Peter”, Paul, or Yahusha Messiah.
And did you know that there were “Christians” before the Natsarim were started by Yahusha?
Followers of Serapis (a Pagan sovereign) in 300 B.C. were known as “Kristianos.” The Greek term Chrestoi means “good men,” which was applied to the followers of Sarapis for three centuries before Yahusha Messiah arrived. (From Serapis dictionary entry: [There those who worship Serapis are, in fact, Christians, and those who call themselves bishops of Christ are, in fact, devotees of Serapis.]) It is a fact of language that the term “Christian” simply means cretin, idiot, stupid, mentally defective.
“For we have found this man a (Sha’ul) pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Yahudim throughout the world and a ringleader of the sect (G139, hairesis) of the Nazarenes (G3480).” The Greek word hairesis above gives us our word “heresy” translated “sect.” So we know the “sect” being spoken of was not the Christians, because Christians developed later. The word christianos was used twice in the Greek text as a device of scorn, since in the ancient world it conveyed a much different sense than it does today. The use of the word christianos did not “name” the sect, but it was a derisive, scornful label that meant they were like gullible, dumb beasts, or “cretins”.
The word “christianos” (Latin, Christianus) was a term of scorn, traced back through a related word which history never “revised”:
cre·tin (krēt’n) n.
1. A person afflicted with cretinism.
Slang: An idiot.
[French crétin, from French dialectal, deformed and mentally retarded person found in certain Alpine valleys, from Vulgar Latin *christiānus, Christian, human being, poor fellow, from Latin Chrīstiānus, Christian; see Christian.] Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
The word “watchmen” is the Hebrew word NATSARIM, and means guardians, protectors, preservers, and also means “branches”, as in “descendants”. Immediately, we see the connection with Yahusha’s words about Him being the Root, and His students the “branches,” the off-spring of His teachings. The name by which most Believers are called (‘Christians‘) has no Greek roots; the Hebrew roots of our name are profound.
And what about the term “God”? The 1945 Encyclopedia Americana has this to say under to topic “GOD”:
“GOD (god); Common Teutonic word for personal object of religious worship, formerly applicable to super-human beings of heathen myth (fallen angels or nephalim?); on conversion of Teutonic races to Christianity, term was applied to Supreme Being.”
We are to be the Hebrew word “qadosh,” meaning we are to be set-apart, not “holy.” And Brown, Driver and Briggs (BDB) list the meaning of the word as “separation” or “withdrawal.”
And how do we become saved? Yahusha tells us below:
“And Yahusha came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in Heaven and on Earth. Therefore, go and make Taught Ones of all the nations, immersing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Set-apart Spirit, teaching them to guard all that I have commanded you. And see, I am with you always, until the end of the age.’”
And we are spoken of here:
“And in her was found the blood of Prophets and Set-Apart Ones, and of all who were slain on the Earth.” Rev 18:24
When we become saved, we enter a Covenant, which is a marriage between YHWH and Yisra’el, His bride. Yisra’el is the only “denomination,” and the Natsarim are an elect group within Yisra’el, as they are called by Yahusha as workers in His up-coming harvest of mankind to become Natsarim (Believers in The Way of Yahusha ‘Mashiach’; Taught Ones of The Way of Yahusha ‘Messiah’; Brethren of The Way of Yahusha ‘The Anointed One’ or ‘Redeemer’ or ‘Savoir — but NOT ‘Christ’). We are Gentiles and Hebrews. We are all grafted into Yisra’el.
Natsarim, or followers of Yahusha, are those who “obey Yahuah’s Commandments and hold to the testimony of Yahusha” (Rev 12:17).
Natsarim are watchmen (Natsarim, Acts 24:5, Jer. 31:6 meaning also branches), and consider all Believers to be on the path to redemption through repentance, immersion in the Name of Yahusha, and obedience to the Covenant of Yahusha, through the Set-Apart-Spirit of Elohim. We are to believe in the Name of Yahusha Messiah and become immersed under water in His Name to receive remission of sin and receive the Set-Apart Spirit of Elohim. Then we are to live as a new creature in Yahusha Messiah to be set-apart from sin and to do good unto all men – and even our enemies as we can — and especially to love the Brethren in Messiah Yahusha, as we try to love YHWH with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength until our last breath.
BREAK
And here is the Name of the Creator that was restored to the text in one of its original ancient Hebrew forms:
Now let’s look at the “Reformation” or the beginning of the people who now call themselves “Protestants.”
Martin Luther is credited by Christians as the leader of the Reformation Movement, so let’s only look at only a SMALL (for lack of space) portion of his antisemitism writings.
Martin Luther – 1543: On The Jews and Their Lies
“What then shall we Christians do with this damned, rejected race of Jews? Since they live among us and we know about their lying and blasphemy and cursing, we can not tolerate them if we do not wish to share in their lies, curses, and blasphemy. In this way we cannot quench the inextinguishable fire of divine rage nor convert the Jews. We must prayerfully and reverentially practice a merciful severity. Perhaps we may save a few from the fire and flames [of hell]. We must not seek vengeance. They are surely being punished a thousand times more than we might wish them. Let me give you my honest advice.
“First, their synagogues should be set on fire, and whatever does not burn up should be covered or spread over with dirt so that no one may ever be able to see a cinder or stone of it. And this ought to be done for the honor of God and of Christianity in order that God may see that we are Christians, and that we have not wittingly tolerated or approved of such public lying, cursing, and blaspheming of His Son and His Christians.
“Secondly, their homes should likewise be broken down and destroyed. For they perpetrate the same things there that they do in their synagogues. For this reason they ought to be put under one roof or in a stable, like gypsies, in order that they may realize that they are not masters in our land, as they boast, but miserable captives, as they complain of incessantly before God with bitter wailing.
“Thirdly, they should be deprived of their prayer-books and Talmuds in which such idolatry, lies, cursing, and blasphemy are taught.
“Fourthly, their rabbis must be forbidden under threat of death to teach any more…
“Fifthly, passport and traveling privileges should be absolutely forbidden to the Jews. For they have no business in the rural districts since they are not nobles, nor officials, nor merchants, nor the like. Let them stay at home…If you princes and nobles do not close the road legally to such exploiters, then some troop ought to ride against them, for they will learn from this pamphlet what the Jews are and how to handle them and that they ought not to be protected. You ought not, you cannot protect them, unless in the eyes of God you want to share all their abomination…
“To sum up, dear princes and nobles who have Jews in your domains, if this advice of mine does not suit you, then find a better one so that you and we may all be free of this insufferable devilish burden – the Jews…”
John Calvin, who believed in “predestination,” was also antisemitic. And “predestination” means that if one is going to enter Hell or Heaven, they have already been preordained, and nothing can be done about it.
John Calvin: A Response To Questions and Objections of a Certain Jew
“Their [the Jews] rotten and unbending stiffneckedness deserves that they be oppressed unendingly and without measure or end and that they die in their misery without the pity of anyone.”
Excerpt from “Ad Quaelstiones et Objecta Juaei Cuiusdam Responsio,” by John Calvin; The Jew in Christian Theology, Gerhard Falk, McFarland and Company, Inc., Jefferson, NC and London, 1931.
Here are some more antisemitic quotes from early “church fathers”:
Peter the Venerable — known as “the meekest of men, a model of Christian charity”:
“Yes, you Jews. I say, do I address you; you, who till this very day, deny the Son of God. How long, poor wretches, will ye not believe the truth? Truly I doubt whether a Jew can be really human… I lead out from its den a monstrous animal, and show it as a laughing stock in the amphitheater of the world, in the sight of all the people. I bring thee forward, thou Jew, thou brute beast, in the sight of all men.”
From “The Roots of Christian Anti-Semitism” by Malcolm Hay
Augustine (c. 354-430 A.D.), Confessions, 12.14
“How hateful to me are the enemies of your Scripture! How I wish that you would slay them (the Jews) with your two-edged sword, so that there should be none to oppose your word! Gladly would I have them die to themselves and live to you!”
John Chrysostom (344-407 A.D.) — One of the “greatest” of church fathers; A missionary preacher famous for his sermons and addresses, also known as “The Golden Mouthed.”
“The synagogue is worse than a brothel…it is the den of scoundrels and the repair of wild beasts…the temple of demons devoted to idolatrous cults…the refuge of brigands and dabauchees, and the cavern of devils. It is a criminal assembly of Jews…a place of meeting for the assassins of Christ… a house worse than a drinking shop…a den of thieves, a house of ill fame, a dwelling of iniquity, the refuge of devils, a gulf and a abyss of perdition.”…”I would say the same things about their souls… As for me, I hate the synagogue…I hate the Jews for the same reason.”
From “The Roots of Christian Anti-Semitism” by Malcolm Hay
Origen of Alexandria (185-254 A.D.) — A ecclesiastical writer and teacher who contributed to the early formation of “Christian” doctrines.
“We may thus assert in utter confidence that the Jews will not return to their earlier situation, for they have committed the most abominable of crimes, in forming this conspiracy against the Savior of the human race…hence the city where Jesus suffered was necessarily destroyed, the Jewish nation was driven from its country, and another people was called by God to the blessed election.”
Now let’s look at the Catholic Church, or better known as the “Vatican,” and its history of antisemitism, along with its persecutions and “Crusades” or “Inquisitions.”
The Inquisitions (Roman, Medieval, and Spanish) were perpetrated upon the Peoples of Europe, with an estimated 3 million murdered and about 300,000 burned at the stake in Spain alone.
A Catholic historian commenting on the Spanish Inquisition wrote:
“When Napoleon conquered Spain in 1808, a Polish officer in his army, Colonel Lemanouski, reported that the Dominicans [in charge of the Inquisition] blockaded themselves in their monastery…the inquisitors denied the existence of any torture chambers. The soldiers searched the monastery and discovered them under the floors. The chambers were full of prisoners, all naked, many insane. The French troops, used to cruelty and blood, could not stomach the sight. They emptied the torture-chambers, laid gunpowder to the monastery and blew the place up.”
And Church historian Bishop William Shaw Kerr writes:
“The most ghastly abomination of all was the system of torture. The accounts of its cold-blooded operations make one shudder at the capacity of human beings for cruelty. And it was decreed and regulated by the popes who claim to represent Christ on earth…
“Careful notes were taken not only of all that was confessed by the victim, but of his shrieks, cries, lamentations, broken interjections and appeals for mercy. The most moving things in the literature of the Inquisition are not the accounts of their sufferings left by the victims but the sober memoranda kept by the officers of the tribunals…there is no intention to shock us.”
Also, Emelio Martinez writes in a book published in 1909: “To these three million victims [documented by Llorente] should be added the thousands upon thousands of Jews and Moors deported from their homeland…In just one year, 1481, and just in Seville, the Holy Office [of the Inquisition] burned 2000 persons; the bones and effigies of another 2000…and another 16,000 were condemned to varying sentences.”
Even Peter de Rosa acknowledges that the RCC “was responsible for persecuting Jews, for the Inquisition, for slaughtering heretics by the thousand, for reintroducing torture into Europe as part of the judicial process.”
In 1096, Pope Urban II was the impetus of the first crusade to retake Jerusalem from the Muslims, with one of the Crusaders’ first acts upon taking Jerusalem “for Holy Mother Church” was to put the Jews into a synagogue and set it on fire.
Here is a book entitled: “The Popes Against Jews: The Vatican’s Role in the Rise of Modern Anti-semitism“
Here is a list of compiled quotes from Popes of the Roman Catholic Church wherein they taught:
That the Jews are cursed for murdering Jesus
That the Jews are cursed to be traitors like Judas
That the Jews are cursed to be unscrupulous money grubbers, like Judas
That the Jews are cursed to be distinguished from everyone else by an identifying mark, like Cain
That the Jews are cursed to be slaves like Esau
Here is a list of instances where Christians expelled the Jews in line with the teachings and exhortations of the Catholic Church.
And how about this: ‘THIS anthology which brings together texts from the main Catholic theorists of Germany, from Gorres to Vogelsang, MAKES US BELIEVE THAT NATIONAL-SOCIALISM [NAZISM] WAS BORN OUT OF CATHOLIC IDEAS‘.(113)
Here we have the Vatican conducting beatification of Pope Pius IX, a deeply ingrained antisemitic within the Catholic Church, who reigned from 1846 to 1878, and was beatified by Pope John-Paul II on September 3 in a ceremony attended by thousands of pilgrims in St Peter’s Square in 2000.
In fact, the Vatican is the “Great Whore” spoken of in scripture.
Here are the “Religious Luciferian Symbols” the Vatican uses.
Here is the history of the sign of the cross and it’s idolatrous usage by the Vatican.
Note that the Isra’elites carried along their idols from Egypt, with the women wearing earrings and other jewelry — which was almost always an image of the “sovereign” or “sovereignness.” These women had spent 400 years worshiping Osiris, which was pictured as a tiny or large golden calf.
Apis was the beast-sovereign of ancient Egypt, and was also known as Mnevis and Onuphis. This Apis / Mnevis / Onuphis (Apis) was regarded as the avatar or Incarnation of the god Osiris, whose soul, it was said, had transmigrated into the body of a bull.
When one considers that the Buddhist, like the Babylonian cross, was the recognized emblem of Tammuz (Eze 8:14), who was known as the mistletoe branch, or “All-heal,” then one can understand just how the sacred Initial should be represented as covered with leaves,with Rome adopting and calling it the
“Medicine which preserves the healthful, heals the sick, and does what mere human power alone could never do.”
To identify Tammuz with the sun it was joined sometimes to the circle of the sun as in figure on left; sometimes it was inserted in the circle, as in figure on right.
This Pagan symbol seems first to have crept into the Christian Church in Egypt, with a statement of Tertullian showing that Christianity had completely adopted that Pagan symbol. The first form of that which is called the Christian Cross and found on Christian monuments in Egypt, is the unequivocal Pagan Tau, or Egyptian “Sign of life. “Statement of Sir G. Wilkinson:
“A still more curious fact may be mentioned respecting this hieroglyphical character [the Tau], that the early Christians of Egypt adopted it in lieu of the cross, which was afterwards substituted for it, prefixing it to inscriptions in the same manner as the cross in later times. For, though Dr. Young had some scruples in believing the statement of Sir A. Edmonstone, that it holds that position in the sepulchres of the great Oasis, I can attest that such is the case, and that numerous inscriptions, headed by the Tau, are preserved to the present day on early Christian monuments.”
See image of Bacchus below and take note of the sign of the cross and the instruments of Apollo (Apollyon, Abaddon)
And not only that, but there is hardly a Pagan tribe where the cross has not been found! The cross was worshiped by the Pagan Celts: “It is a fact,” says Maurice,
“not less remarkable than well-attested, that the Druids in their groves were accustomed to select the most stately and beautiful tree as an emblem of the Deity they adored, and having cut the side branches, they affixed two of the largest of them to the highest part of the trunk, in such a manner that those branches extended on each side like the arms of a man, and, together with the body, presented the appearance of a HUGE CROSS, and on the bark, in several places, was also inscribed the letter Thau.” It was worshipped in Mexico for ages before the Roman Catholic missionaries set foot there, large stone crosses being erected, probably to the “god of rain.”
Thus, the cross, just like today in Christianity, was widely worshiped, and/or regarded as a sacred emblem,
and was the unequivocal symbol of Bacchus, the Babylonian Messiah. He is represented with a head-band covered with crosses in the above figure.
“From a Biblical perspective the Greek word stauros denotes an ‘upright stake’…– not a cross — agreeing with the Aramaic [Peshitta text-The Messiah] was put on an upright stake, not ‘cross-ified.’”(Andrew Gabriel Roth, Aramaic English New Testament, app., p. 916, 76).
“The Greek word stauros means staff, stake , pole, or beam, corresponding to the Hebrew word nas, which the serpent Nehushtan was lifted up with a rod in the desert (John 3:14, Numbers 2:19; 2 Kings 18:4).” (Lew White, Fossilized Customs, 8th ed., p.114).
And check some of these quotes out:
In his book, Cardinal Newman admits that; the “temples, incense, oil lamps, votive offerings, holy water, Holidays, and seasons of devotion, processions, blessings of the fields, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure (of priests, monks and nuns), images, and statues… are all of PAGAN ORIGIN.” — The Development of the Christian Religion Cardinal Newman p.359
And the penetration of the religion of Babylon became so general and also so well known that Rome was called the “New Babylon.”– -Faith of our fathers 1917 ed. Cardinal Gibbons, p. 106
“Confiding then in the power of Christianity to resist the infection of evil, and to transmute the instruments and appendages of demon worship to an evangelical use… the rulers of the church from early times were prepared should occasion arise, to adopt, or imitate, or sanction the existing rites and customs of the populace.” — Development of Christian Doctrine, Cardinal Newman. p. 372
Cardinal Newman lists many examples of things of “pagan origin” which the papacy brought into the church “in order to recommend the new religion to the heathen: “in order to recommend the new religion to the heathen:” “The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; holy water; asylums [hermitages, monasteries and convents]; [pagan] holy-days, processions, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images, . . . and the Kyrie Eleison.” — Cardinal J. H. Newman, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, 1920 edition, p.373 [Roman Catholic].
“The [Catholic] Church took the pagan philosophy and made it the buckler of faith against the heathen. She took the pagan Roman Pantheon, temple of all the gods, and made it sacred to all the martyrs; so it stands to this day. She took the pagan Sunday and made it the Christian Sunday. She took the pagan Easter and made it the feast we celebrate during this season . . . The Sun was a foremost god with heathendom . . . The sun has worshipers at this hour in Persia and other lands . . . Hence the Church would seem to say, ‘Keep that old pagan name [Sunday]. It shall remain consecrated, sanctified.’ And thus the pagan Sunday, dedicated to Balder, became the Christian Sunday, sacred to Jesus” — William L. Gildea, “Paschale Gaudium,” in The Catholic World, 58, March, 1894, p. 809 [A Roman Catholic weekly].
“in order to recommend the new religion to the heathen:” “The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense, lamps, and candles; holy water; asylums [hermitages, monasteries and convents]; [pagan] holy-days, processions, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the East, images, . . . and the Kyrie Eleison.” — J. H. Newman, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, 1920 edition, p.373 [Roman Catholic].
“The mighty Catholic Church was little more then the Roman Empire baptized.”– A. C, Flick, The Rise of the Medieval Church, 1909 edition, p. 148. “From ancient Babylon came the cult of the virgin mother-goddess, who was worshiped as the highest of gods–see S. H. Langdon, Semitic Mythology, 1931 edition. This worship was taken over as Mary-worship by Rome. Heathen sun-worship on Sunday was likewise adopted by the Roman apostasy.”
“In order to attach to Christianity great attraction in the eyes of the nobility, the priests adopted the outer garments and adornments which were used in pagan cults.” — Life of Constantine, Eusabius, cited in Altai-Nimalaya, p. 94
“The Church did everything it could to stamp out such ‘pagan’ rites, but had to capitulate and allow the rites to continue with only the name of the local deity changed to some Christian saint’s name.” — Religious Tradition and Myth. Dr. Edwin Goodenough, Professor of Religion, Harvard University. p. 56, 57
“From the foregoing, which treats merely of the more important solar festivals, it is clear that these products of paganism are as much in force at present … as they ever were, and that Christianity countenances, and in many cases has actually adopted and practiced, pagan rites whose heathen significance is merely lost sight of because attention is not called to the source whence these rites have sprung. So heavy was this infiltration that Sir Samuel Dill exclaims: “Christianity is only a sect of the Mithraists.” — Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius, p. VII
“We know that Mithraism was a state religion of Rome at the time that the Christian church was established there. Evidently tenants of Mithraism such as Sunday worship and eating the wafer in the mass were adopted into Christianity at that time” — Jim Arrabito “666 & the Mark”
Stanley’s History, page 40: “The popes filled the place of the vacant emperors at Rome, inheriting their power, their prestige, and their titles from PAGANISM.”
“In short, sun worship, symbolically speaking, lies at the very heart of the great festivals which the Christian Church celebrates today, and these relics of heathen religion have, through the medium of their sacred rites, curiously enough blended with practices and beliefs utterly antagonistic to the spirit which prompted them.” — Sun Lore of All Ages, Olcott, p. 248
“Yet the cross itself is the oldest of phallic emblems, and the lozenge-shaped windows of cathedrals are proof that the yonic symbols have survived the destructions of the pagan Mysteries. The very structure of the church itself is permeated with (sexual symbolism) phallicism. Remove from the Christian Church all emblems of Priapic origin and nothing is left…” — The secret teaching of all ages by Manley P. Hall
“When the zealots of the primitave Christian Church sought to Christianize paganism, the pagan initiates retorted with a powerful effort to paganize Christianity. The Christians failed but the pagans succeeded. With the decline of paganism the initiated pagan hierophants transferred their base of operations to the new vehicle of primitive Christianity, adopting the symbols of the new cult to conceal those eternal verities which are ever the priceless possession of the wise.” — The secret teachings of all ages, Manley P. Hall p. CLXXXV
Don’t you remember the warning from 2 Timothy about a time that would come when people would not seek sound teachings?
2 Timothy 4:3 “For their shall be a time when they shall not bear sound teaching, but according to their own desires, they shall heap up for themselves teachers tickling the ear, and they shall indeed turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to myths…”
The “Sabbatarians.”
Sabbatarians are those that call themselves “Natsarim,” and who observe Jewish holidays, but trust in the Torah for their salvation, and also keeping a watered-down version of Sabbath Day “rest,” rather than the trusting in the finished work of Yahusha at Calvary.
They have an almost universal disdain of Paul, who was commissioned to the Gentiles by none other than Yahusha the Messiah, to preach the Truth to. Remember, it was Paul who rebuked Peter for trusting in the Torah and it’s circumcision and other requirements, rather than in Messiah, and said that those who did this were “fallen” from grace.
Let’s see where they err…
Galatians 2:3 “And I went up by revelation and laid before them that Besorah which I proclaim among the Gentiles…But as for the false brothers, sneakingly brought in, who sneaked in to spy out our freedom which we have in Messiah in order to enslave us, to these we did not yield in subjection, not even for an hour, so that the truth of the Besorah remains with you. But from those who were esteemed to be whatever — what they were, it makes no difference to me, Elohim shows no partiality — for those who were esteemed contributed naught to me. But on the contrary, when they saw that the Besorah to the uncircumcised had been entrusted to me, even as Kepha [or “Peter” as we know him today] to the circumcised — for He who worked in Kepha to make him an emissary to the circumcised also worked in me for the gentiles. So, when Ya’aqob, Kepha and Yohanan, who seemed to be supporters, came to know the favour that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabah the right hand of fellowship, in order that we go to the gentiles and they to the circumcised…11. And when Kepha had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was at fault. For before some came from Ya’aqob, he was eating with the gentiles, but when they came, he began to withdraw and separate himself, in fear of those of the circumcision. And the rest of the Yahudim joined him in hypocrisy, so that even Barnabah was led away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they are not walking straight according to the truth of the Besorah, I said to Kepha before them all, “If you, being a Yehudite, live as a gentile and not as the Yahudim, why do you compel gentiles to live as Yahudim? We, Yahudim by nature and not of the gentiles, sinners, knowing that a man is not declared right by works of Torah, but through belief in
Messiah, even we have believed in Messiah
, in order to be declared right by belief in Messiah and not by works of Torah, because by works of Torah no flesh shall be declared right. Chapter 3:2 “This only I wish to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of Torah, or by the hearing of belief? Are you so senseless? Having begun in the Spirit, do you now end in the flesh?…5. Is He, then, who is supplying the Spirit to you and working miracles among you, doing it by works of Torah, or by hearing of belief?
Obedience to Torah teachings is recognized as right worship by Yahuah, and salvation is through belief in and obedience to the commands of Yahusha.
As we can see above, no flesh shall be saved obeying the Torah, which the Sabbatarians don’t even fully obey, anyway, their hypocrisy evident to everyone who knows the truth of scripture. And besides this, many Sabbatarians who call themselves “Natsarim,” only believe that the Son is the Father and the two are the same, which clearly the scriptures do not teach in the new or old covenants. Imagine the Son having an imaginary conversation with himself as the Father?
End
Reproduced and lightly edited, primarily typographical and a few spelling errors. Original location: https://777denny.wordpress.com/2013/12/27/who-are-the-natsarim-the-christians-the-catholics-the-protestants-the-sabbatarians/
I have a reluctance to call myself a Natsarim, I have recently come out of the darkness deception that has decieved the whole world as Revelation said would happen. In November 16 22 I was shown the Truth of the Name of the Father and the Son and I repented and am starting over except this time not under a deceiving spirit. I am a follower of the Way , have His Word written on my heart and seek His Face. I am familiar with some who almost boastfully claim they are Natsarim and even have own version of scripture and other writings for sale but He teaches as does His fellow Natsarim who has online gatherings that Our Father and our Savior are the same being and pretty much insinuate if one cannot see this they must not have the Ruach ha Qodesh or as he puts it common sense. It is disturbing to me as they present themselves as authorities in history of scripture and other things . I may be very green… Read more »
Lol. “Nazi” funny. Natsarim is Natzarim is Nazarene. The way of the Nazarene (or Nazarite). Yahusha. Jesus. Call yourself a Way Walker, or a Christian or whatever you feel suits you best, Jhonda. Those do not matter. And as for Yahuah and Yahusha being one, well, Yahusha said that very thing. “I and the Father are one,” He also said “The Father is greater than me.” Implying one and two. They are two, because Yahusha sits beside Yahuah this very day. They are one because there is no difference between them. Revelation states that Yahuah “exists within impenetrable light”, so Yahuah radiates light that we cannot see into. Yahusha is His begotten son, a son given authority over all things because His son is perfect, having always been, and who always will be. He perfectly lives every aspect of Yahuahs standards. He is God, just as Yahuah is God. Don’t worry about understanding it, Jhonda. Just do your best to walk in the Way. Keep Yahuah’s commands, and keep Yahusha’s commands. Try to. Try. I… Read more »
[…] Yahuah blessed me with a group of like-minded men in my own congregation of the Way. Some are Natsarim and do not even know it. Their passion for Truth is hot and I have immense confidence in […]
Great job Nazarene I’m almost finished, the so called protestants disagreed with their mother church on things like indulgences and translations of the bible but agreed on pretty much all else,the fact they’re moving back to the papacy shows that.
Yessir, you are correct.
I Am Natsarim as well.
Peace and Shalom
I know you are, brother.
I know you are busy and scedule changes.
I miss not having your perspective on the Shabbat day.
IF you could look at Friday post I my self would
really appreciate it.
Peace and Shalom
Enoch, just who I wanted to talk to. I recall a comment you made a while back about not making the name of Yahuah into nothing. You were advising me on my occasional use of “Ani”, which I defended. However, “Ani” is not His name, is it? And as you correctly cited, we are not to make His name into nothing. Yahuah, He is our God.
Thank you, brother.
Shabbat – Yes, what you suggest is important.
Good Morning Jerry.
I am sorry if I offend you with my bluntness.
I am much like the character of Matthew on the series
“The Chosen” .
Your post and information are greatly appreciated and
I do look forward to what you offer others to grow by and
reflect on in these end times.
Peace and Shalome
Thank you, brother. I do admit that you hurt my feelings a little bit. I am, though, quick to forgive as I, too, can be rather blunt sometimes. Plus, I have had the same exact thought that you posited – that I would kill my credibility. But brother, I have gotten more positive emails regarding the flat earth stuff than from any other topic. Its huge, actually. And if people can see through that lie, then they can begin to understand the actual size and scope of the deception swallowing the entire world in darkness for so many, many years.