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The Two Babylons Exposed: The Book That Misled Millions

...e lens of Scripture and Christian theology, not through pagan myth. The earliest depictions of Mary and the Christ-child date back to the second century and do not resemble any of the pagan idols. But, again, the common accusations are based on superficial similarities of a woman nursing a child. That’s going to look the same no matter who or what does that! Oldest depiction of Mary. Dura-Europos Church, Syria, 2nd century What About Lent and Tammuz? One of Hislop’s more popular claims is that Lent comes from a Babylonian mourning ritual for the god Tammuz, mentioned in Ezekiel 8:14. He argues that early Christians borrowed the 40-day mourning perio...

The Temptations of Jesus: Pride

...g back to Scripture. Whereas Jesus did have every right to say “I am the Son of God – there’s no ‘if’ about it!” and use his abilities to create a miracle for his own sake, that would also have been selfish and another path to the sin of pride and arrogance. Instead he sticks to the main thing that can thwart the enemy when trying to deceive us: Scripture. Although “he was in the form of God” and had equality, it wasn’t “something to be exploited” as Paul writes in Philippians 2:5-8. Let us learn from this, and keep ourselves ever humble, imitating our Lord Jesus Christ, so that we may push back against the attacks of the enemy and “work...

Debunking the Myth: The Council of Nicaea and the Formation of the Biblical Canon

...A myth that never seems to fade away: the idea that the Council of Nicaea, convened in 325 AD under the authority of Roman Emperor Constantine, played a pivotal role in establishing the Biblical canon. This notion suggests a conspiracy and power play orchestrated by a select group of elite bishops; a narrative popularised by works like Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. However, a closer examination reveals a lack of historical basis for this claim. The Council of Nicaea and the Canon Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence that the Council of Nicaea discussed or established the Canon of Scripture, leading to the creation of the Bible. Early Christian cano...

Understanding The New Testament: Inspiration, Canonisation, And Historical Context

...A common modern perception of the inspiration of Scripture often portrays it as a rigid, divine dictation of words from God to be written down verbatim. This perspective leads to concerns among some religious communities, such as Muslims, who view any alteration or addition to the text as a potential threat to the entire faith. The Islamic understanding of inspiration emphasises direct and unalterable divine dictation, contributing to their scepticism of multiple Bible translations, which they falsely label as “corruption”. In contrast, the Biblical inspiration of the Scriptures has never been viewed as a literal divine dictation, as if the apostles were un...

The Coming of Jesus: Daniel's 70 Weeks

...uthors of Scripture give us (eg. Luke 3:1). This now brings us from "the time that the word went out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem" right up until "after the sixty-two weeks" when the next "anointed one" appears in the prophecy, as when Jesus was baptised it was then he was anointed by the Holy Spirit to begin his ministry (Matt 3:16-17; Acts 10:38). As an aside for those reading who may not realise the connection: Messiah is the Hebrew word for "anointed," and Christ is the Greek version of that Hebrew word – hence Jesus Christ, or Jesus the Messiah (although, not all who were anointed were thought or expected to be the promised Saviour-Messiah)....

The Coming of Jesus: Coming on the clouds

...anding of Scripture. Lets begin by looking at what Daniel saw. A little context first: the setting is Daniel in the throneroom of God, watching as the "court sat in judgment, and the books were opened" to begin a judgement process. Daniel 7:13-14 As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a human being    coming with the clouds of heaven.And he came to the Ancient One    and was presented before him.To him was given dominion    and glory and kingship,that all peoples, nations, and languages    should serve him.His dominion is an everlasting dominion    that shall not pass away,and his kingship is one    that shall never b...