Persecution Adaptation

You might think Satan wanted to completely change the church to denounce Christ, but his true strategy was to make the church adapt its confession to fit into the Roman Empire's laws concerning official worship and acceptance. Without official acceptance the church was in a legal position to be persecuted to death.

As Nero and the Emperors following persecuted and killed thousands throughout the empire, elements within the Church chose to make changes to seek official acceptance.

An interesting verse in the Majority Text shows that God's people would be deceived to build an image to the Beast.

An image is simply a likeness. The Church would change to match the Roman Empire. The Beast being Rome with its mystery Religions. There were already Jews and Christians being swayed through the miracles and the general need to escape persecution, so that they adopted the doctrines of paganism and mixed them with Christianity.

Rev 13:14 And he deceives my own people who dwell on the earth by the signs which were given to him to do before the Beast, saying to those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound--and came to life! -from the sword.

Signs were not necessarily miracles, a sign could be a use of scripture to uphold a doctrine. As in Isaiah, "I give you a sign, "a virgin shall conceive", thus fulfillment of prophecy is used as a sign. A false use of prophecy is a false sign. Thus performing miracles and using scripture dishonestly could easily change the minds of the simple.

Nero did not work miracles, but Vespasian and Titus were both known to work miracles. Both were considered the deliverer of Israel as they conquered the temple in AD 70. Vespasian even spent time in Egypt as Christ had. The conquering of Israel was used as a sign. Other events were seen as signs.

Since Vespasian, the mystery religions worked miracles, up until our day where the Catholics perform miracles in Madjagore and Mexico, and parts of the U.S.

Vespasian also used propaganda ministers such as Josephus, who believed in Vespasian and his miracles, who wrote of the Roman-Jewish wars to uphold Vespasian was a Christ figure.

Dan 11:30 For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.

Almost all of Josephus's writings were propaganda, in a sense being a source of intelligence to undermine Christianity. Such as defining the word psallo to mean play an instrument, to show worship was acceptable if you followed methods of Paganism. But the way of the Pagan wasn't necessarily of God.

Job understood pagan worship wasn't God's will, but Josephus used a false sign to uphold it.

Job 21:7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power?

Job 21:8 Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes.

Job 21:9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.

Job 21:10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.

Job 21:11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.

Job 21:12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.

Job 21:13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.

Even to this day Josephus is quoted concerning the word psallo to bring music into worship, most churches today being influenced by Satan's propaganda minister.

In Rome many religions were accepted if they met certain requirements.

1. The religion had to be old and not new.

2. The religion could not openly disrupt other accepted religions.

3 The religion could not debate accepted doctrines of the religions then accepted.

To avoid persecution the church had to adapt and visibly become an image of the other religions.

• • Accepting the diocese division of authority under Clement.

  • Proving it went back to the oldest religion and prophecies.

  • Accepting Infant washing which was practiced throughout the pagan empire.

  • Acceptance of an enhanced "Works of Righteousness" vs Works of Faith" based justification.

  • Openly speaking of the mystery religions in a positive way.

The church had to show Rome that it met its requirements to fit into the empire and be included with the other religions. The church did not initially have the option of marketing itself as the one true religion without being persecuted.

The shell of the deceivers in Romans 16 were willing to make this compromise, they may have even believed the church was just one of the many true religions.

Clement's letter to Corinth protracted many of the legal requirement's Rome demanded.

• • The Church came from the earliest history of Creation, Babel, and Abraham; as did the mystery religions. He stated we came from the same faith as earlier times.

  • Clement expressed approval of the diocese, the pagan method of religious division.

  • Clement used an example of Resurrection from the Sun God temple in Egypt, quoting the Phoenix story.

Clement was aware of Rome's demands and seems to have structured his words accordingly. He did not completely compromise, but he did take some initial steps.

By the time next generation Christians were born his comprimises were just normal religion to them. Not all changes were made yet but adaptation had begun.

Adaptation did give some reprieve, it did not lead to official acceptance until Constantine. The church had become known as the current embodiment of all the other religions. The church had been changed into the image of Paganism, only with a Christian title..