Van Robison: The Quest for Answers that Never Ends

The Quest for Answers that Never Ends

I think for those of us who seek answers, the journey is life long.  It will not cease even in death, because others will still be seeking when we are laid to rest.  In this life we will never come to some final conclusion about life and its many complexities.  We may think that we have "arrived", but that is self-deception.  We are not God and our limited human thinking will never stand against the timelessness of eternity.  No matter what we think, it is most likely a very narrow view when seen against the knowledge of the vastness of eternity.

In life there are those who "think" much more than many others.  It therefore becomes a responsibility for the "thinkers" to influence others to also "think" and not to assume that human personalities that are more dominate have the answers or "truth" to the issues of human life.  There is no doubt that strong personalities will dominate over the more docile among human beings.  I suppose that is why the many who think they are "pastors" are in that situation.    It seems to be very human to just roll over and allow the dominate to control and this is what dogs do.    "Pastors" assume the role of the alpha male or alpha female, as in the animal world and control those whom come under their false and fake authority.

The weak in mind submit to those who assume position and power over the weak.  Unless the weak in mind somehow come to their senses, they will be controlled for life.  This is a very common reality among humans in life on earth.  This is the reason why some church groups have hundreds, thousands or millions of weak minded followers.    The weak in mind are not thinkers, they are followers and clones of their leaders.  There is a difference in following Jesus Christ however, because Jesus Christ was NOT a religious cult.    Herbert W. Armstrong was a religious cult, as are many other church groups in the world.    It is next to impossible to convince a religious clone that he or she has been religiously cloned.    From their perspective, anyone who challenges their belief system is "persecuting" them or at the least is off the deep end of "truth."

The sad situation about all "Bible" colleges or religious schools is that the young people, who are the most vulnerable, are the victims of religious programming and are caught in the web of deception that impacts their lives dramatically.  In reality it is religious or spiritual abuse.  Bible schools are NOT really about Jesus Christ, they are about indoctrination and religious programming to etch in the minds of young gullible and naive students the religious propaganda of the particular school they are associated with.    Ambassador College was no exception.    The "Bible" correspondence course of the Worldwide Church of God/Ambassador College was the means of mass religious indoctrination into the particular cult beliefs of Herbert W. Armstrong.

Many of us seek answers and even when we may think we have arrived at some final conclusion, it is just a mirage.  We are all just one speck of sand upon the seashore of human life and we will end life having so much to learn, that we will enter into our grave as kindergarten students, never having "arrived" at the answers to the mysteries of human life.  All we have are personal opinions.


Van Robiosn

Van Robison on "The Religious Seduction of the Innocent"

The Religious Seduction of the Innocent

Humans have been religiously seduced for thousands of years.  In our day and age, many have been religiously seduced by the Worldwide Church of God and its religious splinter groups, who all seek disciples that they can indoctrinate.    It is not really about "truth", but rather it is about lordship over those who are gullible enough to financially support these self-appointed men and church groups, who espouse that they are the "true" church of God on earth.  I marvel at the television preachers who must spend a fortune on television exposure to mouth their particular spiel and quite often that if you want "prosperity", then sow a seed and send a donation of such and such an amount of money and be "blessed."  Pure nonsense!  But of course the old ladies and old men on social security, along with the gullible and naive send money.  Somebody must be sending money, otherwise why are they still on the air?  Mike Murdock is one among many such deceivers and if you watch him, if you can "think" you know that he is a complete fraud.  Many of these clowns are wealthy, live in million dollar homes, fly around the world in private jets and live in luxury at the expense of the utter gullibility of those who send cash.

Putting forth an air of "sincerity" deceives many.  Trinity broadcasting and others use music to whip people into a frenzy.  Virtually every time there is a promotion to collect funds from the television viewers, music, dancing, and emotional hype is the tool to psychologically whip people into a state of "giving money."  We see this over and over and over on religious television programming.  We also see clown shows such as sending for your vial of "Holy" water so that you can be "healed."    The simple minded apparently must be supporting these people, otherwise they would all dry up and disappear from public view.

None of us have the answer as to how to rescue those who are captive to the ridiculous splinter groups of the Worldwide Church of God, anymore than people have the answers as to how to see people set free from the
Mormon Church, the Jehovah Witnesses or a multitude of other groups that have taken many captive.  It is not that the people who have been swallowed up into these groups are bad people, they are actually innocent
human beings who have been hoodwinked and they just don't know it.  Cults are prisons of the mind.  It is a sad situation and when our own loved ones are caught in any of these man-made religious webs, we suffer
mentally for them.  Many will live their entire life caught in the religious web and exit life on earth never having known that they were prisoners to religious deception.  Some will struggle free and others will not.

I can well remember years ago when one of the Ambassador College students left the college and the church and those of us who were still captive, thought this individual had gone off the "deep end."  Perhaps he was
really ahead of his time and cut a path for others to follow into religious freedom.  Some time later, many others actually did follow and took an exit.  FEAR is the common reason that enslaves multitudes of human beings to religious groups.  The FEAR of the loss of salvation is a tool used by religious frauds who use the name of Jesus Christ or God.  If you really believe that God is LOVE, then why would you "fear" Him?  People need to be taught to question, to think, to prove, to even doubt so that they will pursue knowledge and understanding outside of the box they have been living in.

Why not question the validity of the Bible?  Is it wrong to question?  Is it wrong to prove all things?  Is it wrong to stop trusting pied pipers in the pulpits and seek understanding for yourself?  Is it wrong to think for yourself? Is it somehow against God to ask questions that most people never ask?  Must what you think and believe come from some "pastor" or "elder" who does your thinking?  Must you believe that INK on PAPER is actually God "inspired?"  Why think that?  Have you been told so many times that what you believe is "true" that that is the real reason you believe what you do?  What if there are actually alternatives to how you think?  Should they be considered or even entertained?  Why not?

The world is drowning in innocent human beings who have been religiously seduced.


Van Robison

Van Robison on "Are You Offended Because Many Challenge the Validity of the Bible?"

Are You Offended Because Many Challenge the Validity of the Bible?

Searching for answers does not mean that one must automatically accept that the entire Bible is pure truth.  Nor does it mean that everything in the Bible is fiction.  Some don't like what they call "cherry picking", but who reads a newspaper and believes that everything in it is true, or that it is without bias?  It is very true that none of us would believe in Jesus Christ without the four Gospels and what we read about the life of Christ.  It has been passed down from that time forward.    We can either believe that Jesus Christ in fact is real and did exist or alternatively we can choose to not believe.  Either way, Jesus Christ has never appeared to any of us in a physical and visible form and spoken with us, so then all belief in Jesus is strictly based upon FAITH.  It is more than obvious that there would be no faith in Jesus without the Bible.  Still that does not make everything penned in the Bible---truth, as apologists want everyone to believe.

For those who want to believe that the Bible is 100% total truth, you have to admit that you only believe that based upon "faith" and not because you can prove it.  Many attempt to prove the Bible is infallible and inerrant, but it is impossible to do so.  Quoting from the Bible itself is not proof that it proves itself, simply because any human writer throughout history with pen in hand could write "thus saith the Lord" or any type of similar saying and then proceed to pen anything they wished to that phrase in an attempt to cause the readers to believe that God was the author, when He was not.  Like anyone I also quote from the Bible.  If faith in Jesus Christ hinges totally upon the belief that everything in the Bible from cover to cover is absolute truth, then it seems to me that those who think that way, do not really place faith in Christ, but in INK on PAPER.

There are two books in the Old Testament that do not so much as mention God and yet we are suppose to believe that these two accounts are "inspired" by God?  As with everything else, I have read how Bible apologists defend this issue, but it does not hold water.  The word "Easter" is found in the New Testament and it is a very obvious and flagrant insertion and not based upon the real meaning of the word from the original.  Should we deny Jesus Christ because even one word in the Bible is found to be a complete fraud?  The idea that you "cannot" believe in Jesus Christ "unless" you accept that the entire Bible is the infallible and inerrant word of God, is simply not reality.  I for one do believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and at the same time I discount that many things in the Bible are inspired by God.  What is the real reason people are offended by those who question the validity of the Bible in many parts of it?

Some sources have published entire books about the origin of the Bible and as with all other issues in human life, there are disagreements and differences of opinion.  On one side there are those who publish books in
defense of the "inspiration" of the Bible and then there are those who publish books dealing with many of the issues in the Bible and challenging what is said.  Often times it is the Bible apologists who attack the person
rather than confronting the subject matter and issues.  So when those who challenge subjects in the Bible such as who really authored the first five books of the Old Testament, the worldwide flood and Noah's ark and many other issues, the authors are often slandered.

Is it possible to confront facts, rather than to deal with issues on an emotional level?  We see the identical tug-of-war with "Biblical" archaeology.  On one side, there are those who publish their "findings" and assert that they have positive proof that the Old Testament is valid history and there are those who publish books detailing that archaeology proves that O.T. history has been greatly distorted as to what truth really is.  So who do you believe? Each side cast stones at the other.  I am not sure that it is even humanly possible to not have preconceived bias.

I am not sure what the issue is with Bible apologists, because it is not sufficient that one believes in Jesus Christ, unless one also accepts that the Bible is the total word of God.  Why is that?  Again, of course no one would believe in Jesus Christ without the Bible, but must we believe that it is totally true in every detail?  I wonder why Jesus Christ taught to BEWARE of false prophets and teachers, unless such people put words in the mouth of God that are not true, and Jesus knew it.  Is what is called "the Bible" an exception to potential deception?  I wonder why Jeremiah in the Old Testament spoke about LYING SCRIBES, false prophets, false pastors and false teachers?  How much of what we read in the Bible came from such sources?  So we read that "all scripture is given by inspiration of God" and yet we have no clue exactly what that "all scripture" is, that is supposed to be inspired by God.  The writers and those who compiled the many different writings into one volume and called it "the Bible", could just as easily have inserted many other works or deleted from some texts they included and they would still call it the "Holy" Bible and people would believe it.

I seriously doubt that God Almighty sat down at His desk, penned the Bible in His own hand writing and then sent it to earth by Fed-Ex or Ups.  Did He really dictate word for word what we read, to those who penned it?  I would suggest that if anyone believes in Jesus Christ, while doubting Bible infallibility, then that is OK.    In fact if one wants to be an atheist, that is their decision.  No one but God Himself really knows all truth and I have no doubt that there is no human being who ever lived, apart from Jesus Christ who understood then or now what all truth is.  Casting stones never serves a good purpose.  Jesus even stated once, that he that is without sin, let him be the first to cast a stone (talking about the woman taken in an adultery).

To proclaim that if one does not believe the Bible from cover to cover is totally inspired by God, misses the point that Jesus Christ never taught such a belief.  In fact Jesus Christ never mentioned a book called the New Testament, which was penned many years after the life of Christ, nor did Jesus mention the name of a man called the "apostle" Paul, or speak of a book called the book of "Revelation."  We all have an emotional attachment to what we want to believe.


Van Robison

Van Robison on: "Making Sense of Human Life"

Making Sense of Human Life

The Worldwide Church of God experience for many of us was a profound time in our lives.  We were innocent human beings who believed that we were seeking "truth" and had found it.  After a period of time, we could see that there were reasons to doubt that we had really stumbled upon spiritual truth.  In a sense we feel that we were raped (spiritually).  Even very intelligent human beings can be hoodwinked.  Some years ago, my own son that I love dearly was caught up in the Jehovah Witnesses and he and I went around and around with some very heated debates and I offended his senses.  My son is a very intelligent man who is in management of a multi-million dollar company and his position pays him a salary that would be the envy of most human beings.  What it proves is that even very intelligent human beings can be caught off guard and be swept up in religious foolishness.

Fortunately, I succeeded in persuading my son that his affiliation with this cult religious group was not something he wanted to be involved with.  That was years ago and he was set free from bondage to this stupid religion. Without question he will never again be caught up in religious nonsense.

There is something deep in our human souls about being taken advantage of by religious hustlers, even if they were sincere about their deceptions.  Ultimately human beings have been trying to make sense of human life for thousands of years.  No matter our personal position in what we think is truth, it is for sure that we will all exit life on earth.  You would think that common sense would dictate that life should be lived for positive and constructive purpose, while we have these few short years to live.  Should we live to be seventy, eighty, ninety or even one-hundred and beyond, in terms of eternity it is just a blinking of the eye.  What then is the purpose of life?  I suppose the answer will vary with the individual.

None of us have a clue as to what really happens beyond the grave, although many have experienced "out-of-body" experiences that are to my thinking not to be dismissed.  There is another dimension.  We are not God and we will all perish.  Those of us who have children and grandchildren know beyond doubt that it is sad to even contemplate death and that the void when anyone dies, is a void that can never ever be replaced.  There is simply nothing on earth or in the universe that can replace my sons, my daughters, my grandchildren or my wife or loved ones.  It is impossible.  Is there a lesson in human existence that we all yearn to understand?

Why is God silent?  Why does He not communicate with us on a level that we can see Him, converse with Him and know beyond doubt what this life is all about?  Men have been asking questions like this since the beginning of time no doubt.  Who can understand human suffering?  Does any human being exist who does not know suffering?  Who doesn't want utopia, paradise and happiness forever?  We live in a world of seeming madness.  The endless wars of death and destruction of countless millions of human beings never ceases and why?  Are those who rule really even human beings?  The United States has military bases all over the world and what for?  World dominion? So a hand full of human beings gain control of the entire planet and all its resources and control all the people---then what?  All the rulers will end their lives in the graveyard the same as all others.

Are we missing something in life?  Religions and governments of men are obviously both control freaks.  They both assume the position of being God to all human beings on earth.  "Its the law" is the biggest excuse man ever invented for control.  I don't doubt that God Almighty exists, but I also am flabbergasted that there are more questions about life than there are answers.  Rest assured the Worldwide Church of God and its many deformed and mentally paralyzed daughters, have no more clue, than do all the other religious groups on earth.  Humans will battle mentally forever over issues of religion.  We all know that ALL the leaders of ALL the splinter groups of the Worldwide Church of God, will ALL vanish from life on earth and it is just a matter of time.  Everything changes in time.  Good bye Rod Meridith, Gerald Flurry and so forth.  They will ALL meet up with Herbert and Garner Ted.

What then is the real purpose of human life?


Van Robison

Van Robison on: "RETHINKING THE BIBLE"

RETHINKING THE BIBLE

Like millions of others, I too believed the Bible was infallible and inerrant for many years of my life.  I have read the Bible from cover to cover, more than once and studied portions of it many times.  Based upon certain verses in the Bible, we have all been led to believe that it is all inspired by God.  Perhaps part of the reason for that belief is that even Jesus Christ made reference to certain individuals in the Old Testament.  In life I have learned to question and that to automatically assume something is true, is a sure ticket to deception.  Bible infallibility is actually a form of CENSORSHIP, which means to Bible apologists that it cannot be questioned, because to question the Bible is to question God.  Not so!

Strangely, even in the New Testament the reader is told to "prove all things" and "try the spirits whether they be of God."  The things Jesus Christ taught during His human life time, were jaw-dropping.  Jesus Christ was is in fact the most renowned whistleblower the world has ever known and His impact upon human beings is monumental.  We read that Jesus came to SET THE CAPTIVES FREE.  Jesus also DEMOLISHED man-made religion as recorded in Matthew 23, which is worthy of being read and thought about by all church goers.  Jesus was profound.  Jesus offended the religious rulers and the religious elite.  I would even suggest that should Jesus Christ walk our streets today, He would bypass the "pastors", the "senior pastors", the "bishops", the "elders", the "reverends", the mega-church leaders, those with titles such as "Dr. Pastor", the "scholars", those with "masters" degrees in theology, those with "doctorate" degrees in theology and so forth and once again hand-pick "uneducated fishermen", or perhaps farmers or housewives as disciples (people with common sense).

Jesus Christ bucked the religious status-quo.  Jesus and His disciples picked corn and ate it on the Sabbath Day.  Jesus healed the sick on the Sabbath day.  Jesus proved that man-made religion is just that---man-made.  Jesus did not wash His hands before He ate, which was an offense to the legalists.  In our world today, we also have the legalists, not only in the original Worldwide Church of God and its many daughters, but the world is overrun with religious legalists in many different groups.  Going to church itself is a form of legalism.  What does it really have to do with salvation or eternal life?  Sure Jesus entered the synagogue, but not to learn truth, but to enlighten those who lived in darkness.

The church world is Bible obsessed.  They think life on earth revolves around Bible study.  It does NOT!  Life really revolves around LOVE (at least it should), and God is LOVE.  How is God love in the face of tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes and "natural" disasters?  What about endless wars of death and destruction?  The issue is that God created human life and we all suffer because of the decisions humans make in life.  Most of us are not responsible for the heinous wars of mankind, but many suffer because of them.  Why does God not intervene and stop them?  I have asked that question a million times and the only conclusion I have is that we have to learn from living, but that does not make God responsible for insane wars.  As to natural disasters, I have no answer, but I do not assign evil to God.  Who does not have questions with no valid answers?

The Bible in my opinion is a great deal of fiction, myth, legend and human fabrication.  That of course offends the senses of many.  I can receive the fact that there are some good teachings in the Bible, especially the words attributed to Jesus Christ, such as about love, compassion, mercy, empathy and humility but that does not cause me to believe that everything in the Bible is fact or truth.  I have no idea how the New Testament was penned, even though I have read that it was penned many years AFTER the life of Jesus Christ.  Was Jesus Christ quoted "verbatim?"  How does anyone know?  Truth is---they don't know!  For many it seems that their faith in Jesus depends entirely upon the false belief that "the Bible is infallible and inerrant."

The Old Testament and the book of "Revelation" both defy the teachings of Jesus Christ and are cause to seriously doubt inspiration.  Just because one verse says "all scripture is given by inspiration of God", does not make what is called the Bible, the word of God.  In the end of the book of "Revelation" we read that anyone who tampers with "Revelation" will suffer the consequence.  That is an obvious attempt at CENSORSHIP and I would suggest that the real author of this novel and fiction had an ulterior motive.  Throughout history men have always put words in the mouth of God that God never spoke and attributed events to God that God is not responsible for.  The gullible and naive "think" God authored the Bible, for no other reason that they read "all scripture is given by inspiration of God", and the hard fact is that ANYONE with pen in hand could pen such words and attach anything to those words they wish, causing the reader to believe that God did it, when He did not.

Anyone who digs deep will learn that there are mountains of information about the Bible, that will overturn what millions have believed about it.  There is an avalanche of knowledge about the Bible that will no doubt change the course of how human beings see the Bible in the years to come.    In my personal convictions, that does not cause me to be an atheist or cause me to doubt Jesus Christ.  In fact, without Jesus Christ there is NO LIGHT in the world.  Naturally I read that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, but also the Living Waters, the Bread of Life, the Manna from Heaven, the Light of the World, the Vine, the Door, the Resurrection, the Good Shepherd and the ONLY Master from the Bible and I accept that.  What other hope is there?  NONE!

Is what is called "the Bible" really a man-made idol?  Do many worship "the Bible?"  Of course they say they do not, but I believe they do.  The Bible is really just INK on PAPER.  It is not God and God is not the Bible.  God is a Spirit Being, He is not INK on PAPER.


Van Robison

Van Robison on "Is the Bible a Ball and Chain?"

Is the Bible a Ball and Chain?

Millions have been in bondage to INK on PAPER, called "the Bible" for a very long time. Is the Bible a ball and chain upon the lives of those who think God sent it from heaven to mankind?   Those who stand in pulpits will obviously answer no, because it is their excuse to dominate and control their personal followers.   No one could say that the Bible has no value at all, or at least if they do they overlook the fact that there are some good points found in this collection of writings compiled into one volume.   Certainly it is not bad to believe that loving your neighbor is a good thing, or that being meek is a bad thing, or that being a

peacemaker has no merit.   We even read to "prove all things", which is sage advice.

On the other hand there is a great deal about the Bible that is a ball and chain upon the lives of an innumerable multitude of human beings, including those associated with the Worldwide Church of God and its many clones.   Having read the Bible a great deal in years past, I conclude that it is not necessary to read the Bible everyday or have Bible studies endlessly for life.  Far more important is simply to live, love, be kind, do good things and enjoy your life while you have it and teach your children to THINK and never stop asking questions.   When you listen to PIED PIPERS IN THE PULPITS, the bottom line is that they think they have a right to do your thinking for you and a free pass to your bank account (at least 10% of it and exceptions for more).

The Bible is a great excuse for abuse of multitudes of human beings, who have been hoodwinked into thinking that religious leaders understand something about God, that common people have no access to.   I get sick and tired of seeing preachers on television standing with the Bible in their hands, quoting verses and treating people as if they are so brainless that they must be bottle fed their daily dose of preachers

sermons.   If people had any sense they would all run for the exit doors and never again financially support these self-appointed gods and mind-control preachers.  After all how many times does a human being need to be told something they have heard 10,000 times before?

Lets face it, every "pastor" preaches that which is right in his own thinking.  Never mind that God gave all human beings a brain and that for those who still believe in God, no "pastor" on earth is the funnel through which others must travel to have a relationship with their Creator.   Pastors and churches all take captives and their "authority" for doing so is the ball and chain called "the Bible."  Of course that Bible is interpreted in so many different ways that it is comical to an outside observer.   I once sent an email to a "Christian" organization stating that much of the Bible portrays God in the most barbaric manner and attributes to Him, horrors, atrocities and genocide that no thinking human being, would ever believe defines the true character or nature of God.  His reply was that he was shocked and was going to right this minute pray for me.   Many Bible readers never entertain, that maybe, just maybe, some of this stuff is myth, fiction, legend and penned by LYING SCRIBES and control freaks.   Apparently Jesus Himself thought so, because He denounced their man-made religion in His famous speech at Matthew 23, which someone seems to have remembered and penned years later.

As the years pass, there are so many voices that are ripping the Bible to shreds that I doubt that it will be the "infallible and inerrant" word of God for another two-thousand years.   Does it have any value at all?  In my thinking yes it does, but like a newspaper one reads, who would believe that everything in it is the unvarnished truth?  Like "news" on television, only the gullible and naive would believe that the news media is a source that is founded upon nothing but truth.  In fact television, movies, newspapers, magazines, books and even the Internet are all sources of major and massive propaganda.   Just because something is said to be ancient (scrolls for example), does not make them infallible and inerrant truth.

Humans have always been liars with ulterior motives.  To accept without question the Bible as total truth is simply childish.  I seriously doubt that God reads the Bible everyday or sits in a pew listening to preachers.  When Jesus went into the synagogues, it was not to learn truth, but to enlighten those who lived in darkness.

Van Robison

Van Robison on "Biblical" Archaeology

"Biblical" Archaeology

I am not sure that it is humanly possible to not have bias.  Archaeology is a field in which there are obvious highly emotional and intense feelings about the past.  I know that at one time Ambassador College was involved in a Archaeology dig in the Middle East.  Ambassador College or perhaps the Worldwide Church of God spent a considerable amount of money to shovel dirt according to "The Painful Truth, Ambassador Report,  Ambassador College's Participation in Jerusalem Dig Ends."

I seriously doubt that "evidence" unearthed really validates much of the "Old" Testament as many proclaim.  Naturally there is a vested interest in archaeology and it not only applies to the Middle East, but other areas around the world as well.  Everyone with a vested interest is naturally going to "validate" their cherished beliefs through ancient writings, archaeology or by whatever means.  On the other hand there is always that other point of view, such as that of Thomas L. Thompson and his book "The Mythic Past: Biblical Archaeology and the Myth of Israel."  In "World Ages Archive.com",  Daniel Lazare (Harper's Magazine, March 2002) penned "False Testament: Archaeology Refutes the Bible's Claim to History."

Those who write articles or books and make claims such as Thomas L. Thompson and Daniel Lazare (and there are many more), are always ripped to shreds.  Voices on both sides of an issue have their reasons for
what they believe is "truth."  On the other side of the coin are people like William F. Albright who is supposedly an "expert" on Biblical archaeology.  William F. Albright is also taken to task by those who oppose his conclusions found in dirt and his methods by which he comes to his conclusions.  I have the personal sense that some people find "evidence" for "Old" (cobwebs and all) Testament validation in every shovel full of dirt they turn over.

It is said that FAKE "Biblical" relics have been produced and have found their way into museums around the world and of course at great $expense to the "history" museums.  So a court says the relics are "valid", but does that make them really valid?  What if the court also has a vested interest?  Then what?  Should we believe just because someone says something is "true?"  I think those of us who have learned the hard way that voices who say something is "true" according to what they say is "true", have learned from experience, that there is valid reason to doubt and to question and never assume something is "true" just because someone says it is.

When we read that "archaeology proves Old Testament history is true", does that then make it so?  In regard to the flood of Noah, there are voices that make the assertion that the worldwide flood is "true" and on the other hand there are voices, which to my thinking are much more believable, that say the worldwide flood never happened and the "ark" of Noah is pure myth.  In our modern world there are innumerable authors who write FICTION and their books are found in book stores the world over.  There are also movie producers who manufacture fictional moves such as "Star Wars" and so what makes ancient writers all authors of "true history" as opposed to fictional stories?

Are we really to believe that a young man with a sling and a stone, killed a giant called "Goliath", while all the highly trained military men cowered in fear?  Who would really believe that in the modern world, a non-military man could possibly come to the forefront of the military and be a champion?  It would not be possible.  Who would believe that because a man called Sampson had long hair, that was the source of his strength and when he was seduced by a woman who cut his hair, his supernatural strength vanished?  Of course the "Old" Testament is overrun with such stories, that are more like "Little Red Riding Hood" and "The Three Little Pigs" that we all know are fairy tales.  Why do millions believe these stories as if God was the author?  Is the reality that men have created God in their own fictional stories?

Some people never learn.  Even in the courts of "law" there have many who were innocent and yet suffered, because the courts said they were "guilty."  We all lean toward what we want to believe and we may or may not be right.  Yet still, it is better to question and never take for granted that something is true, just because someone or voices say something is true.  All ex-Worldwide Church of God people know beyond doubt that they were deceived and so from that experience. why should anyone believe that "archaeology proves the O.T. is true?"  Anyone with a vested interest will always make assertions that may have fatal flaws.  Personally I doubt that anyone knows where the tomb of Jesus was or is.  I doubt that anyone really knows the absolute truth about the many questions regarding the pyramids.  Tourism brings a great deal of $money into the pockets of those who promote "sacred" places.


Van Robison

Van Robison On "The Real Purpose of Churches"

The Real Purpose of Churches

There is no "pastor" who identifies himself or herself with that label, who does not seek personal followers.  Some "pastors" are very successful at gathering a great crowd of people at their feet.  We live in the age of the mega-church and there are many of them.  Herbert W. Armstrong was among those who amassed a considerable number of human sheep.  The front put forth to the world and the public is always the same, which is to "preach the Gospel" to the world.  Without personal followers no "pastor" (unless independently wealthy), could ever build a church building, a "Christian" school, a "Christian" college or fund ministerial homes, luxuries, jet airplanes, trips around the world, glossy magazines and so forth.

Although always hotly denied the real basis for churchianity is money.  Most likely the world of churches will never disappear from life on earth.  Most all parents will forever teach their children to believe as they do in
regard to religious beliefs and so the many belief systems perpetuate endlessly.  The Mormon Church has staggering wealth, as does the Roman Catholic Church.  The Worldwide Church of God during the life time of Herbert W. Armstrong, although nothing to sneeze at in terms of their bank vault, paled into insignificance compared to the Mormon and Catholic churches and even the Jehovah Witnesses.  The Southern Baptist Conference and other groups are also vast religious empires.  In fact the combined wealth of all the churches together is nothing short of countless billions in assets and revenues.  Was God/Jesus Christ ever really just a business enterprise?  Apparently those who founded churchianity think so, as do those who perpetuate this vast money making industry.

Why do men and women aspire to wanting to be "ordained?"  In my opinion it is because of human vanity.  People love to be thought of as being "important", "special", "above others" and "gifted" more than "common" people. I have a friend I have known for many years, who was "ordained" and although he has no following or church, he refers to himself as "Reverend _____."  He has learned that by using the term "reverend", he often receives favors from other people, who deem him as "special."  It is sheer vanity and fraud on his part, and in my opinion borders on blasphemy.  My sister-in-law and my brother-in-law use to attend a very large Baptist Church in a major city and when the older "Senior Pastor", retired, they imported another preacher from clear across the country.  The new "pastor" was so vain and haughty that our in-laws, took an exit.  The man was intolerable.  Young people often run off to "Bible College" thinking they want to "serve" others, and what it really turns out to be is that they become self-serving, at the expense of the tithe payers.

Many churches now have "Youth Pastors", "Children's Pastors", "Music or Worship Pastors" and every type of "pastor" coming and going that are supposed to serve the "needs" of others.  When my two daughters were teenagers, long ago they were bossed around by the youth pastor of the church we attended, and I had a few choice words with this man, that my children were not his property and that he was not their parent.  When the "Christian" school my daughters attended, gave the students so much home work that they had to stay up until midnight or later with "homework", I knew then that we were being robbed of our own family time and so we pulled our daughters out and home schooled them.  Many churches think they are God to those who attend and to their children.

I can't really say that everything about church life is totally bad and that is because human beings are social creatures and they are able to have good times, in spite of the control and financial drain upon their pocket books.  I can remember we use to have volleyball teams at Ambassador College and as employees we had great fun playing that sport.  We attended concerts, had beach outings, campouts and did some fun things.  We had some good friends and many good times at Shakey's Pizza, which included a crowd of our people, guzzling mugs of beer.  We all learned from those experiences.  Some of us simply could not endure the authoritarian hierarchy, the "God-status" of the self-appointed "pastor-kings" or their endless rants and so took an out, never to return.

I still know people that I went to church with many years ago, who still dutifully attend church services every weekend, pay their tithes and seem to be clueless.  Some of us just don't understand how these people think.  Every pastor of every church will defend himself and his church tenaciously.  I have no doubt that many pastors are very sincere and zealous about their beliefs, but sincerity and zeal does not necessarily spell "truth."  People can be sincerely wrong.  For many church goers, those of us who use to attend and now do not, seem to have "spiritual leprosy."  Not all church goers have the same attitude, because some will be friendly and ask no questions, while others treat you as if you have a contagious disease.  I have even found that atheists are generally thinkers, where the clueless sheeplike church attenders are not.  I have read a great deal from atheists and believe there are many legitimate issues.  Some atheists are friendly and likeable and some are hostile and drive people away.  I have no problem having friendship with people who present themselves with a humble attitude, no matter what they believe. I have a friend who grew up in India, although lives in Canada and he is Caucasian and he leans toward Buddhism.  We have some things in common aside from religious beliefs.

Churches will always deny that they exist as business enterprises for the purpose of money, but men have always loved control and power over their fellow human beings, and like all human governments, churches are tools of control and free money.    Churches treat their members as if they are nursing infants and must be bottle fed for life.  Those who sit in pews are insulted as if they are mere spiritual children and must be taught what to think and what to do and what to believe, because without their human "Pastor-God", they cannot function.

Is there an optional way to live and learn without being dominated by men and women who stand in pulpits and think they have a "right" to your pocketbook?


Van Robison

Van Robison on "Thinking About Life"

Thinking About Life

I confess that there are so many issues about life on earth that make no sense, that it leaves me frustrated.  Sure, for those of us who experienced years of the Worldwide Church of God, we learned what truth is not.
We know that religious hierarchy stinks.  We know that men who stand in pulpits and pretend to represent God are far off base.  We know that tithing is a very false doctrine.  We know that many have made prophecies about the future and were very wrong.  We have learned that charismatic personalities can often persuade the gullible and naive.  We have learned that FEAR and GUILT are tools of control.  We have learned that the Bible is NOT infallible and inerrant, and that it is interpreted in as many different ways as there are specks of sand upon the seashores.  We have learned that anyone can potentially be caught up in cult groups and man-made religious beliefs.

Beyond all that, when we read that "they shall lay hands upon the sick and they shall recover", it does not always happen and even in most cases does not.  I have yet to see a paralyzed human being healed instantaneously, or a paraplegic restored and I have prayed for both categories of such people.  I have been in a nursing home where some human beings are nothing more than physical and or mental vegetables, and all the prayers never had any result that was positive.  I have been to two Benny Hinn "Healing Crusades" and have witnessed first hand the emotional impact such events have upon thousands of human beings in attendance.  I have read many books by the most famous "healing evangelists" or preachers known to man, such as Kathryn Kuhlman, Smith Wigglesworth, Oral Roberts, John G. Lake and others.  I even attended an Oral Roberts "healing crusade" in Amarillo, Texas as a young child and was overwhelmed with what I saw and experienced.

Once, some years ago my wife and I traveled to a church to hear a man who proclaimed that he had "raised" something like 14-people from the "dead" in Mexico, in his personal ministry and over a period of years.  During his talk, we were all spell-bound with what he had to say, and during the service, in through the doors came a family rolling a man in serious condition (Lou Gehrig's Disease, as we learned) on a hospital bed.  Naturally we expected a "miracle", because after all, here was the man standing in the pulpit who "raised people from the dead."  After the service, the guest minister was ushered over to the bedside of this man who was at death's door, and nothing happened.  The sick man went out the same way he came in.  Our disappointment was deep.

Once, my wife and I attended a service at a church where the guest speaker and his wife, had a "healing" ministry, where people supposedly had their teeth filled with "gold" where their cavities were.  The guest minister asked that anyone who wanted gold fillings to come forward, and a friend of mine and myself, along with others went forward.  The "minister" looked in our mouths with a flashlight and literally said "I see nothing but gold."  In our gullibility of course we thought that our fillings had been turned to gold.  When we went home and looked in the mirror, there was no gold.  Naturally our disappointment was enormous and such an experience only added to our loss of faith and confidence in the clergy class of people.

In my personal life, I have experienced church beyond the Worldwide Church of God.  My personal church life includes charismatic, pentecostal, baptist and other groups and even including what is called "house church", which is not controlled by any church organization.  In many organized churches they have what is called "cell groups", which I have also been a part of in years past.  Ultimately my wife and I came to the conclusion that 100% of all organized churches are man-made institutions and having nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus Christ.  Admittedly Jesus Christ has NEVER approached me personally, in a visible and physical form and spoken to me, so much as one word and yet I still believe in Jesus Christ.

In spite of all the negative church experiences, Jesus makes sense to my reason.  I will never embrace atheism.  I concede that what is called the "Bible" is full of myth, legend, human fabrication and yet it is astonishingly the most read "book" in the world, and argued over more than any other writings in human experience.  In fact the "Holy" books of the major religions of the world are to my thinking the reason for so many problems in human life.

Indeed God is a mystery and I have never found a satisfactory answer to human suffering.  I have never known anyone who has not suffered in human life.  Suffering is both physical and mental and life is overwhelming at times.  Who can comprehend why there are tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and what we all call "natural" disasters?  Who can comprehend why humans can be so intelligent and genius and at the same time so stupid as to be idiots, which to my thinking is what all wars are---insane?  Why can't life be for positive and constructive purposes instead of idiot and never ending wars of death and destruction?  Why sickness and disease and mental anguish and torment?

The only conclusion that I have been able to come to is that "the wisdom of God is greater than the lack of understanding of human beings."  As far as what happens after the death of the body, no one has a clue, other than what we all read in ink on paper, which is nothing more than human say so.  Atheism offers no hope.  If there were no hope of life beyond the physical human realm, then human life is to my thinking without meaning and purpose.  What makes sense about Jesus to my reason is that He taught "love your neighbor as you love yourself", "do unto others as you would have them do unto you", "blessed are the peacemakers", "blessed are the meek" and so forth.  In essence what Jesus taught in one word is LOVE.  Anything attributed to Jesus that would appear to contradict Himself, makes no sense and to me is very questionable as to its real source.  As far as we all know Jesus Christ never penned anything and all that we know of Him is strictly based upon what men write.

We can choose to believe or we can choose not to believe.  Strangely, no matter how we believe about God, it does not change the fact of His existence and if He does not exist, it does not change that reality.

Personally, I choose to believe.


Van Robison

Van Robison On: "Splinter Group Cocoons"

Splinter Group Cocoons

In the world of religions, every group without exception lives within the walls and confines of the thinking of its founders and leaders.  Every Bible college and every Bible correspondence course is tailored to the thinking of the author or authors of those institutions and study courses.  Bible colleges are manufacturers of clones of their own making.  There is a two fold purpose for Bible schools and this is to perpetuate their peculiar beliefs and $money.  They are businesses that provide income to their existence and like a machine they make molds of their own teachings, which are rubber stamped in the young people who are caught in their web.

In the Worldwide Church of God, Ambassador College was the means to a never ending supply of Herbert W. Armstrong clones.  Young people are very impressionable, pliable and like clay---moldable.  Only those who are capable of independent thought and thinking, break out of the mold.  Many live their entire lives within the confines of their programmed minds and thinking, while some eventually break free and run as fast as they can.

This is true not only of the Worldwide Church of God and its many splinter groups who live in religious cocoons, but it is true of all groups, including Mormons (Brigham Young University),  Jehovah Witnesses (Watchtower Bible School of Gilead), Southern Baptist (many colleges), Seventh Day Adventist (Southern Adventist University), and the list is endless.  Of course many "Bible" schools and colleges also offer liberal arts and studies in non-religious venues.

Every religious group wants to perpetuate itself and there is no greater means to do so than "Bible" colleges.  In reality they are not "Bible" colleges, they are clone manufacturers of their own particular beliefs.  Many young people aspire to position and influence over others and so hence off to "Bible school" they go to become "pastors" and "preachers" of "truth."  What they really become are clones of how they have been indoctrinated to "think."  Have you ever had two people knock on your door and attempt to persuade you to listen to them or read their Jehovah Witnesses material?  Many have and I have also.  I admit that these people are generally friendly, sincere and zealous, but at the same time they are NOT independent thinkers, they are parrots.  They are programmed robots of Jehovah Witnesses indoctrination.  I always feel sorry for the two young people that I have seen with white shirts and ties walking down the street, who are intent to proselytize anyone who will give them an ear to Mormonism.

Young people in general don't have the experience to discern, but with time you would think that as people become older they would become wise.  Sad to say, many never become wise to the serpents, snakes and wolves in sheep's clothing who devour.  Worldwide Church of God splinter groups are all led by clones of Herbert W. Armstrong and they are NOT "the Way, the Truth and the Life."  There is NO mediator between God and man, aside from Jesus Christ, for those who still believe in Jesus Christ.  Religious cocoons are not a new phenomenon and they have been in existence for a very long time.  Public persuaders are often pretenders.  Most likely the common factor as to why so many will follow these fake religious rulers is simply FEAR.  However, God is NOT a monster.  The "Bible" may portray God as a monster, but I would suggest that in fact the so called "Bible" so misrepresents and distorts the true character of God is so many parts, that it is the very reason so many have warped views of the true nature and character of the Creator of all life and the universe.  No loving parent would act toward their own children the way the Bible portrays God as acting toward His own human creation, in many parts of it.

Splinter groups of the Worldwide Church of God, are living inside religious cocoons.  In nature, cocoons break open and the butterfly or moth is set FREE.

Van Robison

Van Robinson On: "The Indoctrinated Mind Is Set In Cement"

THE INDOCTRINATED MIND IS SET IN CEMENT

I have personally encountered many sources through the Internet that cannot be penetrated in their thinking.  It includes some in splinter groups of the Worldwide Church of God.  Most often when confronted they are
silent, although some are antagonistic.  A good friend of mine in Canada and myself were once on a Mennonite Forum, and my friend was excommunicated from the forum because the moderator did not like his comments about the world of "Churchianity."  I was blasted by one of their "pastors" who informed me that he was a "real pastor" and let me have it with two barrels.  Naturally I took an exit.  Why waste my time?

My sister is a Mormon and although I love her dearly, she is programmed into a cult belief.  I cannot penetrate the cement of her thinking.  I have found over the years that this is true of many no matter what their religious affiliation.  The Worldwide Church of God is only one of many cult religious groups.  Splinter groups of the Worldwide Church of God are off base and the bottom line is CONTROL and MONEY.  It matters not that they tell their people that they are doing the "work of God" or call them "brethren."  That is just part of the deception.  Sure the common people are most likely good people, sincere and friendly, but they are under cult domination.

Indoctrination of the human mind happens the world over and it not only applies to religions, but to many other aspects of human life.  For example those in police work or enforcement are programmed and indoctrinated to believe, act and perform based upon their schooling.  Are they necessarily programmed correctly?  Who decides this?  Who determines the standard of right and wrong?  Was it right for the government to martyr innocent men, women, children and babies in Waco (for those who remember and are aware of this atrocity)?  Naturally the public is fed a steady stream of propaganda and lies to "justify" this mass murder.  So they had some beliefs that were different?  So what?  What right does the government have to destroy?  If they will do it to one group, they will do it to any group or individual they so choose to do so.

The indoctrinated mind is the mind of those in the Worldwide Church of God, the Roman Catholic Church, the Mormon Church, the Jehovah Witnesses, Scientology, Baptists, Pentecostals, Methodists, Presbyterians, Church of Christ, Seventh Day Adventist, Sacred Name and a myriad of other groups.  It is endless and yet every group thinks they have "truth."  Trying to convince anyone that what they believe is not the truth is next to impossible. Even in the world of government and its agencies, they are all programmed to perform based upon their training or schooling.  Who sets the standard and is it right?

It would almost seem that only when people begin to reason within themselves will they question and if anyone tries to influence them in a different direction, they will automatically resist.  I have been chewed up and spit out by many Bible apologists and others who defend their religious beliefs tenaciously.  No matter what you say, they have a different answer or twist to the issue.  This is a great source of frustration, because the indoctrinated mind will not receive alternative possibilities to the cement that is set in stone in their thinking.  Ever try to convince a Saturday Sabbath keeper that days of the week are inconsequential?  Ever try to convince a tithe payer that they are not blessed or cursed on the basis of tithing?  Ever try to convince a "Christian" that God does not micro-manage their lives, and that He does not cause them to get a better paying job because they keep the Saturday Sabbath?

My own son-in-law thinks he got a better paying job because he started to keep the Saturday Sabbath.  I wonder what he would think about how many Saturday Sabbath keepers have been killed in car accidents and why they were not protected?  Many think they are "blessed materially" because they are tithe payers.  I wonder why many human beings the world over are financially well off and many even wealthy, who are not tithe payers, and who do not even believe in Jesus Christ or God?  It just proves that many have faulty reasoning, but it is next to impossible to convince them otherwise because they are programmed to think as they do.  Their minds are set in cement.


Van Robison

Why the Book of Revelation is Heresy

Van Robison's recommended this article on the book of Revelation.  I could not get it to format correctly here, so check it out here:  Why The Book Of Revelation Is Heresy

The answer is that almost everything in John Patmos' hallucination opposes the Gospel Jesus' words, ways, and teachings. All one must do is pay attention to what John Patmos wrote. That will be done, with some detail, later in this critique. But first, some general background information is needed.

The Greek literary styles of John Patmos and John Apostle were examined in very early Christianity to prove these are two different writers. Eighteen hundred years ago, Dionysius (Bishop of the Patriarchy of Alexandria) stated that "Revelation" was not written by the same person who wrote John's Gospel and Letters. (Eusebius' History of the Church, 7.25) His opinion came from his comparing their two writing styles and found John Patmos to be entirely different from John Apostle and any other New Testament writer.

We do not need to be Greek scholars to look at the text of the Gospel and letters of Apostle John to notice John Patmos contradicts John Apostle at every turn. Those examples are examined in this report. But now we should remember that "Revelation" was doubted in Eastern Christianity and not generally accepted into the New Testament until AD 508. Some ancient Christian branches still do not include it in their Bibles. Therefore discussion and criticism of "Revelation" is not a new and is not a disrespectful activity.

BEING CANDID ABOUT the BIBLE

I am introducing a new contributor here.  Welcome to Van Robison.  Van was a former WCG member and WCG employee in Pasadena up until the mid 70's.  Van has been a contributor to numerous web sites over the years: Foresight of Hindsight blog, Batteredsheep blog, The WORD on the Word of Faith blog and others.

So many have come out of Armstrongism with never having exercised the ability to be able to question what one believes or understands.  I think it is important to be able to question.  It doesn't mean you have to agree, but at least look at things as an opportunity to think about things differently.

Dumping the baggage from our past is a hard thing to do for many. Some have easily dumped all religious pretense, others hold religion out there with a 10 foot pole, others find many aspects of spirituality comforting and enriching, and others have found meaning and grace in new and mysterious ways.  Each person is on their own path that leads them to the point they need to be in the recovery process.

So here's to looking at things in a new way......

BEING CANDID ABOUT the BIBLE

Millions of people have been indoctrinated from birth that "the Bible is infallible and inerrant" and "totally inspired by God."   Indoctrination is so powerful and overwhelming in the life of human beings, that people the world over often live and die in the cultural beliefs into which they were born.  It is often next to impossible to penetrate the thinking of others with anything that challenges the status quo or differs with what they are accustomed  to hearing and believing.   Indoctrination is often so deeply embedded in human thinking, that many are rendered incapable of being rational or objective and it not only applies to belief in the infallibility of the Bible, but also other religious beliefs, political beliefs and the indoctrination of "education" in many different disciplines.  Examples might be that those schooled into the orthodox medical system and its foundation for practices, are often rendered unwilling to seek or believe in any alternative practices (labeled "quackery").  Another example is that the medical establishment attempts by all means possible to convince the public that mercury laced vaccines have no health impact on the lives on children, even when the voices crying in the wilderness are numerous and quite vocal, that indeed something is amiss and extremely serious.   The concept of indoctrination applies to many aspects of human life on earth.

As far as what most people believe, the hard fact is that we all primarily believe what others say and we think it is "truth."   We tend to believe that people who lived ages ago were some how "special" and God the Creator "inspired" what they wrote, or He somehow conveyed to them concepts and principles that all others are suppose to adhere to.   In reality, Jesus Christ has not appeared to any of us living on earth today, told us what absolute truth is, taught us one-on-one and caused us to see where what we think "truth" is, is actually not truth.   In fact we have no idea whether the words attributed to Jesus Christ in the four Gospels are "verbatim" quotes or whether the writers put words in the mouth of Jesus that He never spoke.

Facing the facts, we have to admit that there is not one human being on earth today, who is a personal witness to anything from Genesis to Revelation.  We can believe by "faith" that the Bible is infallible and inerrant, but
that does not make the Bible "true" in all that we read.  For those of us who do believe in Jesus Christ, we do so by FAITH and there is no other option or possibility, and we believe that the Holy Spirit is the Source that
makes Christ real to our being.   It seems to my thinking that no human being who ever lived could speak such words as "I Am the Way, I Am the Truth, "I Am the Life", "I Am the Living Waters", "I Am the Bread of Life", "I Am the "Light of the World", "I Am the Vine", "I Am the Door", "I Am the Resurrection", "I Am the Good Shepherd" and "you have ONLY one Master---Christ", unless the person who made such proclamations happened to indeed be Jesus Christ.   Would any human being believe such sayings of another mere human being?  Preposterous!  If Jesus were only a mere human being, would anyone believe such statements?

Many Bible apologists wonder how anyone can think that the Bible contains some truth and a lot of human fabrication.  Bible apologists jump through hoops to defend the indefensible and attempt to cause people to "see" as they see.  There is hardly doubt that many ex-Christians, ex-pastors, atheists and perhaps others have challenged the Bible as being totally "inspired" by God.   Many church goers are not really critical thinkers, but instead they quietly sit in pews as if little children and hear what those who stand in pulpits expound.  The pied pipers in the pulpits all without exception, present themselves as if they have all knowledge, all understanding and all wisdom, when it comes to "the Bible", God and church doctrines supposedly taken from the Bible.  

There is the assumption that to question the Bible is to question God, and yet even the Bible says to "prove all things" and "try the spirits whether they be of God" and that cannot be done without questioning.  Even Jesus
warned repeatedly to BEWARE, because many would come in His name and deceive many and it seems few take the words of Jesus to heart.  Is INK on PAPER an exception to deception?  Is "the Bible" an exception to deception?  Men have always put words in the mouth of God that He never spoke.   Virtually any human writer or speaker throughout history and to this very day, can proclaim "thus saith the Lord", "God commanded", "God spoke", "God said", "God told me", "God anointed", "God inspired", but such words in and of themselves DO NOT and CANNOT prove that indeed God is the author of what the writer or speaker attributes to God.

The words "all scripture is given by inspiration of God", DO NOT and CANNOT define exactly what "all scripture" is that God is supposed to have "inspired."  There are two books in the Old Testament that do not so much as even mention God, and yet the Bible apologists crowd (including many "scholars"), would have the world believe that God inspired these fictional accounts.   Many proclaim that there are "no contradictions" in the Bible, and that belief is absolute proof that the world is full of people who DO NOT think critically.   Some will say "who are you to question the Bible?"  Well friends, God gave each of us a mind and we are not intended to be robots or clones of those who pretend to be God in the world of churches, religions or human governments.

Does it seem strange that Jesus Christ hand picked primarily FISHERMEN as personal witnesses to His life and teachings, and NOT the religious elite or highly "educated?"  Perhaps what is called "education" is often nothing more than traditions and customs of men, touted as "thus saith the Lord."   The most major contradiction in the entire Bible, is the manner in which God Almighty is portrayed as a mass-murderer, barbaric, the author of genocide, and the author of atrocities to numerous to mention in this article.  The Bible drips with blood and gore that defies any normal human conscience.  It not only includes the "Old" Testament, but even the so called book of "Revelation", which assuredly is NOT authored by Jesus Christ, even though it proclaims Jesus Christ as the one who reveals these mysteries.  The reason Jesus is not the author of "Revelation" is because it defies what Jesus taught, such as "love your enemies", "do unto others as you would have them do unto you", "love your neighbor as you love yourself", "blessed are the peacemakers", "blessed are the merciful", "blessed are the meek" and so forth.    Does God live by His own teachings?  Or because God is sovereign, does He defy His own teachings and initiate deeds that defy everything He ever taught such as love, compassion, mercy, justice, empathy and humility?  Bible apologists would have everyone believe that all the barbarity in the Bible, is an expression of the love and justice of God.  NOT SO!

Does that mean "universal salvation" no matter?  No!  FEAR of religious and secular rulers of men is a theme that runs throughout the Bible, and without question all cults exist on the foundation of FEAR instilled in their people. There is the fear of losing ones salvation.  Fear of not being blessed financially for not tithing (a very false doctrine).  Fear of not submitting to human authority, even though Jesus Christ stated that His followers have only one Master, who is Christ (Matthew 23:8-10).  All governments of men are anti-Christ and for the reason that no government on earth follows Jesus Christ.  Governments of men do not love and have compassion, even though they have the pretense of false charity.   All governments exist by force and compulsion, where God exists by His character, which is LOVE.

Examples in the Bible of instilling fear in the readers of its words, include such stories as Ananias and Sapphira falling down dead at the feet of Peter, over money matters and lying.  This fictional story so contradicts what Jesus taught that it cannot possibly be true, at least it cannot be true that God struck them dead, if indeed they died in the manner told.  In the Old Testament another fear based story is that supposedly and attributed to God, is that the earth opened up ("supernaturally") and swallowed some folks who voiced opinions counter to Moses.  It is pure fiction!  In Romans 13 the reader is led to believe that rulers of men are "not a terror" to good works, but to the evil, and that cannot possibly be true.  If it were true that rulers of men "are not" a terror to good works, then Jesus Christ would never have been crucified, because He was nothing but good.  The elite rulers always live in fear of light and truth and they often attempt to silence, suppress, censor and smash anything and everyone who stands in the way of their power, control and free money (Matthew 23).  Jesus demolished man-made religion.  Men who love power, control and free money always attempt to build empires unto themselves.

Jesus stated that Satan was a murderer from the beginning, and yet "Christians" by the millions and their "pastors" believe that God was a murderer from the beginning, but they don't call it murder, they say there is a difference between murder and killing.  Strange that Jesus never defined such a difference, nor in the Ten Commandments do we read that God defined any difference.  In the Ten Commandments we read that God said "you shall not kill" and "you shall not steal" and "you shall not covet anything that is your neighbors (such as land or anything else)" and yet elsewhere the reader is led to believe that God did the opposite and demanded the opposite of some human beings.  And there are no contradictions in the Bible?

Some day even if it takes another thousand years or ten thousand years, the church world will have to come to terms with what is called "the Bible."  The Bible has deceived millions of human beings for a long time, and is the primary source of mass religious confusion and division in the world.  If it were not so, and we read that God is not the author of confusion, then there would not be an endless array of different groups espousing very different doctrines, customs, practices and traditions, and all supposedly taken from the Bible.   The clergy/laity system is thought to be an inventionclergy/laity system is thought to be an invention of the "apostle" Paul, but not founded upon anything taught by Jesus Christ as reflected in the four Gospels.

Sorry atheists, you will not agree with this article.  I am not an atheist, but I also do not embrace religious rituals, organizational or institutional bondage, submission to professional clergy, so called "pastors", "senior pastors" or "doctor pastors" or even "elders."  I do not feel compelled to attend a "house church" where no clergy is allowed.  What I see is that Jesus is the LIGHT missing in the world and His entire teachings can be summarized in the words LOVE, COMPASSION, MERCY, EMPATHY and HUMILITY.  None of those attributes have one iota of anything to do with "going to church", "keeping the Saturday Sabbath", Sunday observance or many other traditions of men.  If we read anything in the four Gospels that makes Jesus Christ appear to contradict Himself, then such words are highly questionable as coming from Jesus Christ.   Because Jesus as we read, mentions the names of such people as Noah, Abraham, Moses and others, does that mean that Jesus gave His stamp of approval to all the barbarity in the Old Testament and attributed to God?  How could He contradict Himself?  Was Jesus Christ indeed God of the Old Testament?  Not in anything that defies what Jesus taught, because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.  How could anyone have faith in a God that changes in His character? 

Unfortunately the Bible maligns and discredits the TRUE character of the Creator of the universe, in many ways.  It was Jesus Christ who said "IF YOU HAVE SEEN ME, YOU HAVE SEEN THE FATHER" and that tells me that it is Jesus Christ who defines the true character of the Father and NOT the Old Testament, the book of Revelation, a man called Paul or anything or anyone who differs with what He taught.  If Jesus is the LIGHT of the world, does that not imply that the world was steeped in darkness before Christ?  And likewise the world is steeped in darkness today, because men "think" that LIGHT and TRUTH is "going to church", bowing before "pastors", false tithing, building church buildings, and blindly thinking the Bible is the light of the world. 

The Bible is not God and God is not the Bible.   The reason some people hated Jesus Christ is because He stripped them of false authority, false prestige, the endless flow of money from false teachings, and false power over the naive and gullible.  It is no different today, when many voices are speaking out about CHURCHIANITY and exposing the fraud and deceit in the world of man-made religion.  I suggest that if the Bible were really inspired by God, then it would not cause mass confusion, with endless differences in interpretation of what it means.  Few people really think hard about the Bible, they primarily just believe whatever the pulpit-masters say, which is nothing more than their personal opinions (often wrong).   The Bible is a large subject and cannot possibly be covered in an article such as this.

I contend that God does exist, Jesus Christ is who He said He was, and that His impact on the world is enormous.


Van Robison