Do you want curses or blessings? Do you want to fully partake of what Jesus offers, or reject it? Do you want grace -- or gracelessness?
It sounds like a silly question, but at times -- many times -- we choose the "curse."
We curse ourselves. Jesus taught this. We curse ourselves in many ways. Most often, it is through words.
If there are blocks in your life -- if prayers seem unanswered -- take stock of what you say (and think) through the day.
"The words we are pronouncing say much about ourselves," noted an Croatian priest named Father Ljubo Kurtović a while back.
"A word can wound and heal, it can kill and bring back to life. This is why it is important to overcome what is bad and evil within us with what is good, pure, and blessed. Whatever is blessed brings blessing. Bless a thing and it will bless you! Curse it and it will curse you! Whatever you judge in your life will come back to you and hurt you.
"If you bless a situation, it has no more strength to hurt you and, even if for a time it causes you trouble, little by little this trouble will disappear, and the blessing coming from a pure heart will become a blessing for others. When you bless, you become ready to receive blessing. Blessing is the strength and the light for our paths. Through the blessing, light and peace enter into us. As soon as someone starts to bless instead of curse, wishing good to others instead of cursing them, he becomes healthy, happy, and saved from the hands of the enemy."
We put ourselves at risk when we are not grateful. We do that when we are angry (even when offered grace). We do that when we fail to see God's goodness in suffering (when we do not take advantage of the great power in suffering). We do it when we lack kindness.
And we do it when we consider a blessing a curse.
Look back at your life and meditate on the times God sent you much to do -- perhaps a flood of business -- and you made it into a trial instead of a gift; you cursed all you had to do instead of thanking Him for it!
We also turn a blessing into a curse when:
--we reject someone who was sent to us
--we violate what was sent to us in marriage
--we squander or hoard what we were meant to share
--we divert a blessing into ego
--we turn joy into pride
--we fail to pray for those who attack us
--we stray from the Bible
--we have sex instead of having love
--we exploit nature
--we compromise with the world
--we count blessings with dollar signs
When sufferings come, remember the Law of Abraham: the pain (even agony) will be redeemed and made whole. There is always eternity -- the greatest blessing of all!
Frequently we lose grace due to a spirit of self-righteousness.
Did you ever realize how much of your casual conversation is taken up pointing out the faults or inferiority -- or negativity -- of another?
This gets back to how we talk: we are in a time when everyone is better than everyone else, when everyone has harsh words, when Christians and non-Christians alike destroy their spirituality by attacking others.
Everyone is above everyone else; everyone is filled with self-righteousness (caused by self-deception).
Don't let the devil take away what God wants to give you (which is a lot!). Don't judge others. You will be judged by the same measure. If you set the bar high, it will be high for you. On the other hand: "If you are humble," said Mother Teresa (heed this well), "nothing will touch you."
At times it can be hard to pray for someone (or ourselves) if there's a "block," which can come through sin or other spiritual problems -- a wall around a person. It's true; prayers can bounce back.
But here's a question: Might there also be times we can't pray for someone to regain health or improve in some other needed way because we're praying for the wrong result?
That is: are there times when God wants us to first pray that the afflicted person -- the focus of our prayers -- develop spiritually -- be healed at a higher level -- before we're cleared to pray for a physical result?
Yes. And so this advice: if you're stymied in praying for a physical healing -- if your prayers seem like a huge strain -- first pray for the spiritual aspect. Pray that the person progress spiritually from the problem (growing in humility, love, kindness); pray for growth; then, pray for the "miracle"!
How often we hear our priests say that spiritual healing is more important than physical healing, and they say that because it's what Jesus indicated!
Which brings us to another recent topic: worldliness.
Nothing stops healing more than over-attachment to the world. Take it from Thomas à Kempis in his classic The Imitation of Christ, when he quotes Christ as saying in a locution:
"My son, if, for your own pleasure or worldly friendship, you set your peace in any person, you will always be unstable, and you will never be content. A man draws nearer to God in so far as he can withdraw himself from the world and from all worldly comfort, and he ascends higher toward God in so far as he can descend lower in himself and become mean and abject in his own sight.
"If you could bring yourself to nothing -- and wholly banish from your heart all created love -- then, says our Lord, I should come to you with great abundance of My Grace."
"Created love" is worldly affection.
In other words: love at the deepest level if you want to see the miraculous -- and that means having concern not first and foremost with physical well-being but spiritual progression (the walk toward Heaven). Many people who are seriously ill have spiritual issues. These need to be resolved. God's main aim is bringing us directly to Him, and sometimes we are purified through suffering.
There is nothing like hardship -- especially a health scare -- to make us put things in better perspective.
That's not to say that all seriously ill people have issues. Hardly! Some are saints. Suffering can be a gift. It brings progression rapidly.
But in cases where there is a dark spot, healing the spirit transmits to the physical.
Confession is important here: where deliverance and even exorcism remove a spirit from the body, Confession removes evil from the soul (which by means of God controls the physical) and releases us for blessing.
To heal or be healed there must also be a climate of love. Love is the power of God and God alone wills a healing. Breathing love breathes in healing. To connect with Him, we must purify our innermost selves and build an atmosphere of goodness, kindness, and longsuffering, which bring us the pure oxygen of well-being.
If you're at real odds with someone -- wasting time going over and over a hurt (and rehearsing sharp replies, which are worldly) -- think instead, and simply: "quiet strength and humility and love. Totus tuus. Lord Jesus!" It is an instruction to your soul.
That can help purge those parts of the spirit that are secret chambers, of which we have previously spoken -- parts of us that can affect health but are so deep we are not even aware of them (only Jesus is).
When someone is ill, and you feel resistance, pray first that the person be healed spiritually; pray that the person develop; pray that the Will of God bring the best result (as far as the person's eternity); do this also for yourself; and the Lord will allow your prayer for healing to be released into His almighty arms as body and soul head for the joy of His favor.
[resources: The God of Miracles and Father DeGrandis's book]
Have you ever noticed that some of the greatest trials (and most intense attacks) come through members of the family?
Many stinging words and hurtful actions come through those closest to us, for the simple reason that the devil is clever.
He infiltrates. He hurts us through those who are closest to us, or he uses us to hurt them. You know how it is: you're visiting relatives and something is said or a certain tone of voice is used or there is the resurrection of an old hurt or an old argument or a conflict of personalities.
We all have baggage, and members of our families are likely to have some of the same weak spots, adding fuel to the fire.
Especially during holidays and summer months, we think of this because exposure is heightened. We also think of it because one of the Mass readings this week is from Matthew 10:36: "A man's enemies are those of his household."
"Enemies" is used in the sense of temptation -- and especially a temptation to fight back!
What do we do about it? How do we stop it from ruining family get-togethers?
There is first of all our own healing: If we have a conflict with a relative who shares some of our traits, we should seek to purge the traits that cause argumentation, and do this beforehand. Often, we are most aggravated at those who act through faults that we subconsciously recognize in ourselves. If you see someone as impatient or selfish, make sure you are not selfish or impatient. Many times what we see as negatively in another is a reflection of what is also negative within us. Relatives are often mirrored images of each other.
There is also "pre-forgiveness": When there is a particular person with whom you have trouble, forgive that person before you even visit. Forgive him or her for anything that might be said. Then, ignore the insult. This is crucial. Say, "It doesn't matter." Rise above aggravation.
Such is difficult and we do through the "prayer of disengagement": When you are to be near someone who likes to pick fights, who has rankled you, or with whom you simply fall into conflict, pray beforehand that you are emotionally disengaged as soon as the insult arrives, so that you will not react hastily and with similar hostility. It is when we react instantly, and with equal negative force, that we feel the strongest "sting."
Instead, reply to attacks with prayer and soon the attacks will end. Use as your mantra "reconciliation, love, humility." Remember the scripture about how a kind word turns wrath away?
Greet insults with silence, and inject your spirituality into debates. In the heat of the moment we rarely regret what we have not said.
I saw this recently. Someone wanted to pick a fight about politics, and I instead turned the discussion to prayer. The attack vanished.
It's when we let our egos become involved that conflicts sting the most and become long-lasting.
Hard as it may seem, don't take such attacks personally. Know where they come from (often, the devil) and excuse the person immediately.
That isn't to say we should let someone continue unfairness without rebuke, nor that there is not a place for correction, but that we should respond (and use corrective words) only with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Go to Mass before meeting with someone with whom you have special problems! Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you to become disengaged as soon as the spark of an argument is lit.
Pray to be healed from any past hurts associated with whomever you will have contact, and forgive those hurts.
And don't become overly attached. Strange as it seems, we are not supposed to be overly attached to anyone, including family members. Such over-attachment often is at the root of antagonism.
In The 12 Steps to Holiness and Salvation, St. Alphonsus Liguori says that "to arrive at a perfect union with God, it is necessary, therefore, to be entirely detached from creatures. In particular we must renounce every inordinate attachment for our relatives. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ tells us that he who is too much attached to relatives cannot be His disciple. And why? Because it often happens that we have no greater enemies of our soul than our own relatives [my italics]."
Strong words, but often true. When we look too much to people instead of God, conflicts, imbalance, and attacks erupt. When there are problems, keep a holy distance. See through the prism of Jesus. Being attached should not be confused with love! We are always to love, but we are to love God first and to love all around us through Him.
This keeps us from over-attachments -- and from many family problems.
"It is sad to see so many souls who are otherwise rich in virtues and graces, but who never reach a perfect union with God because they have not courage to renounce some little attachment," said St. Alphonsus. "All that is necessary is one generous effort to break the cord that bind them and constitutes the only obstacle to their happiness."
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Anger. It is a great stumbling block of our time. Turn on your radio. Turn on the TV. Watch the way everyone talks about each other.
Oh, the self-righteous amongst us! We are a people filled with anger without realizing it -- and the dangers.
In fact, if there are misfortunes in your lives, or at least blockages, you may want to take a reckoning of what's going on in your thoughts.
Is there dislike? Are you an angry person? Critical? Do you tend first to look at the bad side of others?
We speak here of anger because often the frustrations in our lives -- the inability to find a mate, troubles in marriage, financial distress -- are the result of negativity. What a downward path this is!
"Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go," warns Proverbs (22:24-25), "lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul."
Unwittingly, when we have anger toward someone we are cursing and such curses are boomerangs that come back to haunt us.
"We give the enemy a legal right to attack, or to gain a stronghold in our lives, when we harbor anger," writes Bill Banks, an expert.
This goes right to Scripture: "Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil" (Ephesians 4:26-27).
We grant the devil an evil right when we share in his rage and in our culture we're surrounded by this. Some make a living being angry. In politics, they believe they have the right to be angry if they are on the "right" side of an issue.
Righteous indignation is one thing, but spewing a constant litany of anger is anything but being on the right side.
All around are those who are rude and critical over the air or in person without realizing the harm they are doing to themselves and the blocks they are creating.
Anger plays an enormous role in blocking answers to prayers because anger is connected to hatred, which is the opposite of God and fuels attack by the enemy. It is his energy!
When we look at anger, it is often caused by either pride or by fear. Fear is the opposite of faith -- it is faith in a negative -- and what you fear makes you angry.
Did you know that? Did you know that your anger, by and large, is rooted in fear? We get this even from the dictionary. Webster's tells us that anger is an "affliction," that it is angst, anguish, and fear, "a strong feeling excited by a real or supposed injury."
So get rid of that too. Get rid of emotional hurts. Ask the Sacred heart to heal them. And don't fear. "For the thing I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me," lamented Job (3:25).
The same is true of anger: it brings what we least want -- and it is a sign of another great block to healing: unforgiveness. When we have anger we must often look for deeper wounds and heal those wounds lest they continue to fester.
Unhealed, they cause endless trouble. Emotional wounds attract the enemy. And when we have rage, we grow attached to the subject of our anger! Did you ever realize that? When you express anger at someone, you become attached to that person in a negative sort of soul tie; we enter into a vicious cycle of dislike, that often grows.
What we hate is hard to shake and brings what we least want -- while love chases evil away.
Your home is supposed to be your castle, and as such it needs protection. While we live in a society that largely discounts the existence of evil spirits, there is no doubt they exist -- and that from time to time they afflict all our homes if we don't take the proper spiritual measures.
How do we know if we are afflicted? Through prayer, of course: when we pray we're sensitized and we can ask the Lord to warn us if there is an evil spirit. We know there is affliction if there are strange noises or shadows or if we are suddenly overcome by negative emotions when we arrive home or enter a specific room. We know there is darkness when all of a sudden everything seems to go wrong: when there is depression or oppression; when there is division; when there are suddenly intense arguments, often for no reason. An evil spirit can cause everything from insomnia and general malaise to serious illness. "The presence of evil is manifested by physical discomfort; insomnia, headaches, or stomachaches; or a general malaise that happens in that particular place and nowhere else," writes Father Gabriele Amorth, Rome's official exorcist, in a powerful book we highly recommend and in our bookstore, An Exorcist Tells His Story
If time after time we experience a swing of emotion on entering a locale, we need to pray to discern the situation. This is not to say that every depressed mood and every argument comes from a demon. But it is to say that such spirits trouble us more than we know -- and that they often attach themselves to a residence.
How does this happen? How does evil lay claim to a house?
There is the obvious: the evil that comes when we sin (when our homes are used for acts that contravene moral teaching, especially by way of drugs, homosexuality, or prostitution), or if the occult has been practiced in a home (astrology, Tarot cards, Ouija boards, seances, numerology, crystals). But spirits can also infiltrate more subtly. They can come from the books we have, or the programs and movies we watch, or what we do on a computer. They can come with those who have spirits attached to them. They can come with heavy-metal posters that are hanging in our kids' rooms. Just as a holy book, picture, or statue brings a blessing, so does a dark item bring oppression.
In short, there are countless ways that evil enters. Sometimes it comes as a mere test. Sometimes there is no explanation. But there is always a solution. The solution is the Name Jesus, and in His Name, all evil, however strong or weak, must leave. It's a matter of invoking His Name in the right way, and often a matter of persistence. When we feel a dark cloud over our homes, we need to start with the sacramentals. Get an abundant supply of Holy Water, and then pray as you sprinkle some in every room (from basement to top floors and even the attic).
Fill your homes with prayer and evil must leave and pray to fill it with angels.
Even if your home is not specially afflicted, this should be done on a regular basis, at least weekly in these times when evil is so rampant. It only takes a few minutes. There is also Blessed Salt, which is as powerful as Holy Water. Have a priest bless salt in a plastic bag just as he would Holy Water (it is an official sacramental), and use this also -- especially in stubborn cases. In such instances, having a Mass said in a home can lift an oppression. Father Pellegrino Ernetti, the most well-known exorcist in the Venice area (also famous as a biblical and music scholar) has advised those in strong cases "to mix in a cup or glass exorcised water, oil, and salt; then every evening, to pour a teaspoon of the mixture on the ledge of every window and at the threshold of every door, praying the Our Father while doing it," according to Father Amorth's book.
The Rome exorcist has written a follow-up that we also recommend, An Exorcist, More Stories. Blessed Salt, he says has the "specific function" to "protect places from an evil presence or influence." (We'll be carrying articles on Blessed Salt in the future.)
Is this all hokum? Is this what critics of Catholic practices, or the modernists, would call paranoia or superstition?
Naturally, we have to have balance. We can't get too swept up in watching for demons. Our eyes are to be trained upward! But it is true. We saw a case ourselves recently whereby a person who was involved with a very questionable situation was coming to our home and we blessed the entrance with Holy Water -- with the specific prayer that no evil spirit would be able to follow this person in.
At the end of the evening, when this person was ready to leave, and a prayer was in progress, suddenly there was a loud disturbance just outside the front door -- the wind kicking up in a way that startled and surprised everyone -- and a Christmas angel out front was knocked over, right at the threshold (as if whatever was around was angry because it couldn't get in).
Coincidence?
We don't think so. We think instead that these days, with so much darkness, every threshold could use a blessing.
The Lord spoke to my heart and I read aloud from 2 Timothy 2:11-13 during a home prayer meeting after dinner with my 2 brothers in law and their families (Christians) who came back to visit us from Pennsylvania, USA and Hong Kong, together with my other 2 brothers in law (non Christians)and their families and father in law (non Christian).
Here is a trustworthy saying:
If we died with him,
we will also live with him;
if we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
he will also disown us;
if we are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.
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Speaking of curses.
Generational curses are judgments that are passed on to individuals because of sins perpetuated in a family in a number of generations.
The Bible mentions “generational curses” in several places (Exodus 20:5; 34:7; Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 5:9). It sounds unfair for God to punish children for the sins of their fathers. However, this is looking at it from an earthly perspective. God knows that sin is passed down from one generation to the next. When a father has a sinful lifestyle, his children are likely to have the same sinful lifestyle as well. That is why it is not unjust for God to punish sin to the third or fourth generation – because they are committing the same sins their ancestors did. They are being punished for their own sins, not the sins of their ancestors. The Bible specifically tells us that God does not hold children accountable for the sins of their parents (Deuteronomy 24:16).
Moses addressed this issue when the Israelites were preparing to enter the promised land. He told the new generation that was preparing to enter in that they would not enter unless the dealt with their own personal sins and also the sins of their fathers. The account can be found in Leviticus 26:39-42
39 And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.
40 If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;
41 And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:
42 Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.
There are four Curses in the Bible I think it would be wise to plead the blood of the lamb for removal of -- with ALL sincerity. UNLESS - you are already saved by the blood of Christ. In that case - rest assured even the curses below are forgiven.....
None of these curses effects your ultimate salvation if you have your faith in Jesus Christ. When we become Christians, we are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17): 17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new". The cure, then, for a generational curse is faith in Christ and a life consecrated to Him (Romans 12:1-2): They do give Satan "ammunition" to set up roadblocks for your life, however -except for those who are saved. Removal of these may just help your health and/or prosperity. You may think I'm being superstitious - see below how both Nehemiah & Daniel took these very serious....
So, be safe and ask Jesus to cut any generational ties to you and anyone in your family who may have begun these curses. Ask Him to also cut any of these ties between you and your children and grand children.
CURSE THOSE THAT CURSE ISRAEL:
Genesis 12:3: "And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all nations of the earth be blessed."
Christians should never forget that Jesus of Nazareth was born a Jew, lived as a Jew, and was proud to be a Jew. Jesus (Yeshua) was also a rabbi. It was because the Roman Cornelius of Caesarea was good to the Jews that Cornelius was the first Gentile to receive the gospel. In Psalm 122:6 we read; "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper that love thee."
Knowing this - and having eternal gratitude to the Jewish People I do not think it is possible to be a good Christian and not stand with Israel and the Chosen People. Jesus said "Salvation is of the Jews".
BIRTH OUT OF WEDLOCK:
This is a 10 generation curse of Deuteronomy 23:2. God commanded that a person of illegitimate birth must be kept out of the congregation of the Lord, and his ancestors for ten generations. See the mighty prayers of which the sins of the fathers were repented of in Nehemiah 9:2-3 and in Daniel 9:5-6. They both took this very serious.
IDOL WORSHIP:
Yahweh (I am/Yeshua) not be the God of anyone who denies the suffering and atonement of His only Son on the cross as all other religions do. Just think what it would be like to always think you have to do the will of a false god who is not even there, and to be constantly surrounded by hatred that always "eggs you on" to hate and kill.
Another curse you may want to plead away is that if anyone anywhere in your family ever bowed down to "Ba'al", "Molech" or any pagan god. Masons do this, many "unknowingly". But that does not release them from this curse -as masonry is idol worship. It is the sin of idol worship.
Idolatry visits the sins of the fathers to the children.
See Exodus 20:4-5 "..visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children even unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me".
Freemasonry is also a generational curse. Freemasonry is also a religion other than Christianity. Masonry’s practices and doctrines are iniquities laced with idolatry, paganism, the occult, Kabala, fertility cults, Satanism, spiritualism, demonology, and put it into a blender and come up with the Masonic religion. It is not of God! It is a false religion; the Harlot of Babylon. Masons say they offer new candidates "the light". The light they are actually giving is: Lucifer. The Christian Bible says that Satan walks to and fro on this earth masquerading as an "angel of light", that many might be deceived.
SOUL TIES:
God made marriage to be a covenant. It is coming together under one flesh. In the Old Testament, mere
sexual relations constituted a marriage. So intimacy with someone actually creates a covenant link -- or "soul tie".
It would be wise to confess this to Jesus and ask that any of these out of marriage sexual relationships ("soul ties") be severed, except from your husband or wife....
So I think it would be wise to plead the blood of the lamb about all of the above - OR - is it necessary at all - since all your sins are forgiven once you accept Jesus Christ's death on the cross as payment for your sins?
WE KNOW THERE IS ALSO ANOTHER, ON SATAN
Genesis 3:14 - 15
And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
This very special prayer was written by a devout woman named Ruth Merz from Cincinnati, Ohio. Ruth was the mother of eight children who was diagnosed with cancer, which eventually and sadly claimed her life. Unable to attend mass because of her illness, she wrote this wonderful prayer. We hope that her words will convey special meaning to those who are ill and to their friends and families who care for them. Please feel free to share it with anyone that you feel might benefit from it.
SEND YOUR ANGEL TO MASS:
O’ Holy angel at my side Go to church for me Kneel in my place at Holy Mass Where I desire to be. At offertory in my stead Take all I am and own And place it as a sacrifice Upon the Altar throne. At Holy Consecration bell, Adore with Seraph’s love My Jesus hidden in the Host Come down from Heaven above. There pray for those I dearly love And those that cause me grief That Jesus’ blood may cleanse all hearts Give suffering souls relief. That when the priest Communion takes Then bring my Lord to me That His sweet heart may rest in mine And I His temple be. Pray that the sacrifice divine May all man’s sin efface Then bring me Jesus’ blessing home The pledge of every grace. Amen
'If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there'. (2 Chronicles 7: 14-16)
'This is what the LORD says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.' But they will reply, 'It's no use. We will continue with our own plans; each of us will follow the stubbornness of his evil heart.'(Jeremiah 18:11-12)
My dear friends, please heed to the Word of God for God will chastise the world very soon. The world will be on fire and many people will die. It will be so frightening that you will shiver and tremble. Prepare yourself, pray, be watchful and be ready! It will come suddenly. Fixed your eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ on His throne in heaven. Take refuge in Him. He will deliver you from all dangers. He is the sure foundation.
"It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.(Luke 17: 28-29)
God bless you.
Gerry Perry
July 18 2009 Saturday
OBVERSE the “Number 1” icon is repeated five times, representing the five continents. The border inscription reads “Unity in Diversity” and includes the first issue date of 2009.
Author: Luc Luycx, Royal Mint of Belgium.
REVERSE: the Tree of Life, with five leaves symbolizing local tree species that grow in the five continents. The border inscription reads “United Future World Currency”.
Author: Laura Cretara, former artistic chief of the Italian State Mint.
IS A SECRET GROUP ORGANIZING PUSH TO WORLD GOVERNMENT?
There's little doubt that there's a spiritual movement toward rearranging the world -- that many now find themselves inclined to create a new world order. It is there in the ether: a mysterious undercurrent or momentum involving many different and seemingly disparate human entities. We have often expressed the concern that dark spiritual forces would try to coalesce human institutions into a single global government with a global religion, paving the way for a personage of evil as the leader (and persecution of Christians). We have seen it forming, in short, at a spiritual level.
But is it more direct than that? Does it have more of a human component? Might there be a relatively small cadre of men -- elitists -- who are pulling more strings than we know? Might the conspiracy be one that has been more centrally and humanly orchestrated than it has hitherto appeared? Could a small secret group really direct many of the trends we see around us -- from the culture to education to foreign affairs to the economy?
One should always be wary of conspiracy theories for a simple reason: virtually none of them, thus far, has ever been proved. There might be good reason to suspect something underhanded in a number of events during the past one hundred years, but final proof has been in short supply, even non-existent. No one has ever proven that JFK was killed by more than a single gunman (though there remain legitimate doubts). There can be a thin line between healthy concern and paranoia. Often, we connect dots when there is not a legitimate connection.
But if there is a single human locus in the conspiracy to unite the world (as opposed to strictly seeing it as a spiritual move), an excellent candidate involves an intensely secret organization called the Bilderberg Group.
While one must be careful about literature on this subject, a compelling book entitled The True Story of the Bilderberg Group, by journalist Daniel Estulin, offers the best argument for such conspiracy that we have seen in a long while, since a book written in a similar vein twenty years ago by evangelist Pat Robertson.
In fact, while we maintain a degree of skepticism (there is a question about whether this group has really affected world affairs as directly, in so many ways, as some believe), the account put forward by Estulin is very hard to put down and at a number of points makes the theory seem indisputable.
Those unfamiliar with the details of new world conspiracies will find it fascinating, and odds are those who have read in the field will also find new facts, a well-written, more cogent presentment of facts than in the vast majority of such books, and a myriad of convincing and even amazing photographs.
And so, for your discernment, we are offering it. The nutshell:
"In 1954, the most powerful men in the world met for the first time under the auspices of the Dutch royal crown and the Rockefeller family at the luxurious Hotel Bilderberg in the small Dutch town of Oosterbeek," writes Estulin. "For an entire weekend, they debated the future of the world. When it was over, they decided to meet once every year to exchange ideas and analyze international affairs."
Through the years, it has evolved such that the world's top movers and shakers have attended or held membership. Organized each year in a different country, and drawing mainly from Western Europe, the U.S., and Canada, the group has included the likes not only of the Rockefellers (in the way of banker David, of Chase), but Henry Kissinger, Bill Clinton, Gerald Ford, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Alan Greenspan, Timothy Geithner, George Pataki, Dan Quayle, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Bill Gates, Walter Mondale, Alexander Haig, and Donald Rumsfeld.
Rumors are that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton also have attended meetings.
No one is sure, because the press is strictly prohibited from attending or even getting near to the event -- with security guards shooing away photographers (although Estulin was able to secure a number of "inside" photos). Are the Bilderbergers a "super think-tank" -- simply a forum to toss around ideas -- or has it evolved into a shadow government that is close to controlling the world (and already has accomplished matters such as the fall of major politicians and spikes in the price of oil)?
Most of those who belong are from financial, industrial, union, educational, or media circles -- including publishers like Kathleen Graham, who operated The Washington Post. Meetings have also been attended by representatives from The New York Times, Time, and the major networks.
Political affiliation seems irrelevant. The annual meeting involves a core Bilderberg group, and then different invitees each year (about 180 all told). Estulin details its branches and spin-offs, including other "new world" type organizations such as the Round Table, the Club of Rome, the Council on Foreign Relations (or CFR, which has about 4,000 members), and the Trilateral Commission (which seeks to bridge all the continents, not just North America and Europe).
Step by step, the book shows how these various "tentacles" have influenced major political, economic, and cultural decisions. It was CFR members who largely designed the United Nations, Estulin documents -- in a way that is never tedious.
The goal, he says, is to move into an era whereby large global entities and especially corporations and banks have unnerving control and worldwide monopolies. Often, members of one new-world group also belong to another.
He says the Bilderbergers have long orchestrated a move toward a united European continent (which has largely come to be in the way of the European Union); an Asiatic system; and a Pan-American Union starting with North American unification (Canada, the U.S., and Mexico).
He documents how this has slowly, deliberately unfolded.
During a meeting in 1996 in King City, Toronto, claims the author, Bilderbergers discussed and then tabled a proposal to work for the integration of Canada and the United States, with the Maritimes as the 51st state, Ontario as the 52nd, the prairies as the 53rd, and British Columbia with the northern territories as the 54th. The group, he said, sought to separate Quebec.
As one man put it, "The Bilderbergers are searching for the age of post-nationalism: when we won't have countries, but rather regions of earth surrounded by Universal value. That is to say, a global economy, one world government (selected rather than elected), and a universal religion. To assure themselves of reaching these objectives, the Bilderbergers focus on a 'greater technical approach and less awareness on behalf of the general public.'"
It is for this reason that many closely watch attempts to insert surveillance systems, new identification means, and other advancements, especially tracking devices (via microchip), into our culture.
It is also why many are wary of the new government powers enacted due to terrorism.
"World events do not occur by accident," Denis Healey, former British defense minister, once said. "They are made to happen, whether it is to do with national issues or commerce; and most of them are staged and managed by those who hold the purse strings."
You will see financier Henry Kravis at these meetings. You will see all kinds of international financiers and bankers. You will see royalty. Have they manipulated the current economic "crisis" (which has brought calls for a global economic oversight)?
If nothing else, it is baffling how certain foreign and economic policies remain in place no matter which party rules America -- and it seems inexplicable why meetings involving such luminaries -- princes and former or future presidents -- go unreported by major media, when otherwise their every move is a news story. Perhaps it is because, as Estulin documents, at one time or another Bilderberg has had "representatives of all major U.S. and European newspapers and network news outlets attend meetings."
"Doing a cursory check of the web pages of the principal international news outlets," he says, "we will not find even one reference to the most important group that counts among its members the most important politicians, businessmen, and financiers."
We can say this: be it the Bilderbergers or CFR or Bohemian Grove, there are too many top-secret meetings with international attendees. The spiritual implications are obvious: global control could turn into global persecution and a personage of evil or anti-Christian leader as previously mentioned (call such, if you want, an "anti-christ"). It is for this reason that we urge Rome to rethink global oversight and oppose it at any powerful political level.
The history of how the U.N. and European Union formed is fascinating -- with new behind-the-scenes information. As for North America:
"Since March 2005, without public input and with little public awareness, the United States, Mexico, and Canada have been moving quickly toward establishing a continental resource pact, a North American security perimeter, and common agricultural and other health, safety, and environmental policies," writes Estulin in the book. "Working groups comprised of government officials and corporate leaders, through secret meetings and formal councils that form de facto shadow government, are quietly putting this 'partnership' into action, and, to date, only industry 'stakeholders' have been consulted, usually in private, closed-door meetings. U.S. congressmen and Canadian members of parliament have been kept out of the loop.
"Clearly, there are two main reasons why an incremental and secretive approach is being used to form the North American Union. First, such a union would be extremely unpopular with the majority of Americans and Canadians and would not be permitted if it were widely publicized. Second, the dissolution of the United States not only violates the U.S. Constitution, it would essentially destroy the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights."
The author claims that bankers and business leaders have close contact with an array of intelligence agencies, some of whom -- he asserts -- have threatened him. These are detailed, for your discernment. It gets a bit cloak-and-dagger. It does not, however, get boring.
Is Estulin controversial?
Of course. He has been associated with at least one conspiracist who is just that: a man who spots intricate plots under every single rock. One must balance all the information with the distinct possibility international groups are more like think-tanks than organizations that can as yet direct anything. Sometimes, we give humans -- and "secret" organizations -- too much credit. Overall, the momentum remains more spiritual than anything.
Do the Bilderbergers purvey ideas -- or dictate them?
That's what we must discern. This book argues -- again, compellingly, at many points -- that it is more the "dictating" than purveyance. Or as another commentator said, you can look for the influence of Bilderbegers when events "later appear to just happen."
[resources: The True Story of the Bilderberg Group, Onward Catholic Soldier and Catholic Warrior]
[see also: Mexican trucks set to storm U.S. and Hillary admits CFR influence]
[Michael Brown retreats, spiritual protection and hope in a tumultuous time: Minnesota and New Jersey]
Healing is real -- and it is as spiritual, in many cases, as it is physical. Thus, when illness persists, it is sometimes because there are hidden spiritual hindrances.
This is according to Maria Vadia, a lay evangelist in the Miami area who relates in a new book that those hindrances can include obvious factors like unbelief but also ones we do not contemplate, such as: curses, unforgiveness, unconfessed sin, and general demonic interference.
"Sin in our lives is an open door for the enemy to come in our lives to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10) with sickness and disease," writes Maria, who was baptized in the Holy Spirit in 1987 and is active in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. "It's like leaving the back door of your house open! Unwanted guests will probably pay you a visit (Ephesians 4:26-27). Some people are sick because of an open door of sin in their lives. It's extremely important that we shut the door to the enemy by renouncing, repenting, and confessing every sin, including any kind of occultic involvement in the past."
This is critical: ridding occult involvement: Many do not realize that even touching horoscopes, Tarot cards, fortunetelling, New Age practices, or Ouija boards can have a profound effect.
It is idolatry (see Chapter Twenty of Exodus for the consequences of that).
"My brother, who is a doctor, ministered to a Catholic patient who had suffered from left-side abdominal pain for over twenty years," she writes in Healing is for You!. "She had been tested and treated by different gastroenterologists with no results. As my brother prayed with her, he asked the Lord for a word of knowledge to get to the root of the problem. The Lord gave him the word 'San Lazaro,' which is a Santeria, witchcraft 'saint.' My brother commanded the spirit of 'San Lazaro' to leave her; it came out and the pain was gone! She was set free from the pain and then told my brother that all her life she had placed 'San Lazaro' above Jesus."
Oh, that we might all have doctors like that!
It may be a "spirit of fibromyaligia." It may be a "spirit of depression." There is power in casting out by name, and this is also true of mental illness.
"My mother, who is a psychiatrist, realized after she was baptized in the Holy Spirit that the root of the problems in many of her patients was demonic in origin," writes Maria, who is from a medical family. "Medicine, in many cases, could only deal with the symptoms. The real problem, an evil spirit, needed to be cast out in the Name of Jesus for the person to be healed."
The very reading on Easter was from Acts -- describing how Jesus "went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil." "In Matthew 17, there is the story of the epileptic boy whom the disciples couldn't help, even though they tried. As you can see, Jesus had to rebuke the demon first, for the boy to be set free and healed. Once again, we see that the root of the problem in this boy's health was demonic: Jesus dealt directly with the problem and the boy was healed instantly.
"There are the other modern examples.
There was the woman involved in the occult with a lung tumor. She finally agreed to receive Christian prayer and the tumor disappeared. This also happened to a woman who declared a healing over herself and cursed the root of her cancer cells as Christ had cursed the tree. She did this with supreme faith and "there was no trace of cancerous cells in my uterus [after]," says Maria. "I thank the Lord for His healing."
Then there is the lack of forgiveness.
Evangelists and healing priests constantly point to this as a hidden and yet powerful cause of "unwellness."
When we don't forgive, we maintain a hold on darkness.
"Just today my brother, the doctor, treated a 75-year-old woman suffering from arthritis and sciatic pain," relates the author. "She was in great pain. My brother realized by a word of knowledge that this lady had not forgiven those who had hurt her. The Holy Spirit -- the Spirit of Truth and revelation -- was right on target. My brother prayed with her and she repented, committed her life to Jesus, and forgave those who had hurt her. Her body pains left her body and she left his office thanking Jesus!"
As for our iniquities:
"Unconfessed sin and iniquity in the family tree, in which there has been no repentance and forgiveness, gives the enemy a legal right to enforce a curse in the descendants," Vadia observes in the book. "My definition of a curse is a negative, powerful force coming down the family tree: it's demonic. As it relates to sickness or disease, when you see a sickness repeated throughout the generations, or if you see it many times in one generation, that's a good indication that a curse might be present.
"For example, at times you see cancer repeated down the family tree; depression, alcoholism, diabetes, and so forth, tend to run in families. Even doctors will ask you to fill out a form with your 'family history' of sickness and disease. The curse needs to be broken before the healing can take place," she says, citing Exodus 20: 3-5.
That's the bad news.
The good is that such curses can be broken in the Name of Jesus.
His simple Name -- because He took all curses upon Himself -- is what we most need, for as it says in Galatians (3:13), He "redeemed us from the curse" and "became a curse for us so that the curse could be broken and we could enter into the blessing of Abraham," adds Vadia.
After a curse is broken, says the evangelist, it's important to begin proclaiming the opposite.
If there has been alcoholism, proclaim sobriety; if a history of depression, proclaim the joy of God!
Our greatest stumbling block, she points out, is not realizing how we can be healed!
Here we see Hosea 4: 6: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."
Added a doctor she quotes in the book: "One of my patients was devastated because her daughter, who lives in Brazil, had been diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. The doctors in Brazil told her she had less than a year to live; she went ahead and bought her own burial plot and coffin.
"That day in the office I commanded the spirit of cancer to leave her in Jesus' Name and prayed for total healing. Her mother and I had an inner assurance that her daughter was healed. The mother called her in Brazil and told her to go back to the doctor, for she was cancer free. The daughter did so, and after testing there was no trace of cancer in her body. She went ahead and sold her burial plot and coffin!"
[resources Healing is for You! and Pressing Ahead in the Spirit]
Mark S. Latkovic
Professor of Moral Theology
Sacred Heart Major Seminary
Detroit, MI
“Charity” or “love” is the virtue which most adequately captures the Christian view
of human existence (cf. Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, no. 1). Love should
characterize all relationships – whether sexual or non-sexual – with God and other human
persons. As Jesus instructs us, to love God above all else is the greatest and first
commandment and to love our neighbor as ourselves is like it see (see Mt 22:34-40; Mk
12:28-34; cf. Lk 10:25-28). But what is love?
We can define human love as “the disposition to achieve fulfillment” or, in less
technical language, as the “willing of the good for the person.” As St. Thomas Aquinas
teaches, love has the character of friendship, when, “together with benevolence…we love
someone so as to wish good to him” (Summa theologiae, II-II, Q. 23, a. 1). “Yet neither
does well-wishing suffice for friendship,” Thomas adds, “for a certain mutual love is
requisite, since friendship is between friend and friend: and this well-wishing is founded
on some kind of communication.”
Sexual love between a man and a woman (eros) will be but one form or mode of
love that some of us are called to share or communicate with a spouse in marriage and
family life.
The late Pope John Paul II spoke often and eloquently (even before his papacy as
Karol Wojtyla) of the human person as that creature “towards which the only proper and
adequate attitude is love” (Love and Responsibility, 1981, p. 41). Because the human
person, God’s very image and likeness (see Gn 1:26-27), has an inherent dignity and
value, we owe him or her nothing less than the response of love.
In theological language, we speak of love/charity as the principle or source of the
Christian life. It is the “norm” by which we are to conduct and evaluate all of our
personal and social behavior. To quote Pope John Paul II again: “Creating the human
race in His own image and continually keeping it in being,” the God of personal loving
communion “inscribed in the humanity of man and woman the vocation, and thus the
capacity and responsibility, of love and communion. Love is therefore the fundamental
and innate vocation of every human being” (Familiaris consortio, no. 11).
Yet the Christian understanding of love is quite unique. It goes beyond mere
philosophical definitions or humanistic conceptions and takes its meaning directly from
God himself. In accord with the New Testament, Christians speak of agape, that is, the
divine love of God for us as well as the love that we share with one another out of love
for God and whose source is God himself (cf. Deus Caritas Est, nos. 3-18).
St. Thomas will say that, “since there is a communication between man and God,
inasmuch as He communicates His happiness to us, some kind of friendship must needs
be based on this same communication, of which it is written (1 Cor 1:9): ‘God is faithful:
by Whom you are called unto the fellowship of His Son.’ The love which is based on
this communication, is charity: wherefore it is evident that charity is the friendship of
man for God” (S.T., II-II, Q. 23, a.1).
Unlike many in our world who view love as merely a feeling or sentiment, or
primarily as some particular action that we do (an “act of charity”) or as an act of so-
called “compassion” (e.g. mercy-killing), Christians believe that love is foremost a gift
given to us by the God who is love: it is the love of God himself “poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit” (Rom 5:5).
We believe therefore not only that “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8), as Pope Benedict XVI
has reminded us in Deus Caritas Est, no. 1, but also that God imparts this love to us, and
in doing so makes us his adopted sons and daughters: “See what love the Father has given
us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are” (1 Jn 3:1). The
expression “child of God” moreover is not simply a quaint pious phrase but a reality:
because of our faith we truly have the “power to become children of God” (Jn 1:12).
This life of faith though must take shape in a life of good works – that is, it must
bear fruit. Love involves both knowing the good and willing it. Just as God the Father
has concretely shown his love for us in Jesus Christ, his Son, so too must we love our
neighbor in deed with the same love that Jesus has for us. “If you keep my
commandments, you will abide in my love” (Jn 15:10). And only for the one who loves,
St. Augustine tells us, in commenting on 1 John 5:3-4 (God’s “commandments are not
burdensome”) will these commandments be in no way burdensome, unless of course we
do not love (see De Natura et Gratia, 69.72).
Thus, God’s love is seen as both the source of the Christian’s moral activity and
the rationale underlying the Catholic Church’s teaching on matters of marriage, family,
and sexuality. Take for example the issue of contraception. The Church understands the
sexual act of intercourse as an intimate body-soul realization and expression (“two-in-
one-flesh”) of the conjugal love between a man and a woman. This act obviously can
potentially initiate new human life. And since every human person is to be loved, is to be
wanted precisely because they are persons – the only creatures on earth, Vatican Council
II informs us, “that God has wanted for their own sake” (Gaudium et spes, no. 24) –
anything that would distort this attitude toward the person is to be rejected as harmful to
his or her dignity.
Hence, contraception is morally wrong not because it contradicts “nature” or is
“artificial,” but because it violates the possible child’s right to be “loved” into existence
rather than merely “tolerated” either as an “accident” or “mistake” resulting from
contraceptive “failure.” When a child does come-to-be despite the use of contraception,
that child does so despite the original “no” to its existence voiced by its progenitors.
Thus, when Humanae vitae no.16 speaks of the wrongness of impeding “the order
of generation from completing its own natural processes,” I take the pope to mean that
interfering with these natural processes is wrong not so much in this case because it is a
matter of tampering with human nature as it is intentionally impeding the human life that
could possibly come-to-be as a result of that God-given process.
Even in instances where no child comes-to-be, contraception is nevertheless a
“no” to human life (here and now in this one sexual act) and a “no” to the total, personal
and mutual self-giving which should be present in every marriage (marriage being the
only “place” where this can be possible) and in every marital act (whether or not the
spouses actually intend procreation or not) (cf. Familiaris consortio, no. 11).
To “love our neighbor” can only mean, as Pope John Paul II notes in Veritatis
splendor, no.13, that we love the various fundamental goods of the person which perfect
him or her in community. That is, loving the person means willing that these goods be
for that person while not doing anything to will or act against them. One such good is the
good of human life-in-its-generation. The Church’s teaching on contraception and other
topics of sexual morality follows logically from its vision of the principle of the
“inseparable connection” between the goods of life and love in marriage (cf. Humanae
vitae, no. 12).
Such is the Christian understanding of sexual activity, indeed of all moral activity.
Followers of Christ are those who, respecting life and love, affirm of the human person:
“It is good that you exist!” and “We can love you because we have first been loved by
God in Christ Jesus!”
Jesus Christ our Savior has shown us the way of true love by dying for us on the
cross. “It is from there,” argues Benedict XVI, “that our definition of love must begin”
(Deus Caritas est, no. 12). We therefore know from Jesus that we can “fully discover”
our true selves and realize our personal vocations – whatever they are or might be – “only
in a sincere giving” of our lives as human persons (cf. Gaudium et spes, no. 24).
They weigh less than 3 pounds, usually, and are perhaps 15 inches long. But they can remember.
The unborn have memories, according to medical researchers who used sound and vibration stimulation, combined with sonography, to reveal that the human fetus displays short-term memory from at least 30 weeks gestation - or about two months before they are born.
"In addition, results indicated that 34-week-old fetuses are able to store information and retrieve it four weeks later," said the research, which was released Wednesday.
Scientists from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Maastricht University Medical Centre and the University Medical Centre St. Radboud, both in the Netherlands, based their findings on a study of 100 healthy pregnant women and their fetuses with the help of some gentle but precise sensory stimulation.
On five occasions during the last eight weeks of their pregnancies, the women received a series of one-second buzzes on their bellies with a "fetal vibroacoustic stimulator," a hand-held diagnostic device used to gauge an unborn baby's heart rate and general well-being.
The baby's responses - primarily eye, mouth and body movements - were closely monitored over the weeks with ultrasound imaging to gauge "fetal learning" patterns. The researchers found that the babies acclimated themselves to the sounds and vibrations to the point that they no longer bothered to respond - a process known as "habituation."
"The stimulus is then accepted as 'safe' " by the babies, the study said.
The team also found that the tiny test subjects actually improved these skills as they grew older, with those who were 34- or 36-weeks old clearly showing that they had become familiar with the hum outside the womb.
"The fetus 'remembers' the stimulus and the number of stimuli needed for the fetus to habituate is then much smaller," the study said.
"It seems like every day we find out marvelous new things about the development of unborn children. We hope that this latest information helps people realize more clearly that the unborn are members of the human family with amazing capabilities and capacities like these built in from the moment of conception," said Randall K. O'Bannon, director of education and research for the National Right to Life Educational Trust Fund.
A call to NARAL Pro-Choice America for comment on the implications of the research were not returned.
The Dutch medical team, meanwhile, said its findings could help obstetricians track the healthy development of unborn babies during pregnancy. The research was published in Child Development, a medical journal.
Scientists have been curious about fetal responses to sound for decades.
The first real study of "habituation" occurred in 1925 when researchers discovered that fetuses moved less when exposed to a beeping car horn. Since then, door buzzers and even electric toothbrushes have been used to help researchers understand the fetal environment - and the response of the unborn to such influences.
Beeps and buzzes were not always the tools of choice.
In 2003, psychologists and obstetricians at Queen's University in Canada found a profound mother-baby link. In a study of 60 pregnant women, they found that the unborn babies preferred the voices of their own mothers - both before and after birth.
The heart rates of fetuses sped up when they heard their mother reading a poem, and slowed down when they heard a stranger's voice - evidence of "sustained attention, memory and learning by the fetus," said Barbara Kisilevsky, a professor of nursing who led the research.
The Queen's group has also investigated fetal response to the father's voice, concluding that if men try a little pre-natal vocalizing to their offspring, the newborn will later recognize the father's voice.
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Copyright 2009 The Washington Times, LLC
Eileen George
"Suffering does not come from God. We are subject to suffering from the Fall of man. Suffering was the consequence of the sin of Adam and Eve. They knew what would happen if they disobeyed. Yet they failed; so this is the consequence. In the meantime God our loving Father sent Jesus to redeem us. Jesus Christ, our loving Savior, the only divine Son of the Father, died upon the cross to win graces for us, to balance the scale of suffering, trials, tribulations, poverty, whatnot."
"When suffering does come our way, as it has come my way through cancer, God our loving Father is terribly upset. His heart is aching for me and for His children who are suffering, who hurt. He does not love the suffering - He gives us the graces to bear it, the grace of perseverance in our Faith, and a deep spiritual love, peace, and joy."
- page 57 in Eileen George. Beacon of God's Love: Her Teaching. The Meet-the-Father Ministry, Inc. 1990. The Meet-the-Father Ministry, Inc. 363 Greenwood St., Millbury, MA 01527.
Apollyon Rising 2012: The Lost Symbol Found and the Final Mystery of the Great Seal Revealed
The Bible Code Reveals-APOLLYON*ANGEL of the ABYSS
These are somewhat perplexing times for those who watch the Vatican. There have been a number of matters, in recent months, that raised eyebrows. Has the Pope been misunderstood? Is he served poorly by those under him? Or is it simply that he transcends politics?
There is the issue of globalization.
Last week, when Benedict XVI released his latest encyclical ("Love in Truth"), he made a remark that many have construed to be an endorsement of world governance.
The phrase, in relation to the current economic crisis, was that there is "an urgent need of a true world political authority" whose task would be "to manage the global economy; to revive economies hit by the crisis; to avoid any deterioration of the present crisis and the greater imbalances that would result."
That rang alarms among the many who are concerned the world is headed for a coalescence that would unite nations and allow the possibility for world hegemony by a nefarious personage -- a virulent anti-Christian, perhaps an atheist (or worse). They see world government as a cog in the coming of events that may even be related to Revelation (see chapter 17) and the end times.
Whatever the legitimacy of that particular interpretation, the trends are unmistakable: Leaders around the world and especially in Europe (where they already have formed a union) are promoting new international instruments not just to oversee finances but also problems related to the environment, trade, immigration, drug trafficking, and other matters. Just last week, as President Barack Obama traveled to Europe for the G-8 meeting, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held out a prototype for global currency -- a coin based on "unity in diversity." He wants such a currency to replace the dollar as dominant in international trade, as do China, India, and a host of other nations.
There is thus a strong, unmistakable current in the direction of what some call a new world order and others "globalization." The Vatican always has seen certain merits in global authority -- including the United Nations, if it reacts properly. It wants the rich nations to share with the poor. It wants to protect dwindling natural resources. It wants a humanitarian, international perspective. What is not clear is if the Pope buys fears of an evil global dictator, perhaps even an anti-christ. There are few indications that he does.
This has lead to a flurry of e-mails like the following: "Very confusing time. The new encyclical of the Holy Father calling for a greater expansion of World Government and greater global centralization in finance begs to wonder if he is not advised by the wrong kind of people and does not see the spiritual implication. Here find an interesting link. We are not fighting against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers from on high."
Said another: "I read an article last week regarding the Pope's comment about how he feels there should be one central governing power for finances throughout the world, and I have to tell you -- it made every hair on my body stand up!"
And so it goes -- with some going so far as to question the motive of the pontiff himself.
Such apprehensions are not helped by what have been perceived (at least by elements of the Catholic media) as other Vatican missteps.
There was the decision to embrace an ultra-traditionalist bishop who denies the Holocaust. That caused an outcry. How did it happen?
There has been confusion on how to handle homosexuals seeking entry into seminaries.
There has been an uproar over Rome's handling of a bishop in South America.
There was confusion when the Vatican's unofficial "official" newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, seemed at odds with American bishops over President Obama's visit to Notre Dame.
Add more perplexity when just this week, the same newspaper applauded the new Harry Potter movie -- even though previous Vatican reviewers have warned about its darkness (real spells are used in certain of the books), and the Pope himself, when he was a cardinal (and prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith), indicated very negatively on the novels, sending a congratulatory note to an author who attacked Potter for promoting the occult (there has been an explosion, for example, in teen witchcraft).
And so it is understandable if many wonder what is transpiring among underlings at the Vatican. Perhaps we are getting a bit too worldly.
Meanwhile, is the Holy Father a conservative or a liberal?
This too is raising commotion. There seemed to be elements of both in his encyclical.
Those who are "conservative" took issue with Benedict XVI's strong opposition to what he called (and rightly) "unbridled materialism." The Pope pointed out that the profit motive has become a god, distorting the reason we are all placed on this planet (to help each other). It is hard for Rome to look at someone holding tens of billions in wealth while families in Haiti starve for want of a dollar (or even less) a day. But to some (especially the libertarians who have assumed control of American conservatism), this is a "liberal" viewpoint. The Pope is also at odds with libertarians because he is a strong advocate for protecting the environment -- what God created. He says to be conservative is to conserve (contrary to conservative talk radio). The Pope says every economic decision has a moral consequence and calls for "forms of redistribution" of wealth "overseen by governments to help those most affected by crises." This has caused alarm that he is a "socialist."
Meanwhile, liberals had their own concerns. The encyclical made clear the Pope's unyielding stand against abortion, euthanasia, birth control, embryonic stem-cell research, and homosexual marriage -- tying those stands to human dignity itself. Brilliantly he summed up his stand and melded both sides of the political spectrum -- from abortion to ecology -- when he said, "The way humanity treats the environment influences the way it treats itself, and vice versa." The Pope said “it is contradictory to insist that future generations respect the natural environment when our educational systems and laws do not help them to respect themselves.”
That is neither "liberal" nor "conservative."
It is Catholic.
His policies are basically those repeatedly espoused by his predecessor, the great John Paul II. Many have forgotten how ardently that pope opposed war and capital punishment -- which are "pro-life" issues at the Vatican (if not elsewhere).
And while many of the current Pope's ruminations may seem overly complicated and nuanced, and while endorsing the United Nations causes legitimate concern, he has never endorsed the idea of one-world government. In fact, as one newspaper commentator noted, the encyclical "praises the redistribution of wealth while emphasizing the importance of decentralized governance. It connects the despoiling of the environment to the mass destruction of human embryos."
That puts him greatly at odds with many "liberals" and "conservatives." This is a document that sees above politics. It is an encyclical that is not any one political "brand" because it transcends such labeling, from a man whose mind transcends traditional cerebration.
Wrote the Pope: "Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness by his earthly life and especially by his death and resurrection, is the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of all humanity. Love — caritas — is an extraordinary force which leads people to opt for courageous and generous engagement in the field of justice and peace. It is a force that has its origin in God, Eternal Love and Absolute Truth. Each person finds his good by adherence to God's plan for him, in order to realize it fully: in this plan, he finds his truth, and through adherence to this truth he becomes free (cf. Jn 8:22)."
This is a document that continues the Pope's mission of love.
Bravo for that.
But caution: There are nefarious forces out there, Your Holiness, and they play both sides of the fence, seeking to either coalesce a one-world government or simply tear our current sovereignties apart and start with a new uncharitable plan for global control.
[resources: Memory and Identity, We Have Pope!, Brotherhood of Darkness, and Spiritual warfare books]
[see also: Encyclical: something for both liberals and conservatives, Why the Vatican opposed Iraq war, and Gore and global governance]
[Text of new encyclical]
"This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses" (Acts 2:32).
One of the greatest proofs that Jesus is exactly who He said He was—the Son of God and the only One through whom eternal life is offered—is His resurrection from the dead.
His followers were convinced that He was the Messiah and the Son of God. His miracles, His sinless life and His teachings all proved to them who He was. But His resurrection confirms every claim Jesus made to all people for all time.
What is astounding is that Jesus put everything on the line with His own statements that He would die and be raised to life again. He foretold His own resurrection on several occasions. "And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again" (Mark 8:31).
When the scribes and Pharisees wanted a sign from Him, He said only one sign would be given: "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40).
It is quite risky to foretell your own resurrection. Yet Jesus not only foretold His resurrection, but announced precisely when He would be resurrected (see "When Was Jesus Christ Crucified and Resurrected?").
So it comes down to this one event. How do we know that Jesus' resurrection from the dead happened? If it didn't happen just as He said, then we have no reason to believe that the way of life that Christ brought was any better or more right than any other religion. There would be nothing earthshaking about Jesus of Nazareth; He would be simply another religious fraud.
But if it did happen, there is one great difference between Jesus and all other religious leaders: Jesus' teachings are true, and everything He said is true, and He is exactly who He claimed to be.
In his book Reasonable Faith, Dr. William Craig gives three great, independently established facts on which the evidence for Jesus' resurrection rests: the empty tomb, the resurrection appearances and the origin of the Christian faith (p. 272). Let's examine the details and implications of each of these.
Did Jesus really die?
That Jesus died and was buried is one of the best-established facts about Jesus. The Bible says again and again that Jesus died. Some critics have argued that Jesus wasn't completely dead when He was entombed. The Koran, considered holy by Muslims, claims that Jesus only seemed to be dead. Some skeptics have claimed that He merely appeared to be dead, possibly drugged, but revived while in the tomb and escaped to convince His disciples that He had risen from the dead.
But when we examine the facts, what such theories suggest is physically impossible. The extent of Jesus' tortures and wounds was such that no man could have survived the crucifixion and three days and nights isolated in a dark, cold tomb.
To say that He was drugged ignores the record. He turned down the painkiller that was usually given to crucifixion victims (Mark 15:23). Later He was offered a sip of sour wine from a sponge, but there is no indication of a drugging effect on Jesus from this because of His obvious agony and final death cry (verses 36-37).
Death at the hands of Roman torturers and executioners was certain and could come from several causes. Journalist Lee Strobel, in an interview with Dr. Alexander Metherell, describes the death of Jesus from a medical point of view (The Case for Christ, 1998, pp. 193-200).
Jesus had been beaten repeatedly and lashed with a Roman scourge before His crucifixion (Matthew 27:26). The leather scourge, a type of whip, was designed to inflict maximum pain and damage on the victim. It was braided with pieces of bone and metal woven into the ends that tore into the flesh with each stroke. The scourge would rip into the underlying muscles and produce strips of quivering, bleeding flesh.
Eusebius, a third-century historian, reports that "the sufferer's veins were laid bare, and the very muscles, sinews, and bowels of the victim were open to exposure" (quoted by Strobel, p. 193). Many victims would die from the scourging before they could be crucified.
The extreme pain, coupled with loss of blood, would often cause the victim to go into shock—his blood pressure would drop and cause fainting, collapse and intense thirst. The Gospels record that Jesus experienced these symptoms on His way to Golgotha. Weakened to the point of collapse, He couldn't bear the weight of the beam He was carrying and a bystander, Simon of Cyrene, was forced to carry it part of the way for Him (Mark 15:21). When He was crucified, He said, "I thirst" (John 19:28).
He had already suffered savage beatings before the scourging. At His trial before the Sanhedrin, "they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, 'Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?'" (Matthew 26:67-68). When they turned Him over to the Roman soldiers, they further brutalized Him, beating Him with their fists, slapping Him and shoving a crown of thorns on His head (Matthew 27:29-30; Mark 15:16-19; John 19:3).
The extent of this beating is indicated in the prophecy of Isaiah 50:6: "I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting" (NIV).
Another prophecy in Isaiah 52:14 is even more graphic: "His form, disfigured, lost all human likeness; his appearance so changed he no longer looked like a man" (REB). What this tells us is that He was so badly beaten, so bloodied and maimed, that He was scarcely recognizable as a human being.
Pilate appears to have thought that when he had Jesus brought out to the crowd after the beatings and scourging, He would present such a pitiable spectacle that it would satiate His accusers' thirst for blood (John 19:1, 4-6). But their hatred of the bloodied man from Nazareth would not be satisfied. They insisted He be crucified.
The agony of crucifixion
Because of the terrible effects of these beatings and the scourging, from a medical standpoint Jesus would have already been in serious to critical condition even before He was taken away to be crucified (Alexander Metherell, M.D., quoted by Strobel, p. 196).
In a crucifixion, the Romans typically used iron nails, five to seven inches long and about three eighths of an inch square, driven into the victim's wrists and feet to fasten him to the wooden members. The Bible says nails were driven through Jesus' hands, but in the language of the day the wrist was considered part of the hand. Nails were driven into the wrists, between the arm bones, because the hands themselves could not support the weight of the body.
This placement of nails is supported by the 1968 discovery in Jerusalem of the bones of a man who had been crucified and buried in a first-century tomb. His right heel bone still had a large iron nail embedded in it, and one of his right forearm bones had a groove and wear marks consistent with a nail being driven between the two arm bones near his wrist.
The nails pounded through the wrists would have crushed the median nerve, the largest nerve going to the hand, causing indescribable pain. "The pain was absolutely unbearable," says Dr. Metherell. "In fact, it was literally beyond words to describe; they had to invent a new word: excruciating . Literally, excruciating means 'out of the cross.'
"Think of that: they needed to create a new word, because there was nothing in the language that could describe the intense anguish caused during the crucifixion" (quoted by Strobel, pp. 197-198). Nails driven through the feet would have brought similar pain.
We can't know for sure whether Jesus was crucified on a simple stake or a cross with a crossbeam (see "Roman Forms of Crucifixion"). Either way, being hung by His arms would have caused great stresses on His body. His arms would have been stretched several inches and both shoulders likely were dislocated.
The prophecy of Christ's suffering in Psalm 22:14 refers to His tortured condition: "I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; it has melted within me."
Dr. Metherell continues with a description of the agonies Jesus endured: "Once a person is hanging in the vertical position...crucifixion is essentially an agonizingly slow death by asphyxiation. The reason is that the stresses on the muscles and diaphragm put the chest into the inhaled position; basically, in order to exhale, the individual must push up on his feet so the tension on the muscles would be eased for a moment. In doing so, the nail would tear through the foot, eventually locking up against the tarsal bones.
"After managing to exhale, the person would then be able to relax down and take another breath in. Again he'd have to push himself up to exhale, scraping his bloodied back against the coarse wood of the cross. This would go on and on until complete exhaustion would take over, and the person wouldn't be able to push up and breathe anymore" (Strobel, pp. 265-266).
What was the cause of Jesus' death?
Many people assume that Jesus simply expired from the trauma or suffocated, which were the common causes of death in crucifixion. Various medical doctors have studied execution by crucifixion and come to similar conclusions. Some theologians and churches have taught that Jesus died of a broken heart. Can we know what actually killed Him?
Zechariah 12:10 contains a prophecy of Jesus' crucifixion. Referring to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, it says: "They will look on me, the one they have pierced" (NIV). Time and time again the Scriptures speak of the importance of Christ's shed blood (Acts 20:28; Ephesians 2:13; Hebrews 9:11-14; 1 Peter 1:18-19). Jesus Himself said that the wine of the New Testament Passover represented "my blood...which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:28, NIV).
Clearly a central focus of Christ's sacrifice was His blood, which He shed as a sacrifice for the sins of all humanity. Regrettably, this is obscured somewhat in John 19:30-34, which makes it appear that Jesus died and then later was stabbed by one of the Roman soldiers, "bringing a sudden flow of blood and water" (verse 34, NIV). However, there is a problem if this were the specific order of events, because dead bodies, once the heart has stopped its pumping action, no longer bleed like that.
This problem is resolved when we consider many older manuscripts of Matthew's Gospel, which contain words that appear in a few Bible translations but were left out of most modern versions. These missing words tell us the proper sequence of events.
The Twentieth Century New Testament, which includes these words, reads: "And about three [o'clock in the afternoon] Jesus called out loudly: 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabacthani'—that is to say, 'O my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?' Some of those standing by heard this, and said [mistakenly]: 'The man is calling for Elijah!'
"One of them immediately ran and took a sponge, and, filling it with common wine, put it on the end of a rod, and offered it to him to drink. But the rest said: 'Wait and let us see if Elijah is coming to save him.' However another man took a spear, and pierced his side; and water and blood flowed from it. But Jesus, uttering another loud cry, gave up his spirit" (Matthew 27:46-50).
The missing words, noted here in italics, show that Jesus was stabbed in the side with a spear, uttered a loud cry and then died. Other versions that contain the missing words include the Moffatt Translation and the Rotherham Emphasized Bible, and various other Bible versions include a footnote or marginal reference noting the omitted words.
So does Matthew's account conflict with John's? No. Both describe the same events, but from different perspectives.
Matthew jumps immediately from Jesus' death to a description of the temple veil being torn in half, while John focuses on the fact that, in contrast to the two criminals crucified with Jesus, not one of His bones was broken. John then explains parenthetically how Jesus had already died so that His bones did not need to be broken—His side had been pierced with a spear (John 19:31-34).
John then tells us in verse 36 that this took place in fulfillment of Psalm 34:20 and the symbolism of the Passover lambs, which were to be slain and not have a single bone broken (Exodus 12:6, 46; Numbers 9:12). The Passover lambs that had their blood shed to save the Israelites (Exodus 12:6-7, 13) pictured Jesus, "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).
The final fatal blow
Continuing in John 19:37, John explains that the prophecy of Zechariah 12:10 that Jesus' body would be pierced was fulfilled. What was this final, fatal thrust like that ended Jesus' life?
John Lyle Cameron, M.D., explains: "The soldier was a Roman: he would be well trained, proficient, and would know his duty. He would know which part of the body to pierce in order that he might obtain a speedily fatal result or ensure that the victim was undeniably dead...
"The soldier, standing below our crucified Lord as He hung on the cross, would thrust upwards under the left ribs. The broad, clean cutting, two-edged spearhead would enter the left side of the upper abdomen, would open the...stomach, would pierce the diaphragm, would cut, wide open, the heart and great blood vessels, arteries and veins..., and would lacerate the lung.
"The wound would be large enough to permit the open hand to be thrust into it [compare John 20:24-27]. Blood..., together with water from the...stomach, would flow forth in abundance. The whole event as described by St. John must, indeed, have happened, for no writer could have presented in such coherent detail so recognizable an event, unless he or someone had actually witnessed its occurrence" (quoted by R.V.G. Tasker, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: John, 2000, pp. 212-213).
The idea that Jesus didn't really die, that He fainted or was drugged and was later resuscitated, has no basis in fact when you consider the clear statements that He died. The apostle John had been an eyewitness to that death, having been right there with others as these events unfolded (John 19:25-27, 35).
The Roman soldiers, too, knew He was dead. They may not have been medical experts, but they were used to seeing executions and knew when someone was dead. Before releasing the body of Jesus to Joseph of Arimathea, Pilate confirmed with the centurion overseeing the execution detail that Jesus was indeed dead (Mark 15:43-45).
Even if we assume Jesus could have physically survived the crucifixion, how could He then have lived for three days and nights in a tomb, sealed away from any kind of medical care or treatment?
There is one other point we should make here. Assuming the seemingly impossible notion that a man could somehow have lived through all this, the accounts of Jesus appearing to His disciples after the ordeal would have been just that much more impossible. And even if He had somehow managed it, He certainly couldn't have appeared as One who would inspire His disciples to proclaim that He had been resurrected to a glorious and powerful state. He would've been a severely broken, wounded man—psychologically traumatized, physically crippled and maimed for life.
Any theory to explain that Jesus really didn't die cannot be taken seriously in light of the clear evidence we have.
Jesus' burial
Jesus was buried by Joseph of Arimathea in a new tomb that Joseph had reserved for himself.
Because Joseph of Arimathea was a member of the same Jewish high court that condemned Jesus, he is unlikely to be a Christian invention. Mark's Gospel tells us that "Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member,… taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus" (Mark 15:43).
Given permission to take the body, Joseph "bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb" (verse 46).
No one trying to contrive and pawn off a fabrication would have invented a person who did not exist and say he was a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jewish nation. Members of the Sanhedrin were widely known. Because Joseph was a respected public figure, many people would have known the location of his tomb. If Jesus had not been buried in his tomb, the ruse would have been all too easy to expose.
Notice also the precautions taken to make sure nothing could happen to the body of Jesus once it had been placed in the tomb: "The next day...the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 'Sir,' they said, 'we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, "After three days I will rise again."
"'So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.' 'Take a guard,' Pilate answered. 'Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.' So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard" (Matthew 27:62-66, NIV).
Roman guards were placed around the tomb the day after Jesus' burial. Surely they would have noticed had Jesus awakened from a near-death state or His body been stolen by His followers. Their orders were clear: They were to make sure nothing happened to the body of Jesus. If they failed at this duty, they could be put to death just as Jesus had been.
Both the Jews and the disciples of Christ would have known the location of this tomb. The women who would figure prominently in the discovery of the empty tomb observed where the tomb was and that Jesus was in fact laid inside it (Luke 23:55). They also knew a massive stone had been rolled over the entrance of the tomb (Mark 15:46-47) and knew it had to be rolled back when they returned to the same location to apply the burial spices they had prepared (Mark 16:3).
There was no question in the mind of the women and His other disciples that Jesus was in that tomb.
Women discover the empty tomb
Mark also records for us the detail that three women—Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome—approached the tomb before sunrise to anoint the body of Jesus with spices. Finding the heavy stone rolled away, they entered the tomb and were shocked and afraid when they saw "a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side." The man told the women, "He is risen!" and instructed them to go and tell Jesus' other disciples (Mark 16:1-8).
In the society of the day, the testimony of women was held in such low regard that they were not even permitted to serve as witnesses in a court of law. How remarkable it is, then, that women were the acknowledged discoverers of Jesus' empty tomb!
Had someone fabricated the story at a later date, as many critics assume to have been the case, the plot surely would have made male disciples such as Peter and John the discoverers of the empty tomb. That it was women who were the chief witnesses to the fact of the empty tomb is best explained by the straightforward truth that the women named were indeed the actual discoverers.
The Gospel writers faithfully recorded what for them was an awkward and potentially embarrassing detail.
Jesus' enemies acknowledged that the tomb was empty
What was the reaction of Jesus' enemies to the disciples' stunning declaration that Jesus was alive again after having been publicly executed?
Their reaction is very revealing. Did they respond that the disciples were lying, that Jesus' body still lay in the rock-hewn tomb? No. Did they claim that the disciples were hallucinating? No. Instead, they bribed the Roman soldiers responsible for guarding the sealed tomb to spread what they knew was a lie. They told them to spread a cover story, to claim that Jesus' disciples had come and stolen His body while they slept, and that they would cover for the soldiers if they got in trouble with the Roman governor.
Read the account in Matthew 28:11-15. This was the best excuse the authorities could come up with to explain why Jesus' body was missing and could not be found!
Here we have evidence from the very enemies of Christ that His tomb was empty. The best rationale they could come up with they knew to be a lie. There is no other explanation for how the tomb became empty except that Jesus was resurrected bodily and left the tomb.
Eyewitness accounts of His appearances
On multiple occasions and under various circumstances individuals and groups of people saw Jesus alive after knowing He had died.
Notice what the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church: "He was seen by Cephas [Peter], then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time" (1 Corinthians 15:5-8).
How did Paul receive this information? He was acquainted and had spoken with the people involved. He had heard the account in their own words. Most who could verify it were still alive. He is making this assertion knowing he could be proven wrong if it were not true!
Such eyewitness accounts cannot be dismissed as fantasy. They must refer to actual events that were witnessed by many people alive at the time of Paul's writing. Paul even lists the names of the best known of the witnesses so others could verify the facts of Jesus' resurrection for themselves!
Appearances in bodily form
All of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances in the Gospels are in bodily form. "Why do doubts arise in your hearts?" He asked His apostles when He appeared to them, as recorded in Luke 24:36-43.
He invited them, "Behold [look at] My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have." When they still did not believe, perhaps because it was too good to be true, He asked them for food, which He took and ate in front of them.
Then there is the occasion when Jesus appeared to all His apostles, including Thomas, who apparently was missing on the previous occasion. Thomas was adamant that he would not believe unless he saw Jesus' wounds with his own eyes and felt the wounds with his own hands (John 20:24-29). Yet he was absolutely convinced when Jesus appeared to them all and specifically invited Thomas to verify that He was indeed the same Jesus whom Thomas and the rest had known for so long.
On yet another occasion Jesus appeared to the disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. On this occasion He performed a miracle, fixed and ate a breakfast of bread and fish with them and gently rebuked Peter for returning to his life as a fisherman rather than taking care of the far more important business of tending to His Church (John 21:1-23).
It's been suggested that these appearances were merely hallucinations on the part of the disciples. But this theory cannot account for the fact that the appearances were in different places, at different times and in front of different groups of people. Jesus appeared in ways that were convincing to all the apostles. These appearances left no doubt in their minds—including that of Thomas, who staked out his position that he wouldn't believe unless he literally saw and felt the Jesus whom he knew.
The disciples' astounding transformation
One of the major proofs of the resurrection of Jesus is the dramatic change in the lives of His disciples.
The Gospel accounts are not flattering to the apostles (which is further evidence that they didn't fabricate the story). At the time of Christ's arrest and trial, all His apostles forsook Him and fled (Matthew 26:56). Peter, who vowed that he would always stand by Jesus, even cursed and swore in denying that he knew Him (verses 69-75).
Jesus, we remember, foretold Peter's weakness and even forewarned His apostles that they would also stumble because of their association with Him (verses 31-35).
Within a short time, however, we see a dramatic change. We find the apostles speaking to large crowds and openly declaring that Jesus had risen from the dead. Far from running away and hiding, now they boldly confronted the civil and religious authorities with the fact that Jesus had been killed and raised to life again.
They defied orders threatening them with imprisonment if they continued to speak about this man Jesus (Acts 4:1-23). They courageously faced beatings and endured death threats because they preached that Jesus was alive and was the Messiah (Acts 5:17-42).
Whereas only weeks before they had denied they even knew Him, now nothing could stop them from openly publicizing what they obviously knew to be true. Only one explanation for their new unshakable belief even in the face of imprisonment and execution is plausible: They saw Jesus Christ alive after they knew He was dead. They spoke with Him, ate with Him, received extensive instructions from Him, spent time with Him and touched Him.
These men gave the remaining years of their lives, and ultimately life itself, for the One they knew had conquered death. Had they all been only participants in a giant hoax, could we believe these men would give their lives for something they knew to be a lie?
Peter's remarkable change
The apostle Peter is the best known of the disciples whose lives were so remarkably changed. His boldness on the Feast of Pentecost was amazing. At the temple he addressed a huge crowd of people, from which 3,000 became disciples of Jesus the Messiah.
Peter spoke to people who lived in Jerusalem and all of Judea as well as many other parts of the Roman world. They were in Jerusalem to observe the Feast of Pentecost, also called the Feast of Weeks, as God had commanded in Deuteronomy 16:16. Peter reminded them that they all knew who Jesus was and what had happened to Him seven weeks earlier at the Passover feast (Acts 2:22-24).
Peter, who had denied his acquaintance with Jesus before He died, now fearlessly proclaimed to the people that they were the ones who had crucified the promised Messiah—but that God had raised Him up.
The reaction of the people is quite telling. There is no denial, no outcry, no attempt to stone Peter for this apparently outrageous charge. Many of them knew of the events surrounding the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus. They knew that many—perhaps even some of those standing there listening to Peter—had shouted for Christ's blood. They knew of the strange disappearance of the body from the tomb, a mystery no one had been able to solve.
They knew or had heard of other strange events that took place at the time: the mysterious darkness that descended on the land as Jesus was being crucified, people being resurrected from the grave and walking the streets of Jerusalem, and the massive veil in the magnificent temple tearing from top to bottom with no apparent cause.
How were these events to be explained? What did they mean? Peter was giving them the amazing explanation—an explanation that would require them to make a decision that would affect the rest of their lives.
Peter contrasted the empty tomb of Jesus with the nearby tomb of Israel's greatest king, David. "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day" (Acts 2:29). His point was unmistakable: Everybody knew where David's tomb was and that this was where the king's body was buried. But Jesus, unlike David, was no longer bound by the grave!
Jesus of Nazareth, Peter declared, had been raised up by God, and many witnesses could testify to that fact. Once again there was no argument from the crowd. On the contrary, the people asked what they should do now that they, too, were convinced that Peter was right. Peter replied that they should repent and be baptized and that they also would receive the Holy Spirit, as the disciples had on that very day (Acts 2:37-38).
The only way to explain the dramatic transformation of the disciples from a frightened band ready to throw everything away and flee back to Galilee is that Jesus left behind dramatic and powerful evidence: an empty tomb and then multiple bodily appearances. Ordinary men from ordinary walks of life, who had denied their Master and failed Him miserably, suddenly changed almost overnight into dynamic leaders of a Church that was to defy and challenge the ancient pagan world.
James, half brother of Jesus, becomes a believer
Perhaps an even more remarkable transformation took place in the life of James, the half brother of Jesus (James was the natural son of Mary and Joseph while Jesus was the son of Mary and God the Father). Notice how J.P. Moreland describes events in James' life as recorded in the Bible and contemporary history:
"Why did these men change? Why did they undergo hardship, persecution, pressure, and martyrdom? Consider James the brother of Jesus. Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, tells us that he died a martyr's death for his faith in his brother. Yet the Gospels tell us that during Jesus' life, he was an unbeliever and opposed Jesus.
"Why did he change? What could cause a Jew to believe that his own brother was the very Son of God and to be willing to die for such a belief? It certainly was not a set of lovely teachings from a carpenter from Nazareth. Only the appearance of Jesus to James (1 Corinthians 15:7) can explain his transformation.
"As with James, so it is with the other disciples. One who denies the resurrection owes us an explanation of this transformation which does justice to the historical facts" (Scaling the Secular City, 1987, pp. 178-179).
Paul the persecutor is transformed
The apostle Paul is another remarkable example. As a devout Jewish rabbi and strict Pharisee, he was resolutely convinced that Jesus' resurrection had not taken place. Paul persecuted members of the early Church for believing in such nonsense. He staked his whole mission in life on his conviction that the resurrection was a fabrication and the movement was a threat to every tradition he held sacred.
This new movement, he was convinced, deserved to be stamped out by any means, including imprisonment and execution (Acts 22:4)—and this would be his personal crusade. Then something happened. Jesus Christ appeared to Paul and spoke to him.
Paul was not a man given to the vivid imaginations of superstitious people. He was a levelheaded intellectual. Yet he later was prepared to defend his zeal for Christ before hostile mobs as well as governors, kings and other rulers. In the end Paul was prepared to die for what he knew was true: Jesus was indeed the Messiah and was alive and well at the right hand of God.
The existence of the Christian Church
Dr. Moreland puts it this way: "What cause can be postulated to explain the fact that the Christian church transformed the world of the first century? The odds for its success were antecedently poor. Several religions existed in the first century and some of the elements of Christianity can be found in them. Why did Christianity succeed, especially when it was such an exclusivist faith which frowned on syncretism? What caused the church to get started? There never was a form of Christianity which did not emphasize the centrality of the death and resurrection of a divine Jesus.
"The resurrection of Jesus is the explanation the church herself gave, and it is the only adequate one. Cambridge New Testament scholar C.F.D. Moule argues this way: 'If the coming into existence of the Nazarenes, a phenomenon undeniably attested by the New Testament, rips a great hole in history, a hole of the size and shape of Resurrection, what does the secular historian propose to stop it up with?'" (ibid., pp. 180-181).
That Jesus Christ really was resurrected from the dead is the only truly reasonable conclusion.
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