PAPAL A.D. 2000 JUBILEE

Strategies And Agenda

The Papal "Holy Doors" Of Jubilee 2000

Co-Redemptrix & Mediatrix of All Graces

The Message of Mary: Another Jesus

THE PAPAL A. D. 2000 JUBILEE

Strategies and Agenda

The following quotes from two New Age books disclose that there will be a worldwide Marian vision preceding the appearance of Lord Maitreya.  Pope John Paul II states in his book, Celebration 2000, that Mary will lead the world to Christ in the third millennium. The Latter Rain/New Age doctrines of revival, a new Pentecost, a new age, Jubilee, unity, birthing process are also mentioned in the Catholic plan for the transformation of mankind.

New Agers have studied Bible prophecy carefully, especially Matthew 24, and have documented plans to technically stage a "Second Coming," which would be acceptable to Christians, New Agers, et al. David Bay, Director of Old Paths Ministries, says that these plans have been published in a book entitled, The Armageddon Script, by New Age leader Peter LeMesurier. However, before that event, there will be another supernatural, psychic occurrence:

"Pope John Paul II is anxiously awaiting a potent world-wide Marian Vision. (World) chaos is to precede this vision. This vision will validate the global reign of Pope John Paul II and will establish him as the ultimate spiritual Judge of the Planet… the purpose of this super-natural vision is to validate the Roman Catholic church as the only true church and this Pope as God's ordained leader.’ …According to Vatican official, Malachi Martin, author of The Keys of This Blood, this event will be most powerfully psychic. The force accompanying this vision will be so powerful it will literally bring the normal activity of the world to a standstill. Men will be so moved that their ‘consciences will cry out with fear.’ This vision will produce an ‘engulfing chaos, along with misdirection, and disequilibruim in human affairs. In other words, the entire population of the world will experience a simultaneous changing of their minds…The vision will be preceded by either a loud sound, a bright light...

"These effects are identical to those which New Age writers have predicted during the appearance of Anti-Christ… (1) A loud sound will be heard world-wide which will herald the coming of Maitreya, the Christ. Prompted by this sound, people will be aware of his coming on three distinct levels: Spiritual, physical, and emotional. (Alice Bailey's The Externalisation Of The Hierarchy, p. 173.) (2) ‘...When Lord Maitreya appears, he will appear as different beings to different people… Thus, he will show that he is all things to all people.’ (Bill Lambert, speaking at Seminar, ‘Possible and Probable Events In The Future,’ Theosophical Society, Boston, Massachusetts, August 8, 1991). (3) His three-dimensional image will appear over all nations of the earth simultaneously. He will speak to each ethnic group in their own language. We know this is technologically possible with computer images via telecommunication satellite. (Constance Cumbey, Hidden Dangers Of The Rainbow, p. 24-25).

Many Evangelical leaders are encouraging unity with Roman Catholicism and full communion with this apostate church in the Jubilee celebrations of 2000 A.D. Some are also promoting the Marian apparitions as visitations from God to convert the lost who do not, or will not, hear the Gospel. Yet Gal. 1:8 says, "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed."

The Papal "Holy Doors" Of Jubilee 2000

Ed Tarkowski, December 7, 1996
Pope's Advent Ceremony Initiates Millennial March Toward The "Holy Doors"
SOURCE: Denver Catholic Register, December 4, 1996, Vol. LXXII No. 47

Universal Schedule For Preparing For The year 2000 Celebrations

Mary, The Star That Will Lead The World To Christ In The Millennium

In the very last words of his new book, "Celebrate 2000!," Pope John Paul II tells us who in the spiritual realm is in charge of leading the Church to Christ in the year 2000. Speaking of all he had written in the previous 267 pages, John Paul wrote:

"I entrust this responsibility of the whole Church to the maternal intercession of Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer: She, the Mother of Fairest Love, will be for Christians on the way to the Great Jubilee of the third millennium the star which safely guides their steps to the Lord. May the unassuming young woman of Nazareth, who two thousand years ago offered to the world the Incarnate Word, lead the men and women of the new millennium toward the One who is 'the true light that enlightens every man' (Jn. 1:9)" (1996, p. 268).

The Pope Holds Advent Service To Initiate Three Years Of Preparation

The fulfilling of the responsibilities of the whole Church to prepare according to the agenda laid out in his book has been placed in Mary's hands as the star which will safely guide us all to the Lord in the third millennium. And who exactly will she be guiding? The Pope made that clear in a "moment of Marian prayer" as reported by this VIS (Vatican Information Service) November 24, 1996 news release:

"Angelus: . . . Start Of Jubilee Preparatory Phase

"VATICAN CITY, NOV 24, 1996 (VIS) - . . . . [Pope John Paul II] then pointed out that 'next Saturday, in the Vatican basilica, I will preside at the First vespers of the first Sunday of Advent, with which we will initiate the three-year immediate preparatory period for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. I invite all the faithful of Rome, as well as pilgrims present in the city, to take part in this solemn moment of [Marian] prayer with which, in communion with the local churches throughout the world, we will spiritually start to walk towards the Holy Door of 2000, symbol of Christ, one Savior of the world.'"

Two days later, another release came forth announcing this time of preparation as the season of Advent in the Catholic Church:

V.I.S. - Tuesday 26 November 1996

IN BRIEF

"POPE JOHN PAUL II, on Saturday, November 30 at 6 p.m. in St. Peter's Basilica, will preside at the celebration of First Vespers of the first Sunday of Advent, on the occasion of the start of the preparatory period of the Great Jubilee Year 2000. The celebration also opens the liturgical period of Advent."

The following Sunday, the Associated Press reported the anticipated event:

ASSOCIATED PRESS - Sunday 1 December 1996

Pope officially opens preparations for 2000

"VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II formally launched Saturday the Roman Catholic Church's preparations to celebrate the year 2000 and promised to be there "at God's pleasure.

"'It is in the name of Christ that we begin, in these first vespers of Advent, the immediate preparation for the Grand Jubilee of the year 2000,' John Paul declared during a vespers prayer service in St. Peter's Basilica. Advent is the period preceding Christmas.

"The Vatican plans a series of Masses and other celebrations to mark Christianity's third millennium, and 20 million people are expected to flock to Rome. John Paul has declared 2000 a Jubilee year, a time of pilgrimage and celebration.

"'This road (of preparation) will take us to the threshold of the Holy Doors, which will be opened, at God's pleasure, the night of Christmas 1999, thus giving a start to the Grand Jubilee,' John Paul declared.

"According to church tradition, popes open and close the main doors of St. Peter's at the beginning and end of jubilee years. The doors otherwise remain closed.

"The pope has repeatedly has stated his wish to lead the church into the third millennium. He has suffered a series of health problems in recent years, most recently an appendectomy Oct. 8. . . ." (by The Associated Press).

Local Parishes Implementing Preparations For Marian 'New Advent'

Apparently the local parishes were ready for the preparation to being, with Mary having a central place in those preparations. When I saw the front page of the Denver Catholic Register for December 4, 1996, I was met with the words "The New Advent," and underneath this headline was a picture of the Madonna and with the Christ Child in her bosom. It reminded me of the words of Pope John Paul II given in one of his encyclicals concerning not just the Catholic celebration of Advent, but "a new advent" through Mary as our Model:

"Mary . . . should inspire all who cooperate in the Church's apostolic mission for the rebirth of humanity. . . The Church journeys through time . . . along the path already trodden by the Virgin Mary" (Redemptoris Missio, pp. 86, 92).

Pope John Paul II was speaking of bringing forth Christ, and has issued that call through the release of a 72-page papal letter, "The Coming of the Third Millennium: Preparation for the Jubilee of the Year 2000." This letter was released on November 10, 1994. In Article 23 of the new document, John Paul writes:

"Since the publication of the very first document of my pontificate I have spoken explicitly of the Great Jubilee, suggesting that the time leading up to it be lived as 'a new Advent.' This theme has since reappeared many times, and was dwelt upon at length in the encyclical Dominum et Vivificantem. In fact, preparing for the year 2000 has become as it were a hermeneutical key of my pontificate."

In the above timeline, recreated from the Denver Catholic Register of December 4, 1996, we can see that although the members of the Trinity are each dwelt on for a year, it is Mary who is THE MODEL that the Church is to pattern itself after. This perfectly coincides with the above statement of Mary giving birth to a humanity. As described in the Fatima section on the Home Page, the Pope is a Marian Pope. Mary will have a prominent place in the preparations for Jubilee 2000 (see timeline above).

The theme of rebirth with Mary as the Model will continue throughout these preparations until the year 2000. A section from page two of the Register,

What each Catholic can do to support 1997 as the year of Jesus Christ," lists the supports for these preparations, which include the following concerning Mary:

Carry the Knights of Columbus "Pilgrim Virgin" [statue] to the next parish.

Make a pilgrimage to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Denver.

Take part joyfully, consciously and actively in special archdiocesan and parish celebrations of the Solemnities of Christ the King and the Annunciation.

This last set of preparatory celebrations is to "honor Mary as God-bearer," which is consistent with the Pope's theme of "a new advent," but there is more than honoring Mary that is in view. The following reports from VIS (the Vatican Information Service) most likely sheds some light on the purpose of the "Pilgrim Virgin" Fatima statues being carried to the parishes as a 'pilgrim of faith.' Marian idolatry will be prominent in Jubilee preparation:

February 11, 1996. Noting that Mary is "'the first evangelizer of Latin America,'" the pope referred to the preparations for the Great Jubilee of 2000 and asked the Blessed Virgin to "'visit'...as a 'pilgrim of faith,' each and every one of the dioceses, parishes, ecclesial communities and families of America... May she favor the unity of the Church by bringing together, as in a new Pentecost, those who believe in Jesus Christ and those who need to be renewed by the Spirit" ("Mary In Preparations For The Jubilee Of 2000").

February 14, 1996. In a letter written by John Paul II to Bishop Giovanni D'Ascenzi of Arezzo-Cortona-Sansepolcro, Italy, the pope concludes by praying that the celebrations of the bicentennial of Our Lady of Comfort "may push all believers to reaffirm their own adhesion to Christ as a first and fundamental preparation for the Great Jubilee of 2000."

The tie-in here between her favoring "the unity of the Church by bringing together, as in a new Pentecost, those who believe in Jesus Christ and those who need to be renewed by the Spirit," and "a new advent" stands out like a sore thumb. By Mary helping Catholics "reaffirm their own adhesion to Christ," that adhesion is documented in the Fatima section on our Home Page.

It means adhering to Christ through Mary because he has supposedly joined His Sacred Heart with her Immaculate Heart by reason of her motherhood. favoring "the unity of the Church by bringing together, as in a new Pentecost, . . . those who need to be renewed by the Spirit."

The Holy Doors

What are the "Holy Doors" mentioned above?

In his book, "The Star of 2000," Jay Gary writes,

"Like the ancient jubilee of Moses, the jubilee of Jesus suggests that each generation must respond to God's decree of liberty. This act of celebrating the grace of Christ and His redemptive work has not been lost on successive generations.

"In A.D. 1300 [700 years Ago], Pope Boniface VIII, without any precedents, instituted a tradition within the Roman Catholic Church of celebrating every 100 years as a Holy Year of Jubilee.

"From all over Europe, pilgrims streamed to Rome to experience forgiveness and spiritual renewal.

"'It was a wonderful spectacle,' wrote Giovanni Villani, Florentine merchant and chronicler, . . .' Boniface's Jubilee year was 'a centennial celebration of a new age that would begin with the clean slate of a year of absolution.' (Gary citing Schwartz, Hillel. "Centuries End: A cultural history of the fin de siecle from the 990s through the 1990s, Doubleday, 1990, p. 58).

"Fifty years later a delegation came to Pope Clement to ask for a reduction of the Jubilee interval from one hundred years to fifty. They were desirous that their generation might experience the blessings of a Holy Year.

"They reported that on the night before their audience with the pope 'there appeared to us a vision of a certain venerable personage bearing two keys in his hand, who addressed to us the following words, "Open the door, and from it send forth a fire by which the whole world may be warmed and enlightened." It is reported that the pope was so moved by their experience that he declared A.D. 1350 as a Holy Year.

"A tradition developed that the Jubilee year began on Christmas Eve with the opening of a sealed golden door in St. Peter's Basilica. It affirmed that as the pope struck the holy door with a golden hammer, living streams of grace and pardon from Christ, the rock, were released. The inheritance of the fathers restored to the sons."

A history of the establishing of the Jubilee year in Catholicism can be found at The New Advent web site. It was from there that we give this excerpt, "Ceremonial Of The Jubilee," by Herbert Turston transcribed by Donald J. Boon for the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia (Electronic version copyright © 1996 by New Advent, Inc.) concerning the Holy Doors of St. Peter's Basilica:

The most distinctive feature in the ceremonial of the Jubilee is the unwalling and the final walling up of the "holy door" in each of the four great basilicas which the pilgrims are required to visit. It was formerly supposed that this rite was instituted by Alexander VI in the Jubilee of l500, but this is certainly a mistake. Not to speak of a supposed vision of Clement VI as early as l350, who is said to have been supernaturally admonished to "open the door", we have several references to the "holy door" or the "golden gate" in connection with the Jubilee long before the year l475. The earliest account seems to be that of the Spanish pilgrim, Pero Tafur, c. l437. He connects the Jubilee indulgence with the right of sanctuary, which, he maintains, existed in pagan times for all who crossed the threshold of the puerta tarpea upon the site of the Lateran. He goes on to say that, at the request of Constantine, Pope Sylvester published an Bull proclaiming the same immunity from punishment for Christian sinners who took sanctuary there. The privilege, however, was grossly abused and the popes consequently ordered the door to be walled up at all seasons save certain times of special grace. Formerly the door was unwalled only once in a hundred years, this was afterwards reduced to fifty, and now it is said to be "opened at the will of the pope."

However legendary all this may be, it is hardly possible that the story could have been quite recently fabricated at the time Tafur recorded it. Moreover, a number of witnesses allude to the unwalling of the holy door in connection with the Jubilee of l450.

One of these, the Florentine merchant Giovanni Rucellai, speaks of the five doors of the Lateran basilica, "one of which is always walled up except during the Jubilee year, when it is broken down at Christmas when the Jubilee commences. The devotion which the populace has for the bricks and mortar of which it is composed is such that at the unwalling, the fragments are immediately carried off by the crowd, and the foreigners (glioltremontani) take them home as so many sacred relics. . . . Out of devotion every one who gains the indulgence passes through that door, which is walled up again as soon as the Jubilee is ended" (Archivio di Storia Patria, IV, 569-570). All this describes a rite which has lasted unchanged to the present day, and which has nearly always supplied the principal subject depicted upon the long series of Jubilee medals issued by the various popes who have opened and closed the holy door at the beginning and end of each Jubilee year. Each of the four basilicas has its holy door. That of St. Peter's is opened on the Christmas Eve preceding the anno santo by the pontiff in person, and it is closed by him on the Christmas Eve following.

The pope knocks upon the door three times with a silver hammer, singing the versicle "Open unto me the gates of justice". The masonry, which has been loosened beforehand, is made to fall in at the third blow, and, after the threshhold has been swept and washed by the Jubilee penitentiaries, the pope enters first. Each of the holy doors at the other basilicas is similarly opened by a cardinal specially deputed for the purpose. The symbolism of this ceremony is probably closely connected with the idea of the exclusion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, and the expulsion and reconciliation of penitents according to the ritual provided in the Pontifical. But it may also have been influenced by the old idea of seeking sanctuary, as Tafur and Rucellai suggest. The sanctuary knocker of Durham Cathedral still remains to remind us of the important part which this institution played in the life of our forefathers.

On Christmas Eve, December 25, 1999, the "Holy Doors" will again respond to the "Golden Hammer" for a time of forgiveness and favor, but this time it will be the Catholic Mary leading the world through those doors into a Golden Age.

CO-REDEMPTRIX, MEDIATRIX OF ALL GRACES

& ADVOCATE OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD

The August 25, 1997 issue of Newsweek featured an extensive article on the worldwide petition drive to declare a new Catholic dogma -- that Mary is "Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix of All Graces and Advocate for the People of God." Appended to this message is a London Times analysis of the prospects for the proposed dogma, which would, in effect, exalt Mary to the position of God, co-equal with Jesus. The Ecumenical News Service reported that "a Vatican spokesman has dismissed speculation that Pope John Paul II will take a major step to raise the status of the Virgin Mary by officially giving her the title "Co-Redemptrix," meaning co-redeemer of humankind." However, the Pope, whose devotion to Mary is expressed by "Totus Tuus" - All Yours - has already stated as much in April of this year:

"Having created man 'male and female,' the Lord also wants to place the New Eve beside the New Adam in the Redemption... Mary, the New Eve, thus becomes a perfect icon of the Church... We can therefore turn to the Blessed Virgin, trustfully imploring her aid in the awareness of the singular role entrusted to her by God, the role of co-operator in the Redemption." (Newsweek, 8/25/97, p. 51)

Pope John Paul also claims that Mary is the "way" to Jesus, thus preempting Jesus as the only Way to the Father. The Catholic Church has traditionally removed the second commandment (Exodus 20:4,5) from its version of the Ten Commandments and divided the last commandment into two commands. The proposed Marian dogma further disregards Exodus 20: 3: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Newsweek describes the breathtaking scope of the proposed dogma:

"If the drive succeeds, Catholics would be obliged as a matter of faith to accept three extraordinary doctrines: that Mary participates in the redemption achieved by her son, that all graces that flow from the suffering and death of Jesus Christ are granted only through Mary's intercession with her son, and that all prayers and petitions from the faithful on earth must likewise flow through Mary, who then brings them to the attention of Jesus. This is what theologians call Mariology, and it seems to contradict the basic New Testament belief that 'there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus' (I Timothy 2:5). In place of the Holy Trinity, it would appear, there would be a kind of Holy Quartet, with Mary playing the multiple roles of daughter of the Father, mother of the Son and spouse of the Holy Spirit." (p.49)

Newsweek also identified the source of the worldwide petition drive:

"Personally, I'm confident that there will be this recognition of Marian truth before the year 2000, says Prof. Mark Miravalle, 39, the leader of the petition drive and a lay theologian at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. Miravalle has met with the pope several times and published three books since launching his bold initiative, at a Marian conference in 1993. An infallible papal definition, he says, would put these doctrines "at the highest level of revealed truth." (p. 49)

Professor Miravalle forecasts that the next millennium will be the "Age of Mary."

"In many ways the 20^th century has belonged to Mary. From almost every continent, visionaries have reported more than 400 'apparitions' of the Virgin -- more than the previous three centuries combined, Miravalle estimates. Taken together, these visions point to what the Marian movement believes is a millennial 'Age of Mary,' which will produce a final dogma that confirm her ongoing maternal mediation between God and humankind." (p. 50)

MARY & THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT

Newsweek noted the strong interest in Mariology in both the Catholic Charismatic and New Age movements:

"Many Catholics who were once in the Charismatic movement have migrated to Mary as the Holy Spirit's more interesting spouse. 'There's a conference somewhere every weekend,' says Robert Schaefer, whose tiny Queenship Press in Santa Barbara, Calif., publishes Miravalle and other Marian authors. Last week, as he prepared to send box No. 100 off to the Vatican with 20,000 signed petitions from South India inside, Schaeffer allowed that, 'there's more interest in Mary than there ever was before.'

"Not all of it is driven by Marian apparitions. Feminists who 20 years ago dismissed Mary as the oppressive Virgin Mother created by a clerical patriarchy now celebrate her as a 'free woman' who chose to say yes to God at the Annunciation where Eve said 'no' in the Garden of Eden -- and thus made salvation history possible. Even liberation theologians have found in the humble Mary an apt symbol of God's 'preferential option for the poor.'" (p.51)

Also receiving honorable mention were some of the most beautiful cathedrals in the world erected to the Blessed Virgin, among them the Hagia Sophia in the former Constantinople. Interestingly, H.P. Blavatsky's Theosophical Glossary identifies Sophia as "The female Logos of the Gnostics; the Universal Mind; and the female Holy Ghost with others." Sophia is also the pagan goddess who was worshipped by radical feminists at the "Re-imagining 1993" conference held in Minneapolis. At the conference, Dr. Delores Williams, professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York said, "I don't think we need a theory of atonement at all. I think Jesus came for life and to show us something about life… I don't think we need folks hanging on crosses and blood dripping and weird stuff." It was at this conference that Virginia Mollenkott, NIV consultant, made the famous statement: "I can no longer worship in a theological context that depicts God as an abusive parent and Jesus as an obedient trusting child."

In ancient Babylon, Semiramis was the wife of Nimrod who, after a violent death, was reincarnated as her son, Tammuz. Alexander Hislop records the exaltation of Semiramis as a member of this unholy trinity, whose worship in ancient Chaldea was a deliberate rejection of the blood propitiation which was to be accomplished by the promised Messiah. Parallels abound between the Babylonian mystery religions and modern Babylon of Scripture (Rome): The sacrifice of the Mass offers sinners a "bloodless redemption" not unlike the unbloody rituals of paganism. The Eucharist or wafer-god is a replication of the cakes which Jeremiah 7:18 states were offered in Babylon to the Queen of Heaven. A fascinating study of the origins of Roman Catholicism in the Babylonian religious system is the subject of Hislop's The Two Babylons, the full text of which is posted online. In the following passage, which is relevant to our own time, Hislop explains the reason for the preference of a female deity, as opposed to the male Godhead revealed in the Scriptures:

"…the goddess-queen of Chaldea differed from her son, who was worshipped in her arms. He was, as we have seen, represented as delighting in blood. But she, as the mother of grace and mercy, as the celestial 'Dove,' as 'the hope of the whole world" was averse to blood, and was represented in a benign and gentle character. Accordingly, in Babylon she bore the name of Mylitta -- that is, 'The Mediatrix." Every one who reads the Bible, and sees how expressly it declares that, as there is only one God," so there is only "one Mediator between God and man" (I Tim ii. 5), must marvel how it could ever have entered the mind of any one to bestow on Mary, as is done by the Church of Rome, the character of the "Mediatrix." But the character ascribed to the Babylonian goddess as Mylitta sufficiently accounts for this. In accordance with this character of Mediatrix, she was called Aphrodite -- that is, "the wrath subduer" -- who by her charms could soothe the breast of angry Jove, and soften the most rugged spirits of gods or mortal men. In Athens she was called Amarusia -- that is, "The Mother of gracious acceptance." In Rome she was called "Bona Dea," "the good goddess," the mysteries of this goddess being celebrated by women with peculiar secrecy. In India the goddess Lakshmi, "the Mother of the Universe," the consort of Vishnu, is represented also as possessing the most gracious and genial disposition; and that disposition is indicated in the same way as in the case of the Babylonian goddess. "In the festivals of Lakshmi," says Coleman, "no sanguinary sacrifices are offered." In China, the great gods, on whom the final destinies of mankind depend, are held up to the popular mind as objects of dread; but the goddess Kuanyin, "the goddess of mercy," whom the Chinese of Canton recognise as bearing an analogy to the Virgin of Rome, is described as looking with an eye of compassion on the guilty, and interposing to save miserable souls even from torments to which in the world of spirits they have been doomed. Therefore she is regarded with peculiar favour by the Chinese. This character of the goddess-mother has evidently radiated in all directions from Chaldea. Now, thus we see how it comes that Rome represents Christ, the "Lamb of God," meek and lowly in heart, who never brake the bruised reed, nor quenched the smoking flax -- who spake words of sweetest encouragement to every mourning penitent -- who wept over Jerusalem -- who prayed for his murderers -- as a stern and inexorable judge, before whom the sinner "might grovel in the dust, and still never be sure that his prayers would be heard," while Mary is set off in the most winning and engaging light, as the hope of the guilty, as the grand refuge of sinners; how it is that the former is said to have "reserved justice and judgment to Himself," but to have committed the exercise of all mercy to his Mother! The most standard devotional works of Rome are pervaded by this very principle, exalting the compassion and gentleness of the mother at the expense of the loving character of the son… All this is done only to exalt the Mother, as more gracious and more compassionate than her glorious son. (The Two Babylons, pp. 157-159)

MARIAN PROPHECIES

It seems that centuries-old Catholic prophecies are presently being built upon by new prophetic words concerning the coming reign of the Sacred Heart through personal consecration to the Heart of Mary. The following is an example from a booklet published in 1996 by the Catholic Shepherds of Christ entitled "Tell My People." In this publication, the Sacred Heart prophesies that the world is now entering the "Age of the Two Hearts":

"Jesus: '. . . . I desire that My people consecrate themselves to My Sacred Heart and to Mary's Immaculate Heart. My people are living in the beginnings of the age of the Two Hearts.

"After the time of the purification is completed, this new era of the Church and the world will become firmly established. This era will be characterized by the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the reign of My Sacred Heart. All those who consecrate themselves to My Heart and to My Mother's Heart will help to establish this glorious new age."

"Reflection: This is the Age of the Two Hearts! The surest road to sanctity in these our times is through consecration to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. In making this consecration, and striving with God's grace to live it as best we can each day, we are contributing to the establishment of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart and to the arrival of the reign of the Sacred Heart."

(Copyright 1996, Shepherds of Christ, Rights for non-commercial reproduction granted: May be copied in its entirety, but neither re-typed nor edited. [God's Blue Book] Revised: March 19, 1996)

Newsweek reports that some Catholics object to the proclamation of the new dogma for ecumenical reasons -- the same motive given by Protestant clergymen like Episcopal theologian R. William Franklin, a veteran of the ecumenical dialogue between the Anglican and the Roman Catholic Churches. Dr. Franklin contends that "A new papal dogma on Mary would be a further nail in the coffin of ecumenism by stressing two points that Protestants cannot accept: 'the Marian de-emphasis of Jesus and the re-emphasis of the dogmatic authority of the pope.'" However, Vatican insider, Dr. Malachi Martin, wrote in "The Keys of This Blood" that a worldwide Marian vision is expected by the Pope which will validate the Roman Catholic Church as the only true Church and the Pope as God's ordained leader. Cardinal John O'Connor of New York has expressed his confidence that "the pope could find language for a new Marian dogma that would not drastically offend other Christians."

Professor Miravalle of Franciscan University, Steubenville, was quoted by Newsweek as having personally received the prophecies of the coming great chastisement from the late Ida Peerdeman to whom, "Mary calling herself the Lady of All Nations, appeared many times... Promising world peace, Mary told Ida to petition the pope for the 'Last Dogma in Marian History,' including the titles Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate."

"'In Signs of the Times, the leading journal of the apparitions movement, editor Maureen Flynn and her husband, Ted, have pieced together a millennialist scenario from all the messages of Mary dating back a century. They foresee a supernatural warning, the world's greatest miracle, followed by three days of darkness they call 'the great chastisement.' Says Ted Flynn: 'I am amazed that more people don't know about it.'

"Professor Miravalle knows all about these prophecies. He twice visited the most popular of these latter-day visionaries, Ida Peerdeman, who died two years ago in Amsterdam after conveying reams of messages from Mary. It is Peerdeman who first disclosed the Madonna's prediction that John Paul II will proclaim as 'the final dogma' her roles as Co-Redeemer, Mediator of all Graces and Advocate of Mankind. Miravalle insists that his Vox Populi movement 'was up and running long before I heard of Ida Peerdeman.' All he's asking for, he says, is a 'development of doctrine' - not a new belief - to solidify 'Marian truth.'"

EVANGELICALS & MARY TOGETHER

The Catholic Franciscan University of Steubenville, where Prof. Miravalle teaches, has been transformed over the years by President Fr. Michael Scanlon into a bastion of pro-life activism and Mariolotry. Dr. James Dobson has personally visited this university and stated that he considers it to be a Christian university. Our daughter received her nursing degree from Steubenville because it was the only pro-life nursing school in our area. Although the university's medical ethics and pro-life leadership were commendable, Mariology and Charismata have replaced the teaching of the Word of God, and drinking and immorality filled the campus where "Mary" and the "Spirit" had usurped the position of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is noteworthy that the Promise Keepers Organization maintains a close relationship with the Franciscan University of Steubenville. In July 1995, an official Promise Keepers Leadership Seminar was conducted at the Catholic Franciscan University. Then in 1996, representatives of Promise Keepers addressed the university. This year, the Men’s Conference at the Franciscan University featured Mike Timmis, a Roman Catholic attorney who is also a member of the PK Board of Directors. David Cloud has documented the Promise Keepers / Franciscan University Connection in two reports which demonstrate that Promise Keepers will be a primary vehicle for Marian indoctrination within Evangelical Christendom.

Promise Keepers Catholics Honor Mary As Spouse Of The Holy Spirit

The Roman Catholic-Promise Keepers Connection: The Art Of Doublespeak

If Evangelicals will enter into fellowship and worship with Roman Catholic idolaters in times of religious freedom, can we expect that they will be able to resist worshipping Mary when the false prophet "give(s) life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause(s) that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed"? (Rev. 13:15)

Many Christians who lament the present apostasy of Evangelicalism, are failing to discern the foundational cause of the widespread return of Protestants to Roman Catholicism. THE major vehicle which is subtly indoctrinating the Evangelical church in Roman Catholic theology is the multitude of modern translations based upon a Greek Text produced by revisers who (1) rejected the Substitutionary Atonement of Jesus Christ and (2) believed that Mary was equally worthy of worship:

F.J.A. HORT wrote in his Life and Letters: "I have been persuaded for many years that Mary-worship and ‘Jesus’-worship have very much in common in their causes and results…we condemn all secondary human mediators as injurious to the One, and shut our eyes to the indestructible fact of existing human mediation which is to be found everywhere." (Life and Letters of F.J.A. Hort, Vol. II, pp. 50, 5l)

B.F. WESTCOTT promoted visions of ‘the Virgin’ in LaSalette, France… In 1847 he wrote of his pilgrimage to the shrine at LaSalette: "After leaving the monastery, we shaped our course to a little oratory which we discovered on the summit of a neighboring hill… Fortunately we found the door open. It is very small, with one kneeling place; and behind a screen was a ‘Pieta’ the size of life [i.e., a Virgin and dead Christ]… Had I been alone I could have knelt there for hours… ‘As far as I could judge, the idea of LaSalette was that of God revealing himself now, and not in one form but in many.’" (Life and Letters of B.F. Westcott, Vol. I, pp. 81, 251)

The 1881 English Revised Version Committee, on which Westcott and Hort served, stealthily incorporated into the Revised Version the Marian doctrine of Co-Redemption -- a heresy which will soon become binding on all who belong to the Harlot Church as a matter of faith. The Catholic bias of modern versions based on the Westcott-Hort New Greek Text (now the Nestle/Aland Greek Text) is carefully maintained by a Roman Catholic clergymen, Cardinal Carlo Martini, who sits on the revision committee for the Nestles/Aland Greek Text. Please note the following omissions and changes in the ERV, NASB, NIV, RSV, NRSV, etc., derived from this Greek Text --

Colossians 1:13, 14 in the KJV states: "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins." The ERV, RSV, NIV, NASB and other new versions omit "through his blood," allowing for a bloodless propitiation.

Hebrews 1:3 states: "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high…" The ERV, RSV, NIV, NASB, etc., omit "by himself," allowing for a co-redeemer.

In spite of the severe warning of Revelation 22:19,20 that eternal judgment will befall those who presume to remove or add words to Scripture, modern versions have also audaciously removed references to the blood atonement in other verses which show that the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ is the full atonement for our sins. Please see Another Bible, Another Gospel under Substitutionary Atonement for a comparison of these verses which, as translated in new versions, will provide Biblical support for the requirement that all men worship the Image of the Beast.

MARY CO-REDEEMER?

The Times (London, UK); Thursday August 21 1997 page 4.

Pope is asked to name Mary as co-redeemer

By Richard Owen and Michael Hornsell

Many of the eight million Roman Catholics in Britain and Ireland are supporting a worldwide appeal to the Pope to proclaim the Virgin Mary as a co-redeemer, placing her on a par with Jesus Christ.

A petition containing more than 40,000 signatures, organised in the United States, will be delivered to John Paul II at the Vatican by the end of the week - adding to the 4,340,000 signatures he has received in the past four years from 157 countries supporting the proposed dogma.

Fears are mounting among those who believe that proclaiming Mary as co-redemptrix or mediatrix of all graces would elevate her status beyond the honour accorded to her in many denominations and create a Holy Quartet in place of the Holy Trinity. Nicholas Coote, an assistant general secretary of the Bishops Conference of England and Wales, said yesterday: This makes me feel uneasy. All one can say is that there are certain parameters beyond which you may not go.

One of these is what is taught by Vatican Council II, [comprising] all bishops under the Pope. They were very emphatic indeed, saying that the office of Mary towards human beings in no way obscures or diminishes the unique mediation of Christ. In I Timothy, it says there is one God and one mediator between God and man and that is Jesus Christ.

The Pope is a devotee of the Marian cult: he believes that she has saved his life on several occasions, most notably during the attempt on his life in St Peters Square in May 1981.

He may be tempted to have Mary elevated to co-redeemer while he can, given that he is 77 and in poor health. But while he can try to push doctrine in a particular direction, major doctrinal changes have to be made by the whole church, which in effect would mean a third Vatican Council.

The Second Vatican Council of 1962-65, although under pressure from devotees of Mary - including the current Pope, who attended in his former rank as Cardinal Wojtyla - confined itself to a restrained section on her. Paul VI who was then Pope, declared her only to be Mother of the Church.

THE MESSAGE OF MARY: ANOTHER JESUS

The modern New Age movement claims that the New Testament presents an incomplete biography of Jesus which must be supplemented with Apocryphal and other non-canonical literature. The Jesus Seminar, which meets twice each year, has produced a book entitled "The Five Gospels" that discards 82 percent of Jesus Christ's words as inauthentic. The 72 "scholars" of the Jesus Seminar claim that Jesus of Nazareth was transformed into a miracle-working Son of God in the late first and early second century and that modern Christology is the result of the evolution of a myth over a long period of time. For this reason, the Fellows of the Jesus Seminar recognize approximately six other lost gospels that detail Christ’s teachings. The last discovery, found in Egypt in 1945, is the Gospel of Thomas -- a collection of Jesus' sayings determined by this learned body to be an "earlier version of canonical sayings and parables… (and) the oldest and best manuscript." (p. 501) The "Jesus" presented in this gospel is one among those whom Paul classified in II Cor. 11:4 as "another Jesus." The Gospel of Thomas presents a Gnostic Christ who "stressed the finding of wisdom, or of the Kingdom of the Father, in the knowledge (gnosis) of oneself… guided by the sayings of Jesus." (The Nag Hammadi Library, James Robinson, Intro. to Gospel of Thomas)

Throughout the Church Age, the purpose of the Gnostics has been to overthrow the God of Scripture (an evil Demiurge) and to place on His throne in the future temple at Jerusalem one of their own who will become the Messianic ruler of the world. Today, New Age books abound promoting the other Jesus, whom Christians should recognize as an antichrist. A current bestseller entitled Holy Blood, Holy Grail portrays the historical Jesus as the leader of a mystery cult, who also possessed extraordinary occult powers. These he obtained through having undergone a ritual initiation, presumably among the esoteric Essenes with whom he was later also connected. According to this fabrication, Jesus married Mary Magdalene (who was also Mary of Bethany) and established his cult center at Bethany. After the crucifixion, Jesus was never truly dead as the Gospels record but was either revived after his near-death experience or else had contrived, in conspiracy with his sect, a mock crucifixion with only a few witnesses. At any rate, there was no need for a resurrection, hence Jesus cannot be considered the incarnate God.

According to the Grail mythology, however, Jesus was a member of the royal bloodline of David and thus the rightful heir as king of Jerusalem. This royal bloodline continued as Jesus' family migrated to Europe and became the Merovingian Dynasty -- a bloodline that is still in existence today, and whose living male descendant possesses the royal birthright of Jesus as ruler of a spiritual and political kingdom. This heir will soon be revealed and will take his place as King of Jerusalem. By reason of his Abrahamic ancestry, such a ruler will be in a position to reconcile the major monotheistic faiths -- Christianity, Judaism and Islam. [For a more complete treatment of the Merovingian conspiracy, the reader is referred to The Merovingian Dynasty on this web site.]

A main tenet of Gnostic doctrine holds that Jesus, not being God incarnate, was deficient until "the Christ" descended upon Him at His baptism. From this time onward, He was illuminated and perfected for His divine mission. The following report describes another New Age book in which a message from the Catholic Mary concerning the life of her son, Jesus, is enthusiastically endorsed by New Age occultist, Marianne Williamson. "Mary" reveals to the reader that, when Jesus was twelve, she and Joseph sent him to a school between Nazareth and Egypt which "taught the spiritualness of all beings." Presumably, it was during this two year period that Jesus was initiated in the mysteries and then traveled the world under as an apprentice to a Master in further preparation for his mission.

"Mary" also explains to modern readers how they must prepare for reentry into the spirit world after physical death, as if such a wide scale event were imminent. "Make sure you understand that this is not the end, but the beginning of a new era and a new world and a new understanding. The need to prepare is now, right before the birth of this new era." In other New Age (Sirian) and Catholic prophecies, "spirits" have prophesied that three days of dreadful darkness and suffering will soon cover the earth. These events are being interpreted as a period of cleansing which is preliminary to the transformation of the world. The "Mary" of the apparitions is no less than a channeled spirit preparing mankind for the false Christ -- an Ascended Master who was, like Jesus, once human but, after undergoing an initiation into the deeper mysteries, evolved into a divine being. The new World Teacher and his Spiritual Hierarchy will soon be externalized to assist the human race in making the same transformation to godhood. Unbeknownst to those who have rejected the established canon of Scripture, Revelation 9:20,21 describes the dreadful events of the Marian and Sirian prophecies as God's Tribulation judgments on those who refuse to repent of their idol worship and sorceries.

Following excerpts from "The Message of Mary" is a selected portion from Annie Besant's book "Esoteric Christianity" -- a major work which has merged Theosophy and Christianity to form the basis for modern Gnostic Christianity. In 1891, Ms. Besant succeeded Mme. Blavatsky as head of the Theosophical Society, which was broadened and strengthened under her leadership. Besant inspired in Theosophy a Messianic traditional semi-Christian prophecy of the return of Christ and produced a new Savior called Jiddu Krishnamurti whose body would (as Jesus had become a World Savior) become the vehicle of the "Lord Maitreya," the coming "World Teacher" of the new age. Unfortunately for Theosophy, in 1929 Krishnamurti renounced all claims to be other than himself, and repudiated all religious sects and organizations.

Gnosticism is a Mystery Religion which, since the time of Christ, has sought to identify with Christianity in order to draw Christians into its heresy. "The Message of Mary" is a prime example of Gnostic thought in a pseudo-Christian disguise, which will draw the apostate church to worship at the altar of the false Christ. It was Annie Besant's successor, Alice Bailey, who set forth in The Externalisation of the Hierarchy (1957), the Theosophical plan to thoroughly permeate the Christian Church with Gnostic doctrine that it may be fitted as the vehicle for the coming World Teacher:

"…The church movement, like all else, is but a temporary expedient and serves but a transient resting place for the evolving life. Eventually, there will appear the Church Universal, and its definite outlines will appear towards the close of this century… This Church will be nurtured into activity by the Christ and His disciples when the outpouring of the Christ principle, the TRUE second Coming has been accomplished… the Christian church in its many branches can serve as a nucleus through which world illumination may be accomplished… the church as a teaching factor should take the great basic doctrines and (shattering the old forms in which they are expressed and held) show their true and inner spiritual significance. The prime work of the church is to teach, and teach ceaselessly, preserving the outer appearance in order to reach the many who are accustomed to church usages. Teachers must be trained; Bible knowledge must be spread; the sacraments must be mystically interpreted, and the power of the church to heal must be demonstrated."

We must inquire, how might the Theosophical agenda of spreading Gnostic illumination be unwittingly carried out by the Christian Churches? Interestingly, the Roman Catholic Church includes the Apocryphal books as part of the Catholic canon and David Cloud documents in his recent book, Rome and the Bible, the extensive and ongoing collaboration between Catholic and Protestant Bible translation committees --

"The first 'Protestant' Bible to receive the Catholic Church's imprimatur (Latin meaning 'let it be printed') was the Revised Standard Version (RSV, 1952), which was based, of course, on the critical Westcott-Hort type of Greek text… The Driebergen Conference of Bible societies, held in June 1964, was attended by Roman Catholics. Consider three of the recommendations which came out of this conference: (1) 'to prepare a 'common text' of the Bible in the original languages, acceptable to all Churches, including Roman Catholic;' (2) 'to explore the possibility of preparing a 'common translation' in certain languages, which could be used by Protestants and Roman Catholics alike;' (3) 'that the Bible societies should consider translating and publishing the Apocrypha when Churches specifically requested it' (Andrew Brown, The Word of God Among All Nations, p. 122).

"In 1965 'the Second Vatican Council set its seal of approval on this form of co-operation' (Brown, p. 122) No time was wasted in pursuing this goal. In 1966 the Catholic Church established the Vatican Office for Common Bible Work. That same year it was announced that the British & Foreign Bible Society had reached an agreement to work with the Roman Catholic Tanganyika Episcopal Conference to produce a revision of the Swahili Bible which would include the Apocrypha. That was also the year in which the American Bible Society's Today's English Version New Testament first appeared and gained almost immediate acceptance by the Roman Catholic Church. It received the imprimatur (official approval of publication) of Boston's Cardinal Richard Cushing. In 1969 the World Catholic Federation for the Biblical Apostolate was formed with the goal of coordinating the work of ecumenical Bible translation projects jointly conducted with the United Bible Societies.

"In 1967 a Roman Catholic cardinal was one of the editors of the United Bible Societies (UBS) Greek New Testament. This is Carlo Martini. He is the Archbishop of Milan, and his diocese in Europe is the largest in the world, with two thousand priests and five million 'laity.' He is a Jesuit who, according to Time magazine, could be in line for the papacy. He is Professor of New Testament Textual Criticism at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. He is also President of the Council of European Bishop's Conferences.

"In 1976, in the one decade following Vatican II, more than 130 inter-confessional translation projects had been undertaken and more than 50 inter-confessional translations of the N.T. completed. Projects on the complete Bible included the Apocrypha. It was also a requirement that translations prepared and published by the Catholics in these translations should include Catholic notes and comments. By 1981 there were over 200 inter-confessional translation projects in progress.

"Also by 1981 over 500,000 of the Good News Bible, with the Apocryphal books added, had been published and distributed by the American Bible Society. By 1982 one Vatican secretariat sponsored more than a hundred full-time scholars in cooperation with the United Bible Society. By 1982 one Vatican secretariat sponsored more than a hundred full-time scholars in cooperation with the United Bible Societies in translation projects in many lands. By 1984 the pace had quickened.

"Out of a total of 590 United Bible Societies translation projects, as many as 390 had Roman Catholic participation. 1986 was a high water mark of sorts. The United Bible Societies presented a copy of the new Italian inter-confessional Bible to the pope." (Rome and the Bible, David Cloud, Way of Life Literature, 1996, pp. 157-158

The title is "Mary’s Message to the World", written by Annie Kirkwood, a woman from Dallas, Texas, who began having visits from Mary. The front of the book shows a picture of a "swirly-looking" globe in the hands of a woman who is clothed in a blue robe, opened down the front and a bright light and white rays coming out behind the superimposed title of the book which corresponds to the opening in the robe. One quote is on the front; "This book has great impact."-Marianne Williamson. Thought you might be interested in knowing about this. It was published by G.P. Putnam Sons, New York, in 1991. Below I will add some quotes.

Back cover: "This book contains a series of ‘talks,’ as given by Mary, the Mother of Jesus, to a woman in Texas from 1987 to 1991." "Mother Mary explains how to live more fully conscious of our presence and purpose here on earth, and how to prepare ourselves for reentry into the spirit world after physical death." [That is a Theosophical statement if I have ever heard one!--C] "My plea is for all people of the world to turn to whatever concept of God is in their hearts: to begin with this concept and allow God to fill their beings with a sense of peace and safety. My desire is that all people return to their spiritual lessons of old: to begin where they are and with whatever spiritual concept they have, and reach out to the One God of the Universe who is the Creator of All." - Mary, Mother of Jesus.

Book pages-promotional front material:

"Make sure you understand that this is not the end, but the beginning of a new era and a new world and a new understanding. The need to prepare is now, right before the birth of this new era." - Mother Mary.

"The message and specific prophecies given in ‘Mary’s Message to the World’ should be read by people of all faiths. I have added Annie Kirkwood’s book to my ‘top five’ recommended book list."-Gordon-Michael Scallion, Author of "Earth Changes Report," Matrix Institute, Westmoreland, New Hampshire. "I have read and shared this book widely. All are impressed with the accuracy of the messages. It is indeed a book of the greatest importance for humanity in this age." - Most Rev. Frank R. Bugge, Australian Archdiocese, Catholic Church of Antioch.

MARY'S MESSAGE TO THE WORLD

As Sent by Mary, the Mother of Jesus To Her Messenger Annie Kirkwood

COMPILED BY BYRON KIRKWOOD

CONTENTS:

1. Mary’s Warning to the World
2. Mary’s Predictions
3. Mary and Joseph’s Life Together on Earth
4. The Subject is Love
5. A Message to Every Family’
6. Mary’s Message to the World
7. The Spirit of You
8. The Importance of Prayer
9. The Aftertime
10. A Message from Jesus

I have only looked into Chapter 3., Mary and Joseph’s Life Together on Earth. Here are a few quotes which I think you will find interesting and revealing:

Page 65 (of approximately 300) --

"Jesus was very normal in every way, except for this exceptional mind. He could memorize the verses and Psalms in record time. He learned very quickly and was interested in riddles and rhymes.

"When Jesus was twelve years old, we took him to the temple. He could not believe the stories which were being told by the elders. He knew the stories were not quite being told correctly, so he began to correct the elders. He spoke with such authority that they were amazed. They asked Jesus questions and he could answer them with verse and with reason. This was the first time Jesus had disobeyed Joseph and me.

"Joseph found him answering questions and brought him out into the courtyard of the temple to wait for me. As Joseph became engrossed in a conversation with other men, Jesus returned to the elders and once again questioned them. Joseph was quite upset with Jesus. We left immediately for home. We spent the whole night in prayer, asking God how to correct this child. How to reason with our young man who was approaching the age when the young rebelled against their parents,

"We were concerned that Jesus would begin to call attention to himself before his time was ready.

"That night in a dream, God spoke to Jesus and to Joseph with the same message. Both were told to find a school in a distant land. We were also instructed in giving Jesus as much schooling as we could. In our village he had surpassed all the others and was becoming quite well known among many in the surrounding villages. Joseph and I knew of a school which was in a land between Nazareth and Egypt. It was a school which taught the spiritualness of all beings. Joseph took Jesus to this school in his twelfth year.

"He was there for two years and then returned to our home.

"Once again Joseph and I prayed to God to give us some direction in preparing this child to do His work, as was foretold. [Change to capital letter here is in original. CW]

"A distant relative came to visit in our town. He was a merchant who traveled in many exotic lands where spices and silks were obtained. He continually told of the ways and customs of other lands. At the age of fourteen, Jesus was apprenticed to this distant relative. He was to travel and learn all he could about other people and the world in general. This was our way of keeping Jesus hidden until God ordained for Jesus to begin his mission. We were not sure what the mission would entail.

"During these years, when Jesus was traveling about the world, I prayed constantly. I meditated and did all manner of sacrifices to ensure Jesus’ safety."

This is just one small passage. It is intended to validate the New Age Gospel, which accounted for Jesus’ "lost years" as being spent under the tutelage of "The Masters." This is also total Theosophy doctrine.

Recommend that you try to find a copy of this piece if you don’t already have it. This may be old news to you all. This Annie Kirkwood is also on a speaking circuit. Blessings-May God protect us.

ESOTERIC CHRISTIANITY

"The Historical Christ or Jesus the Healer and Teacher"

by Annie Besant

The thread of the life-story of Jesus is one which may be disentangled from those with which it is intertwined without any great difficulty. We may fairly here aid our study by reference to those records of the past which experts can reverify for themselves, and from which certain details regarding  the Hebrew Teacher have been given to the world by H.P. Blavatsky and by others who are experts in occult investigation…

The occult records partly endorse the story told in the Gospels, and partly do not endorse it; they show us the life, and thus enable us to disentangle it from the myths which are intertwined therewith.

The child whose Jewish name has been turned into that of Jesus was born in Palestine B.C. 105, during the consulate of Publius Rutilius Rufus and Gnaeus Mallius Maximus. His parents were well-born though poor, and he was educated in a knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures. His fervent devotion and a gravity beyond his years led his parents to dedicate him to the religious and ascetic life, and soon after a visit to Jerusalem, in which the extraordinary intelligence and eagerness for knowledge of the youth were shown in his seeking of the doctors in the Temple, he was sent to be trained in an Essene community in the southern Judaean desert. When he had reached the age of nineteen he went on to the Essene monastery near Mount Serbal, a monastery which was much visited by learned men travelling from Persia and India to Egypt, and where a magnificent library of occult works -- many of them Indian of the Trans-Himalayan regions -- had been established. From this seat of mystic learning he proceeded later to Egypt. He had been fully instructed in the secret teaching which were the real fount of life among the Essenes, and was initiated in Egypt as a disciple of that one sublime Lodge from which every great religion has its Founder. For Egypt has remained one of the world-centres of the true Mysteries, whereof all semi-public Mysteries are the faint and far-off reflections. The mysteries spoken of in history as Egyptian were the shadows of the true things "in the Mount," and there the young Hebrew received the solemn consecration which prepared him for the royal priesthood he was later to attain. So superhumanly pure and so full of devotion was he, that in his gracious manhood he stood out pre-eminently from the severe and somewhat fanatical ascetics among whom he had been trained, shedding on the stern Jews around him the fragrance of a gentle and tender wisdom, as a rose-tree strangely planted in a desert would shed its sweetness on the barrenness around. The fair and stately grace of his white purity was round him as a radiant moonlit halo, and his words, though few, were ever sweet and loving, winning even the most harsh to a temporary gentleness, and the most rigid to a passing softness. Thus he lived through nine and twenty years of mortal life, growing from grace to grace.

This superhuman purity and devotion fitted the man Jesus, the disciple, to become the temple of a loftier Power, of a mighty, indwelling Presence. The time had come for one of those Divine manifestations which from age to age are made for the helping of humanity, when a new impulse is needed to quicken the spiritual evolution of mankind, when a new civilization is about to dawn. The world of the West was then in the womb of time, ready for the birth, and the Teutonic sub-race was to catch the sceptre of empire failing from the failing hands of Rome. Ere it started on its journey a World-Saviour must appear, to stand in blessing beside the cradle of the infant Hercules.

A mighty "Son of God" was to take flesh upon earth, a supreme Teacher, "full of grace and truth" -- One in whom the Divine Wisdom abode in fullest measure, who was verily "the Word" incarnate, Light and Life in outpouring richness, a very Fountain of the Waters of Life. Lord of Compassion and of Wisdom, such was His name -- from His dwelling in the Secret Places He came forth into the world of men.

For Him was needed an earthly tabernacle, a human form, the body of a man, and who so fit to yield his body in glad and willing service to One before whom Angels and men bow down in lowliest reverence, as this Hebrew of the Hebrews, this purest and noblest of "the Perfect," whose spotless body and stainless mind offered the best that humanity could bring? The man Jesus yielded himself a willing sacrifice, "offered himself without spot" to the Lord of Love, who took unto Himself that pure form as tabernacle, and dwelt therein for three years of mortal life.

This epoch is marked in the traditions embodies in the Gospels as that of the Baptism of Jesus, when the Spirit was seen "descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him," and a celestial voice proclaimed Him as the beloved Son, to whom men should give ear. Truly was He the beloved Son in whom the Father was well-pleased, and from that time forward "Jesus began to preach," and was that wondrous mystery, "God manifest in the flesh" -- not unique in that He was God, for: "Is it not written in your law, I said, ye are Gods? If he called them Gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; say ye of Him, whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemist; because I said, I am the Son of god?" Truly all men are Gods, in respect to the Spirit within them, but not in all is the God-head manifested, as in that well-beloved Son of the Most High.

To that manifested Presence the name of "the Christ" may rightly be given, and it was he who lived and moved in the form of the man Jesus over the hills and plains of Palestine, teaching, healing diseases, and gathering round Him as disciples a few of the more advanced souls. The rare charm of his royal love, outpouring form Him as rays from a sun, drew round Him the suffering, the weary, and the oppressed, and the subtly tender magic of His gentle wisdom purified, ennobled, and sweetened the lives that came into contact with His own. By parable and luminous imagery He taught the uninstructed crowds who pressed around Him, and, using the powers of the free Spirit, He healed many a disease by word or touch, reinforcing the magnetic energies belong to His pure body with the compelling force of His inner life. Rejected by the Essene brethren among whom He first laboured -- whose arguments against His purposed life of loving labour are summarized in the story of the temptation -- because he carried to the people the spiritual wisdom that they regarded as their proudest and most secret treasure, and because His all-embracing love drew within its circle the outcast and the degraded -- ever loving in the lowest as in the highest, the Divine Self -- He saw gathering clouds of hatred and suspicion. The teachers and rulers of His nation soon came to eye Him with jealousy and anger; His spirituality was a constant reproach to their materialism, His power a constant, though silent, exposure of their weakness. Three years had scarcely passed since His baptism when the gathering storm broke, and the human body of Jesus paid the penalty for enshrining the glorious Presence of a Teacher more than man.

Excerpted from Esoteric Christianity, Annie Besant, Theosophical Pub. House (1901, 1970), pp. 87-93.

RECOMMENDED READING:

MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT: CATHOLIC OR JEWISH? ~ How the Babylonian mysteries found their way into the Church of Rome, thereby meriting God’s assessment as MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT.

THE MEROVINGIAN DYNASTY ~ Satanic Bloodline of the Antichrist & False Prophet

HEEDING BIBLE PROPHECY ~ Understanding Satan's Plan to Counterfeit the Second Coming of Jesus Christ & The Restoration of All Things