In its heyday the Roman Empire covered much of Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Having the premier military machine of its day, the empire typically overran a people, killing or enslaving them or making them pay tribute. When they conquered a people they routinely absorbed their god(s) and religion(s), making them their own. One such conquered nation worshiped a god named Mythra whose followers periodically sacrificed a human to him by nailing the victim to a cross. Over time the Romans adopted the sacrifice to Mythra as their method of capital punishment. When the ruling Romans crucified Jesus they were sacrificing Him to Mythra. Thousands of people were crucified by the Romans. History records that, wood being scarce in the Middle East, those in line for execution would be forced to watch their predecessors die as they waited for a vacant cross. Later the apostate church, having absorbed masses of heathen, adopted many of their practices and items of worship, the cross being one of the most popular.

Over time the church adopted the “sign of the cross” as her identifying symbol, thereby making herself the world leader in Satan worship. The departure of the “protesters” did nothing to expose the heathen- ism represented by the cross. Mother’s daughters simply carried on her traditions, the use of the cross being one of the most observable. In Second Thessalonians 2:6-10 God warned that Satan would even- tually take over the New Covenant Church. With the mystery of iniquity (Lawlessness) already at work within her, the activities of the man of sin in the latter days would be “… after the working of Satan,” meaning that he (the Antichrist) would be operating under the power of Satan. As the “mystery of godliness” is found in God incarnate (Jesus) (1 Tim. 3:16), so the “mystery of iniquity” is found in Satan incarnate (the Antichrist) (2 Thes. 2:6-10). Over time the spirit of Antichrist gradually assumed power over the church as her leadership moved ever farther away from the Holy Scriptures as her standard of word, thought and deed. What man wanted soon replaced what God commanded. Jesus’ words to Satan–“… thou savorest not the things of God, but the things of man” (Mat. 16:23) came to represent the spiritual direction of the church as the Catholic hierarchy gradually replaced God as the determiner of good and evil. Just as he had in Eden, the devil had gained total dominance of religious man–Adam and Eve’s sin had come to dominate professing Christendom. The difference between the Church of Eden and the Church of Rome was in size only. In Eden, Adam and Eve comprised the church. The New Covenant Church being larger, there were those who refused to go along with Catholic dictates. God’s “remnant” soon became the hunted few whose lives the church tried to stamp out, her efforts coming to a climax during the Inquisition during which millions of God’s people were killed by the Roman Gov- ernment at the behest of the church.

The Apostle John had prophesied the devil’s future rulership over the Institutional Church, known today as Catholicism/Protestantism. In First John 2:18 he reminded the church that she had been warned of the coming of the Antichrist. In verse 22 he told her how to recognize the Antichrist, noting that he would “… deny the Father and the Son.” In John 12:48-50 Jesus said that anyone who rejects (any of) His Words is denying both the Father and the Son. Relative to religious symbols, He had spoken words and written in stone: “Thou shalt not make to yourself any graven (hand made) image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down yourself to them nor serve them (recognize their spiritual value), for I am your God ….” The cross is a man-designed, hand-made symbol of heathenism in its most Satanic form. The symbol of the cross reveals that its possessor is under the power of the Antichrist–the denier of both Father and Son. The fish symbol proclaims the same message.

One of the first known uses of the fish symbol comes from ancient Syria where Atergatis was the name given to the society’s fish goddess. Oannes, a god who supposedly came from the sea, was popular among other pagan societies living near large bodies of water. Another name for him was Ichthys– “the Fish”–a name later given to Jesus Christ, thereby equating Him with the pagan fish god. The Philistines, a sea-faring people, had a fish god named Dagon (Jud. 16:23/1 Sam. 5:2-7/ 1 Chron. 10:10) whose priests wove into their robes the same symbol found stuck on American cars, stuck in American ears and hanging from American necks today.

Dagon’s priests also wore turbans shaped in the form of a fish’s open mouth–the exact shape of the turban, called a miter, worn by modern day popes. Anciently, the fish god was often characterized as a half man, half god creature. The miter’s gaping fish mouth depicts the fish part of the heathen god. His priests represented the human part. Today the pope occupies the human position.

Another popular church symbol involves the placement of steeples on the apexes of her meeting places. The history of this practice involves the belief that demons fell from heaven, and that if left uncontested they would come into the church and affect its members. Believing what they were told, church mem- bers affixed pointed pieces of metal or wood to the tops of their buildings in order to impale the demons as they fell. How could a thinking people come to believe such nonsense? The answer lies in the work of the Catholic hierarchy in their efforts to maintain total control over the people. In order to keep their congregations ignorant of God’s Word, and therefore not be able to recognize that they were being deceived, the priesthood forbade the people from owning, reading or hearing the Scriptures. Because of this the common people had no way of knowing that most of the things they were being told were not of Biblical origin. And by being ministered to in Latin, a language they did not know, they did not under- stand what they were hearing. The invention of the printing press and the proliferation of Bibles, for which many were put to death by the Catholic-dominated Roman Government, allowed the populace to learn the truth about their religion. As a result, many left the church. However, as proclaimed by this website, the lessons learned in the past have not carried over to the present. Today both Catholic and Protestant organizations continue to follow the ways of the heathen, the use of man-made symbols being the most physically observable proof. Today, people continue to believe that steeples atop buildings have spiritual significance, that they are ordained by the God of the Bible. The masses continue in ignorance of God’s Word, only now by choice. Being Protestant in name only, the denominations continue to follow their mother’s lead relative to doctrines and customs. Concerning demons and their workings within professing Christendom, let it be known that demons are real. Possessing Satanic power, they wreak havoc in the lives of those who do not believe and obey God’s Word. The spiritual condition of the pro- fessing church is a prime example of the power they wield over her. Demons (Satan’s angels) are as real today as they were anciently. Jesus demonstrated His power over them and has given His people that same power with which to cast them out and to withstand their attacks (Mk. 3:14,15/Lk. 10:18-20). I have dealt with many demons. I have never known God to fail to do what He said He would do through His Holy Spirit when His saints operate in that power and in accordance with His Word. To be continued. L.J.