Throughout recorded history there have been men whose lives and actions have wreaked havoc on portions of mankind not only for the duration of their public lives but on into the immediate future–Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Attila the Hun, Pol Pot, Fidel Castro, Kim Yong Un and Mao Tse Tung to name a few. Over time these men caused limited damage to limited portions of humanity for limited periods of time. Their lives and works touched relatively few people when viewed from historical and global perspectives. Also, what they did and the effects of their actions are known to the rest of humanity, resulting in their ideologies being repudiated and rejected by the vast majority of mankind.

The man we are going to study is unique in that he has caused untold damage to untold billions of unsuspecting people since the dawn of the modern church age. Rather than being repudiated and rejected, his ideology has been and continues to be widely embraced by large segments of humanity. AND ONLY A MINUTELY FEW PEOPLE KNOW THE TRUTH BEHIND HIS WORLD- WIDE MOVEMENT. To the contrary, literally billions of well-meaning people have fallen into his religious trap, causing them to be spiritually devoured by him. The unholy feast he set in motion so many years ago continues today as billions of people flock to hear his spokesmen exalt him on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, they not only believe what they hear, but in many cases they share his false teachings with others. By various means this man’s religious ideology has been and is being spread throughout the world. Due to the printing press, television, the internet, etc. his message is carried to multiplied millions every day. Utilizing a variety of forms, his pride-feeding agenda is designed to speak to the heart of every God-seeking man and woman. By this method his spokesmen are feeding the masses a poisoned potion, thereby spreading spiritual death wherever their words are heard and read. The man whose life and work we will examine was named Simon. The irony of his situation is that this most unholy of men hailed from the Land that is called “Holy,” the same word used to describe his most unholy message.

Before we embark on the study of this most influential of men let us briefly remind ourselves of the source of his power. This power first flexed its spiritual muscles in the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve were brought to heal with a few well-chosen words that played to the first couple’s first human emotion–self-centeredness–the emotion that had earlier brought the devil down to earth from his exalted position in the presence of God. This emotion, Biblicly referred to as pride, is the opening the devil used to subjugate the first two humans and would thereafter use to bring billions of their descendants into his fold. For several centuries following the beginning of his religious organization his followers persecuted the true people of God, millions of them unto death, all the while proclaiming that they themselves were the people of God. The deception continues to expand to the point that, in the near future, his people will once again persecute to the death the true people of God. To be continued. L.J.