THE CHILDREN OF HELL AT PLANNED PARENTHOOD

I am steamed after reading this article.

Some people in this once-great nation are doing the direct bidding of the d'evil.

Planned Parenthood is one organization that needs to be wiped off the face of the earth - or we go lock-step with them when we all are for not having spoken up against this raw evil.

Every one of their agenda points has been implemented or is in the process of being fully implemented. This is so sick - if it does not cause righteous indignation to well up within you, you may be past feeling and there possibly is no hope for you: CLICK LINK

A STRICTLY CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE ON THE ANTI-CHRIST

I do not necessarily endorse anything in here - as I have not had any time to research it and have zero familiarity with the original writers that are sourced, but there is a wealth of info here that can be sifted. Much of it comes from early church writings that may have had their sources in the fertile soil of the early gospel.

As with anything on this blog, take it with a grain of salt and with the Spirit as your guide:

Links:
The Three Days of Darkness (Excerpts, Yves Dupont)
The Coming Great Catholic Monarch , By Yves Dupont
Antichrist

by

Yves Dupont
(September 1975 A.D.)

Catholic Prophecy about Antichrist
Sermon and Deeds of the Antichrist
(Close-up of the devil instructing the Antichrist)
Luca Signorelli, 1499-1502


"As in Christ dwells the fullness of the Godhead so in Antichrist the fullness of all wickedness. Not indeed in the sense that his humanity
is to be assumed by the devil into unity of person ..., but that the devil by suggestion infuses his wickedness more copiously into him than
into all others." -St. Thomas Aquinas (Summa III:8:8)

"Yet many Christians will remember that this was all foretold of Antichrist for centuries past and perceive the fraud of Satan and refuse to be deceived. They will stand firm and enlighten the faint-hearted and console them." -Bernadine Von Busto


THE TIME OF ANTICHRIST? - AS PREDICTED BY CATHOLIC PROPHECY
(TCW PRESENTS SCHOLARLY WORK BY YVES DUPONT)
In Today's Catholic World (TCW)
November 26, 2006 A.D.


(Minneapolis) -Nov 26- Provided for the readers of TCW is an article on the coming of Antichrist by the well respected expert and author, on Catholic prophecy, Mr. Yves Dupont. His article entitled, Antichrist, was written in September of 1975 A.D., and was penned as a response to an individual who incorrectly identified Communism as The Antichrist - fully negating the actual Theological Fact that Antichrist is a specific person. Yves Dupont, who was a staunch anti-communist, and a learned historian- gives a proper Catholic understanding of what to expect when the terrible "man of sin" (as St. Paul aptly named him in Holy Writ) publically appears.

Note: a portion of the Introduction section was deleted from his article. Presented here is the entire body (main content) of Mr. Dupont's scholarly article on Antichrist, drawn from his many years of studying authentic Catholic Prophecies and his thorough understanding of the immutable Theological teachings of the Church on the matter.


INTRODUCTION:

It is quite clear, from all these prophecies (Mr. Dupont mentions his well-known book titled: Catholic Prophecy), that Antichrist will come after the Age of Peace. The Age of Peace, which will also be the Age of Mary, will coincide with the reign of the Great Monarch which is to follow immediately after the collapse of Communism. .... quite apart from the hundred or so prophecies which I have just mentioned, we have the comments of the Fathers of the Church to guide us. Patristic writings are among the most authoritative in the Catholic Church.... Antichrist will believe in God. But, like Lucifer, he will rebel against God and, worse still, he will proclaim himself to be God; His spirituality will be that of the devil... he will be a Jew leading the Jewish nation. Israel may still be a negligible power on the world scene today, but by the end of the reign of the Great Monarch, it will be very powerful indeed.

Israel, then, will accept Antichrist as the Messiah and will rule over the whole world (or nearly) for a short time. Thus will be fulfilled the Talmudic dream of world domination and One- Worldism.

To sum up:

1. Communism will overcome the world for a short time.
2. God will work a tremendous cosmic miracle to destroy Communism,
3. The reign of the Great Monarch will follow. It will be the Age of Mary, a period of peace, prosperity, massive conversions, and a wonderful flowering of religious vocations.
4. Antichrist will come shortly after the death of the Great Monarch, Under his rule, the Jewish nation will overcome the world for a few months, and the Communist persecutions of our time will pale into insignificance in comparison with what Israel will inflict on the world.
5. Christ Himself will smite down Antichrist, but will not come visibly.
6. The Jews will be converted and, after a short period, probably a few years, Christ will come down again and judge the nations.

INDEX:
(The numbers refer to paragraphs, not pages)

1. Antichrist will be a man, not just a system or regime. (7, 50)
2. He will be a Jew. (1, 3)
3. He will come from the Tribe of Dan. (29, 39, 25, 26, 50, 55, 57)
4. He will be born in the Middle East. (2, 3, 24, 55, 59)
5. His mother will be a harlot possessed by the devil. (3, 37, 50, 57, 59)
6. He will be conceived by a man, not by the devil. (51)
7. He will be possessed by the devil like his mother. (23, 31, 33, 37, 51, 52, 55, 60)
8. He will be familiar with all the magical arts. (60)
9. He will be a wonder child, endowed with great intelligence and memory. (60)
10. He will be assisted by the devil throughout his life. (3)
11. He will be utterly wicked. (31)
12. He will claim to be the true Son of God the Messiah. (3, 7, 8, 12, 22, 28, 33, 50, 52, 54, 55, 59, 60)
13. The Jews will accept him as such. (7, 27, 50, 55, 59)
14. He will be made King of the Jewish Nation. (7)
15. He will re-build Jerusalem and make it a magnificent city. (12)
16. Jerusalem will be the capital of the world. (12, 29, 38)
17. He will not be an atheist; he will believe in God. (50)
18. He will re-build the Temple of Jerusalem. (1, 3, 12, 38)
19. He will sit in the Temple to be adored as God. (2, 3, 4, 8, 22, 27, 30, 33, 52)
20. He will conquer the whole world. (3, 8, 12, 29, 50)
21. Those who accept him will bear his mark, or sign. (3, 8, 31, 32, 50, 55)
22. One-third of the conquered peoples will refuse to obey him. (8, 31)
23. He will persecute and he will torture them with every refinement of cruelty, and he will make sure that they do not die so that the tortures may be prolonged. (28, 31, 53)
24. But God will not forsake the Faithful. (8, 9, 32)
25. Ireland will be spared the persecution of Antichrist. (40, 41, 42, 43)
26. He will rule the world for three and a half years. (3, 31, 32, 34)
27. He will work great wonders and deceive many. (2, 3, 8, 28, 38, 50, 51, 53, 55, 57)
28. He will be opposed by Henoch and Elias. (34, 35, 50, 51, 53, 55, 58)
29. He will put to death Henoch and Elias. (3, 53, 58, 60)
30. Henoch and Elias will come to life again on the third day, and ascend into Heaven. (53, 58, 60)
31. He will say that they are sorcerers and that he can bring them back to earth. (58, 59, 60)
32. He will rise in the air by his magical powers, but will be almost immediately struck down by Saint Michael, and killed. (39, 50, 52, 55, 58, 59, 60)
33. The Jews will finally accept Christ as the Messiah. (34, 60)
34. Some time will be given to the human race to do Penance before the Last Judgment. (50, 51, 55)


ANTICHRIST

by

Yves Dupont

(September 1975 A.D.)


Antichrist will be a human being, a particular man, not a system, a regime or an ideology. We know this for certain from Scripture, from Patristic writings and also from private revelations, although the latter, alone, would not constitute a definite proof.

1. "Christ arose from among the Hebrews, and he (Antichrist) will spring from among the Jews. Christ showed His flesh as a Temple, and raised it up on the third day; and he, too, will raise up again the Temple of stone in Jerusalem." (St. Hippolytus)

2. "Antichrist, the son of perdition will be born in Corozain, will be brought up in Bethsaida and shall begin to reign in Capharnaum, according to what Our Lord Jesus said in the Gospel: "Woe to thee Corozain ... woe to thee Bethsaida ... and thou Capharnaum that art exalted up to heaven, thou shalt be thrust down to hell. (Luke, 10:13) Antichrist shall work a thousand prodigies on earth. He will make the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the dead rise, so that even the Elect, if possible, shall be deceived by his magical arts. Puffed up with pride, Antichrist shall enter in triumph the city of Jerusalem and will sit on a throne in the Temple to be adored as if he were the Son of God. His heart being intoxicated with arrogance, he will forget his being a mere man, and the son of a woman of the tribe of Dan." (St. Zenobius)

3. "Antichrist will be born of Jewish parents, of the tribe of Dan, but his mother will not be a virgin, as many believe. As the Holy Ghost came into the heart of Mary, so will the devil enter into the mother of Antichrist, and his diabolical power will always support him. Babylon will be his birthplace, but he will be reared and instructed in Bethsaida and Corozain. After his education at the hands of malignant spirits he will go to Jerusalem and place his seat in the Temple which he will have restored. He will submit to the rite of circumcision, claiming that he is the Son of the Omnipotent God. His first converts will be kings and princes. His influence will extend from sea to sea, largely through force and persuasive eloquence. He will perform many signs and great miracles. Those who believe in him will be marked on the forehead with a sign. For three and a half years he will hold sway and, at the end of that period, he will put to death Henoch and Elias, who will have previously opposed him by preaching the true faith. Shortly afterwards, Christ will appear, and Antichrist will be killed by Michael the Archangel." (Adso the Monk, 10th Century)

4. "And we beseech you, Brethren, by the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ and of our gathering together unto Him: that you may not be easily moved from your sense, nor be terrified, neither by spirit, nor by, word, nor by epistle as sent from us as if the day of the Lord were at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means, for unless there come a revolt first and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and is lifted above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the Temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God." (2 Thess., 2:1-4)

5. These few passages suffice to show that Antichrist will be indeed a man. They show also by way of implication that he will not be an atheist for his claim of being God and the Son of God is in itself an acknowledgment that God is not a mythical being as the Communists assert. Further, he will gather together the Jewish people - hardly what the Communists are endeavouring to achieve. That anyone should say, write, and write again in spite of all remonstrances, that Communism is Antichrist leaves one baffled.

6. I now propose to present further evidence to show the absurdity of such a contention. In each case I invite the Reader to pause and ask himself if these passages fit Communism.

7. "In every respect that Deceiver seeks to make himself appear like the Son of God. Christ is king of things celestial and terrestrial, and Antichrist will be king upon earth. The Saviour sent the Apostles unto all the nations, and he, in like manner will send false apostles. Christ gathered together the dispersed sheep, and he in like manner will gather together the dispersed people of the Hebrews. Christ appeared in the form of man, and he in like manner will come forth in the form of man." (Hippolytus)

8. "This impious man ... will give orders that he himself shall be worshipped as God. For he will say he is Christ, though he will be His enemy. That he may be believed he will receive the power of doing wonders, so that fire may descend from heaven, the sun retire from its course and the image which he shall have set up may speak. And by such prodigies he shall entice many to worship him, and to receive his sign on their hands or foreheads. And he who shall not worship him and receive his sign will die with refined tortures. Thus he will destroy nearly two parts, the third will flee into desolate solitudes. But he, frantic and raging with implacable anger, will lead an army and besiege the mountains to which the righteous shall have fled. And when they shall see themselves besieged, they will implore the help of God with a loud voices and God shall hear them, and shall send to them a Deliverer ..." (Lactantius)

9. "But many who are hearers of Holy Scripture and have it in their hands, and keep it in mind with understanding, will escape his imposture. For they will see clearly through his insidious appearance and his deceitful imposture, and will flee from his hands and betake themselves to the mountains, and hide in the caves of the earth; and they will seek after the Friend of man with tears and a contrite heart: and He will deliver them out of his toils, and with His right hand He will save those from his snares who make their supplication to Him in a worthy and righteous manner." (St. Hippolytus)

10. "Antichrist will teach that Christ was an impostor, and not the real Son of God." (St. Hilary)

11. "Nero will again reappear on earth as a messenger and forerunner of the Evil One who is coming for the devastation of the earth and the overturning of the human race." (Lactantius)

12. "One day we asked St. Martin of Tours about the End of the World, and he said that Nero and the Antichrist would come first. Nero would subdue ten kings and rule in the countries of the West. A persecution he was to impose would go so far as to require the worship of heathen idols. Antichrist would first seize the empires of the East; he would have Jerusalem as his seat and imperial Capital. Both the city and its temple were to be rebuilt by him. His persecution would require the denial of Christ's divinity (he himself pretending to be Christ) and would by law impose circumcision on all. Finally, Nero himself was to perish at the hands of Antichrist. In this way, the whole world and its peoples would be brought under his yoke, until, at Christ's coming, the impious imposter would be overcome." (Sulpicius Severus)

13. (Note 1). The reappearance of Nero does not mean the resurrection of the actual Nero, but the rise of a man as wicked as he or, perhaps, a man having the same name.

14. (Note 2). Antichrist's rule is to last until the Second Coming of Christ. This cannot be Communism, but Communism, to be sure, is in itself an attempt by the devil to destroy the Kingdom of God. It may be useful to recall here the various "plans" (and their partial failure) used by the devil to destroy Christianity, which, every time, led him to try a new "plan".

15. Thus we first had the Reformation in the 16th Century at the close of the 1000 years of peace within the Church. In a world of believers such as it was then, the preaching of an atheistic philosophy was unthinkable. The purpose of the devil was to weaken and, possibly destroy the Catholic Church by substituting a watered-down form of Christianity. He failed, for the Catholic Church is still alive; but he did succeed in sowing seeds of discord and division, and in promoting the philosophy of Liberalism that came with Protestantism and gradually passed from the religious field into the economic and political areas.

16. Liberalism was condemned by the Church; liberal Catholics were warned and condemned by Gregory XVI and Pius IX in the 19th century. Leo XIII re-affirmed the judgment of his predecessors and specifically condemned the concept of a so-called "Christian Democracy" (because Democracy is the political expression of Liberalism, whilst Capitalism is its economic expression). But the Modernists took up the torch of subversion and error, and St. Pius X condemned them in the beginning of the 20th century. Their ideas, however, continued to spread underground for about 5O years until their presence prompted Pius XII to issue his Encyclical "Humani Generis". But when Pius XII died in 1958, the new heretics, then known as "Progressives", succeeded in infiltrating the Church at the highest levels. That is where we stand in 1975. "Progressivism" is in fact, the religious expression of Liberalism.

17. In the political area, Liberalism gave birth to Democracy. This, I discussed in my little book "The Popes and Democracy". In the economic field, we had Capitalism. Capitalism is based on profit alone, not on the needs of man. True, no company or corporation can be expected to work at a loss and, for that reason, the profit motive is quite legitimate, nay, it is the necessary incentive which Socialism destroys wherever it rises to power, thus bringing about complete economic chaos. But, whilst being an indispensable condition, the profit motive must not override other considerations and, although quite justified to increase the production of consumers' goods, it cannot condone speculation on non-existing money created solely by book entries. And this, I am afraid is the essence of Capitalism, as distinct from Private enterprise. To be sure, when you destroy Private Enterprise you destroy also private Capitalism but, contrary to the simplistic solution of the Socialists, it is possible to control Capitalism without destroying Private Enterprise. This will be achieved when the Banks are denied the right to issue non-existing money.

18. What are the other evils of Liberalism? In what manner did the devil succeed in undermining our Christian civilisation when he gave birth to the Reformation in the 16th century? A complete answer would take many pages; let me just mention one example: by virtue of the superiority of our Christian culture, it was just and desirable that the peoples of the West should bring to non-Christians the benefits of their knowledge. This is called colonisation. However, since colonization had hardly begun when the peoples of the West forsook their Christian philosophy, colonisation, in many cases, became a sordid affair better known as Colonialism. The coloured peoples were never won over to our way of thinking because in their eyes, we were exploiters. Yet we did give them employment, order, and a measure of prosperity. At the same time, however, we fed them our deadly Liberal concepts, and their elites, educated in our godless universities, had only one aim in mind: to shake off the western yoke as quickly as possible - and we taught them how. Such is the inconsistency of Liberalism: it exploits out of sheer greed, but it tells the exploited why they should shake off the yoke, and how to do it! So decolonisation took place after World War II at a quickening pace. But this did not assuage our former slaves; it only encouraged them to become more demanding and more militant since our Liberal philosophy is now their philosophy too. Today, they do not hesitate to blackmail us and threaten the very life of the Western Nations by denying them the petrol which they need. And that is what our Liberalism has achieved. Had we taught them Christianity instead of Philosophism, they might have been our best and most grateful friends.

19. Such are, in a few short paragraphs, the evil consequences of Liberalism in Religion, Economics, and politics. It is quite clear, therefore, that the devil did achieve a measure of success when he gave rise to the Reformation in the 16th century. He did not destroy the Catholic Church there and then, but the seeds have grown and are bearing their poisoned fruits today.

20. The devil went a stage further with the French Revolution in 1789; this time, the Catholic Church was to swear allegiance to the State, two popes were removed by force from the Vatican and imprisoned, thousands of priests and nuns were killed. But the Revolutionaries still thought it unwise to deny the existence of God whom they called the "Supreme Being". Atheism was to be left for the next stage. The Church rallied in the 19th century, but the devil had unleashed fresh forces of destruction in the nascent philosophy of Communism, for this comes straight from the French Revolution.

21. The latest attempt was the Russian Revolution in 1917. This time the stage was set for an open denial of the existence of God, for wholesale persecutions, and for the carefully planned murder by starvation of literally millions of peasants hostile to the new regime. The devil was not slow to realise, however, that even this could not destroy the religious feelings of the people. Accordingly, Communists embarked upon a policy of infiltration and dialectical argument (dialogue). Communist agents were hand- picked and trained for the priesthood in Crimea and elsewhere; Catholic papers and journals were taken over and the Communists assumed an air of respectability in their relationships with Christians. This is the stage reached in 1975, and its success appears obvious. However, appearances are deceptive, and this also will fail, and the Communists will revert to a policy of bloody destructions. This will be the fourth great attempt by the devil; it will not be confined to Russia as in 1917, it will be world-wide. But it will fail also. That is why, having realised that atheistic Materialism was still powerless to destroy the Kingdom of Christ, the devil shall try yet a different scheme: he will raise Antichrist, not in order to deny the existence of God, but in order to be adored as God Himself. For if the hearts of men cannot do without the notion of God, let us tell them that I am God. Such will be the purpose of the devil through Antichrist, and the Fathers of the Church tell us that it is so.

22. "He shall sit in the Temple of God as if he were Christ, and leading astray those who worship him." (St. Irenaeus)

23. "This accursed one is sent by the devil in order to lead men into error." (St. Hildegard) - private prophecy.

24. "Antichrist will be born near Babylon. He will win the support of many with gifts and money. He will sell himself to the devil and thereafter will have no guardian angel or conscience." (St. Jerome)

25. "Dan, Moses said, is a lion's whelp; and in naming the tribe of Dan he declared clearly the tribe from which Antichrist is destined to spring." (St. Hippolytus)

26. "Dan shall Judge his people like another tribe in Israel. Let Dan be a snake in the way, a serpent in the path, that biteth the horse's heels that the rider may fall backwards." (Genesis, 49:17,18)

27. "He will call together the whole people to himself, out of every country of the Dispersion, making them his own, as though they were his own children, and promising to restore their country and establish again their kingdom and nation, in order that he may be worshipped by them as God." (St. Hippolytus)

28. The Last Judgment will be preceded by the imposter Antichrist, who will try to deceive men in four ways:

* By a false exposition of Scripture, wherein he will try to prove that he is the Messiah promised by the Law.
* By working miracles. (i.e. false miracles)
* By handing out gifts.
* By inflicting punishments. (St. Anselm)

29. "Antichrist will rule the world from Jerusalem, which he will make into a magnificent city." (St. Anselm)

30. "For when he is come, and of his own accord concentrates in his own person the apostasy, and accomplishes whatever he shall do according to his own will and choice, sitting also in the Temple of God so that his dupes may adore him as the Christ..." (St. Irenaeus)

31. "Antichrist will exceed in malice, perversity, lust, wickedness, impiety, and ruthlessness and barbarity all men that have ever disgraced human nature. Hence St. Paul emphatically calls him `the man of sin the son of perdition, the wicked one, whose birth and coming is through the operation of Satan, in all manner of seduction and iniquity.' (2 Thess., 2). Through his great power, deceit and malice he shall succeed in decoying or forcing to his worship two thirds of mankind; the remaining third part of men will continue true to the faith and worship of Jesus Christ most steadfastly. But in his satanic rage and fury, Antichrist will persecute these brave and devout Christians during three years and a half, and torture them with such an extremity of barbarity, with all the old and newly invented instruments of pain, as to exceed all past persecutors of the Church combined. He will oblige all his followers to bear impressed upon their foreheads or right hands the mark of the Beast and will starve to death all those who refuse to receive it." (St. Cyril of Jerusalem)

32. "And the churches, too will wail with a mighty lamentation, because neither oblation nor incense is attended to, nor a service acceptable to God; but the sanctuaries of the churches will become like a garden-watcher's hut, and the Holy Body and Blood of Christ will not be shown in those days. The public service of God shall be extinguished, psalmody shall cease, the reading of Scripture shall not be heard; but for men there shall be darkness and lamentation on lamentation, and woe on woe. At that time silver and gold shall be cast out in the streets, and none shall gather them; but all things shall be held an offence. For all shall be eager to escape and to hide and they shall not be able anywhere to find shelter from the woes of the Enemy; but as they carry his mark about them, they shall be readily recognised and declared to be his. There shall be fear outside, and trembling inside both by night and by day. In the streets and in the houses there the dead shall lie; in the streets and in the houses there shall hunger and thirst be; in the streets there shall be tumults, and in the houses lamentations. And beauty of countenance shall be withered, for their forms shall be like those of the dead; and the beauty of women shall fade, and the desire of all men shall vanish. But in spite of all this, not even then will the merciful and benignant God leave the race of men without some comfort; He will shorten even those days to the period of three years and a half, and He will curtail those times on account of the remnant of those who hide in the mountains and caves, that the phalanx of all those saints fail not utterly. But these days shall run their course rapidly; and the kingdom of the Deceiver and Antichrist shall be promptly removed. And then, finally, in the twinkling of an eye shall the fashion of this world pass away, and the power of men shall be brought to naught, and all visible things shall be destroyed." (St. Hippolytus)

33. "By means of the events which shall occur in the time of Antichrist it is shown that he, being an apostate and a robber, is anxious to be adored as God; and that although a mere slave, he wishes to be proclaimed as a king. For he being endued with all the power of the devil, shall come, not as a righteous king, not as a legitimate king obedient to God but as an impious, unjust, and lawless one; as an iniquitous and murderous apostate; as a robber, concentrating in himself a satanic apostasy, and setting aside idols to persuade men that he himself is God." (St. Irenaeus)

34. "But he who reads this passage, even half asleep, cannot fail to see that the kingdom of the Antichrist shall fiercely, though for a short time, assail the Church before the Last Judgment of God has introduced the eternal reign of saints. For it is patent from the context that the time, times, and half a time, means a year, and two years, and half a year, that is to say, three years and a half. Sometimes in Scripture the same thing is indicated by months. For though the word times seems to be used here in Latin in an indefinite manner, that is so only because the Latins have no dual, as the Greeks have, and as the Hebrews also are said to have. Times, therefore, is used for two times. It is a familiar theme in the conversations and hearts of the faithful, that in the last days before the Judgment, the Jews shall believe in the true Christ, that is, our Christ, thanks to this great and admirable prophet Elias who shall expound the Law to them. For not without reason do we hope that before the coming of our Judge and Saviour Elias shall come, because we have good reason to believe that he is now alive; for as Scripture most distinctly informs us, he was taken up from this earth in a chariot of fire. When therefore, he is come, he shall give a spiritual explanation of the Law which the Jews at present understand carnally ... " (St. Augustine)

35. "During the three and a half years of Antichrist's reign God will send Henoch and Elias to help the Christians." (St. Benedict)

36. (Note). Unlike Nero, mentioned in paragraphs 11, 12 & 13, Henoch and Elias will come back on earth in person. But this is not a resurrection, for their bodies were changed and taken to heaven without going through death.

37. "Antichrist will be possessed by Satan and be the illegitimate son of a Jewish woman from the East." (St. John Chrysostom)

38. "Antichrist will heal the sick, raise the dead, restore sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb, raises storms and calms them, re-names mountains, make trees blossom and wither at a word, re-build the temple of Jerusalem, and make Jerusalem the capital city of the world with the vast wealth of hidden treasures." (Rabanus Maurus, private)

39. (Note). Antichrist cannot work genuine miracles; he cannot give life back to the dead. But he can raise again those who appear to be dead according to human knowledge and experience, but are yet not really dead. He can also re-animate dead bodies by the power of Satan so as to make them appear alive. As for his healing powers and his dominion over the elements and plants, this is not at all impossible for there is much more in the way of psychic powers of the natural order than is generally accepted. He will possess all these thanks to his master, the devil. To us, of course such wonders appear to be miraculous but they are not so in the strict theological sense. Note that R. Maurus did not say "resurrect the dead", but "raise the dead", which is vastly different since the word resurrect, despite its etymological limitations, is generally understood as meaning "bring to life again", whilst the word raise need not imply this. (See also par. 3, 52 & 55)

40. "The ocean shall inundate Ireland seven years before the End so that the devil may not rule over that people." (St. Patrick)

41. "Seven years before the Last Day the sea shall submerge Ireland in one inundation." (St. Columbkille)

42. "The sea will come over Ireland seven years before the day of judgment." (St. Nennius)

43. "The sea shall overwhelm Ireland seven years before the judgment." (Leabhar Breac)

44. "In the latter ages destitution will fall upon many people, and whenever the English will commit great evils against the children of Eire, then the English will be expelled and Eire become the property of her rightful owners." (St. Maeltamhlacht, 7th century)

45. (Note). This prophecy, which was made five centuries before the English began to subdue Ireland, is given here merely to confirm that ours are the Last Times, for Ireland is now an independent nation even though the Northern part is still under English control.

46. "Ireland will undergo English oppression for a week of centuries but will preserve her fidelity to God and His Church. At the end of this time Ireland will be delivered and the English in turn must suffer severe chastisements. Ireland, however will be instrumental in bringing back the English to the unity of the Faith." (St. Patrick, 12th century)

47. (Note). This prophecy was made four centuries before the (heretical) Anglican Church was founded.

48. "The English will betray each other, as a result of which their sovereignty will be broken, and they will stain their swords and battle-axes with blood ... The English and the Irish of Ireland will unite in one confederation against the forces of the Saxons ... One monarch will rule in Ireland, over the English and the pure Irish. From the reign of that man, the people shall suffer no destitution." (St. Senanus, 6th century)

49. (Note). Reference is made here to the coming English revolution and invasion from forces based in Germany; but this need not be during the persecutions of Antichrist.

50. "Henoch and Elias are being instructed by God in a mysterious manner in paradise. God shows them the works of men as though they could see these with natural eyes. The two men are therefore, much wiser than all wise men put together. The same force which removed Henoch and Elias from the earth will bring them back in a storm wind at the time when the Antichrist will spread his false doctrine. As long as they will dwell amongst men they will always be refreshed after 4O days. They have the mission from God to resist the Antichrist and lead the erring back to the road of salvation. Both men, distinguished by age and stature, will speak to men: `This accursed one is sent by the devil in order to lead men into error. We have been preserved by God at a secreted place, where we did not experience the suffering of men. We are now sent by God in order to oppose the heresy of this destroyer. Look, if we resemble you in stature and age.' And because the testimony of both shall agree they will be believed. All will follow these two aged men and renounce heresy. They will visit all cities and towns where previously the Antichrist had sown his heresy, and through the power of the Holy Ghost will work genuine miracles. All the people will be greatly astonished at them. Henoch and Elias will confuse the followers of Satan with thunder strokes, and destroy them and fortify the Christians in faith. Therefore, the Christians will hurry to martyrdom, which the son of evil will prepare for them like to a banquet, so that the murderers will grow tired of counting the dead on account of their great numbers; for their blood will run like rivers.

Henoch and Elias have been taught much wisdom and knowledge in Paradise while awaiting their return to earth. God will instruct them every forty days while they are on earth. They will receive exceptional graces and powers from God to use against Antichrist.

When the fear of God has been disregarded everywhere, violent and furious wars will take place. A multitude of people will be slaughtered and many cities will be transformed into heaps of rubbish.

The Son of Corruption and Ruin will appear and reign for only a short time, towards the end of the days of the world's duration; the period which corresponds to the moment when the sun has disappeared beyond the horizon; that is to say he shall come at the last days of the world. He will not be Satan himself, but a human being equalling and resembling him in atrocious hideousness. His mother, a depraved woman possessed by the devil, will live as a prostitute in the desert. She will declare that she is ignorant as to the identity of his father, and will maintain that her son was presented to her by God in a supernatural manner, as was the Child of the Blessed Virgin. She will then be venerated as a saint by deceived people.

Antichrist will come from a land that lies between two seas, and will practise his tyranny in the East. After his birth false teachers and doctrines will appear, followed by wars, famines, and pestilence.

His mother will seldom let any one see him, and yet by magic art, she will manage to gain the love of the people for him. He will be raised at different secret places and will be kept in seclusion until full grown. When he has grown to full manhood he will publicly announce a hostile doctrine on religion. He will lure and attract the people to himself by granting them complete exemption from the observance of all divine and ecclesiastical commandments, by forgiving them their sins and requiring of them only their belief in his divinity. He will spurn and reject baptism and the gospel. He will open his mouth to preach contradiction. He will say, `Jesus of Nazareth is not the son of God, only a deceiver who gave himself out as God; and the Church instituted by him is only superstition'. The true Christ has come in his person. He will say, `I am the Saviour of the world'. Especially will he try to convince the Jews that he is the Messiah sent by God, and the Jews will accept him as such. His doctrine of faith will be taken from the Jewish religion and seemingly will not differ much from the fundamental doctrine of Christianity, for he will teach that there is one God who created the world, who is omniscient and knows the thoughts of man and is just, who rewards the obeyers of his commands and the trespassers he chastises, who raises all from the dead in due time. This God has spoken through Moses and the Prophets, therefore the precepts of the Mosaic laws are to be kept, especially circumcision and keeping the Sabbath, yet by his moral laws he will try to reverse all order on earth. Therefore he is called in Holy Writ the `Lawless One'. He will think that he can change time and laws. He will discard all laws, morals and religious principles, to draw the world to himself. He will grant entire freedom from the commandments of God and the Church and permit everyone to live as his passions dictate. By doing so he hopes to be acknowledged by the people as deliverer from the yoke, and as the cause of prosperity in the world. Religion he will endeavour to make convenient. He will say that you need not fast and embitter your life by renunciation, as the people of former times did when they had no sense of God's goodness. It will suffice to love God. He will let the people feast to their heart's content so that they will pity the unfortunate people of former centuries. He will preach free love and tear asunder family ties. He will scorn everything holy, and he will ridicule all graces of the Church with devilish mockery. He will condemn humility and foster proud and gruesome dogmas. He will tear down that which God has taught in the Old and New Testament and maintain sin and vice are not sin and vice. Briefly he will declare the road to Hell is the way to Heaven.

When the great ruler (the Great Monarch who is to rule Europe after the collapse of Communism) exterminates the Turks almost entirely, one of the remaining Mohammadans will be converted, become a priest bishop and cardinal, and when the new pope is elected (immediately before Antichrist) this cardinal will kill the pope before he is crowned, through jealousy, wishing to be pope himself; then when the other cardinals elect the next pope this cardinal will proclaim himself Anti-pope, and two-thirds of the Christians will go with him. He, as well as Anti-christ, are descendants of the tribe of Dan.

The mark (of Antichrist) will be a hellish symbol of Baptism, because thereby a person will be stamped as an adherent of Antichrist and also of the Devil in that he thereby gives himself over to the influence of Satan. Whoever will not have this mark of Antichrist can neither buy nor sell anything and will be beheaded.

He will win over to himself the rulers, the mighty and the wealthy, will bring about the destruction of those who do not accept his faith and, finally, will subjugate the entire earth.

The streets of Jerusalem, will then shine in the bright- est gold with the blood of Christians which will flow like water. Simultaneously Antichrist will try to increase his wonders. His executioners will work such miracles when they torment the Christians that the people will think Antichrist is the true God. The executioners will not permit the Christians to win the martyrs' crown easily for they will endeavour to prolong their pain until they renounce their faith. Yet some will receive a special grace from God to die during the torments.

Antichrist will make the earth move, level mountains, dry up rivers, produce thunder and lightning and hail, remove the leaves from the trees and return them again to the trees, make men sick and cure them, exorcise devils, raise the dead to life. He will appear to be crucified and rise from the dead. All in all, Christians will be astounded and in grievous doubts while the followers of Antichrist will be confirmed in their false faith.

Finally, when he shall have converted all his plans into action, he will gather his worshippers about him and tell them that he will presently ascend toward Heaven. However, at the moment of the ascension a bolt of lightning will overwhelm and annihilate him. The planned ascent into heaven will have been prepared by the artful employment of ingenious devices, and the moment at which the event was to have taken place, leading to his destruction, will produce a cloud that will spread an unbearable odour. Through this many people will again come to their senses and to understanding.

Then the people should prepare for the last judgment, the day of which is indeed veiled in secrecy and obscurity, but not far distant." (St. Hildegard)

51. "As in Christ dwells the fullness of the Godhead so in Antichrist the fullness of all wickedness. Not indeed in the sense that his humanity is to be assumed by the devil into unity of person ..., but that the devil by suggestion infuses his wickedness more copiously into him than into all others. In this way all the wicked that have gone before are signs of Antichrist." (Summa III:8:8)

"(His miracles may be) said to be real just as Pharaoh's magicians made real frogs, but they will not be real miracles because they will be done by the power of natural causes." (Summa II-II:178:1)

"Although men be terrified by the signs appearing about the judgment day, yet before those signs begin to appear the wicked will think themselves to be in peace and security after the death of Antichrist and before the coming of Christ, seeing that the world is not at once destroyed as they thought hitherto." (Summa, Sup. 73:1) (St. Thomas Aquinas)

"Elias was taken up into the atmospheric but not the empyrean heaven ... and likewise Enoch was translated into the earthly paradise where he is believed to live with Elias until the coming of Antichrist." (Sum. III:49:5)

52. "The crime of Antichrist is duplex: He is against God and he puts himself before Christ. In opposing God, he puts himself above the true God, in place of all false gods and even denies the participation of humans in the Godhead. The pride of Antichrist surpasses that of all his predecessors and like Caesar and the King of Tyre he will say he is God and man and so represented he will sit in the temple."

Antichrist will be destroyed by the spirit of the mouth of Christ. That is, by the Holy Ghost or by Christ's command in that Michael will kill him on Mt. Olivet whence Christ ascended into Heaven just as Julian (the Apostate) was extinguished by the divine hand.

"Antichrist will enjoy the use of free will on which the devil will operate as it was said of Judas: `Satan entered into him,' that is, by instigating him. He shall deceive both by worldly power and the operation of miracles. In the matter of worldly power, St. John (Apoc. XIII) says `He will control the treasures of gold and silver and all the previous things of Egypt.' The power of miracles will be simulated. `He will do wondrous signs and even make fire come upon the earth' (Dan. XI) and thus, he will lead many into error even, were it possible, the elect' (Matt. 24).

"But his miracles will be lies. No one can perform a true miracle against the faith, because God is not a witness of falsity. Hence, no one preaching a false doctrine can work miracles, whereas one leading a bad life could." (Comment in II Thess. II, Lec. 1-III) (St. Thomas Aquinas)

53. "After the two prophets, (Henoch and Elias) are killed the greatest power on earth will be given to Antichrist. Then they will set up cauldrons on the streets with boiling contents, and drive the men who are known as Christians, and their wives and children, there, to choose either to profess in the Deity of Antichrist and thereby to keep their family and be rewarded with riches and a home, or to profess the Christian faith, and thereby, death in the boiling cauldron. Thereupon the women and their children, who will choose to die for love of Jesus, will be thrown into a pit of fire covered with wood and straw and burnt.

Both men are in Paradises living in bliss and eating the same foods which once Adam had eaten. They, too, must shun, in obedience to God, the same tree from which Adam and Eve were not to eat. This tree is not large; its fruit looks very nice and lovely like a rose, in the interior, however, it is sour by nature whereby is indicated the bitter evil of sin. God has forbidden this fruit because it is very harmful to men and is even now regarded as poison. An angel will accompany Henoch and Elias from Paradise. The clearness and bliss which surrounded their bodies will then disappear and they will receive again the terrestrial appearance and will become mortal beings. As soon as they will see the earth they will be frightened like people who see the ocean and do not know how they can cross it. They will eat honey and figs and drink water mixed with wine while their spirit will be nourished by God. They will appear as preachers in the last time of misery when most of the good men have already died as martyrs, and they will console the people for a long time yet. Henoch and Elias will close in on the Antichrist; they will tell the people who he is, by whose power he works miracles, in which way he came into the world and what will be his end. Then many a man and woman will be converted.

Henoch and Elias will expose the devilish trickery of Antichrist to the people. As a consequence he will put them to death. For three and one-half days their bodies will be exposed to insults and the followers of Antichrist will presume that all danger is now past, but suddenly the bodies of the two prophets will move, rise and gaze on the crowd and begin to praise God. A great earthquake, similar to that at Christ's resurrection, will take place: Jerusalem will be partially destroyed and thousands killed. Then a voice from heaven will call out "Ascend," whereupon the prophets will ascend into heaven, resulting in the conversion of many. Antichrist will reign thirty days after their ascension." (St. Mechtilda)

54. "This Prince of Liars will swear by the Bible and pose as the arm of the Almighty, chastising a corrupt age.

In the beginning he will work by cunning and crime. His spies will infest the whole world and he will become master of the secrets of the mighty. He will pay theologians to show that his mission is from God.

A war will give him the opportunity to assume his true role - this war will not be the one he will wage against a French sovereign but one which will within a fortnight involve the whole world and will be easily recognised by his mark on his followers."

(Note) Towards the end of his reign the Great Monarch will have to wage a war against Antichrist. He will win it, but will die shortly afterwards. It is likely that at this stage of his rising power, Antichrist will not yet be known as such.

"The Angels will enlighten men and in the third week they will wonder if this is truly the Antichrist, and realising that it is they will either have to fight to overthrow him or become his slaves.

Antichrist will be recognised by various tokens: in especial he will massacre the priests, the monks, the women, the children, and the aged. He will show no mercy, but will pass torch in hand, like the barbarians, yet invoking Christ! His words of imposture will resemble those of Christians, but his actions will be those of Nero and of the Roman persecutors. He will have an eagle in his coat of arms as also his lieutenant, the other wicked ruler - this latter will be a Christian who will die when cursed by the Pope, who will be elected at the beginning of the reign of Antichrist.

Priests and monks will no longer be seen hearing confessions and absolving the combatants: partly because they will be fighting alongside other Christians and partly because the Pope, having cursed Antichrist, will proclaim that all who fight against him, if they die, will go to Heaven as martyrs. The Bull, proclaiming these things will rekindle the courage of the faint-hearted and will cause the death of the monarch allied with Antichrist. Before Antichrist is overthrown however, more men will have been killed than were ever within the walls of Rome.

(Note) This is the "Nero" referred to in paragraphs 11 and 12. Nero will rule the West after the death of the Great Christian Monarch of French origin.

"Never will humanity have been faced with such a peril, because the triumph of Antichrist would be that of the demon, who will have taken possession of his personality. For it has been said that, twenty centuries after the Incarnation of the Word the Beast will be incarnate in his turn and will menace the earth with as many evils as the Incarnation has brought it graces.

Towards the year 2000 Antichrist will be made manifest. His army, will surpass in number anything that can be imagined. There will be Christians among his cohorts, and there will be Mohammedan and heathen soldiers among the defenders of the Lamb." (John of the Cleft Rock)

55. "The greatest opposition to Antichrist will come from the preaching of Henoch and Elias whom he will destroy after 1260 days. They will rise again after three and one half days. The first fifteen days will be a reign of terror. At the age of thirty-two and one-half years he will be slain on Mt. Olivet, probably by St. Michael. The jubilation of his followers will be suddenly cut short by a general slaughter. Forty-five days for repentance will intervene before the Last Judgment.

After the destruction of Rome, Antichrist will appear and exalt himself above pagan deities and the Trinity. His name signifies one who is against Christ. Begotten, of a sinful man and of a woman into whom the devil has entered, Antichrist will be born of the tribe of Dan in the city of Corozain. The good angel assigned to him at his birth will be obliged to leave him as witches, necromancers and other disreputable characters take charge of his education in Bethsaida. Coming to Jerusalem, he will proclaim himself Christ and at first feign to be holy. He will succeed through false preaching, miracles, gifts, terror, aided throughout by the devil. An evil spirit will come out of the air and descend upon his followers. He shall feign a resurrection from the dead, cause rain to fall, stone images to speak, and perform other wonders, all through the power of the devil. The recalling of the dead to life will be only apparent; devils entering the dead bodies will cause the illusion. Antichrist will be the greatest tyrant of all time. His adherents will be marked with his sign. Devils shall be let loose from hell. The Jews will welcome him." (Richard Rolle of Hampole)

56. "God alone is great. Much good has been accomplished. The saints are about to suffer. The man of sin arrives. He (Antichrist) is born from two bloods. The white flower becomes obscured during ten times six moons, and six times twenty moons (during about one hundred and eighty months), and it disappears, nevermore to be seen." (Prophecy of Orval)

(Note) Quite a number of interpretations are possible here but none should be regarded as certain: Here are two:

* 180 months = 15 years, i.e. the Great Monarch will die in 2015 and his reign will then begin between 1980 and 1990. Antichrist will be born at that time too.
* 180 months can also be 180 years in prophetic language. The last legitimate French Monarch ceased to reign in 1830. 180 years later, in 2010, his successor also will cease to reign. (Prophetic computations are always hazardous.)

57. "At the time when Antichrist is about twenty years old, most of the world will have lost the faith.

Antichrist will be descended from the tribe of Dan. The people at that time will be very corrupt. He will preach to the people while flying through the air. Many fervent priests and religious in the wilderness and desert will be miraculously sustained by God. Some of them will travel about to encourage the Christians to remain firm in the faith till death.

When a pious Christian is pleading to God for help before a crucifix in his room, Satan will disturb him in his prayers and confuse him. He will cause a voice to come from the crucifix saying: `Why do you call on Me, as if I can help you? I am not God nor the Saviour of the world, but a sorcerer, an instigator and deceiver of the people, for I was a false prophet and as a consequence I am damned to everlasting hell fire. Therefore, call on me no more, lest by calling on me you increase the pain that I must suffer in Hell. Through the power of Almighty God, whose gospel is now preached throughout the world, I am urged and compelled to tell you the truth and reveal to you that I am not the son of God, but rather the greatest sorcerer the world has ever had, and hence for all eternity I must suffer the severest pains without hope of redemption.' Also the pictures of the Mother of God at times will speak when someone will be praying before them: `Cease your supplications. I am not the Mother of God. I have no power with God. I am only a miserable creature. You should take refuge with the true Brother of the Most High, whose teachings are being taught to you today.' It will be the same with the pictures of the Saints. That it is the devil who speaks from the crucifixes and pictures but few will perceive, on the contrary, many will run excitedly to the apostles of Antichrist to accept the new religion. By order of these apostles they will trample on the crucifix and holy pictures and break them into pieces.

When a mother has her infant in her arms or puts it in the cradle, in a clear and distinct voice it will begin to speak, acknowledging the deity of Antichrist and urging the mother to leave Christ and turn to Antichrist. The child will reproach the parents, that they, in spite of the many miracles of Antichrist, still persist in their wickedness and obstinacy. Oh how much anguish will those parents have to bear! Yet many Christians will remember that this was all foretold of Antichrist for centuries past and perceive the fraud of Satan and refuse to be deceived. They will stand firm and enlighten the faint-hearted and console them." (Bernadine Von Busto)

58. "As Henoch and Elias will Preach against the Antichrist and draw many away from him, he will, as soon as he perceives the damage, march towards Jerusalem in order to prove there that he be the true Messiah and God. He will kill both prophets in Jerusalem. Their bodies will remain lying in the streets unburied, but on the fourth day they will be resurrected by a voice from heaven, `Henoch and Elias arise!' and ride to heaven in a cloud. Then the followers of Antichrist will regret having believed him and will repent their sins. Thereupon, Antichrist will make it known that after fifteen days he will also ascend into heaven, so that no one can doubt his divinity. On the appointed day he will majestically seat himself on a beautiful chair, on Mt. Olivet, in view of a large crowd and before all the people will lift himself up towards heaven through the help of evil. But, here at the command of God, the Archangel Michael will cast him down to earth by a stroke of lightning." (The Sibylle, Queen Michaula of Saba)

59. "Antichrist will come as the Messiah from a land between two seas in the East.

He will be born in the desert; his mother being a prostitute to the Jews and Hindus; he will be a lying and false prophet and will try to ride to heaven like Elias. He will begin work in the East, as a soldier and preacher of religion when thirty years old.

Antichrist and his army will conquer Rome, kill the Pope and take the throne.

He will restore the Turkish regime destroyed by the Great Monarch. The Jews, knowing from the Bible that Jerusalem will be the seat of the Messiah, will come from everywhere and accept Antichrist as the Messiah.

He will be able to fly. His flight will take place from Mt. Calvary. He will tell the crowd he is going after Henoch and Elias (who has arisen from the dead) in order to kill them again. (Ven B. Holzhauser)

60. "The conception of Antichrist will be like Christ's except that it will be by the devil instead of the Holy Ghost. He will have the devil's power like Christ had God's.

(Note) Antichrist will not be conceived by the devil in the same way Our Lord was conceived by the Holy Ghost (see par. 51). But, although of a human father, his conception will be inspired and, so to speak, supervised by the devil himself.

"Antichrist will present himself to the Jews as the Messiah. They will be his followers." (2 Thess. 2:9)

"Antichrist will have the powers of the devil from the beginning. He will be so evil it would seem his father was the devil. (See also par. 51 as note above). He will inherit his evil tendencies from his mother, who will also train him in evil.

His wife will be a Jewess but he will have many women, especially the daughters of rulers. (Dan. 11:27).

Antichrist's life will be a mockery of Christ's. He will be a convincing speaker, have great knowledge, the gift of tongues (Apoc. 13:5) and be a child wonder at six or seven.

He will take the riches of the world to Jerusalem and appear to have power over natural laws.

Elias will cause the rain, dew and snow to cease in those countries where the inhabitants oppose the two prophets and refuse to reject Antichrist. The first land to be so punished will be Palestine in order to win over the Jews.

After Elias finds the `Ark of the Covenant' of the Jews, (hidden until the recall of the Jews to God), he and Henoch will place the Blessed Sacrament upon it. The Jews will then realise the Jesus Christ and not Antichrist is the true Messiah. They will desert Antichrist and make a pilgrimage to Mount Nebo (where the Ark is found) bewailing the hardheartedness of their ancestors. Thereafter they will accept the Christian faith.

The Antichrist will kill Henoch and Elias and leave them unburied. These will, however, be resurrected after three and one-half days and ascend into heaven in a cloud in the presence of their enemy. This miraculous event will actually confuse Antichrist. In order that the nations will not abandon him, he will lift himself with great majesty into space on Mt. Olivet, with the purported intention to cast down the prophets who have ascended into heaven. But in this moment Christ will strike him down. The earth will open and swallow him and his prophets alive. Then a large part of Jerusalem will fall into ruins from the earthquake." (Dionysius of Luxemburg)

61. "Then the Son of God, Our Lord Jesus Christ, shall come in person. He shall appear on the clouds of heaven surrounded by legions of angels; and, shining with glory, He will put to death Antichrist, the Beast, the Enemy, the Seducer, and all his followers. This shall be the end of time and the beginning of the general judgment." (St. Zenobius)
[END]

SO JOSEPHUS WAS SPOT ON YET AGAIN

JERUSALEM (AP) — Newly found coins underneath Jerusalem's Western Wall could change the accepted belief about the construction of one of the world's most sacred sites two millennia ago, Israeli archaeologists said Wednesday.

The man usually credited with building the compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary is Herod, a Jewish ruler who died in 4 B.C. Herod's monumental compound replaced and expanded a much older Jewish temple complex on the same site.

But archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority now say diggers have found coins underneath the massive foundation stones of the compound's Western Wall that were stamped by a Roman proconsul 20 years after Herod's death. That indicates that Herod did not build the wall — part of which is venerated as Judaism's holiest prayer site — and that construction was not close to being complete when he died.

"The find changes the way we see the construction, and shows it lasted for longer than we originally thought," said the dig's co-director, Eli Shukron.

The four bronze coins were stamped around 17 A.D. by the Roman official Valerius Gratus. He preceded Pontius Pilate of the New Testament story as Rome's representative in Jerusalem, according to Ronny Reich of Haifa University, one of the two archaeologists in charge of the dig.

The coins were found inside a ritual bath that predated construction of the renovated Temple Mount complex and which was filled in to support the new walls, Reich said.

They show that construction of the Western Wall had not even begun at the time of Herod's death. Instead, it was likely completed only generations later by one of his descendants.

The coins confirm a contemporary account by Josephus Flavius, a Jewish general who became a Roman historian. Writing after a Jewish revolt against Rome and the destruction of the Temple by legionnaires in 70 A.D., he recounted that work on the Temple Mount had been completed only by King Agrippa II, Herod's great-grandson, two decades before the entire compound was destroyed.

Scholars have long been familiar with Josephus' account, but the find is nonetheless important because it offers the "first clear-cut archaeological evidence that part of the enclosure wall was not built by Herod," said archaeologist Aren Maeir of Bar-Ilan University, who was not involved in the dig.

Josephus also wrote that the end of construction left 18,000 workmen unemployed in Jerusalem. Some historians have linked this to discontent that eventually erupted in the Jewish revolt.

The compound, controlled since 1967 by Israel, now houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the golden-capped Muslim shrine known as the Dome of the Rock. The fact that the compound is holy both to Jews and Muslims makes it one of the world's most sensitive religious sites.

The dig in which the coins were discovered cleared a Roman-era drainage tunnel that begins at the biblical Pool of Siloam, one of the city's original water sources, and terminates with a climb up a ladder out onto a 2,000-year-old street inside Jerusalem's Old City. The tunnel runs by the foundation stones of the compound's western wall, where the coins were found.

The drainage tunnel was excavated as part of the dig at the City of David, which is perhaps Israel's richest archaeological excavation and its most contentious.

The dig is being carried out inside the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan, and is funded by a group associated with the Israeli settlement movement that opposes any division of the city as part of a future peace deal.

The excavation of the tunnel has also yielded a Roman sword, oil lamps, pots and coins that scholars believe are likely debris from an attempt by Jewish rebels to hide in the underground passage as they fled from the Roman soldiers.

APOPHIS - A BREAKDOWN OF WHAT WE HAVE TO LOOK FORWARD TO

Mother Mary Shipton had something to say about a celestial body that would torment us seven times as it passes by. I wonder if it would not be this thing:

CLICK LINK TO POPULAR MECHANICS ARTICLE

It sure does have the potential to do some harm to our little blue orb. My wife feels that many of these kinds of things can happen (for the bad), based on the actions of God's children. In other words, a little nudge here, a little nudge there (in a cosmic sense) spells the difference between disaster or physical salvation. She feels that this may have been the case with Elenin breaking up as it rounded the sun. I can't discount that thinking.....

DOLLAR COLLAPSE COMING

There is not an ounce of bad info on this Stansberry Report special:

CLICK LINK

I do not necessarily endorse what he says to do to shield your financial assets from the collapse, but I do agree with what he says is coming. Listen to the part about the NORMALCY BIAS. The Book of Mormon has something to say about that phenomenon....

FEELING SOMEONE ELSE'S PAIN - AN OVERVIEW

If you google "feeling someone elses pain", the number one hit will take you to this blog; the place for the sensational that I have experienced and learned about in my life.

CLICK LINK (DEATH OF TAWNY'S BROTHER)

and

CLICK LINK (DEVASTATING NEWS OF INFERTILITY)

I have had two very poignant experiences of this kind of thing involving people that I had cared about in my past (but oddly was not directly involved with at the time), plus the death of my son and the time that fell off the roof and "felt" the gravity resisting effects of concrete about 10 hours before they were physically manifest. I still have not had the time to report that event.

Here is an article that I thought had merit. It backs what I have been saying all along on the matter. Some people have the gift to feel others' experiences - some of it is the Holy Ghost warning - some of it is simply a gift given from God to help the person as a parent, a teacher, physician, companion, etc.

What is your gift? Have you experienced it - and then dismissed it as coincidence? Do you recognize the hand of God in your life in giving you that gift; which then gives you access to more of it in greater abundance?

Dr. Larry Dossey


Bill Clinton famously told Americans, "I feel your pain." Was the prez speaking truthfully or was he, as his detractors claimed, just an oily politician currying favor from suffering citizens?

In the past few years, neuroscientists have discovered that individuals may indeed feel the pain of someone else. This conclusion is based on the discovery of "mirror neurons" in the brain, which fire both when a person engages in an activity or merely witnesses someone else who is engaged in the same action.

Researchers suggest that when we see a homeless person begging on the street or an emaciated child in Darfur, we feel emotionally moved because we are hardwired to directly share their experience. Thus many experts contend that mirror neurons form the physical basis for altruism, empathy and compassion. Vilayanur Ramachandran, director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at University of California-San Diego, says, "Mirror neurons dissolve the barrier between you and someone else." Ramachandran therefore calls them "Gandhi neurons."

Others disagree. Alison Gopnik, a developmental psychologist at University of California-Berkeley's Institute of Cognitive and Brain Sciences, considers mirror neurons a myth. She thinks their significance "is blown way out of proportion." Huge ensembles of different kinds of neurons are involved in any cognition, she says. "The idea that a kind of neuron alone could explain empathy or behavior or self-consciousness simply makes no sense. It's just as likely that those neurons are mirroring because people a re imitating each other and feeling empathy, not the other way around." Let's look further.

Experts say that in order for mirror neurons to fire and trigger empathy and compassion, an individual must see the suffering person. But this is a shortsighted view (no pun intended), because it cannot account for instances of profound empathy and compassion in which vision or any other physical sense plays no role.

Consider the experience of Larry Kincheloe, MD, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Oklahoma City. I received a remarkable letter from him, in which he described how premonitions and bodily sensations sometimes set the stage for compassionate, empathic patient care. His experiences have led him to propose a new field he calls "intuitive obstetrics."

After completing his training in obstetrics and gynecology, Kincheloe joined a very traditional medical group and practiced for about four years without any unusual events. Then one Saturday afternoon he received a call from the hospital that a patient of his was in early labor. He gave routine orders, and since this was her first baby he assumed that delivery would be hours away. While raking leaves, he experienced an overwhelming feeling that he had to go to the hospital. He immediately called labor and delivery and was told by the nurse that everything was going fine; his patient was only five centimeters dilated and delivery was not expected for several more hours.

Even with this reassurance, the feeling got stronger and Kincheloe began to feel an aching pain in the center of his chest. He described it as similar to the feeling one has at sixteen years old and loses their first love -- an achingly sad, melancholy sense. The more he tried to ignore the sensation the stronger it grew, until it reached the point where he felt he was drowning. By this time he was desperate to get to the hospital. He jumped into his car and sped away. As he neared the hospital he began to feel better. When he walked onto the labor unit, there was an overwhelming sense of relief.

When he reached the labor and delivery area, the nurse was just walking out of his patient's labor room. When she asked why he was there, Kincheloe honestly admitted that he did not know, only that he felt he was needed and that his place was with his patient. She gave him a strange look and told him that she had just checked the woman and that she was only seven centimeters dilated. At that moment a cry came from the labor room. He rushed to the room just in time to deliver a healthy infant. Afterward, when the nurse asked how he had known to come to the hospital after being told that delivery was hours away, he had no answer.

After that day, Kincheloe started paying attention to his feelings. He's learned to trust them. Having experienced these intuitive sensations hundreds of times, he routinely acts on them. Usually by the time he gets a call from labor and delivery, he is already getting dressed or is in his car on the way to the hospital. He often answers the phone by saying, "I know. I am on my way," knowing that it is labor and delivery calling him to come in. This is now such a common occurrence among the labor and delivery staff that they use his chest sensations as a clinical tool in predicting when his patients will deliver.

Dr. Kincheloe's experiences suggest that physical sensations can mediate empathic connections with others, beyond the range of the physical senses. These physical symptoms are like psychic cell phones uniting a distant individual who is in need with someone else.

A classic example, reported by the English social critic John Ruskin (1819-1900), involved Arthur Severn, the well-known landscape painter. Severn awoke early one morning and went to the nearby lake for a sail. His wife Joan, who remained in bed, was suddenly awakened by the feeling of a severe, painful blow to the mouth, of no apparent cause. Shortly thereafter her husband Arthur returned, holding a cloth to his bleeding mouth. He reported that the wind had freshened abruptly and caused the tiller to hit him in the mouth, almost knocking him from the boat at the estimated time his wife felt the blow.

Mathematician-statistician Douglas Stokes reported a similar instance in 2002. When he was teaching a course on parapsychology at the University of Michigan, one of his students reported that his father was knocked off a bench one day by an "invisible blow to the jaw." Five minutes later his dad received a call from a local gymnasium where his wife was exercising, informing him that she had broken her jaw on a piece of fitness equipment.

The late psychiatrist lan Stevenson, of the University of Virginia, has investigated scores of comparable instances in which distant, emotionally close individuals experienced similar physical symptoms. Most involved parents and children, spouses, siblings, twins, lovers, and very close friends. Again, the common thread seems to be the emotional bondedness and empathy experienced by the separated persons.

In a typical example, a mother was writing a letter to her daughter, who had recently gone away to college. For no obvious reason her right hand began to burn so severely she had to put down her pen. She received a phone call less than an hour later informing her that her daughter's right hand had been severely burned by acid in a laboratory accident, at the same time that she, the mother, had felt the burning pain.

In another case, a woman suddenly doubled over, clutching her chest in severe pain, saying, "Something has happened to Nell, she has been hurt." Two hours later the sheriff arrived to inform her that Nell, her daughter, had been involved in an auto accident, and that a piece of the steering wheel had penetrated her chest.

These events occur in the context of emotional closeness, empathy, compassion, and love. They do not depend on physically seeing another individual, as the mirror neuron hypothesis requires.

This kind of remote, empathic knowing is the sort of ability that a survival-oriented organism might develop, because this ability favors the physical survival of the person in need, and therefore procreation. This trait might eventually be incorporated as part of our genetic endowment and passed down through succeeding generations. How might it actually work?

A host of hypotheses have been advanced to explain these happenings, all proposing, in one way or another, new images of the nature of consciousness, the nature of time, or extensions of the unity that are possibly foreshadowed in concept of nonlocality in quantum mechanics. As I discuss in my recent book The Power of Premonitions, these views have been proposed by eminent scientists, including Nobelists. No one knows which, if any, of these hypotheses may eventually be validated. But what is certain is that we have vastly underestimated the extent of "the ties that bind" us together through empathy, altruism, and compassion, and which make us uniquely human.


Dr. Larry Dossey is the author of eleven books about the nature of consciousness and the role of spirituality in healthcare, most recently The Power of Premonitions (Dutton/Penguin, 2009).

THEY WILL THIRST AFTER THE BLOOD OF EVERY MAN

HAD TO RE-POST THIS CLASSIC THAT I WROTE QUITE A BIT EARLIER IN THE BLOG.

I HAD ONE OF THOSE DAYS WITH MY MANAGER AT WORK - WHO IS, SHALL WE SAY, OF A DIFFERENT PERSUASION THAN I. AND WHILE THAT IS HIS CHOICE - AND I WOULD FIGHT FOR HIS RIGHT TO HAVE THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE AS HE WOULD DO, I FIND MYSELF FEELING MYSELF CONSTANTLY AT ODDS WITH THE MAN AND BEGIN TO WONDER WHAT THE ANTAGONISM IS RELATED TO. NO ONE ELSE IN THE GROUP IS RECEIVING "SPECIAL TREATMENT". I CALL BEING SANDUSKIED.... IS THIS SPECIAL TREATMENT DUE TO A REAL PROBLEM WITH MY WORK OR WORK ETHIC - OR A PROBLEM WITH MY VALUE SET AND WHAT DRIVES IT? I FELT THE NEED TO GET ON MY KNEES AND ONCE AGAIN PRAY FOR SOME RELIEF - FOR GOD TO WEIGH US BOTH IN THE BALANCE (BOTH HIS CHILDREN AND DESERVING OF BLESSINGS ACCORDING TO OUR DESIRES AND QUALIFICATIONS) AND DELIVER SPEEDY JUDGEMENT. MY EXPERIENCE IS THAT GOD IS FAITHFUL AS INDICATED IN D&C 71:5-11 (CLICK LINK)

READ ON. AND IF YOU ENJOYED THIS, THERE IS MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM....
THE GOOD STUFF IS IN THE ARCHIVES.....

I had to work all weekend. Saturday night was spent on a lonely engineering watch with a Jewish friend and we engaged in some great conversation where we shared doctrines of our respective faiths. All of his doctrines are 100% compatible with mine - and shared some mind enlarging feelings on the nature of our spirits and the nature of God and the heavens. We have a fantastic relationship where we just share things as God intended - no contention.
I then had to work on the Sabbath (today) where another co-worker came up (a nice guy - but who has the very appearance/demeanor of what I always have thought the devil himself would look like; dashing good looks with dark hair and the required goatee, a great orator, conceited, self-assured to a fault, with little or no humility, and dark and cold penetrating eyes) and proceeded to hack away at organized religion and proceeded to erroneously tell me what my beliefs are. His name is Daemon and during the course of the conversation, I have to admit, I got things wrong with the pronunciation of his name and 'accidentally' dropped the a (my wife censured me for having done it). Things got a little tense when he began an assault on the Prophet and on the nature of the Holy Ghost. I clearly warned him to watch his words as they were being recorded and he would be "weighed in the balance" over them. Mostly, I have great forebearance with these types of folks and know that mostly, they operate out of ignorance and the wicked traditions of their fathers. It was the same genre of spirit that put our Lord and the Prophet to death because of the inability of the recipients to handle the truth. It is my burden to attract these types and, hopefully with the Spirit, set them on a course to doctrinal correctness. I fear they will have to suffer many things before they are humble enough to even begin to have ears to hear sound principle.

The last one I dealt with (several years ago at work) was literally gnashing his teeth in my face and I warned him against what he was doing - that after a bruising railing against my "stupidity" and "naivety" for believing in God, I was compelled to tell him that 'he would rue the day' (he had been so crass against his maker) and that "in his extremity, he would feel after his Maker". I had no idea, and in such a short order, how prophetic those words would be after getting down on my knees right there in the office after all had left and asking for some blessed relief. He, at that time, was making plans to retire a few short months later. After our very heated conversation (where I thought one of us might get escorted to the door due to the tenor and intensity of the exchange), a few days later, he developed a throat condition where for three or four weeks all he could do was croak. I no longer had to endure his withering anti-God rhetoric that had been building in intensity. He seemed to get a little better but never quite shook that condition until he went to the doctor the day before his retirement. When he got the results back, it was systemic cancer. In his extremity over the next few months, he came to know his Maker. It was sad to hear the progress over the months as he tried in vain to fight it and finally succombed. I e-mailed him at times (near the end) admonishing him to invite the Elders into his house to bless him to live (and maybe to have the teachings of heaven distill on his earthly mind to better prepare him for crossing over) but I think that work will have to continue on the other side when he is ready.

So, I dedicate this post to Gene who might have better spent his time asking thoughtful questions (to someone who has no fear of letting it all hang out) in preparation to meeting his Maker, the Father of us all. Time is short - I can feel it. Now is the time to prepare to meet God. May we all have grace and divine direction to that end is my prayer in Jesus' name, Amen.

Something from one of my favorite authors on seeking after truth and taking some damage over it, by those who cannot endure sound doctrine due to their wicked and adulterous natures:

Persecution and hatred by those who love not the truth are a legacy bequeathed by the Saviour to all His followers; for He said they should be hated of all men for His name's sake. (JD 7:42)



At the time of the restoration of the Gospel, the Prophet Joseph Smith said:



It seems as though the adversary was aware, at a very early period of my life, that I was destined to prove a disturber and an annoyer of his kingdom; else why should the power of darkness combine against me? Why the opposition and persecution that arose against me, almost in my infancy?

Some few days after I had this vision, I happened to be in company with one of the Methodist preachers, who was very active in the before mentioned religious excitement; and, conversing with him on the subject of religion, I took occasion to give him an account of the vision which I had had. I was greatly surprised at his behavior; he treated my communication not only lightly, but with great contempt, saying it was all of the devil, that there were no such things as visions or revelations in these days; that all such things had ceased with the apostles, and that there would never be any more of them.

I soon found, however, that my telling the story had excited a great deal of prejudice against me among professors of religions, and was the cause of great persecution, which continued to increase; and though I was an obscure boy, only between fourteen and fifteen years of age, and my circumstances in life such as to make a boy of no consequence in the world, yet men of high standing would take notice sufficient to excite the public mind against me, and create a bitter persecution; and this was common among all the sects@all united to persecute me. (P. of G. P., Joseph Smith 2:20-22)



True Gospel principles have always brought trouble to prophets, patriarchs and apostles. People didn't have room for [28] new truth. They were content with a few pebbles of information, rather than accept new outcroppings and boulders of greater knowledge.



But even more than just opposing new knowledge, many people are led by an evil influence to actually fight against new knowledge from God. Brigham Young noted this battle between good and evil:



Wicked men, Satan, and all the powers of hell and hate are at war with every holy principle that God wishes to place in the possession of his children. (JD 8:13)



It is clear that the devil is opposed to the principles and doctrines of the Gospel more than the Church itself. The Prophet Joseph exclaimed:



This generation is as corrupt as the generation of the Jews that crucified Christ; and if He were here today, and should preach the same doctrine He did then, they would put Him to death. (TPJS, p. 328)



And on another occasion he said:



"It is thought by some that our enemies would be satisfied with my destruction; but I tell you that as soon as they have shed my blood, they will thirst for the blood of every man in whose heart dwells a single spark of the spirit of the fullness of the Gospel. The opposition of these men is moved by the spirit of the adversary of all righteousness. It is not only to destroy men, but every man and woman who dares believe the doctrines that God hath inspired me to teach in this generation." Such were the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith to the Nauvoo Legion on the 18th of June 1844. ("Rise and Fall of Nauvoo," B. H. Roberts, Contributor VIII:12, Oct. 1887, p. 441)



[29] A true Christian, or a true Mormon, will often arouse some enmity because his strong beliefs in doctrine and principles are not in conformity with the rest of society. Jesus knew this and made the following promise:



If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; . . . (John 15:18-20)



King Solomon seemed to understand the nature of the opposition by saying, "The wicked watcheth the righteous and seeketh to slay him." (Ps 37:32)



Since the devil is opposed to truth, he causes trouble, false rumors, suspicion and eventually persecution to come upon the true followers of Christ. The Prophet Joseph observed this:



The enemies of this people will never get weary of their persecution against the Church, until they are overcome. I expect they will array everything against me that is in their power to control, and that we shall have a long and tremendous warfare. He that will war the true Christian warfare against the corruptions of these last days will have wicked men and angels of devils, and all the infernal powers of darkness continually arrayed against him. When wicked and corrupt men oppose, it is a criterion to judge if a man is warring the Christian warfare. (DHC 5:140)



Brigham Young noted:



As the kingdom of God increased upon the earth, so would the power of the enemy increase in like manner, to keep pace with it. (JD 2:249)



[30] It may be observed today that most of those who are rejected by society, cast out of their honorable positions, and considered evil, probably have some truth with them. Either they are very evil or they are defending true principles.



Consider the following comparison: If Billy Graham were really teaching the Gospel as Jesus taught it, he would be mobbed and driven-just as the disciples of Jesus were. If Joseph Smith taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as the scriptures declare, then he would be persecuted and mobbed-and he was. They both claimed to be followers of Christ, yet only one received much persecution. This opposition from the world is not for belief and reading the Bible, but because of the difference in the doctrines they taught. It is important, then, to be well informed on the doctrines of the Church, more so than the history of the Church.

IRAN IS ON THE BRINK

One thing I always pound home when talking to people about world events is that we must never interfere with Israel's destiny. If we do, we are in direct opposition to God and His purposes. If God has declared certain things prophetically, then those who oppose those things are doing the adversary's work. An attempt to thwart the inevitable truly embodies the spirit of "kicking against the pricks".

I also state that Israel has the right to self-determination and a right to exist and to reparations, etc; almost because of how others have treated them through the last 2,000 years. Much as we have given certain groups in our nation certain privileges even above the rest of us to make up ground for haven been given the short end of the stick for so long, so do the Jews have a right of sorts to have "it made up to them" for all the wrongs committed against them by almost all Western peoples. Truly, them they have been driven as a "dumb ass" - warranted or un-warranted - and its time to give them a rest from those worries and afflictions.

I am happy to report that Israel may be exercising their right towards Iran - a nation whose leadership has vowed to openly (and who has worked surreptitiously through hamas and other channels) to "wipe Israel off the map". May the nation with the just cause win this one - even though I fear anything Israel does may ignite some serious bloodletting in the middle East.

Here is an article that talks about some elimination of some Shahab III missiles from Iran's arsenal:

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=245352

You can't deliver a nuke to wipe out Israel, if your ballistic missiles are smoking pile of rubble..... I love a good pre-emptive strike.... LONG LIVE ISRAEL! May they have a Zion heart and find success in their endeavors!

SIGNS OF APOSTASY IN FREEMASONRY

I shamelessly pulled this from a site I am not going to promote on this blog - but thought was interesting. It shows the parallels between the apostate Free-Masonic rituals and the endowment that was restored as a copy of the lost original:

For a fuller discussion of the relationship between Mormonism and Masonry, see Michael W. Homer, "'Similarity of Priesthood in Masonry': The Relationship between Freemasonry and Mormonism," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 27.3 (Fall 1994): 1-113. MORMONS AND MASONRY A relationship between Mormonism and Masonry goes back to the beginning of the Restoration: several of the first Latter-day Saints were also Masons, including Hyrum Smith, Newel K. Whitney, Heber C. Kimball, and Brigham Young. At the end of 1841, LDS Masons in Nauvoo organized what would become the first of four Masonic lodges in Mormon communities. Joseph Smith applied for admission as soon as the first lodge was formed and was raised to the degree of Master Mason in March 1842. Less than two months later, Joseph administered the endowment for the first time in the upper room of his red brick store--the same room where he had been initiated into Masonry. During the period that the Saints were building the Nauvoo Temple, they also built a Masonic temple, and over 1300 Latter-day Saints became Master Masons before fleeing Nauvoo. The growth of the Mormons' lodges was irregularly rapid: by way of comparison, consider that in 1840, there were only about two thousand Masons in the entire United States. Concerns about such irregularities led Masonic authorities to renounce ties with the Mormons' lodges in 1844-1845. Bad feeling between Mormons and Masons lingered for over a century. A Masonic lodge founded in Utah refused to admit Latter-day Saints until 1984; for its part, the LDS Church has enjoined its members against belonging to "secret societies" since the beginning of the 20th century. WHY DID MASONRY APPEAL TO JOSEPH SMITH? Masonry probably appealed to Joseph Smith for several reasons. Like millions of other 19th-century Americans who joined fraternal organizations (including the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of Labor, and the Knights of Columbus), Joseph may have seen political and commercial advantages in belonging to the Masonic network. At a time when he feared for his life, he may have hoped that Masonry would offer protection: his last words at Carthage Jail--"Oh Lord my God!"--were probably an attempt to give the Masonic sign of distress. Furthermore, Masonic ritual was useful for cultivating a climate of secrecy and loyalty in which Joseph could institute plural marriage. But Masonry's attraction for Joseph was devotional as well as practical. Joseph had a life-long passion for learning, and Masonry offered him a whole new world of knowledge: esoteric teachings purportedly connected to biblical figures as well as to ancient Greek and Egyptian mysteries. Given Joseph's patent interest in lost scripture and ancient teaching, it is not surprising that he should want to know what Masonry might have to say about these. Also, the Masonic idea of advancing by degrees likely resonated with Joseph's vision of progressing "from grace to grace" (D&C 93:13) or receiving "knowledge upon knowledge" (D&C 42:61). It's not hard, actually, to see why Masonry would appeal to Joseph; it's harder to determine why, and whether, Joseph shifted from an anti-Masonic stance earlier in his life. Historians and biographers have noted parallels between early 19th-century anti-Masonic rhetoric and passages from Joseph Smith's revelations denouncing secret combinations. If Joseph began as an anti-Mason (and certainly anti-Masonic sentiment would be consistent with the evangelical tone of his early religious activities), how to explain his openness to Masonry during the Nauvoo period? Perhaps the answer is that Masonry encompasses intellectual realms beyond traditional Christianity--and thus came to attract Joseph's sympathetic attention at a time when his own worldview was expanding to include untraditional ideas (in Joseph's case, ideas such as plural marriage, uncreated intelligences, men becoming Gods, and a God who is an exalted man). Finally, Masonry exposed Joseph to a new ritual style, one he clearly found congenial and would emulate in the endowment. THE RITES OF MASONRY Masonic rituals purport to date back to the time of Solomon's temple, if not to the time of Adam; however, historical scholarship dates the rituals to the early 1700s. The rituals promote a philosophical and moral outlook which can be described as Deist. They affirm the existence of God and the immortality of the soul and promote a morality that is generally biblical (virtues such as charity, temperance, purity, honesty, and brotherly love), while remaining silent on matters of atonement or salvation. This Deist outlook represents a rational piety congenial to the spirit of the Enlightenment; it also functions as a kind of religious common denominator, allowing the creation of fraternal unity across denominational lines. Masonic rites confer a series of "degrees" upon initiates. The three basic degrees (each of which has its own initiation ceremony) are Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason. These three degrees are known as the Blue Lodge. Additional degrees are available--but optional--for those who would like to pursue a deeper understanding of Masonic principles. These additional degrees are organized into two different series, known as the York Rite and the Scottish Rite. One of the degrees in the York Rite, the Royal Arch degree, is of particular interest to those studying Masonic parallels to the endowment. This is because, unlike the Blue Lodge degrees, the ceremony for the Royal Arch involves priestly robes and passage through a veil into a holy of holies. (It should be noted, however, that Joseph Smith never received the Royal Arch degree.) The Blue Lodge rites use symbolism drawn from stonemasonry: participants don aprons modeled after those used by stoneworkers, and tools such as the compass, the square, the gauge, the plumb, and the level are used to convey symbolic moral messages. The Blue Lodge rites also use symbolism related to the building of Solomon's temple. During the Fellow Craft degree, for example, initiates are taken into a room said to represent one of the chambers in Solomon's temple. The Master Mason's degree revolves around a ritual drama in which Hiram Abiff, grand architect of Solomon's temple, is murdered by ruffians because he refuses to reveal certain secrets until the temple is completed. Because of Hiram Abiff's death, a keyword, called the "Master's word" was lost; Master Masons receive a substitute word in its place. The lost word is restored during the Royal Arch degree, which reenacts events said to have occurred during the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple following the Babylonian captivity. During the Royal Arch ceremony, the candidate plays the part of a Master Mason who, while helping to rebuild the temple, discovers an altar hidden behind a veil; on that altar is a golden plate containing the sacred name of God, which is also the lost Master's word. MASONIC ELEMENTS IN THE ENDOWMENT While there are clear parallels between Masonry and the endowment, these should not be exaggerated. Even if one believes that Joseph Smith created the endowment (as opposed to restoring an ancient rite through revelation), it is inaccurate to say that he "copied" or "plagiarized" Masonic ceremonies. Certainly the endowment has a Masonic-like style, and selected features of the endowment are identical to features of Masonic ritual. But the endowment is a distinctive creation: a Masonic-style ceremony structured around a different narrative and reflecting a very different theology. Identical Features Features identical to Masonry and the endowment are relatively few and became even fewer as a result of revisions to the endowment in the 1920s and in 1990. The features that are (or have been) identical are: * The five points of fellowship. * The penalties invoked in the non-disclosure oaths. * Two grips (or tokens). * The symbols of the compass and the square. * Miscellaneous phrases, such as "Has it a name?" or "three distinct knocks." In addition, one of the signs disclosed during the endowment is similar, though not identical, to the Masonic sign of distress. Similarities in Ritual Style Masonry and the endowment share many similarities of ritual style, though the ceremonies' content is very different. The stylistic similarities are: * Using a set script; the rhythm of the language is often similar as well. * Imparting signs, grips, and passwords to initiates. (The Masonic signs and passwords are quite complicated compared to those used in the endowment.) * Making oaths, with the use of a Bible, and offering prayer while kneeling at an altar. (Oaths are much longer in Masonry than in the endowment.) * Vowing not to reveal ceremonial secrets. * Using dialogues or catechisms to test initiates or to solicit passwords. (These dialogues are substantially more intricate in Masonry than in the endowment.) * The appearance of trios: in the endowment, Elohim, Jehovah, and Michael, or Peter, James, and John; in Masonry, the Worshipful Master, Senior Warden, and Junior Warden (who lead the ceremonies), or Jubela, Jubelo, and Jebelum (the three ruffians who assault Hiram Abiff). * Repeating orders and reports two or three times, verbatim. * Knocking three times at an entrance. * Reciting three syllables in a sacred language: Adamic in the endowment, Hebrew in Masonry. * Giving the initiate a new name. (The Masonic new name is not that of a scriptural personage, as in the endowment; rather, it is the name of a virtue.) * Acting out a ritual drama in which the initiate represents a biblical figure: Adam or Eve in the endowment, Hiram Abiff in Masonry. * Passing from one room to another. In both Masonic and early Mormon temples, different rooms were decorated around different themes. * Donning an apron. In Masonry, the apron is of white leather and represents the apron worn by a stonemason; in the endowment, the apron represents the fig-leaf aprons worn by Adam and Eve. * Altering how ceremonial clothing is worn to signify advancement by degrees. In Masonry, the apron is folded down in a different way for each degree; in the endowment, the robes of the priesthood are shifted from shoulder to shoulder. * Using symbols, such as the compass and the square, to convey moral messages. * Delivering a lecture to review the ceremony and expound on its meaning. * In the Royal Arch degree, wearing priestly robes of an Old Testament pattern and passing through a veil. Another Mormon/Masonic parallel related to ritual style is the use of Masonic symbols in 19th-century Mormon architecture and art. These include the all-seeing eye, the inverted five-pointed star (known as the eastern star), and the beehive. Key Differences Between the Rites While the ceremonial styles are very similar, the content and structure of the endowment differ significantly from those of Masonic rituals. 1. The endowment is more firmly grounded in scriptural narrative than Masonry is. While Masonry refers to the building of Solomon's temple, as described in the Bible, the ritual drama that forms the heart of the Master Mason degree (the murder of Hiram Abiff) is legendary, not biblical. The same is true of the ritual drama for the Royal Arch degree. Biblical passages are read in the course of Masonic rituals, including selections from Ruth, Judges, Psalms, and Ecclesiastes; but no biblical events are directly reenacted, as in the endowment. 2. Various portions of a Masonic ritual are performed in order to regulate the space in which the rite occurs: to formally open and close the rite; to ensure that all present are Masons; to see that a tyler, or guard, is posted outside; etc. Indeed, portions of Masonic ritual occur without the initiate being present. By contrast, the endowment involves no ceremonies to regulate sacred space (since the temple has already been dedicated for that purpose); this means that the endowment moves much more quickly into initiation and ritual drama. Also, the endowment involves no ceremonies performed outside the initiate's presence. 3. In Masonry, the drama of Hiram Abiff is a straightforward narrative of events purported to have occurred in the past: these events may have allegorical meaning, but the drama makes sense within itself as historical reenactment. By contrast, the ritual drama of the endowment becomes blatantly anachronistic once initiates enter the World Room, where (prior to the 1990 revision) a Protestant minister preaches to Adam and Eve. The endowment is thus freer than Masonry in how it plays with symbols--one might even say that the endowment is more "postmodern." 4. The rites of Masonry are supposed to be restricted to men (though auxiliary orders have emerged for Masons' wives and daughters). By contrast, the endowment was administered, almost from its beginning, to women as well as to men, in keeping with Joseph Smith's new doctrine that celestial marriage was required to attain the highest degree of exaltation. Furthermore, where the rites of Masonry created fraternal bonds between mortals, the endowment aimed to create such bonds between mortals and God, who, according to Joseph's Nauvoo teaching, is himself an exalted man. 5. Masonic initiates identify, as the name indicates, with masons--those who built the temple. Only in the Royal Arch degree (an additional, optional rite) do participants identify with temple priests, wearing Old Testament-style robes and passing through a temple veil into a holy of holies. The endowment, by contrast, is from first to last an initiation into priesthood. Where the symbolism of stonemasonry looms large in the Blue Lodge rites, only vestiges of such symbolism appear in the endowment: the marks of the compass and the square. The central metaphor of the endowment is not building the temple, but rather officiating in the temple as priests and priestesses, kings and queens, to God. 6. Despite Masonry's emphasis on fraternity, the endowment is a less elitist, more community-focused rite. Where the Blue Lodge rites are administered only to individuals, the endowment was administered, from its very beginning, to groups. And the endowment requires far less memorization on the part of initiates than Masonry does, making the endowment more accessible. Also relevant to accessibility, consider that the endowment is a single ceremony (disregarding the second anointing), while full initiation into Blue Lodge Masonry requires three separate ceremonies (and additional ceremonies for the Royal Arch degree). 7. Finally, Masonry has no concept of work for the dead. In Mormonism, it has been the practice since the 1870s for living persons to receive the endowment on behalf of deceased persons. In sum, the endowment is better understood as a response to Masonry than as a mere imitation of it. With the endowment, Joseph Smith gave the Saints a Masonic-style ritual, rich in biblical symbolism and structured around a narrative of creation, fall, and progression to God's presence. Compared to Masonry, Joseph's ritual was more scriptural, more accessible, more community-focused, more egalitarian, and more ambitious--a ritual to bring the Saints into fellowship with the Gods. UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIP TO MASONRY Parallels between Masonry and the endowment can be problematic for contemporary Latter-day Saints. This is because contemporary Saints may perceive the parallels as challenging the claim that the endowment originated in revelation to Joseph Smith, while lending credence to accusations that Joseph simply borrowed his "revelations" from his environment. However, for early Saints who were themselves Masons, this dilemma did not exist. Reportedly on the basis of teachings by Joseph Smith himself, early Saints understood the endowment as an ancient rite of which Masonry had preserved a corrupted or fragmentary form. In other words, early Saints understood the relationship between Masonry and the endowment as analogous to that between "sectarian" Christianity and the restored church. As Joseph had been God's instrument to restore true Christianity, so also he had restored true Masonry. There is a significant difference, however: while membership in the restored church was exclusive (one could not be Mormon and Methodist simultaneously, for instance), the first generation of endowed Latter-day Saints did not agree that receiving the endowment precluded their continuing to participate in Masonry. Unlike that first generation, contemporary Saints no longer understand the endowment in relation to Masonry. Masonic symbols or gestures used in LDS temples (the all-seeing eye, the inverted five-point star, the five points of fellowship) have largely lost significance. It is therefore not surprising to see such elements disappear, as when the five points of fellowship were omitted from the endowment in 1990. Interestingly, Mormons and Masons moved almost simultaneously to drop one common feature of their respective rites: three years before the LDS Church omitted Masonic-style penalties from the endowment, Masonic authorities in England omitted penalties from their rituals as well. NOTES 1. Mormon Masons in Nauvoo administered the Blue Lodge rites to groups as well, which is one of the reasons they came into conflict with Masonic authorities. 2. Along these lines, it is possible that LDS Masons would have understood the name of the second token of the Melchizedek priesthood, revealed at the temple veil, as the restoration of the Master's word that was lost following the murder of Hiram Abiff.