Table Of Content

The BABYLONIAN CONNECTION Between Ancient and Modern Religions by Stephen E. Jones copyright, 1978 Price: $4.00 Published by: America's Promise Box 5334 Phoenix, Az. 85010 Printed in U.S.A. Ancient Assyrian drawing of Adam and Eve partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. The Origin of "Mystery Babylon" p. 1 II. Babylonian Pantheism p. 2 III. The Divine Pymander p. 5 IV. The Serpent and Immortality p. 12 A. The Serpent's Lie p. 12 B. The Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 15 C. The Soul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 17 D. The Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 20 E. Pre-Existence p. 23 F. A Historical Sketch p. 28 V. The Sexual Interpretation of "The Fall" p. 34 A. What Did the Mystery Religions Teach? p. 34 B. Who Was the Serpent? p. 34 C. Was Eve "Seduced" Physically? p. 38 D. What Were the Trees in the Garden? p. 42 E. How Did Adam Sin? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 46 F. What Was the Tree of Knowledge? p. 49 G. What Was the Fruit? p. 50 H. What Was the Tree of Life? p. 57 I. Why Were They Ashamed of Their Nakedness? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 60 J. The Conflict Between the Two Seeds p. 64 K. Why Was Cain "Of That Wicked One?" p. 68 L. Is Work a Curse? p. 71 M. Conclusion p. 76 N. Genetics and Telegony p. 77 VI. The Babylonian Religion and Genesis p. 86 VII. Canaanite Religion: Ancient and Modern p. 93 A. The Groves p. 93 B. Sodomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 95 C. The Modern "Feminist" Movement p. 98 D. Abortion p. 101. E. Unintentional Baal Worship Today p. 106 VIII. Babylonian Religion in the Upper Degrees p. 113 IX. Why All the Mystery? p. 126 X. Mystery Babylon and Judaism p. 129 A. Origin of the Talmud p. 129 B. Mystery Babylon in the Talmud p. 131 C. Mystery Babylon in the "Zohar ha Sepher" p. 141 XI. Conclusion p. 151 I. THE ORIGIN OF "MYSTERY BABYLON" Religions or worship-rituals alien to the true worship of the God of creation have been widespread since before recorded history. However, the first organizer of false religions appears to have been Nimrod, the grandson of Ham, who was the second son of Noah (Gen. 10:6-8). Nimrod founded Babel (Babylon) after the flood and organized a combination of religion and politics, by which he took under his control much of the old world. His success in organizing this world-government, and his claims about himself, gave rise to the teaching that he was the promised "seed of the woman" (Gen. 3:15) that had been prophesied to come and save mankind from the results of Adam's transgression and establish the Kingdom of God upon the earth. He was thus called Zoroaster, which in the Chaldee (Babylonian) language means "the seed of the woman." Nimrod's doctrines and rituals of worship thus became known as the religion of Babylon, or Biblically, "Mystery Babylon." From there, Nimrod's religion spread into Egypt, India, China, and later to all other parts of the world. As we shall see, Nimrod and his priests taught a false interpretation of the religious history of Adam and Eve and of the nature of man. Since the entire educational system in ancient Babylon was controlled by Nimrod's priesthood, the educated class of people were soon all well indoctrinated in the misinterpretation of Genesis 1-3. All false religions have distinct similarities in doctrine or in ritual to this religion of Nimrod and Babylon. Once we see how Nimrod misinterpreted or mistaught the true Biblical account, we will be able to discover and expose Babylonian falsehoods in modern religions. The key to unlocking the shackles of the Babylonian deception is in the true interpretation of the first three chapters of Genesis. Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32). 1 II. BABYLONIAN PANTHEISM The original inhabitants of Babylonia were the swarthy- skinned Accadians. They were "animists," believing that each object in nature was inhabited by a different spirit, or god. They prayed to the spirits that they thought might benefit them, and they appeased those that they believed were malignant. It is very likely that Nimrod was the man who conquered the Accadians. He did not kill them all or drive them out of the land, but rather absorbed them into his new empire. Babylon thus became the first integrated society, and the effects of this integration proved to be disastrous upon their later civilization. This conquest is known to historians as the "Semitic" conquest, although it was not strictly Semitic. The term "Semite" in the Biblical sense refers to the descendants of Shem, excluding those of Japheth and Ham, the grandfather of Nimrod. But the modern historians classify them all as Semites, because they all spoke the Semitic language. One such historian is Professor Sayce. Commenting on the religious significance of this conquest, he says: The result was a form of creed in which the old Accadian faith was bodily taken over by an alien race, but at the same time profoundly modified. It was Accadian religion interpreted by the Semitic mind and belief (Assyria, Its Princes, Priests, and People, p. 84). Nimrod combined Semitic monotheism with Accadian animism to produce "pantheism." He taught that God is nature itself, and each nature-spirit is a part of God. The immediate result of their adoption of pantheism was the suppression of the Creator-God, who was then interpret ed as being the Universe itself. God was the earth which nourished man, the water which moistened the earth, the air 2 (ether, or spirit of life), and the fire of the sun which gave light and heat. Thus creation itself was worshipped as God, or the "Universal Soul." Paul denounced those who taught this perversion: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and wor shipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Rom. 1:25). It was anciently believed that nature was made of four elements: earth, water, air (ether), and fire. To each of these natural elements was assigned an elemental, or nature- spirit: Gnomes, Undines, Sylphs, and Salamanders. Each class of nature-spirit was said to be composed of only one of the four elements, and at death they simply disintegrated into that particular element. They were said also to have personalities corresponding to one of the four fixed astrological signs: Taurus, Scorpio, Aquarius, and Leo (respectively). The elementals were thought to live from 300 to 1000 years, but they were not thought to be immortal. We see then that to the Babylonians, "God" was nature as a whole, consisting of numerous gods called elementals. The elementals were, of course, invisible under most cir cumstances. This was, they taught, because they consisted only of one element, and so lived in an entirely different vibratory rate than man. The elementals were thought to become visible to those who took certain drugs, and thus the priests were often called "Sorcerers," which word comes from the Greek meaning pharmacist, druggist, or poisoner. A good share of modern medicine is based upon the same drugs and poisons used years ago and has its roots in the Mystery Religions of the ancient world. Salvarte informs us: These unctions were exceedingly frequent in the an cient ceremonies . . . Before consulting the oracle of Trophonius, they were rubbed with oil over the whole body. This preparation certainly concurred to pro duce the desired vision (The Occult Sciences, p. 282). 3 Hislop says: They were also anointed with "magical ointments" of the most powerful kind; and these ointments were the means of introducing into their bodily systems such drugs as tended to excite their imaginations and add to the power of the magical drinks they received, that they might be prepared for the visions and revelations that were to be made to them in the Mysteries (The Two Babylons, p. 166). These mysterious drinks used in the Mysteries were composed of wine, honey, water, and flour and were drunk from a golden cup. Of this wine mixture, Hislop says: From the ingredients avowedly used, and from the nature of others not avowed, but certainly used, there can be no doubt that they were of an intoxicating nature; and till the aspirants had come under their power, till their understandings had been dimmed, and their passions excited by the medicated draught, they were not duly prepared for what they were either to hear or to see (Ibid., p. 5). The belief in the elementals was probably the result of hallucinations brought about by the use of these intoxicating drinks. The drugged priest or initiate had all sorts of visions and hallucinations but believed he was seeing normally- invisible creatures (the elementals). They did not stop to consider that if these elementals were composed of tangible earthly elements, they should be able to see them or otherwise sense them as easily as the real elements themselves. The ancients believed that drugs and mysterious gases from cracks in the earth were proper means of contacting the supernatural. But they were deceived by their own imaginations, just as many drugged people are today. 4 III THE DIVINE PYMANDER One of the earliest writings of the mystery religions available today is "The Divine Pymander of Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus." Though our present copy was probably revised during the first centuries A.D., it does contain much of the ancient religion. The story claims that Hermes received his teachings from the Great Dragon, the personification of "Universal Life." Because this was his source of "wisdom," it takes no great imagination to connect it with the Edenic serpent. The Mysteries taught that the serpent in the Garden of Eden was actually God Himself, or as the text reads, "Poimandres, the Mind of the Universe, the Creative Intelligence, and the Absolute Emperor of all." Some defend this doctrine that the Serpent is a symbol of God on the grounds that God chose this symbol in the wilderness to heal the Israelites. Israel had complained against God near the land of Edom: And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned .. . pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had 5