Testing of Faith With Fire
During the year 64 A.D, apostle Peter wrote his first “Epistle” probably while he was in Rome. But it is said in 1 Peter 5.13, the place of writing was Babylon because it was a symbolic name for Rome, which was frequently used by Christian writers to avoid troubles from the Roman authorities. Since Rome continued, false religious system which began in Babylon by king Nimrod Babylon became a most suitable pseudonym (Revelation 17.5). The epistle written by peter was addressed to believers in five provisions of Asia, Minor – Pontas, Galatia, Coppadolia, Asia and Bithyvia. All these provinces were located North and West of Israel, which were known as modern Turkey. (1 Peter 1.1)
Actually there is no authentic evidence regarding the visit of all these places by peter personally. But Apostle Paul, spent some time in Asia Minor in his ministry and Missionary journeys. Peter seemed to have encouraged the recipients of his epistle by informing them that he and his members were elected by God in His sovereignty. He had chosen them to be His blessed Christians. But the circumstances in which they lived did not permit them to say freely that they were the chosen people of God. They felt like strangers or exiled people of God, in a foreign land. It is further said, as exiled people they were undergoing horrible persecution because of their genuine faith toward Jesus Christ.
In spite of their strange way of life they were living with fear, expecting some untoward thing at any moment peter reminded the people, that they were chosen members of God as His own for some purpose in future. They were chosen by God Father (election), purchased by the son (redemption) and processed by the Holy – Spirit the sanctification. The Trium God (Father, Son and the Holy Spirit) had done great and wonderful things on behalf of them. So, if the people wished to live peacefully, they had to understand some important principles. Let us see what apostle peter expressed in the following lines. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again into a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. To an inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 peter 1.3 – 5)
The word “blessed” literally means to be well spoken of a suitable Greek word, for blessed is used only in connection with God in the New Testament. It is really more suitable word for ordinary man and woman, to praise and honor, God. But it is concerned more blessing to God rather than first speaking well of God. When the word “curse” is used on any person it
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM blessing is used on any person it amounts to the peaceful life and goodness. God also when He created Adam and Eve. He blessed them greatly He told them, “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth.” (Genesis 1.28). So, the main idea of God in using the word blessing on Adam and Eve. He whole – heartedly wished for their peaceful life and goodness. Apart from that God also wished them to procreate many Adams and Eves on the face of the earth. Again as we see in the Bible God blessed Noah also after the flood. He blessed him and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth” (Genesis 10.1) God destroyed the world with flood for the wickedness of the people at the time of Noah and saved his family only because Noah appeared righteous to Him. For his righteousness God not only saved him and his family but also abundantly blessed Noah.
Whenever God wanted to bless anyone, that blessing would be clubbed with peaceful life and goodness to the receiver. The father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is no doubt a loving God. He is the good God of whom all the believers must speak will of Him and love Him. As a loving God, He has begotten all of us again (rebirth) unto a living hope. This living hope or blessed hope that apostle peter spoke about was nothing but the second coming of Christ. And at that time, people who died in the name of Jesus Christ, of all ages will be resurrected. Then the still living believers will be raptured. According to apostle Peter, all those people will meet Jesus in clouds. Apostle Paul also expressed the same opinion in the following lines –
For the Lord himself shall descend, from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall raise (be resurrected) first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up (raptured) together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we (those that are resurrected and those that are raptured) ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4.16 – 17) Paul pointed out the same idea to the church of Corinthians also. “Behold, I show you a mystery we shall not all sleep (die) but we shall all be changed (glorified). In a moment in the twinkling of an eye, at the lost trump or the trumpet shall signal and the dead shall be raised (resurrected) incorruptible and we (the living) shall be changed (raptured and glorified) (1 Corinthians 15.51 – 52)
Among the believers, there is wide spread belief that the blessed hope is related completely to the rapture of the church and those still live at the auspicious time of His second coming of the Lord, will be raptured, for participation in the blessed hope. This is a popular truth among the believers. This is a strange view for correct understanding of the scripture. The blessed is the embodiment of the fact that whatever may be the intencity of darkness or though the journey of our destination is very long, or whatever may be the troubles and turmoil’s. One has to meet with all such things cannot hold the
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM believer not even death, can prevent him or her. The believer can never be stopped, under any circumstances from his or her final glorification and eternal presence with God.
So, the salient point in His second coming is all the dead will be resurrected. In such case all the mortal will become immortals. The corruptible will become incorruptible. The glorified bodies of the believers, will be reunited with their souls, which have been in unconscious stage in the presence of God since the time of their death as mortals physically. The believers who are still living will be raptured and glorified with immortality. Finally both the resurrected and the raptured will remain eternally with the Lord. According to Biblical history, the early Christian who denounced Christ were miserably swallowed by lions. Yet they did not lose the blessed hope. The so called reformers who denounced Christ and who were burnt alive at the stakes would not regard the blessed hope. But the faithful missionaries, who became martyrs in foreign lands, did not lose their blessed hope.
At the most the worst thing, the enemy of God like Satan or the Anti – Christ or even the world can do to the believers is killing him mortally. But Christ conquered death and raised from the grave by virtue of His resurrection. So, the blessed hope is “hope” not because there is any speculation clubbed with it, but because the realization of it is still in future. It is said the believers in Christ are more particular and interested in the coming of the Lord, rather than His resurrection and rapture. So to say the blessed hope includes the fact that the child of God is also a heir to an inheritance.
During the first century, the children used to inherit the property of their parents. In the same way the believers have the right to share the riches of their father God, like salvation and eternal life. Since, He has begotten us again (rebirth) we are the sons of God and so automatically we become heirs to His kingdom. Therefore, the believers should not feel as they are destitutes or beggars or anything about their future life. We have to feel proud of ourselves as we are rich enough beyond imagination in our eternal life. Peter wisely proposed three words to define the inheritance of the believers. They were translated from greek language incorruptible undefiled and unfading. These three words have prefix in front of them for the purpose of negation. So, the word, corruptible, with the negation prefix “a” becomes incorruptible. Then the word “defiled” with the negative prefix “a” becomes undefiled, and the third word, fading with the negative prefix “a” becomes unfading.
What apostle Peter inclined to say here was he wanted to contrast the heavenly inheritance of the believers with the wealth of this natural world. He wished to express emphatically regarding the inheritance of heaven as incorruptible. In contrast, the inheritance of this world is corruptible because
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM of the fall of Adam and Eve everything on earth became corrupted. The heavenly inheritance is undefiled, whereas on the consequences of humanity’s committing sin continuously, everything on earth became defiled. The heavenly inheritance is unfading. But due to false laws on earth it is measurably fading. In conclusion, we can say the earth with all its wealth and prosperty winding down like a giant clock.
Peter stressed more on his saying about the heavenly inheritance which will not spoil nor will it tarnish nor will fade away prior to peter the Lord Jesus also expressed the same idea in the following lines, “Lay not up for yourselves, treasures upon earth where moth and dust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth not dust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Matthew 6.19 – 20). The word of God is crystal clear in this passage, whereas the riches of this world are purely temporary, whereas the riches of heaven are everlasting. Through these lines God is admonishing us to strive more for heavenly riches than earthly ones. So, heavenly riches are awaiting every believer. They have been set aside, and God is protecting them.
Peter also stated that the direct object of inheritance reserved in heaven is for you and for me. It is reserved for all of us and we are totally kept by the power of God. The word “kept” is military word, (term) which means guarding. So God is guarding all the believers Apostle Paul also expressed the same opinion in order to encourage philippians. He said, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding shall keep (guard or garrison) your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4.7). Since the word “kept” is used in Greek as present participle, grammatically the guarding of believers by God is said to be perpetual and ongoing reality. It will never be stopped.
The above said matter gives us a clear cut idea about the willingness of God to provide absolute security to His believers. It is stationed in the promised and in the infinite power of God Himself. According to peter, the inheritance is kept quite safe and secure and the heirs are also will guarded when the Lord comes for the second time. The inheritance which is kept safe and the heirs who are guarded properly well be united together forever and at that precious time, the believers can see Jesus face to face. It is really wonderful for the believers to contemplate more on their inheritance.
Peter wrote in this connection, where in ye greatly rejoice though now for a season, if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. That the trail of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that pariseth, though it be tried with fire might be fourned unto praise, honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, ye love in
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM and full of glory. “Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls” (1 peter 1.6 – 9).
We can understand the wonderful saying of peter, “Ye greatly rejoice” is nothing but a direct result of the great truth, he put before our eyes with sovereign power, God chose the believers as they possessed the hope of living. They had inherited through their faith and reserved in heaven, which will never spoil or tarnish or fade away. Why because God is taking care of it. So, they have every good reason to greatly rejoice themselves. The wonderful saying of peter was undergoing a severe trial. Peter used the word “manifold” with some purposes as he was explaining the impact of temptations. They were different in kinds and many in number. Peter wished to explain to the believers, so that they would understand the purpose behind the trial. As they were the elected members of God, they would naturally become the heirs to the heavenly inheritance. If they were really the chosen people of God, then why should there be trials at the hands of ungodly men? For that genuine question peter answer is,..... There are two main purposes of trials, the believers are destined to undergo. The first trial is to prove their perfection in their faith as gold used to be purified in fire. The second trial the believers have to go through is to prove and testify the genuineness of their faith. Here, what peter wanted to say is clear. It is only through the process of trials ones faith is justified and in the promises of God, is displayed. Since, the genuineness of the faithfulness of the believers is justified only through trials and testings the result of all this is that life would be in praise, honour and glory at the coming of Jesus Christ. So far we have noticed in this matter –
1) Trials are conducted to purify faith.
2) Trials are used to demonstrate the genuineness of faith and
3) Faith is proved infinitely more precious than gold that periseth.
(1peter 1.7)
Peter wholeheartedly praised the conspicuous evidence of the faith of believers and their love toward christ, which is blended with inseparable joy. Peter was called the most faithful follower of Christ. He was with Him for three years. All the disciples treated Jesus as their Rabbi (master). Peter saw Jesus begore His death and after resurrection. Then for whom he wrote all these things? His writings must be then for those people who had not seen Him and His raising from the dead. At this juncture, peter must have recollected the words spoken by Jesus referring to Doubting Thomas, “Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed, blessed are they that have not seen yet believed.” (John 20.29)
Some scholars defined “faith” by using different letters. “Tors asking All I Trust Him”. Some other scholars explained it as “the resting of the soul
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM the word of God. It is a well noted fact that faith carries with it a glorious reward always. So peter put this point in the following way, “Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” (1 peter 1.9) we studied already that trials purify and prove faith. It is not strange to consider that it is not precious gold, which periseth in course of time. But faith will bring eternal salvation to all who believed in Jesus unfortunately, all the true believers at the time of peter, were scattered into different places in Asia Minor. The trials that are used for testing them for their faith brought them into the miserable situation and put them into severe griet. But in the later days they realized this suffering or trials would begin them glory. Peter again said, “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory, by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect establish strength settle you” (1 peter 5.10). This is as a matter of fact, a brief information given by some of the prophets of the Old Testament as prophecy. These Old Testament prophets were inspired by God to write the scripture. They wrote the books inorder to understand the grace of God, which would be proclaimed by the holy-spirit (the spirit of Christ) to the future generation.
The prophets also wrote something about the Messiah, regarding His suffering on the cross for the redemption of the sinners, but they could not understand the correct time between that “suffering” and the “glory”. They could prophecise about the first coming of Christ, and the purpose of His suffering (for the sin of the world). They could write about His second coming also, which will bring glory, with the establishment of Messianic kingdom, and keep the world with new order.
Apostle peter pointed out here, that the Old Testament prophets looked for, “What or what manner of time, the spirit of Christ which was in them did simply (literally declare through successive generations) when it testified, beforehand, the suffering of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” (1 peter 1.11). The Old prophets never imagined that 2000 years had to be elapsed between Christ first and second comings and also between His intense suffering and reaching the highest point of glory. The opinion of peter was that, as the Lord suffered much just for the sake of humanity. The believers must suffer for the sake of humanity, the believers also must suffer for the sake of righteousness. The old prophets never imagined this devine plan of salvation, the first coming of the Messiah, for suffering and the second coming to rule and to reach the penacle in grace and glory. All these things really amazed the old prophets and then they searched their writings to find out the truth but in vain. Even the angels tried to look into the matter. After thorough study of the matter, one point is conspicuous that is the Old Testament prophets and the angels could not understand all that during their life time. But today, we are in the age of church and the New Testament. We are actually in a better position to comprehend anything. During the Biblical
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM days men of the east used to wear long robs as their dress, whenever they were forced to run or on a point of physical exertion they would pull up their robs and tied them to their waists, so that they would not hinder their movements. “To give up the mind”, means to think correctly, not to be hindered by right thinking to have mental toughness to discipline the mind. Peter had in his mind the believers their blessed hope and the related truths that he shared with them. All the facts remained with them and disciplined their way of life. They were also admonished to be sober and with hope till the end. Apostle Paul also used the same expression, while he was writing to the Hebrews. The main purpose of his writings was to assure hope both peter and Paul spoke, about was to be brought unto all believers at the revelation that is at the time of the second coming of Jesus Christ. It is not a surprize if we find some dramatic change in the life style of people who possess disciplined mind. Such people always remain and think soberly and hope for peaceful end.
Finally, peter gave a warning to the believers, “As obedient children not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance (when they did not have a disciplined life and mind, a Biblical balance or a blessed hope” (1 peter 1.14). The expression “not fashioning yourselves” can be fowned in the book of Romans 12 chapter, which is translated as, “And be not conformed” (Romans 12.2). In both the occasions, the central idea of this phrase is, “Be not schemed, or fashioned or modled by the world.” This is no doubt a great advice of Paul to all believers. He did not want to allow the godless philosophy of this world system. Since, God is holy; he wanted all of us to live holy life. As we are the children of God, we must follow Him, and walk in His foot prints. Then in what way we can remember our heavenly father. For this peter gave a wonderful suggestion in the following passage. But as he which hath called you is holy. So be ye holy in all manner of conversation, Because it is written “Be ye holy, for I am holy.”
Peter wanted all believers to possess the living hope, of the second coming of Jesus. Many believers underwent severe persecution at the time of apostle peter, and scattered into different places, but they were purified and proved their faith. Our destiny is also the same to face some difficulties as we are living godly life in Christ. The Old Testament prophets also foretold about the grace of God and intense suffering before glory. Therefore, we have not only the advantages of the Old Testament prophecies but also the complete New Testament. Let us concentrate our attention on living hope of the second coming of Jesus and that is possible only for disciplined people. Keeping this great expectation in our mind, the trials and testings of our lives would refine us more and more each day and make us qualified to praise, honour and glorify the appearance of Jesus Christ. (1 peter 1.7). so, the
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM CHAPTER - 17
What happens to us after we die
This is really a controversial topic for all of us because it is concerned to everybody’s life in this world. Every one of us will become weak and desperate a-nd even afraid of death the moment we hear about it. So, it is said the fear of death is more terrible than death itself. In such conditions, all of us naturally curious to know the secret of our life after death. Why people are scared of death? Why most people become desperate and hopeless the moment they hear of death? Because he does not remember he is mortal and made him like that. The secret is everything that is created by God has to perish one day or other. So, most of the people do not understand the purpose of life when they are alive. Above all, nobody knows when he is alive, what happens to his body and soul after his death.
This burning topic will plunge us into deep thinking and keep us beyond comprehension. When we are in this world, we try to build up and fulfill ourselves with all security, comfort, good relationship, money, values, dreams and desires. But all these material things will vanish away the moment we breath lost. This significant event that is death will remind us the naked truth “Man is mortal”. So, this topic what happens to our body and soul after we die, has formulated some theories, with the hope we can understand them. These important theories will revolve always around the main topic. For this purpose we have to look into many cultures in the world and various types of explanations regarding this topic. For our satisfaction and understanding there are some salient points mentioned below. And these points may or may not make us understand the topic correctly.
As a matter of fact, this article may not give satisfactory answer regarding death or about the changes that come upon our body after death; but it provides a philosophical perspective on unexpected events. So let us go into the subject and see how far it can enlighten us about the topic. And also see how far it is necessary for anyone to go deep into the subject which no doubt controversial. Of course, man is intelligent enough to solve and settle things which are beyond his reach and discover new things Man with his own intellectual caliber may think it necessary to acquire more knowledge and may plan to set out his mission to find out the secret of death. I am repeating the question. What happens to us after we die we can see in man an unquenchable thirst to know more about the secret behind our death. Perhaps such persons must have come near to death experience with souls and that experience might have driven him to find out this abnormal thing. In this connection, there are some popular theories mentioned below.
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM ABOUT HINDU BELIEF: - The Hindus in India have strong belief in the theory of rebirth or transteguration of soul. Their faith is such that after the death of a man his body will perish and become dust. But his soul remains, and enters later in the body of another man or some animal based on the way of life he led before his death in this world. If a man did all good things maintained good character and loved others, the soul of such man world enter the body of another man who is going to take birth. If a person did all bad things, and lived as a wicked man, in the next life, his soul would enter the body of some animal. That is the belief in the Hinduism. And this process of the soul going from one body to another would continue till it is purified with noble acts and moral character. Then that soul will merge with God finally.
So, the burning topic here is the re incarnation or life after death; and the explanation of the concept of what happens to us after our death. According to the belief of Hindus, soul is more important than body. Their faith is that, the soul will emerge from God and enters into the body of a person and it is supposed to go back to God after his death. But this process will not continue in the case of some people due to some reasons. The soul must be pure and perfect to join itself with God. The purity of soul depends upon the character of a person. As a human being, a man will become the victim of many evil things in this world and so after his death, his soul will enter another living being but not merge with God. So, the process of the soul entering from one body to another will continue any number of times until that soul is purified by doing good things and become divine in its quality. For this purpose, the soul must undergo all the negative forces that come in the way of the life of a man. The soul of any body needs to develop purity of thoughts, sacrifice and unconditional love toward other, human beings. Love, purity and forgiveness are the indications of the divine nature of the soul.
It is only when the soul becomes pure, the true sense of the word, it can be one with God. It is only for this quest and change the soul passes from one body to another with the confidence of becoming a better and refined one to reach God. In Hinduism, the word “karma” plays important role in the birth and life of any person. Whatever happens in one’s life whether good or bad and every step of one’s life based on his or her karma. So, the Hindus have strong belief in their “karma”. If a person becomes an evil one or meet with an accident, people say it is his karma. To understand this more clearly, we can say, “what we sow we reap”, that is, if we always do good things, love others, and help others, in times of needs then we become pure and perfect and our soul will go nearer to our eternity.
So, the cycle of life will continue till the soul is purified and merged with God. It is only through this process the final mission of a soul will be
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM fulfilled and the true meaning of death is understood and achieved. Hinduism is a major religion in India. The other religions like Buddhism, Jainism and Sikkism are the off springs of Hinduism. We can also say it is a religion of fanatism with so many gods and goddesses. That is the reason why, Hinduism could not flourish or spread into the other countries like Buddhism. CHRISTIAN BELIEF: - There are a good number of theories in Christianity also because there are several streams of schools of thoughts as far as Christian world is concerned. Actually, there were only two sets among Christians. They were Catholics and protestants. But later these protestants were divided into many sets called Lutheran, Baptist, Pentecost, Methodist, church of South India Canadian, Baptist Mission, American Baptist Mission, church of Christ, Seventh Day Adventists etc, In the Roman Catholic Church, the service conditions or Moss are quite different from other denominations. According to catholic belief, if a person dies, the fate of that soul shall be 3 possible outcomes. That is, if the soul of a person is close to God by virtue of his or her good conduct or behavior then the soul will be sent to heaven directly or if a person dies and his soul is imperfect, corrupt and involved in immoral activities, his soul will be sent to hell. The soul remains in hell permanently and put to all methods of torture.
Apart from heaven and hell Catholics have belief in the existence of “purgatory”. Their faith is that the souls of non – believers and other heathens will be sent to this purgatory. The souls will remain there till they are purified and cleaned. Then they too will be sent to heaven. In order to purify the soul various methods of torture will be followed in purgatory; and sometimes the method id unbearable which they never experienced in their life time. Sometimes this kind of torture is necessary for the purification of the soul. The belief of the Protestants is that, if a person follows the Ten Commandments loving others and helping others in times of need, and possess. The noble quality of forgiveness then such soul will go to eternity, with the second coming of Jesus Christ. And those people who do not know about Jesus will be judged and they will go to hell or to heaven. With this information, we can conclude that all denominations formed out of protestants have no belief in the existence of purgatory. JEWISH BELIEF:- According to Judaism, Jews are the believers in one God. It is called Monotheism. The teachers also used to tell the children “O Israel, our Lord is God, our God is one”. Apart from “Pentateuch” and “Torah” the Jews had another sacred book called “Talmud” which contained all details of their lives. In addition to all this, to know more about their religious way of life, under what conditions one’s soul will go either to heaven or hell and for full details, one must look into the existence of “Naranchi” which is the main source of the spirituality as it provides all details of the spiritual account of a Jew. The Jews strongly believe that after life all the spiritual essence of a
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM particular person, will not leave and go back to his or her body as soon as the ritual formalities are done. It is said in, “Talmud” that after the death of a person, the body would be kept in a room with the hope, the spirit would come again and reenter the body. They would wait with that hope for three days; If nothing happened then they used to apply perfumes and scents before the body was decomposed and put it in the grave for 18 to 24 days. Then they would bring back the bones of that body and keep them in the house in a bone box.
When a person dies, he is judged whether he is spiritually good or not. The judgement regarding his spiritual involvement is based on the good things, he must have alone, clubbed with perfect character, he possessed before his death. Possessing the above said qualities either positively or negatively is called “Naranchi”. Such a person has no problem to leave his mortal body to perish, as his soul will have eternity with God. But a person who has no belief in God or no good character when he was alive, his “Naranchi” will conseder it very difficult to break his association with his body. He has to go through a painful process of having to break those physical ties. Once those physical ties are broken with this material world, the spirit or the spiritual soul or the Naranchi will be brought before the heavenly court and a judgement is given regarding his fate in future.
If the soul is judged good it will be taken for granted the man who possessed this kind of soul in this material world, should have perfect character and then that soul is taken to the realm of souls which the Naranchi will continue to grow spiritually. But in Judaism, the concept of hell or the existence of it is not believed where as they trust in the existence of purgatory. The bad soul that has done evil things in this world, will be sent to purgatory. The Jews also believe that there are certain situations in which the soul has to come back to this earth. For instance in the case of some souls the earthly problems remain incomplete or they must have done something wrong and wish to correct it somehow or other. And sometimes by oversight, the good soul returns to the earth, to guide others. So, the fundamental principle of Judaism is that the Jews believed only in the existence of heaven and purgatory and not hell. According to Biblical history Abraham was the Father of Judaism. He was also called the Father of three Monotheistic religions namely. Judaism Christianity and Islam, the two religions, Christianity and Islam are the children of Judaism. MUSLIM BELIEF : - As mentioned in the Bible both the Jews and Muslims were the children of one Father. That is the patriarch Abraham. Muslims were the children of Abraham’s first son Ishmael and Jews of the children of the second son Isaac. But it is really unfortunate today as they are living as dead enemies in the world. The name of the God of Muslims is “Allah”. They used to worship their Allah by saying “Allah who Akbar” which means “God
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM is great”. Regarding their faith, there are some similarities between Jews and Muslims. The name of their sacred book is “Koran”. According to their religion the death of a person leads to two types of fate of the soul. Once a person dies, and put the body in the grave some lines from the koran will be recited for the peaceful departure of the soul.
Then if that person has done anything good in his lifetime, all those good things and his good character will work as an angel of good deeds. This particular angel will maintain a record regarding the good and bad of a particular person; which is necessary to decide upon the position of the soul of that person who died recently. If a person does all good things, before his death he will be judged by the number of positive characteristics. The positive deeds are whether one is true and loyal toward Allah and prayed regularly. In the same way all the bad qualities of a person will be taken into consideration. Then the soul of evil man will remain with the dead body in the grave until the angel of death comes down with judgement, whether the soul can be sent to heaven or hell.
The judgment of the angel of death is completely based on the accumulation of good and bad deeds of a person. By looking into the record evidence the souls of persons will be sent either to heaven or hell. As Muslims believed, there are 7 levels or stages of heaven. In such case, if the soul is purer and more perfect, the place of soul is higher. Regarding hell, there are several forms of torture to work on the soul. The Muslims believe apart from heaven and hell there is another place, meant for those souls who committed suicide. Instead of natural death, if a person takes away his own life due to some reason, it is considered to be most disrespect to their God Allah, and it is also taking away the gift of God. (gift of life) given to all mankind.
So, far we could know something about different cultures, and the people of different faith and also the details of souls after death. We also understand the position of soul after death, and it depends upon the way of life that a person lived before his death. If he has been a good person throughout his life, the good things will make him happy after his death. The truth is that, the fear of the mystery or what happens to the soul of anyone after his death can be understood correctly only after he dies and what is said must be true. A white light will appear at the end of a tunnel, and the soul will look down correctly to see its one final time, before it continues its journey after death. But who can tell the soul what culture it belongs to?
IMPORTANCE OF CHRISTMAS TREE
For Christians, there are only two important festivals in the year. They are Christians on the eve of the birth of Jesus Christ, on December 25th, and “Easter” in connection with the death and resurrection of Jesus, for Christians the Christmas used to keep a tree some original and some artificial with full
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM decoration on that day. Here, we have to understand the story of Christmas tree and the importance of decoration items on the tree. It is really an age old tradition which has been observed by Christians for many centuries. Christmas festival is about the birth of Christ, but not about Christmas tree. Jesus Christ, the son of God, travelled from heaven to earth, to be born as the son of man to redeem the sinners in this world. We must observe Christmas as the birth day of Jesus, who came to this world, to give mankind the gift of eternal life.
We can see everywhere in the month of December, all the houses of Christians with trees decorated with multi colours, to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, the son of God. When Christmas season comes nearer, artificial or real coniferous evergreen trees will be exhibited in the houses and decorated with all kinds of Christmas tree ornaments and lights. In our life, we have witnessed many Christmas festivals and decorated many Christmas trees. One thing, we have to recollect in this context. Let us try to know the purpose and decoration of Christmas tree, with various colours. Actually, there is some controversy about the Christmas tree whether it was originated in pagan belief or not. As Christians whenever this kind of problems arise in our minds we turn the pages in the Bible for clarification and confirmation. So, what does the Bible say about Christmas and Christmas tree?
As far as we remember, there is no mention of these two in the Bible. And also there is no mention anywhere whether the disciples or churches, celebrated Christmas tree during the time of Jesus Christ. Same is the case of Easter festival after resurrection. It is finally understood that Christmas is not Biblical. And also there are some evidences to confirm that Christ was not born during the month of December especially on 25th. However, some scholars expressed their view point and said that some people wanted some day for the celebration of the birth of Jesus and they preferred 25th December and finally that date has been continued. Then people (the believers) were not only happy for the coming of Christ into this world, to save them from their sin, but also he came to Evangelize the word of God. Christmas time is an auspicious occasion for Gentiles to convert themselves into Christianity. The non – Christians would feel very happy to know more about the festival and decorations and meaning all those decorative things.
It is the most appropriate time to share and understand, what Christianity is all about. It is also the correct time to share. what the gospels teach to those around. All believers naturally feel happy in the Christmas programme distribution of tracts, and Bibles on that occasion. Now, we have another doubt when the Christmas is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible how the tradition of keeping Christmas tree came into existence. If we go back to the history, trees were commonly worshipped by both Egyptians and Romans. Because the pagans worshipped trees in ancient times should we
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM not feel guilty of keeping the same tree with decoration in our houses and churches on Christmas occasion? And also, are we not acting like heathens by putting the tree with multi colours in our houses? As we find in the history, people for centuries have idolized many things in nature for worship people worshipped man made idols, jobs, fame, status, beauty, houses, cars and many other things. In India people worship even snakes apart from this. If some people idolized money that does not mean, the true believers, do not need money. Every human being whether religious or non – religions are types of people need money for their living. Money is everything in the life of man, for food, to build a house, a car, and so on.
It is really good of anyone who acquires more money, or possess a costly car or a beautiful house. But it is not wise to idolize material things, and worship and honour more than Jesus Christ, the God of eternity. In this context, let us look into what Jesus said in Matthew 15.11 “Not what goes into the mouth, this defiles a man but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man” we can understand from this example, what lies within the heart, is more important than following or not following the traditions. If you are doing anything good, just to show it to people, that you are holy, superior and God fearing, it is nothing but hypocracy. Likewise, Christmas does not mean only trees decorations, feasts, new clothes, exchange of gifts etc.
Our heart and mind must be always Christ oriented, not only at the time of festival or season. Added to that, during Christmas time we must not allow Christmas trees and other festivities, to rob our precious time. It is the pagans who used to worship trees. But as Christians, we don’t worship them. We have to use it only for the purpose of decoration on that particular day. Moreover, Christmas tree in our houses attract non – Christians, because of its uniqueness and quite different to their minds eye. As long as focus does not divert from Christ, to Christmas preparations and the tree our life can be absolutely fine and enjoy ourselves.
Is there any redeemed meaning for the Christmas tree? Either literally, or Biblically, this Christmas tree has no importance. It is redeemed only as a decorative piece on the eve of Christmas festival. Sometimes, some non – believers, or even heathens, may come to you, and ask you about the significance of the Christmas tree. We can come to a conclusion that Christmas tree does not have any Biblical significance, but only as a parable to be used to share the gospel. So, Christmas tree is evergreen coniferous tree, which stands for the ever burning fire of life. And also, this evergreen attributes importance to man’s everlasting hope in Christ which has been given to mankind by his sacrifice, death and resurrection. The triangular shape of the tree indicates the holy Trinity, Father, son and the holy-spirit.
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM
Then star is another decorative piece on Christmas occasion. God made a promise to all humanity that He would send a saviour to protect all from the sin and free them. So the star we put on that day, represents the fulfillment of God’s promise; He made this promise long time ago, through the prophets. The tree is also a symbol of shining of mankind. This star happened to shine in Bethlehem to show the way to three wise man called Magi. The candles on the tree represent Christ who died on the cross to provide salvation to humanity. He came as light, into this world and made it dark and doomed. But the main purpose of His coming was to bind up the broken hearts and also to free those who are in bondage. The purpose of candys, candy cane: – It represents crook (may be stick) which helps the shepherd to gather his lost and strayed sheep. As echoed in the Bible our heavenly Father is our shepherd; who amazingly waits for His sheep to come back to Him safely. It this candy cane is turned upside down; it becomes the letter “J” in Jesus. The red and white sugar colouring stands for the blood of Jesus and purity. The representation of blood and purity put together makes us holy, before the eyes of the Father.
What is the purpose of wreaths? The wreaths of Christmas we keep in the houses and the other places, represent the everlasting love of the Father. These wreaths show how God’s mercies are new every morning. They also indicate how true love has no beginning nor ending, but permanent. The Christmas wreaths always remind us how much we are privileged, to have a Father whose love is never ending and unconditional. Regarding Christmas gifts hanging on the tree, these gifts remind us, how we have received the greatest gifts on earth, that represent the eternal life that Jesus provided us with His blood. The other gift God provided is peaceful living on earth.
The colours of red and green on the tree stands for fire of the spirit and green, nature and one’s life on earth. Red clubbed with green symbolizes the holy spirits union with nature, to be incarnation of earth and save the world. Then keeping the Christmas tree in the houses depends upon one’s interest. It is not a must for every believer. Actually it looks very beautiful, after decoration. If we wish anything good to please others, God will certainly give us intelligence on such things successfully. We have to look at with sympathy of those believers who are not in a position to keep the tree in their houses due to some reason, because God wants us to love even the enemy. We hear many stories, and indifferences among Christians in the churches and other meetings. We must forget all such things and love everyone as children of God and possessing the quality of forgiving others is the most requisite qualification of every Christian. So, Christmas time is important, because it remind us that God sent His only begotten son to the earth to be born as the son of man.
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM
So, He travelled all the way from heaven to earth to fulfil the whole plan of His father. God selected “Melchezidec” among many men to fulfil His plans. In the same way God selected Mary among many women for the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. We should not forget the great price He paid to save us. We should not remain only as a shadow of Christmas tree. In nutshell, Christmas is all about Jesus Christ and not about trees, lights, gifts and feasts. All the believers with their own resources must celebrate the festival with all pomp and glory, because on one hand we can enjoy the pleasure of it, on the other. We can honour and glorify the birth of Christ, as He was born to die for our salvation. May God bless us all.
PAGANISM
Paganism can be described as the earliest faith of the people. It is older than Judaism. Paganism means worshipping man made idols and certain things in nature, including heavenly bodies with the sun and the Moon. For this we have the reference of king Nimrod in the Bible who tried to build the Tower of Babel to worship the Sun God. The father of Abraham was the maker of idols and used to sell them for their livelihood. And king Nimrod was the main buyer of the idols of Terah Abraham’s Father. So, let us try to know more about the ins and outsof this paganism. It has been a broad concept, even some research scholars developed more interest on this subject and the symbols the idol worshipper used in their faith.
Some of the Bible readers must have read, the popular book, “The Da Vinci Code” of the last symbol of Angels and Demons. It is really a wonderful book and the readers must have found more interest and loved it. Dan Brown who penned it must have taken more pains in depicting the characters. It is said Millions of copies of this book were sold in the market. “The word pagan” or “paganism” is derived from Latin term pagans which means “Country & dwellers”. I think there is no other word as a reference for this. But some commentators defined paganism as an involvement of anybody in any religious practice which is no way concerned to Jews or Muslims or Christians. In the same way, the religious practices of those three faiths have nothing to do with the practice of pagans. Some other scholars pointed out that paganism is a kind of religion, which is outside Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. And group of scholars defined paganism as a kind of idol worship without religion.
But the historians defined paganism as the authentic religion of the ancient Greeks and Romans (Greece and Rome) and the surrounding places. The pagan believers are polytheistic, which means they worship more gods and goddesses. During the MiddleAges, Christianity became more powerful and attracted many. So, the people who did not accept Christianity were called pagans. There was time these pagans worshipped even Mother Nature
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM as a deity. They thought that, everything like air, fire, water, earth etc. were like gods and goddesses to them. That is called polytheism or religion of many gods and goddesses.
As time passes, civilization increased and along with that, the number of gods and goddesses also increased. The old gods and goddesses were modified, and in the life of the pagans all these gods and goddesses have been playing a very important role. Now – a – days some pagans worship only one God, and they called the worshippers of more than one God or goddess as atheistic. There are symbols of common paganism or Neo – paganism. These symbols used not only to perform magic but also, to comment on a deeper level of individual life. Paganism is a 5 pointed star with a circle and one of the most common Neo – paganism symbols. If represents four elements – air, fire, water, earth and along with it the spirit. The great Mathematician Pythagoras said the numbers was the sum of the male element 3 and female element 2. Therefore, the pentagram was the symbolic union of the male and female or masculine or feminine. The overlapping of the pentacle indicated that each part is inter connected with one another. Then the circle that surrounds the star represents unity, self and wholeness. ANKH: - This is called another Neo – paganism symbol. It is an ancient Egyptian symbol, which represents eternal life. It is believed that this symbol has been taken from a small strap. Like other symbols this also represents gods and goddesses. This symbol contains three elements with a circle, representing the goddesses. The vertical line symbolizes God and the horizontal bar represents the “Scroll of knowledge”. And so these three elements makes the “ankh”. TRIPLE MOON: - This is the goddess representing the maiden the mother and the crone. They are the waxing, full and waxing Moon. This symbol is associated with feminine energy, mystery and psychic abilities. We find this symbol mainly on the crowns of high priestesses. Hexagram: - It is a six pointed star. This star marks unity and balance. It mainly focuses balance between man and the divine. Eye of the Horus: - This symbol is really putting us in confusion; regarding the correct eye of Horus. Generally, the left eye represents the Moon and the right eye the Sun. It is believed that Horus lost his left eye while he was fighting with his brother in connection with the murder of his father Osiris. The main purpose of paganism is to word off any kind of evil spirit. The inverted pentacle: - This paganism symbol is associated with Santanism. The pentacle is generally shown with the goals head. It is believed that the Jews used to send the goats into the forest by keeping something on their heads as if it is a bundle of their sins or evil things.
SHOOTS OF JERUSALEM Wheel of Hecate: - This is an ancient Greek symbol. It is an emblem of Moon goddess Diana Lucifer. According to Greek history, those who practice the Hellenic Recon or the Dianic traditions of Wicca use these symbol. So far we have seen some of the symbols of Greece and Rome. There are some Germanic symbols also. Iron cross: - This Iron cross symbol is also known as the “EisernasKreuz” and it was first adopted in Prussia. During the First World War, this symbol appeared for the first time, on the fighter planes of Germans. Later, it was adopted as the facists symbol in other countries like France and Portugal. Peace symbol: - The broken upside down cross is known as Germanic paganism peace symbol. This mark denotes different things at different times. Some Bible scholars called it “Nerois Cross”. This upside down cross sign is linked to the most cruel and notorious Roman emperor, who killed many Christians by using different methods. This may be a reference to emperor Nero. After sometime, this peace symbol was seen as an old “Norse Rune” by the Vikings. Then after second world war, this symbol was found engraved on the tombs of stones of “Adolf Hitler’s SS” troops and it was labelled as “The Dead Man’s Rune”. This Germanic paganism symbol was again revived by the hippies of the 60’s. They protested against the nuclear weapons, the western culture and Christian values. And after sometime, it became worldwide symbol for global peace, and earth centered unity. Swastika: - This is also Germanic. It speaks about the four winds and their corresponding spirits. There will be a small cross in the center of the Swastika, which emphasizes the journey of the heaven and the earth and the perfect human being. Celtic symbol: - The Triskelian – This is a Greek word which means “three legged”. This Celtic paganism represents man’s completion and progress. Tri – quetra: - This is a Latin word, which means three cornered. It is a holy symbol, and it has various shades of meaning. It consists of number 3 which is sacred and also it contains three elements of nature, land, sea and sky. During early Christian period, this holy symbol was considered the holy Trinity.