(Please note that this article contains mockery of sincerely held Christian beliefs, albeit of the flakier variety. If that sort of thing offends you, kindly shove off).
It is interesting to observe how some misguided souls manage to build vast towers of supposition on the shakiest foundations by the power of faith alone. In his book Mr. Pember presented a vision of the world which may sound like fantastic fiction to the sceptic, but which he believed was a literal interpretation of the words of the Bible: the type of interpretation in which any assertion, however mad, however unsupported by evidence, can be 'true' if some Biblical passage can be read as confirming it.
His aim in writing the book was to communicate his views on the connections between the ancient history of the world and the then popular fads of Theosophy and Spiritualism, which he saw as demonically-inspired and liable to bring about the end of mankind. There seemed to him clear parallels between contemporary events and biblical stories such as the Fall of Adam and Eve and the great Flood.
Pember's application of the term 'literal' did not exclude the wildest interpolations between the lines where he felt like it. For example, take the first two verses of Genesis:-
- In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
- And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
According to Pember (following the Scottish theologian Thomas Chalmers), there is no indication of the length of time that had passed between the two verses, and so there is no contradiction between the Bible and geological observation: the vast ages of time indicated by study of rocks occurred in the gap. What is more, Pember was inclined to believe that during this time there were in existence numberless 'preadamite' races of man who were each in turn wiped out by God when they proved unable to resist the lure of sin.
In this time, too, Satan got up his rebellion against God and was duly chucked out of heaven (though how he hoped to succeed in overcoming his omnipotent adversary is never explained), to find a new home with his accomplices in the air around us:-
For the whole aerial surroundings of our planet are densely peopled with a hostile race of beings unutterably superior in wisdom and power to ourselves; having had during a vast number of years every conceivable experience of the weak points of humanity ; possessing the incalculable advantage of being themselves invisible, though as spiritual intelligences they are probably able, not merely to judge of us by our words and outward expression of countenance but even to read the innermost thoughts of our heart; co-operating with the most perfect and never-failing organization; and lastly, directed by a leader of consummate wisdom and skill, who is assisted by powerful princes, and finds his subjects so numerous, that, if we are to lay any stress on the word “legion” in the memorable narrative of Luke, he is able to spare some six thousand of them to guard one miserable captive.
(Scary, eh? Satan - the ultimate super-villain).
Pember's version of the Adam and Eve story is a little odd, too. I am not entirely sure what to make of the following passage:-
Yet another and crowning joy was in store for Adam. His benign Creator, knowing that it was not good for him to be alone, determined to bestow upon him a companion and partner of his joy. But first he brought to him the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, to see what he would call them: that is, to see if he should claim any of them as bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh. Adam gave names to all, but to none that of woman; a result which had, of course, been anticipated by God. Indeed it seems not improbable that He made the trial to stimulate in His creature a desire which He intended to gratify.
Is there not a hint of bestiality here?
Adam and Eve were tempted by a snakeskin-clad Satan, and ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Grumpy old God, who could anticipate that Adam would not fancy snuggling up to even the cutest of camels, but somehow failed to spot Old Nick setting up his greengrocer's cart, slung them out of the garden, and in a fit of temper cursed the Earth. Pember cites a nutty Professor Balfour, who believed that the existence of thorns and thistles were 'evidence' of His curse on the vegetable kingdom.
Having dealt with the early chapters of the Bible, Pember turned to the various modern manifestations of sin that would bring down the wrath of God as in the days of Adam. In so doing, he showed that his literalism in the reading of texts was not limited to the Bible but extended as much to the extravagant claims of his foes in the Theosophical movement, such as that mediums, by the aid of demons, are able “to hold intercourse with supernatural beings, to reveal secrets, and in some degree to foretell; can travel in a moment to any part of the world ...”. Furthermore, demonic possession is a commonplace, “a large proportion of the patients in our lunatic asylums” being such cases, and “direct communication with demons ... is now becoming prevalent”. And, proving the advanced nature of North American society even 100 years ago, “the ceremonious marriage of a woman to a demon is a thing not unknown in the United States: whether it has ever happened in England we cannot say”.
Another great evil in the world was Buddhism, which according to Pember had many more adherents than previously suspected: for, “recent investigations have made it probable that Buddha was once the god of Northern Europe, and that his name is philologically identical with that of Woden...”. Not only that, but some fifth century Chinese Buddhists “apparently” reached North America and made converts there. Most astonishingly (except to the most paranoid of protestant fundamentalists), “there can be little doubt that the Buddhist tope is the original of the Roman Church...”.
Like many before and after, Pember believed that the End Was Nigh, though sensibly he refrained from suggesting exactly how Nigh It Was, preferring darkly hinting rhetorical questions: “if the great apostasy, which will at last evolve the Lawless One, be even now spreading; who can be sure of a day or an hour? ... Are we not living through solemn times: is the air not full of warnings: does it not behove every believer to arise, gird up his loins, and trim his lamp?”. How disappointing it must have been to those of Pember's readers who responded to his call and spent the remainder of their days in loin-girding and lamp-trimming, rather than on something they might have enjoyed more, to go to their death beds without having witnessed the second coming nor having the satisfaction of seeing their sinful neighbours judged and sent down into the black and fiery mouth of Hell.
Amusing as this may be, wouldn't it be much more so if no-one nowadays believed this kind of tripe? Sadly the number of misguided loons does not appear to have diminished much over the century since it was published: indeed you can still buy this book, you poor saps.
Comments
that was quite an article to read...(whoever you are) you must have a "cast iron"
heart and destined to live forever,...and seeing that you are supernaturally vindicated to have the correct understanding ,...that Pember was a "Crank' or a religeous "Crack pod",..and his revelation of the ages of time between Genisis 1 and genesis 2 are wrong. you tell me then....are we the only civilization that has been on this "Ancient" planet?....as far as most Bible believers know, there are only 2 civilizations that have been brought to mans attention,...the present civilization..
and the one destroyed in the antedeuvian destruction,..this is not true,,, and the reason I say it's not true is because it is clearly written in the Bible that there
have been many ages of Human civilizations on this planet,...all you need to do is turn to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 1....read from verse 8 to verse 11....the
Amplified Bible brings it out very well........So Pember was 100% correct
Wow. It's in the magic book so it must be true.
With Pember's skillful methods of reading between biblical lines now revealed I can finally substantiate my long held believe that god physically consummates his love with us while we sleep at night and that mosus was a dinosaur. Thank you for revealing a true genius to the world once more.
Well,..I have to say that you are right,..it is written in the Bible or the "Magic Book"
as you call it....there must be a reason don't you think?,.. Moses,.. or whoever wrote the Old testament could not have sucked it out of his thumb..or did he write it via inspiration from the Creator himself.
It is written that there is no new thing that man can achieve ( includung Nuclear Knowledge)... you can be sure that it has all happened before...in the Vast Ages Of Time that were before us....where are we going to fit that in?
In the beginning..God created the Heavens and the Earth...."Period...the fact that there was a vast space of time there,.. could not be figured out by man himself....
it "had" to be given or revealed to man by God.
who is the man that can say it never happened?
are we not an advanced civilization now,..living on a round planet in the middle of nowhere...or am i wrong?......If I am right ...then as intelegent people we need to ask ourselves the questions,
why am I here? and how did I get here?
how did I get my present identity? and how did we get the knowledge to split the Atom and completely destroy the human race....we have it now and they had it back then in the Antedeluvian world that was destroyed,....how many times has it happened?
The human race is suffering from amnesia,...for some reason people cannot believe
that God has created more than once here on this planet,... we have the fossil remains of Dinosaurs ..where God brooded over the Earth ..way back then and brought a specific "life cycle' of animals into existence,...how many times did it happen?..and how many billions of years ago was it?.
Are we the first to land on the moon?...and were there people on Mars before...
it's in the mind of man now...don't you think it was in the mind of man before?...(think about it)
you don't have to be a literary giant or a mathematical genius now that it has been brought to our attention.....Creation "demands" a Creator,...who else could
reveal to GH Pember (and a few others) that there were Ages of time between
genesis 1 and genesis 2 but God .....God brought it to mans attention.
The problem with the human race is that his mind is "locked" in the present system
of the world and therefore completely blinded from his Creator...and the only way
he can justify his intelectual Godlessnes is to believe that he evolved from some animal that once swung from tree to tree somewhere...untill he eventially destroyes himself with his own technology,......Michael A Wilson.
Tell me , where is it written that Eve was tempted by a Snake skin clad Satan?
and where is it written that Adam and Eve were eating a bunch of apples that made them realise they were naked?.
Does it not say in Genesis 3 verse 2 that Adam and Eve may eat of "every" friut
tree of the "GARDEN" natural friut , including the preverbial Apple.
it was the "Curse" that God put on the Serpent that changed his original form
through some evolutionary/ adaptational process perhaps
This was a person that the Bible referes to as "he" a personal pronoun.
and "he" being above all animals in the creation, had an intelegent conversation with Eve, obviously with a very good understanding of the principiles of life.
his "inspiration' was Satan, but he himself was not Satan, or any snake coiled around a tree, but the most Subtil of all the beast of the field,..between the animal
and the human, just like the Bible says.
It's more than obvious that the friut tree that was in the "midst" of the garden,
that was not to be touched was Eve herself, the rest is as clear as daylight
Man fell, by joining himself to the animal kingdom by choice. that is why God required a BLOOD sacrifice as an atonement. Howcome, the Serpent ( being inspired by Satan) knew the outcome and what it would cause, Had Satan,(Gods enemy) caused a similar thing before here on this planet,...
" he " The Serpent was obviously "one' of a speci, which was the highest
form between the animal and the human,...when God cursed him, that whole speci was "taken out" this is the speci who's seed could mix (and did mix)with the human and Satan knew it.
It's an undeniable fact that we have animal remnants in us and it's an undeniable fact that we are part animal. it's hybridisation that caused the (free radical) death process in us. whereas before, there was no death.
(Ye shall not eat of it neither shall ye touch it) "LESS YE DIE" Gen3:3 (plenty of graveyards just down the road)
Unfortuneately it is more than futile for the present anthropologists, scientist and
geologists who spend years and years and millions of dollars trying to find this animal,..they know there was a 'Link" but regardless of the fact that they are
very educated and very smart, they still have the tendency to walk "rough shod"
over a field of "Orchids" with hobnail boots, to inspect or analyze a blade of grass.
That animal is still here, he sure is, but after the "Curse" got hold of him , he is no longer in that form. (or in any mood either) and he can never be recognised by Science, geologist, anthropologists and all the other "ologists" that go with it. ...I wonder what Satan thinks about him now?.
I wil put Emnity between "Thy" Seed and "Her" Seed Gen3;15
so the Serpent had a seed and and Eve had a seed (or aquired one?)
Eve, being the mother of all living, as mentioned in Gen3;20 dissapeared into history, but Adam was NOT the father of all living,.
There never was any such thing as a Talking Snake in the garden of Eden
and there never was any such thing as an Apple Tree walking around in the "midst"of the Garden either.
I think there are a lot of people out there who need to pull the wool "off" their eyes
The Seed of the Serpent might be conroversial, but it's the truth nevertheless.
I'm kind of a lapsed Christian, also American. Whenever I read anything about the Bible, be it the Bible or maybe Paradise Lost, etc. For some reason I always picture the devil as a Scottish Drunk. You kick him out of the bar, he has no right to be there legally, but somehow he's going to come round later and kick in your window. You can get the cops on him, the law's on your side, but somehow he gets the upper hand and you constantly have to deal with him. Not sure what the theological ramifications are, but it's what goes through my head.
Well , the way you describe satan is actually true,...he is an acuser of the people
of God....he is always around,...he is a spirit in opposition to God...if he can find a fault in the Bible ....and if there is a fault in the Bible, then he would have a right to Eternal Life, and God would be obligated to give it to him.
There is no fault in the Bible. if you are a believer, then you are a duallity as a person, and you have to deal with the "old nature" that is what Satan works on
and he is a very good adversary,....Salvation doesn't depend on your human ability, if it did, then there would be no reason for God to take on the form of Man two thousand years ago. "He" paid the price as a Man. your name was put on the "Book of Life" way back before the foundation of this Earth. the "Seed Gene"
of God is either in you by birth,,...or you can never get it. if you are part of God
then Satan is going to attack you. don't condemn yourself,..just keep going.
Regards
God 'bless even you'! Having read only one of his book "Great Prophecies" I have realized that G H Pember was a great man of prophetic caliber whom God had raised in England to reveal the truths that were hidden in the layers of bible and history. Many of his interpretations of 130 years back, have exactly happened in the last century concerning Israel, the church and the gentiles and I strongly believe the remaining ones would very soon 'come to pass'! When the foretold terrible events 'befall' in the coming years; you may remember the words of warnings this great man (like that of Noah) had uttered and pray to the Almighty God for deliverence! Please read his other books as well.
Thanks for that information, he was a great man of God, and I will
try to get his other book
The thought of a Preadamic civilization came to me several days ago. I then searched the scripture and the inspired sermons by God's servant. After comparing the Scriptures, the sermons and consider their harmony, I am convince that there was "life" before Adam. Make no mistake that I did not say Mankind "life". Mankind started with Adam the son of God and no one else.
From last week, I was set free from my "set mind" that the Sun and the moon are only 10,000 years at most. Now I understand the Bible and know that it harmonises with common sense and scientific findings.
God bless you.
GH Pember was a great man with an amazing insight, but he could only bring to our attention what God purposed him for. He tried to tackle the mystery of the Fall of Man in the garden of Eden...but that revelation was only given 100 years or so later, as I mentioned previously Satan was not a "Snake" coiled arount a tree. Satan is a Spirit who is in opposition to God and the serpent was not a snake
but a upright person,...the Curse that God put on him changed his orriginal form. over a long period of time perhaps
You are right about Adam being the first human here, but that would be in the present "life cycle" of creation on this Planet. We as humans look
back to our orrigins and the mind boggling complexity of life, and we do not realise that God has had many "life Cycles" of creation here.
there were billions of years between Gen1:1 and Gen1:2
there will be civilizations again on Earth in the future too,after we have all gone here
This fact is also mentioned in the book of Ecclesiastes Chapter1 verse 3 to verse 11
God Bless you
In 1847, the Dragon raised his skeletal dead-head from the grave in our sight, and proclaimed throughout the world that none of our histories were correct, and that all human religion was made of the same superstitious substance; all of it being denounced and discredited by the pictures of dinosaurs in a British newspaper in 1847. Within a few years, Charles Darwin jumped on the popular and constantly applauded promiscuous bandwagon to be the star of the show by explaining it all so that humanity was nothing more than a nearly hairless, very clever monkey: descended from an amoeba like creature that just 'appeared' in a slime ocean: an amoeba like thing that became a fish like thing; that became a lizard like thing: that became a gopher like thing, that became you. INDEED, most of mankind (even in the so-self-claimed 'civilized' masses) does live by the social code of the ape tribe to this very day; so that behavioral as well as physiological evidence can be cited to support Darwin's thesis (see Nietzsche's "Genealogy Of Morals"). But no other animal anywhere in the world has ever circumcised itself. Circumcision ALONE proves that there is a fundamental and essential difference between humanity and the animal kingdom. I do not know if The Gap Theory as we now have it completely explains the Nazca Lines or Easter Island as well as the dinosaurs, but it is the only explanation that I presently know of that leaves humanity with any dignity or hope. I will NOT willingly participate (COMPETE) in the society of the apes, and I will affirm monogamy as a sign of human connection to Divinity. Nietzsche's "Superman" was only the 800 pound gorilla, who could bully it's way to the biggest harem, the best seat in the clearing and the first choice of available food. Fallen (sinful) humanity is bestial, but this does not come of bestiality, but of sin. Jesus Christ IS God, and you're not.
Why pick on circumcision? No other animal gives itself haircuts or wears shoes. None of this proves anything. The Bible is full of inconsistencies and contradictions: have you got more mad theories to explain all of them? I hope so, as there's nothing so pleasing as laughter.
Well, ( to Just another Christian) It's very interesting what you say, and it is no doubt an enormous and very contraversial subject.
there is a very big difference between us humans and an animal, as I mentioned
previously about the fall of man in the beggining via "The Serpent" one has to
consider where this Serpent came from in the first place.
There was a great
evolution, but God's great evolution could not have been a random developement
of life that was free to go in any uncontrolled direction,....Evolution went along the predestination and foreknowledge of God, where every seed will bring forth of it's "kind" who's life is within itself, ( and God saw that it was Good) animals
evolved via an adaptational process dictated by the climatic changes and circumstances on Earth.
This being perhaps braught about by the continental plates drifting together and drifting apart and changing the climate. There is no possibility of one specie changing into another specie via a process of time.
Now here is the great mystery, in terms of the theory of us humans evolving from some animal that once swung from tree to tree somewhere. God does not indwell an animal,
humans were created in the image of God, the spiritual part of us.
but somewhere along the line that orriginal creation was interfered with,
and there is animal in us now, as well as the fact that we are now subject to death. .....so what happened?
the animalistic brutality, and the sexual depravity that is in man, did not come from God. and could only have come via that link that Man has been searching for.
The Serpent. hence this great scientific and technological age that we now live in, which was joint heirs with consequent hybridization of the human race.
There are two natures in the human race now, and it was not so in the beginning.
It's also very clear in the book of genesis, that there was pre Adamic civilizations
on Earth , and Gods enemy was involved there too.
The Nasca lines are also a very clear indication of very advanced civilizations that were here ....perhaps a million years ago, or who knows.
Eric Von Daniken saw it very clearly in his book "chariets of the Gods", though I
dissagree with him that people from another planet came here.
it lookes very much like the remaines or the foundations of ancient landing strips superimposed one on top of the other, ..some have been pushed up by mantle
and crust activity in the earth. there is very little techtonic activity there and very dry, which is probably why they can still be seen.
I don't know why "Alfred Armstrong" say's that the Bible contradicts itself,
I have been around for the best part of fifty years and I still can't find a contradiction in it. There cannot be the slightest fault or contradiction in the Word of God, if there is, Satan would have found it a long time back already, and
he would have a right to Eternal Life, and God would be obligated to give it to him,
as well as the fact that God would have to aknowledge defeat by His enemy Satan,
and we know that is not going to happen. So Alfred Armstrong, you are wrong.
and I am right.
Best source I've found for blblical contradictions: http://www.ffrf.org/legacy/books/lfif/?t=contra
On the other hand there may be no such being as Satan (and biblical authority for his existence is pretty rocky: http://eu.dummies.com/WileyCDA/how-to/content/sizing-up-satan-in-the-bible.html).
Saying your opponent is wrong because they disagree with you isn't an argument, by the way. If you are going to argue with someone, you have to start from common ground. If I don't believe in the truth of the Bible, then you need to find evidence of its veracity to convince me, not simply tell me I'm wrong. Anyone can play that game and it doesn't get us anywhere.
No real argument intended, we can all be wrong in things in life, and I doubt that you are my opponent.
You probably don't have to go to a mental institution to see Satan, all you need to do is go to your nearest Night Club, and believe me, you will see him in action
for yourself,....just stand there and watch the guys look upon the woman and eachother in lust just the same as the Serpent looked upon Eve.
After all he has to look after his own Eden that he has aquired for himself
via his "diabolical' biological understanding of the principals of life.
it has taken him six thousand years to aquire this in opposition to God. physical beauty breeding with physical beautiful, in Satan's own sexual Eden. no wonder
God is going to destroy it again. Don't tell me he does not exist, because I know better than that,........Please don't send him my regards when you are there ,..because he don't like "me"
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