Religion has always played an important part in civilization; in the ancient world it was a powerful force. The pagan civilizations of ancient times worshiped many gods. They had male and female deities, high and low gods, assemblies of gods, priests and priestesses and temple and sacrifices. All the forces of nature could not be controlled or understood were considered supernatural powers to be worshiped and feared. We have also earned from the meanings of names found in the literature from this period. People in ancient times were often named with sentences and phrases; sometimes they used the name of their favourite god in the compound name. Thus, names very often reflected popular religion. Most of the people of the ancient world were polytheistic; they worshiped more than one god.
The people worshiped these gods in the form of representative idols. This practise is called idolatry. The nation of Israel however was forbidden to make graven images of the one true and living God whom they worshiped . - Ex. 20:3-6; Deut. 5:7-10 - The pagan nations made statues or images to represent the powers which they worshiped. Most of these idols were in the form of animals or men. But sometimes these idols represented celestial powers like the sun, moon, stars and forces of nature, like the sea and the rain; or life forces, like death and truth.
Belief in these false gods was characterized by superstition and magic. The people believed that what happened to their gods would also happen to them. Puzzled by the workings of nature they assigned the causes of various natural happenings to their gods. Rain was absolutely essential to life in agricultural societies. If it rained they believed this was caused by a rain god. If it did not rain they thought this was because that god had not sent the rain. They prayed and sacrificed to the god to send it.
According to the Old Testament, God spoke all these words. (1) You shall have no gods except me. (2) You shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven or on earth beneath or in the waters under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them. (3) You shall not utter the name of Yahweh your God to misuse it, for Yahweh will not leave unpunished the man who utters his names to misuse it. (4) Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. (5) Honour your father and mother. (6) You shall not kill. (7) You shall not commit adultery. (8) You shall not steal. (9) You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour. (10) You shall not covet your neighbour. - Ex. 20:1-21 -
In the new Testament, Saint Paul said: "The One whom you worship without knowing". "Him I proclaim to you: God, who made the world and everything in it since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands". - Acts 17:23-24 -
Only the sovereign God has the power to rule the world; only the Lord Jesus Christ has the power to rise from the dead as the conqueror, establishing once and for all our everlasting life with Him.
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Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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