Participants: Doug Batchelor
Series Code: AFP
Program Code: AFP400001
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01:01 >>THIS PRESENTATION IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE FRIENDS OF THE
01:03 AMAZING FACTS MINISTRY. >>FOR LIFE-CHANGING CHRISTIAN 01:09 RESOURCES VISIT 'AFBOOKSTORE.COM' OR CALL 01:13 1-800-538-7275. 01:17 (WIND BLOWING) (MUSIC) 02:58 >>"NOW A GREAT SIGN APPEARED IN HEAVEN: A WOMAN 03:01 CLOTHED WITH THE SUN, WITH THE MOON UNDER HER FEET, AND ON HER 03:05 HEAD A GARLAND OF TWELVE STARS. THEN BEING WITH CHILD, 03:18 SHE CRIED OUT IN LABOR AND IN PAIN TO GIVE 03:21 BIRTH...AND ANOTHER SIGN APPEARED IN HEAVEN. 03:30 BEHOLD, A GREAT FIERY RED DRAGON. AND THE DRAGON STOOD 03:35 BEFORE THE WOMAN WHO WAS READY TO GIVE BIRTH, 03:38 TO DEVOUR HER CHILD AS SOON AS IT WAS BORN." 04:14 >>A WOMAN, A CHILD, AND A DRAGON. 04:18 AT FIRST GLANCE THIS MIGHT SOUND LIKE THE INGREDIENTS FOR A 04:21 FRIGHTENING FAIRY TALE. IN FACT, THE TROUBLING SCENES 04:27 THAT YOU JUST WITNESSED ARE PART OF A TRUE AND POWERFUL PROPHECY 04:31 GIVEN TO THE APOSTLE JOHN NEARLY 2,000 YEARS AGO. 04:35 WHAT DOES THIS PROPHECY, FOUND IN REVELATION 12 TELL US? 04:38 DOES IT POINT TO SOME EVENT THAT HAPPENED THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO 04:42 OR DOES IT DESCRIBE THINGS THAT ARE GOING TO TAKE PLACE IN THE 04:45 NEAR FUTURE? AND WHO DO THE WOMAN, THE 04:48 DRAGON, AND THE CHILD REPRESENT? JOIN US NOW AS WE JOURNEY DEEP 04:53 INTO A WORLD THAT FEW HAVE EVER SEEN, BUT ALL ARE A PART OF. 04:58 REVELATION: THE BRIDE, THE BEAST, AND BABYLON. 05:03 (MUSIC) >>IN THE LAST BOOK OF THE BIBLE, 05:14 REVELATION, THE APOSTLE JOHN WAS SHOWN A VISION OF A GREAT 05:18 STRUGGLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL, A PROPHECY OF A BATTLE 05:22 THAT HAS BEEN RAGING BEHIND THE SCENES SINCE THE DAWN OF TIME. 05:27 THE SECRETS BEHIND THIS PROPHECY HAVE BEEN SHROUDED IN MYSTERY 05:30 FOR CENTURIES, UNTIL NOW. 05:33 FROM THE KINGDOMS AND THE RULERS THAT HAVE FALLEN AROUND THE 05:36 WORLD TO THE MEN AND WOMEN THAT STOOD UP TO FIGHT FOR WHAT THEY 05:39 BELIEVED IN, THIS IS THE STORY OF CHRISTIANITY, THE SEARCH FOR 05:44 TRUTH, AND THE FOUNDATION FOR THE FAITH OF BILLIONS. 05:49 >>"NOW A GREAT SIGN APPEARED IN HEAVEN: A WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE 05:53 SUN, WITH THE MOON UNDER HER FEET, AND ON HER HEAD A GARLAND 05:57 OF TWELVE STARS...THEN BEING WITH CHILD, SHE CRIED OUT IN 06:02 LABOR AND IN PAIN TO GIVE BIRTH...AND THE DRAGON STOOD 06:06 BEFORE THE WOMAN WHO WAS READY TO GIVE BIRTH, 06:08 TO DEVOUR HER CHILD AS SOON AS IT WAS BORN." 06:12 >>MANY BIBLE SCHOLARS AND HISTORIANS HAVE STUDIED THIS 06:15 PROPHECY OVER THE YEARS AND AGREE THAT THE PROPHECY OF 06:19 REVELATION 12 POINTS TO AN EVENT KNOWN AS "THE MASSACRE OF THE 06:23 INNOCENTS" WHICH OCCURRED IN FIRST CENTURY JUDEA. 06:27 >>IN THE DECADES LEADING UP TO THE BIRTH OF CHRIST, THE ROMAN 06:30 EMPIRE HAD CONQUERED THE WHOLE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD, INCLUDING 06:33 JUDEA, AND AT VARIOUS POINTS IN THAT HISTORY THEY HAD DIFFERENT 06:37 PEOPLE RULING OVER IT. TWENTY YEARS BEFORE JESUS WAS 06:41 BORN YOU HAVE KING HEROD, A CLIENT KING FOR ROME. 06:46 YOU KNOW, WE HAVE DOCUMENTS ABOUT HIM OUTSIDE THE BIBLE 06:49 THAT TELL US THAT HE WAS VERY CRUEL. 06:51 HE WAS CAPABLE OF KILLING HIS OWN SONS. 06:54 HE WAS RUTHLESS AND YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO GET ON HIS BAD SIDE. 06:59 >>HEROD WAS VERY ANXIOUS WHEN A SMALL DELEGATION OF WISE MEN 07:03 FROM THE EAST CAME TO JERUSALEM ANNOUNCING THEIR SEARCH 07:06 FOR THE NEWBORN KING OF THE JEWS. 07:09 >>WHY WOULD HEROD BE UPSET ABOUT THAT? 07:11 BECAUSE THAT WAS HEROD'S TITLE AS BESTOWED UPON HIM BY THE 07:14 ROMAN EMPIRE: "KING OF THE JEWS." 07:17 >>AND HE ASKS HIS ASTROLOGERS 'HOW LONG IS IT POSSIBLE THAT 07:20 THIS CHILD COULD HAVE BEEN BORN AGO? 07:23 AND THEY DETERMINE IT'S PROBABLY BEEN TWO YEARS, AT MOST, 07:26 SINCE THE CHILD WAS BORN, MAYBE LESS. 07:28 >>HE FINDS OUT FROM THE PHARISEES AND THE SADDUCEES 07:33 EXACTLY WHERE THIS CHILD IS TO BE BORN AND HE FINDS OUT IT'S 07:37 BETHLEHEM. AND HE WORRIED ABOUT LOSING HIS 07:40 THRONE AND HE HAS SUCH ANGER AGAINST THIS CHILD HE SENDS IN 07:45 THE SOLDIERS TO TRY AND KILL JESUS. 07:51 (MUSIC) >>THE BIBLE TELLS US THIS 09:00 BARBARIC ACT WAS INSPIRED BY MORE THAN JUST THE 09:03 TYRANNICAL JEALOUSY OF AN OLD KING. 09:06 MANY BIBLE SCHOLARS BELIEVE THAT IT'S PART OF A MUCH BIGGER 09:09 STRUGGLE THAT HAS SPANNED THE AGES AND IS STILL HAPPENING 09:13 TODAY. TO UNCOVER THE SECRETS OF THIS 09:16 PROPHECY WE'RE GOING TO FIRST NEED TO IDENTIFY THE MAIN 09:20 CHARACTERS: THE WOMAN, THE CHILD, AND THE DRAGON. 09:25 >>HE SAYS, 'THEN I SAW ANOTHER SIGN, A WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE 09:29 SUN WITH THE MOON UNDER HER FEET, AND ON HER HEAD 09:33 A CROWN OF TWELVE STARS. 09:36 >>LET'S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THE WOMAN. WE KNOW THAT SHE'S 09:39 A SYMBOL OF SOMEONE OR SOMETHING. 09:44 DOES THE BIBLE TELL US WHAT THIS WOMAN REPRESENTS? 09:50 >>"HUSBANDS LOVE YOUR WIVES, JUST AS CHRIST LOVED THE CHURCH 09:54 AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR HER." 09:58 >>WE GATHER FROM THIS THAT THE CHURCH IS THE BRIDE OF CHRIST. 10:02 NOT ONLY IS SHE THE BRIDE OF CHRIST, BUT IN A CERTAIN 10:04 SENSE, SINCE NO MAN HATES HIS OWN 10:06 FLESH, THE CHURCH IS JESUS' BODY. 10:10 >>VERY CLEARLY A WOMAN, IN SCRIPTURE, REPRESENTS THE 10:13 CHURCH. YOU HAVE A WOMAN AS REPRESENTATIVE OF GOD'S PEOPLE. 10:19 WE SEE THIS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, WE SEE IT IN THE NEW 10:20 TESTAMENT. JESUS COMES FROM THE PEOPLE OF 10:23 ISRAEL AND THEN THE CHURCH GROWS UP AS SOMETHING JESUS DEVELOPS. 10:29 >>MOST IMPORTANTLY, THIS WOMAN IS ABOUT TO GIVE BIRTH TO A 10:33 SPECIAL MALE CHILD. WHO IS THE CHILD? 10:37 >>WE HAVE A COUPLE OF INDICATIONS: 10:39 1) HE RULES WITH A ROD OF IRON OVER THE NATIONS. 10:41 THAT'S IN REFERENCE TO THE OLD TESTAMENT WHERE, CLEARLY, GOD IS 10:45 THE ONE RULING OVER THE NATIONS WITH A ROD OF IRON. 10:49 AND THEN IT SAYS HE'S CAUGHT UP INTO HEAVEN - 10:52 AND WHO IS CAUGHT UP INTO HEAVEN? 10:53 >>JESUS CHRIST, RIGHT? HE'S KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. 10:56 >>SO THESE TWO INDICATIONS PRETTY DEFINITIVELY TELL US 10:59 THAT THIS IS JESUS. 11:02 >>NOW LET'S CONSIDER THE ARCH VILLAIN IN THIS IMPORTANT 11:05 PROPHECY: THE DRAGON. 11:09 >>"AND ANOTHER SIGN APPEARED IN HEAVEN: BEHOLD, 11:12 A GREAT, FIERY RED DRAGON..." 11:16 >>YOU KNOW, I WISH I COULD JUST GIVE YOU A FANCIFUL THEORY HERE, 11:20 BUT THE BIBLE TELLS US WHO THE DRAGON IS. 11:22 THE DRAGON IS THE DEVIL. 11:25 >>BOTH THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE NEW TESTAMENT WHO TRIES TO 11:27 DESTROY? THAT IS SATAN, YOU KNOW, THE 11:29 ANGEL - THE DEVIL - AND SO HE ATTACKS AS SOON AS CHRIST COMES 11:32 UPON THE FACE OF THE EARTH - THE ATTACK IS THERE. 11:37 >>"SO THE GREAT DRAGON WAS CAST OUT. 11:40 THAT SERPENT OF OLD, CALLED THE DEVIL AND SATAN, WHO DECEIVES 11:44 THE WHOLE WORLD; HE WAS CAST TO THE EARTH, AND HIS ANGELS WERE 11:49 CAST OUT WITH HIM." 11:52 >>WHAT WE SEE HERE, IN THE FIRST PART OF REVELATION 12 11:56 IS A SYMBOLIC PORTRAYAL OF THE AGE-OLD CONFLICT 12:00 BETWEEN CHRIST AND SATAN. 12:03 >>ALL THROUGH THE LIFE AND MINISTRY OF CHRIST SATAN TRIED 12:06 TO DISRUPT JESUS' PLANS TO PROVIDE SALVATION FOR HUMANITY. 12:12 >>"BUT HE WAS WOUNDED FOR OUR TRANSGRESSIONS, HE WAS BRUISED 12:16 FOR OUR INIQUITIES; THE CHASTISEMENT FOR OUR PEACE WAS 12:19 UPON HIM, AND BY HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED." 12:26 >>AT VARIOUS POINTS THEY KICKED HIM OUT OF SYNAGOGUES 12:28 AND WANTED TO PUSH HIM OFF A CLIFF. 12:30 >>THEY TRIED TO SILENCE HIM. 12:31 THEY TORTURED HIM TO DEATH PUBLICLY. 12:34 >>SATAN'S SCHEME TO DERAIL THE PLAN OF SALVATION WAS UTTERLY 12:38 SHATTERED WHEN JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD. 12:45 >>"AND HER CHILD WAS CAUGHT UP TO GOD AND HIS THRONE." 12:50 >>WITH THE SON OF GOD NOW PHYSICALLY BEYOND HIS REACH, THE 12:53 DEVIL DIRECTED ALL OF HIS FURY AT THE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS, 12:57 THE NEW CHRISTIANS. HE DID MUCH OF THIS THROUGH 13:01 THE CRUEL POWER OF IMPERIAL ROME. 13:05 >>"NOW WHEN THE DRAGON SAW THAT HE HAD BEEN CAST TO THE EARTH, 13:08 HE PERSECUTED THE WOMAN WHO GAVE BIRTH TO THE MALE CHILD." 13:12 >>CHRISTIANITY WAS A STRUGGLING, SMALL, PERSECUTED MINORITY THAT 13:17 DIDN'T HAVE OFFICIAL STATUS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND THERE WERE 13:20 A SERIES OF PERSECUTIONS, SOME OF WHICH WERE QUITE SEVERE. 13:24 >>ONE OF THE ROLES OF RELIGION IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE WAS TO 13:28 ENSURE THE WELL-BEING OF THE STATE. 13:29 THE IDEA WAS THAT IF THE GODS WERE WORSHIPED PROPERLY THEN 13:32 THEY WOULD FAVOR THE EMPIRE AND IF THEY WERE WORSHIPED 13:34 IMPROPERLY THEN THEY WOULD - YOU KNOW, BAD THINGS 13:37 WOULD HAPPEN TO THE EMPIRE AS THE RESULT OF DIVINE WRATH. 13:40 >>THEY DO NOT WANT TO SACRIFICE TO THE GODS AND THE GODS, 13:46 AT THAT POINT, INCLUDE THE EMPEROR. 13:48 >>SO IT'S EASY TO CONSIDER THESE PEOPLE RELIGIOUS SCAPEGOATS. 13:52 BASICALLY, IF SOMETHING'S GOING WRONG, PROBABLY IT'S BECAUSE 13:55 THERE ARE CHRISTIANS AROUND WHO ARE REFUSING TO GIVE THE GODS 13:57 THEIR PROPER DUE. 13:59 >>WELL, OF COURSE YOU HAVE TO PUNISH THEM AND PUNISHMENT 14:01 MEANT, YOU KNOW, MOST OF THE TIME, DEATH. 14:03 >>WHAT PEOPLE THOUGH WAS THAT CHRISTIANS GATHER TOGETHER, ALSO 14:09 SEEMED TO MAKE LOVE WITH THEIR BROTHERS AND SISTERS. 14:13 >>BECAUSE THERE WERE RUMORS ABOUT THEM THAT THEY COMMIT 14:15 INCEST BECAUSE THE CHRISTIANS USED TO CALL THEMSELVES BROTHER 14:19 AND SISTER AND THEY USED TO EAT THE FLESH OF CHRIST. 14:22 >>PEOPLE HEARD, APPARENTLY, THAT CHRISTIANS WERE EATING CHILDREN. 14:28 >>SO WHEN PAGANS HEARD ABOUT THIS THEY THOUGHT THE WORST, 14:31 RIGHT? THEY ASSUMED THE WORST. 14:32 >>CHRISTIANS ARE PROGRESSIVELY STRIPPED OF THEIR CIVIL OFFICES, 14:35 THEIR MILITARY OFFICES, THEIR BOOKS ARE CONFISCATED, THEIR 14:38 CHURCHES ARE DESTROYED, THEY'RE FORBIDDEN TO MEET, AND SO ON. 14:41 ALL BECAUSE THERE'S AN ANXIETY THAT THIS IS REALLY 14:44 UNDERMINING THE WELFARE OF THE EMPIRE. 14:48 >>AS THE EARLY CHURCH SUFFERED UNDER THIS WITHERING PERSECUTION 14:52 OF ROME, THEIR LIVES BECAME A POWERFUL TESTIMONY FOR TRUTH. 14:57 WHILE THE PAGANS LIVED IN CONSTANT SUPERSTITIOUS FEAR, 15:01 THESE CHRISTIANS FACED TORTURE AND DEATH WITH 15:04 A SUPERNATURAL PEACE. 15:06 >>BASICALLY, WHAT NERO DID WAS HE FED THEM TO THE LIONS. 15:09 HE HAD THEM TIED TO PILLARS, HE PUT PITCH ON THEM, AND THEN HE 15:14 SET THEM ON FIRE AS HUMAN TORCHES SO THEY COULD HAVE THE 15:17 FESTIVITIES CONTINUE ON INTO THE NIGHT. 15:19 >>YOU KNOW, BEING STRETCHED, PULLED INTO TWO, YOU KNOW, 15:23 BEING KILLED BY GLADIATORS. 15:25 >>JUST ABOUT EVERY CREATIVE WAY THAT YOU CAN DISPOSE OF 15:30 CHRISTIANS. 15:32 >>WHEN FACING THE PAINFUL END OF THEIR LIVES THEY OFTEN SANG AND 15:35 REJOICED. 15:37 AS THOUSANDS OF CHRISTIANS PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE FOR THEIR 15:39 FAITH, THEIR DYING PRAYERS AND BLOOD ESSENTIALLY BECAME SEED 15:44 FOR THE NEW CHURCH. 15:46 >>PEOPLE ARE SO ENTHRALLED BY HOW THESE CHRISTIANS ARE DYING, 15:52 THAT IMMEDIATELY THE REACTION IS, 'SIGN ME UP.' 15:58 >>AND SO THE CHRISTIANS SPREAD LIKE WILDFIRE. THE MORE YOU 16:01 KILLED THEM THE MORE THEY STOOD FOR THEIR FAITH. 16:04 >>NOW, IT IS TRUE, AND I THINK IT HAS TO BE EMPHASIZED, THAT 16:06 THE EARLY CHURCH SPREADS DESPITE THE VERY CONCERTED ATTEMPTS AT 16:11 REPRESSION OF EXTREMELY AUTOCRATIC AND POWERFUL EMPERORS 16:16 WHO SET THEMSELVES VERY FIRMLY AGAINST THE CHRISTIANS 16:19 AND YET THE EARLY CHURCH SURVIVES. 16:21 >>TERTULLIAN ARGUES WHENEVER SOMETHING GOES WRONG - WHENEVER 16:24 THERE'S A FAMINE OR WHENEVER THERE'S AN ILLNESS - A 16:27 PESTILENCE THAT SWEEPS THROUGH, EVERYBODY SAYS, 'THE CHRISTIANS 16:30 TO THE LIONS' AND THEN HE SAYS SNIDELY, 'AS IF SO MANY COULD BE 16:36 FED TO SO FEW.' AND HIS POINT IS THAT YOU CAN'T DESTROY US ALL. 16:41 >>DURING THIS TIME OF EXPONENTIAL GROWTH, CHRISTIANS 16:44 ALL ACROSS THE ROMAN EMPIRE, QUITE LITERALLY, 16:47 WENT UNDERGROUND. THIS LABYRINTH OF TUNNELS AND CHAMBERS 16:53 BENEATH THE ROMAN CITIES BECAME KNOWN AS 'THE CATACOMBS.' 16:58 >>NOW, THE CATACOMBS ARE IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND. 17:03 FIRST, MANY PEOPLE IMAGINE THAT THERE ARE CAVES NATURALLY UNDER 17:06 ROME AND THAT CHRISTIANS SIMPLY WENT INTO THEM. 17:09 THE CATACOMBS, ALMOST WITHOUT EXCEPTION, ARE NOT NATURAL 17:12 CAVES. THEY WERE EXCAVATED BY THE CHRISTIANS. 17:16 >>AND SO THE CHRISTIANS MADE A WHOLE LABYRINTH UNDERGROUND. 17:20 >>SOMETIMES SERVICES WOULD BE HELD THERE IN THE VERY 17:24 TOMBS OF THE MARTYRS. 17:27 >>THE SECOND POINT IS THE VERY ACT OF BURYING YOUR DEAD IS 17:31 HUGELY SIGNIFICANT. 17:33 CHRISTIANS BELIEVE IN A RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 17:37 NOW, OF COURSE, THAT BELIEF HAS SHIFTED AND CHANGED OVER THE 17:40 CENTURIES, BUT FROM ALL WE UNDERSTAND, EARLY CHRISTIANS 17:42 BELIEVED THAT THEY WOULD BE RESURRECTED IN THAT ACTUAL 17:46 BODILY FORM AND, THEREFORE, THEY CHOSE TO BURY THEIR DEAD, 17:50 NOT TO CREMATE THEM. 17:53 THEREFORE, IF YOU ARE SEEN TO BE BURYING YOUR DEAD, ESPECIALLY AT 17:55 TIMES WHEN THERE ARE INTENSE WAVES OF PERSECUTION, YOU'RE 18:00 MORE OR LESS SAYING TO THE POLICE, 'COME INVESTIGATE ME. 18:03 I MAY WELL BE A CHRISTIAN.' >>IN A.D. 306 A NEW ROMAN 18:09 EMPEROR CAME INTO POWER AND THINGS BEGAN TO RAPIDLY CHANGE. 18:14 CONSTANTINE THE GREAT WAS A CAPABLE MILITARY LEADER AND A 18:18 SHREWD POLITICIAN. 18:20 >>SO CONSTANTINE HAD TO FIGHT A SERIES OF CIVIL WARS IN ORDER TO 18:23 ACHIEVE HIS POLITICAL AIM OF BECOMING EMPEROR. 18:26 AND THAT'S HIS OWN PERSONAL AND POLITICAL AIM, IT'S GOT NOTHING 18:28 TO DO WITH CHRISTIANITY. HE GOES DOWN FROM GAUL - 18:31 MODERN-DAY FRANCE - WHERE HIS POWER BASE WAS, TO CONFRONT HIS 18:33 RIVAL, MAXENTIUS, IN ITALY. 18:36 >>CONSTANTINE MOVES DOWN FROM THE NORTH AND YOU THINK OF 18:40 ITALY, THERE'S THIS LONG STRETCH AND HE WINS ONE BATTLE AFTER 18:45 ANOTHER. 18:46 >>AS HE WAS MARCHING WITH HIS ARMY HE HAD A DREAM ONE NIGHT, 18:49 WHERE GOD CAME TO HIM AND TOLD HIM "YOU WILL BECOME A CHRISTIAN 18:53 AND PUT THIS SIGN ON YOUR SHIELD AND YOU WILL CONQUER." 18:57 SHORTLY AFTER THAT HE ACTUALLY HAD A VISION, WHICH HISTORY 19:01 TELLS US WAS SEEN BY HIS ARMY AS WELL AS BY CONSTANTINE HIMSELF. 19:05 >>HE LOOKED UP TO THE SUN AND HE SAW A CROSS OF LIGHT ABOVE IT 19:08 AND THE GREEK WORDS EN TOUTO NIKA - BY THIS CONQUER. 19:15 >>THE STORY THAT HE HAD HAD THIS DREAM DOES APPEAR AT A 19:18 RELATIVELY EARLY STAGE. IT'S DESCRIBED BY EUSEBIUS. 19:21 THERE ARE DIFFERENT SOURCES. 19:23 THERE ARE DIFFERENT VERSIONS, BUT IT DOES SEEM THAT 19:25 CONSTANTINE DOES SAY, 'I'VE HAD THIS DIVINE ENCOUNTER AND AN 19:30 ANGEL HAS TOLD ME THAT IN THE SIGN OF THE CROSS I WILL 19:32 CONQUER.' >>CONSTANTINE COMMANDED HIS 19:36 TROOPS TO ADORN THEIR SHIELDS WITH THE CHRISTIAN SYMBOL. 19:45 >>HIS OPPONENT THEN MOVES OUT OF THE CITY TO FACE THE ONCOMING 19:48 CONSTANTINE WITH HIS ARMY, WHICH HAS NOW BEEN TRAINED QUITE A BIT 19:51 BECAUSE THEY'VE ALREADY WON SEVERAL VICTORIES ON THE WAY 19:54 DOWN FROM THE NORTH - FROM MILAN DOWN. 19:57 HIS OPPONENT MOVES ACROSS THE RIVER AT THE MUNION BRIDGE - HAS 20:03 CONSTANTINE AND HIS ARMY IN FRONT OF HIM, THE RIVER AND THE 20:07 CITY BEHIND HIM. NOT A GREAT SITUATION TO BE IN. 20:11 SO IF YOU DO NOT BEAT THE ONCOMING ARMY, 20:13 YOU HAVE NOWHERE TO RETREAT. SO HE LOSES. 20:16 >>SO FOR CONSTANTINE, WHO IS CERTAINLY NOT YET A CHRISTIAN, 20:19 THIS IS A POWERFUL THING BECAUSE HE, HIMSELF, BELIEVES 'THE 20:23 CHRISTIAN GOD HAS GIVEN ME VICTORY. THE CHRISTIAN GOD 20:26 IS MORE POWERFUL THAN THESE OTHER DEITIES. 20:28 >>I MEAN, IT IS CLEAR THAT CONSTANTINE MADE THE SYMBOL OF 20:33 CHRISTIANITY PART OF THE IMPERIAL STANDARDS AND THAT HE 20:35 FOUGHT UNDER THAT SYMBOL AND HE WON. AND SO, BEING A GOOD 20:38 ROMAN EMPEROR HE WOULD THEN THINK, 20:42 'YEAH, I GOT THE SIGN. I'M ON THE RIGHT PATH.' 20:47 >>SO IF YOU'RE A PAGAN OR JUST SOMEBODY WHO'S CONFUSED ABOUT 20:51 RELIGION, YOU'VE HAD HERE THIS CLASH OF DEITIES AND WHO'S 20:57 EMERGED ON TOP? THE CHRISTIAN GOD. 20:59 YOU CAN DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS. 21:02 >>GRADUALLY THE NATIONAL SENTIMENT AGAINST CHRISTIANITY 21:06 BEGAN REVERSING. DURING CONSTANTINE'S REIGN, CHRISTIANS 21:10 WENT FROM BEING A PERSECUTED SECT TO OPENLY HOLDING 21:14 POSITIONS OF INFLUENCE IN THE COURTS AND PALACES OF KINGS 21:17 AND GOVERNORS. 21:18 >>SO A LARGE PART OF THE ELITES USED TO RUNNING THE SHOW 21:23 AUTOMATICALLY THEN BECOME ALSO THE LOCAL BISHOPS, ETC. 21:29 YOU KNOW, BECOME CHRISTIAN - IT WASN'T SUCH A BIG LEAP BECAUSE 21:32 MOST OF THEM ANYWAY BELIEVED IN ONE SUPREME DIVINE BEING 21:36 WHICH HAD DIFFERENT REPRESENTATIONS. 21:38 >>IF YOU WANT TO ADVANCE IN THE ARMY OR IN THE IMPERIAL CIVIL 21:42 SERVICE, THERE'S EVERY INCENTIVE TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN BECAUSE 21:46 ALL THE PEOPLE AT THE TOP ARE CHRISTIANS. SO IF YOU WANT TO 21:50 ADVANCE IN THE HIERARCHY, WHETHER IT'S MILITARY, 21:53 CIVIL SERVICE, OR JUST AT COURT, PEOPLE BECOME CHRISTIANS. 21:58 >>IT BECOMES VERY ATTRACTIVE BECAUSE CONSTANTINE'S EDICT OF 22:02 TOLERATION MAKES IT SO. 22:04 >>"CONSTANTINE CAN RIGHTFULLY CLAIM THE TITLE OF GREAT, FOR HE 22:08 TURNED THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD INTO A NEW COURSE AND MADE 22:11 CHRISTIANITY, WHICH UNTIL THEN HAD SUFFERED BLOODY PERSECUTION, 22:16 THE RELIGION OF THE STATE." 22:18 >>AND SO, AS PEOPLE FROM AROUND THE ROMAN EMPIRE ENTERED THE 22:22 CHRISTIAN CHURCH, THEY BROUGHT WITH THEM MANY OF THEIR FORMER 22:25 PAGAN BELIEFS AND PRACTICES. 22:27 >>NOW THAT CHRISTIANITY HAS BEEN GIVEN THE STATUS AS A FULL LEGAL 22:30 RELIGION, THEN IT BECOMES ATTRACTIVE SUBSEQUENTLY IN THE 22:35 NEXT GENERATIONS FOR A BROAD NUMBER OF MEMBERS OF THIS UPPER 22:39 ELITE. NOW THE PERCENTAGE OF CHRISTIANS 22:44 IN THIS TOP TEN, FIFTEEN, TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT, INCREASES 22:48 AND IT INCREASES DRAMATICALLY IN THE TOP ONE TO TWO PERCENT. 22:51 THAT'S THE REAL CHANGE. THAT IS WHEN CHRISTIANITY REALLY 22:55 BECOMES THE CHRISTIANITY IT IS TODAY. BECAUSE NOW THE PEOPLE 23:00 WHO'VE BEEN RUNNING THE SHOW, THEY ARE NOW CHRISTIAN. 23:04 >>OVER TIME, CHURCH LEADERS BEGAN TO EMBRACE THE REGAL ROBES 23:07 AND FLAMBOYANT CEREMONY THAT WAS PART OF THE PAGAN RELIGIONS 23:11 AND IN PLACE OF THE SIMPLE COMMANDS OF GOD, THEY BEGAN TO 23:15 TEACH SUPERSTITIONS AND MAN-MADE TRADITIONS. 23:18 NOW, INSTEAD OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH CONVERTING THE HEATHEN 23:22 WORLD, THE PAGANS WERE CONVERTING THE CHURCH. 23:26 >>THERE'S A TRAIN COMING OUT OF THE FIRST CENTURY REPRESENTED BY 23:29 DOCUMENTS WE HAVE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT THAT DEMONSTRATE, KIND 23:33 OF, THE SHAPE OF THE CHURCH THERE, GOING INTO THIS LONG DARK 23:38 TUNNEL OF THE SECOND THROUGH FOURTH CENTURIES AND THEN COMING 23:41 OUT IN THE FOURTH CENTURY, OF THIS LONG DARK TUNNEL, AND THE 23:44 TRAIN OF THE CHURCH THAT COMES OUT IS SO DIFFERENT THAN THE 23:48 TRAIN OF THE CHURCH THAT GOES IN, YOU SAY, 'WHAT HAPPENED?' 23:52 >>IN A.D. 391, BY THE ORDER OF EMPEROR THEODOCIOUS THE FIRST, 23:59 CHRISTIANITY BECAME THE OFFICIAL STATE RELIGION OF ROME. 24:03 WORSHIP AT PAGAN TEMPLES WAS OUTLAWED AND ALL OTHER RELIGIOUS 24:06 PRACTICES CEASED. 24:08 >>YOU'RE TRYING TO CHRISTIANIZE AN EMPIRE. 24:11 YOU'RE TRYING TO CHRISTIANIZE A PAGAN CULTURE. 24:16 THE OLD BASILLICAS WERE BASICALLY PAGAN TEMPLES - 24:21 PUT A CROSS OVER IT. PUT IN PAINTINGS OF BIBLICAL 24:24 SCENES, PUT IN BIBLICAL HEROES AND SAINTS AND MARTYRS. 24:29 >>CHRISTIANS ARE VERY PURPOSEFUL AND INTENTIONAL ABOUT TAKING 24:33 OVER PAGAN TEMPLES AND THERE'S A NOTABLE CHURCH LEADER WHO 24:37 ACTUALLY WRITES, IN A TREATISE THAT SURVIVES, HE WRITES A 24:42 REBUTTAL OF PAGAN ATTACKS ON CHRISTIANITY. 24:45 PART OF HIS EVIDENCE IS, HE SAYS, 'YOUR VERY OWN PLACES OF 24:48 WORSHIP ARE NOW CHRISTIAN PLACES OF WORSHIP. 24:50 WE HAVE TAKEN THEM OVER. WE HAVE CLEANSED OUT THE IDOLATRY. 24:53 WE HAVE SANCTIFIED THEM AND WE HAVE MADE THEM PLACES WHERE THE 24:56 ONE TRUE GOD IS WORSHIPED. WHAT CLEARER EVIDENCE COULD YOU 24:59 WISH THAT YOUR WHOLE SYSTEM OF BELIEF IS FALSE? 25:02 WHERE ARE YOU GODS THAT THEY'RE ALLOWING THIS TO HAPPEN?' 25:05 SO CHRISTIANS, ACTUALLY DELIBERATELY, AT TIMES, AND 25:08 PURPOSEFULLY AS A STRATEGY, TAKE PAGAN, NOT ONLY PLACES, BUT 25:13 RITUALS OR IDEAS AND, AS THEY THINK, SUBVERT THEM TO ADVANCE 25:18 THE CAUSE OF, YOU KNOW, SPREADING CHRISTIANITY. 25:21 WHAT WE DON'T KNOW IS THE EXTENT TO WHICH THEY THINK THIS THROUGH 25:24 AND SAY, 'WELL, AT WHAT POINT IS IT LEGITIMATE TO DO THIS AND AT 25:27 WHAT POINT DO WE, PERHAPS, BEGIN TO BE TAKING ON OTHER IDEAS?' 25:32 >>THE SPEED WITH WHICH THE EARLY CHURCH TOBOGGANED INTO APOSTASY 25:36 WILL TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY. (MUSIC) 25:46 >>HAVE YOU EVER WISHED THAT YOU COULD BETTER UNDERSTAND THE 25:49 PROPHETIC SYMBOLS AND THEMES FOUND IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION? 25:53 WELL, I HAVE GOOD NEWS: YOU CAN. THE ANSWERS ARE IN AMAZING 25:56 FACTS' LATEST HIGH-DEFINITION BIBLE DOCUMENTARY CALLED 26:00 REVELATION: THE BRIDE, THE BEAST, AND BABYLON . 26:04 THIS FILM IS A VISUAL FEAST THAT EXPLORES AND EXPLAINS, IN DEPTH, 26:08 THE CORE PROPHECIES FOUND IN THE APOCOLYPTIC BOOK OF REVELATION. 26:12 TO GET YOUR FREE COPY, GO TO AMAZINGFACTS.ORG OR CALL THE 26:16 NUMBER ON YOUR SCREEN AND ASK FOR OFFER #817 - AND WHEN YOU 26:21 GET THIS EXCITING NEW RESOURCE, MAKE SURE AND WATCH IT AND THEN 26:24 SHARE IT WITH SOMEONE ELSE BECAUSE GOD'S MESSAGE IS OUR 26:27 MISSION. (MUSIC) 26:35 >>AMAZING FACTS BEGAN IN 1965 WITH A GOD-INSPIRED CONCEPT. 26:40 >>HELLO, THIS IS JOE CREWS AND THE AMAZING FACTS BROADCAST 26:44 FACTS WHICH AFFECT YOU. 26:46 >>EACH RADIO BROADCAST WOULD BEGIN WITH AN AMAZING FACT FROM 26:49 SCIENCE, NATURE, OR HISTORY, FOLLOWED BY A BIBLE MESSAGE THAT 26:53 TOUCHED THE HEARTS OF LISTENERS FROM EVERY WALK OF LIFE. 26:57 THE PROGRAM WAS AN INSTANT SUCCESS AND THE MINISTRY SOON 27:01 BEGAN EXPANDING TO INCLUDE BIBLE LESSONS. 27:04 IN 1986 AMAZING FACTS ADDED THE MEDIUM OF TELEVISION TO ITS 27:09 GROWING OUTREACH EFFORTS, OFFERING SOUL-WINNING 27:12 EVANGELISTIC MESSAGES FOR VIEWERS AROUND THE WORLD. 27:16 IN 1994, PASTOR DOUG BATCHELOR ASSUMED LEADERSHIP OF THE 27:20 MINISTRY, ADDING THE BIBLE ANSWERS LIVE CALL-IN RADIO 27:23 PROGRAM AND NEW MINISTRY TV PROGRAMS BEGAN AIRING ON 27:27 MULTIPLE NETWORKS AROUND THE WORLD. 27:30 FOR 50 YEARS, THE DRIVING VISION OF AMAZING FACTS HAS BEEN THE 27:35 BOLD PROCLAMATION OF THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL AND, WITH A 27:39 TEAM OF EVANGELISTS CIRCLING THE GLOBE, AND THOUSANDS OF MEN AND 27:42 WOMEN BEING TRAINED THROUGH THE AMAZING FACTS CENTER OF 27:45 EVANGELISM PROGRAM - AFCOE - THE MINISTRY IS HELPING GOD'S 27:49 CHURCH SEE A RICH HARVEST OF SOULS. 27:52 AMAZING FACTS: GOD'S MESSAGE, OUR MISSION. 28:02 >>IN SIX DAYS GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH. 28:06 FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS MAN HAS WORSHIPED GOD ON THE SEVENTH DAY 28:10 OF THE WEEK. NOW, EACH WEEK, MILLIONS OF 28:13 PEOPLE WORSHIP ON THE FIRST DAY. WHAT HAPPENED? 28:17 WHY DID GOD CREATE A DAY OF REST? 28:19 DOES IT REALLY MATTER WHAT DAY WE WORSHIP? 28:22 WHO IS BEHIND THIS GREAT SHIFT? DISCOVER THE TRUTH BEHIND GOD'S 28:25 LAW AND HOW IT WAS CHANGED. VISIT SABBATHTRUTH.COM . 28:33 >>FOR LIFE-CHANGING CHRISTIAN RESOURCES VISIT 28:35 AFBOOKSTORE.COM OR CALL 1-800-538-7275. 28:43 >>TOGETHER WE HAVE SPREAD THE GOSPEL MUCH FARTHER THAN EVER 28:47 BEFORE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT. 28:55 (MUSIC) 29:25 >>THIS PRESENTATION WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE FREINDS OF THE 29:28 AMAZING FACTS MINISTRY. |
Revised 2017-08-07