- On today's
episode of "Authentic,"
00:00:01.10\00:00:02.70
we're gonna be
talking about the devil,
00:00:02.70\00:00:05.13
and we'll see if we can't
separate fact from fiction.
00:00:05.13\00:00:08.07
So buckle up and
get ready for a bit of
00:00:08.07\00:00:10.64
a strange ride through history.
00:00:10.64\00:00:13.17
[dramatic music]
00:00:13.17\00:00:15.91
Welcome to a very
special episode of "Authentic,"
00:00:34.36\00:00:36.67
where I'm gonna quite
literally speak of the devil,
00:00:36.67\00:00:39.87
or, to be more precise,
00:00:39.87\00:00:41.40
I'm gonna talk about how we
got our current understanding
00:00:41.40\00:00:43.91
of who or what the devil
is in Western Christianity.
00:00:43.91\00:00:48.01
And that's important because
when I mention the devil,
00:00:48.01\00:00:51.35
most people get
this mental image
00:00:51.35\00:00:53.21
of a red guy with horns,
and a pitchfork, and a tail.
00:00:53.21\00:00:56.55
He's kinda half
man and half goat,
00:00:56.55\00:00:58.89
and that's the
way that pop culture
00:00:58.89\00:01:00.76
almost always portrays him.
00:01:00.76\00:01:03.09
The only problem
with that portrayal
00:01:03.09\00:01:04.86
is that there's nothing
even close to that description
00:01:04.86\00:01:07.50
to be found in the Bible
00:01:07.50\00:01:09.26
because it's really a
better fit for pagan mythology.
00:01:09.26\00:01:12.83
The description of Lucifer
that you find in the Bible is
00:01:14.24\00:01:16.97
anything but grotesque.
00:01:16.97\00:01:18.84
In fact, the Bible
suggests that the devil
00:01:18.84\00:01:20.98
is really quite attractive.
00:01:20.98\00:01:22.81
I mean, just listen to this
passage from the book of Ezekiel
00:01:22.81\00:01:26.08
where God is
talking to the king of tire,
00:01:26.08\00:01:28.75
but it becomes
obvious after a few sentences
00:01:28.75\00:01:31.45
that he's actually
speaking to the devil
00:01:31.45\00:01:34.19
by appealing to
the king's reputation.
00:01:34.19\00:01:36.32
Here's what it says.
00:01:36.32\00:01:38.09
Moreover, the word of
the Lord came to me saying,
00:01:38.09\00:01:40.90
"Son of man, take up a
lamentation for the king of
00:01:40.90\00:01:44.40
Tire, and say to him,
'thus says the Lord God.'"
00:01:44.40\00:01:48.27
Now, here's where
it becomes obvious
00:01:48.27\00:01:50.24
that he's actually
speaking to the devil.
00:01:50.24\00:01:52.91
It says, "You were
the seal of perfection,
00:01:52.91\00:01:56.08
full of wisdom
and perfect in beauty.
00:01:56.08\00:01:58.25
You were in Eden,
the garden of God."
00:01:58.25\00:02:01.28
And of course, the
literal king of Tire
00:02:01.28\00:02:03.59
was never anywhere
near the Garden of Eden.
00:02:03.59\00:02:05.85
So this is actually
talking to somebody else.
00:02:05.85\00:02:08.26
It continues.
00:02:08.26\00:02:09.66
"Every precious
stone was your covering,
00:02:09.66\00:02:12.33
the sardius, topaz, and diamond,
00:02:12.33\00:02:14.56
beryl, onyx, and jasper,
00:02:14.56\00:02:16.30
sapphire, turquoise, turquoise,
and emerald with gold.
00:02:16.30\00:02:19.27
The workmanship of
your timbrels and pipes
00:02:19.27\00:02:21.37
was prepared for you on
the day you were created.
00:02:21.37\00:02:24.64
You were the
anointed cherub who covers."
00:02:24.64\00:02:28.24
Now, remember in the
Old Testament sanctuary,
00:02:28.24\00:02:31.55
the covering
cherubs were the angels
00:02:31.55\00:02:33.58
on top of the
Ark of the Covenant.
00:02:33.58\00:02:35.95
And the Ark of the Covenant
00:02:35.95\00:02:37.75
was a symbolic representation
of God's throne in heaven.
00:02:37.75\00:02:41.69
So what this is
actually telling us
00:02:41.69\00:02:43.59
is that Lucifer used to have
00:02:43.59\00:02:45.53
one of the most exalted
positions in God's government,
00:02:45.53\00:02:48.66
right next to the
eternal throne of God.
00:02:48.66\00:02:52.20
It says, "I established you.
00:02:52.20\00:02:54.84
You were on the
holy mountain of God."
00:02:54.84\00:02:57.74
Now, in the Bible, that's
where God's throne is located.
00:02:57.74\00:03:02.08
"You walked back and forth
in the midst of fiery stones.
00:03:02.08\00:03:05.58
You were perfect in your ways
from the day you were created
00:03:05.58\00:03:09.58
till iniquity was found in you."
00:03:09.58\00:03:12.39
Now, here's what I
want you to notice.
00:03:12.39\00:03:14.92
There are no horns,
no tail, no red skin.
00:03:14.92\00:03:18.39
The Bible
describes a fallen angel.
00:03:19.53\00:03:21.90
And in his second letter
to the Corinthian Church,
00:03:21.90\00:03:24.33
the Apostle Paul
suggests that the devil appears
00:03:24.33\00:03:27.27
as an angel of light.
00:03:27.27\00:03:29.77
So you've got to wonder,
00:03:29.77\00:03:31.01
where in the world did
we get the pop art devil
00:03:31.01\00:03:33.58
that looks like a red
version of the Greek God Pan?
00:03:33.58\00:03:37.58
Well, it's a pretty long story,
00:03:37.58\00:03:39.71
but I think it's worth exploring
00:03:39.71\00:03:41.65
because after 2,000
years of Christianity,
00:03:41.65\00:03:45.02
we've got a lot of
non-biblical artifacts
00:03:45.02\00:03:48.46
that have made their
way into our belief system.
00:03:48.46\00:03:51.29
And while most of them
are perfectly harmless,
00:03:51.29\00:03:55.13
there are some cultural
artifacts that have skewed the
00:03:55.13\00:03:58.80
way that people actually
think about the Christian faith.
00:03:58.80\00:04:02.17
When the Christian Church
started taking over Western
00:04:02.17\00:04:04.67
Europe in the wake of
Constantine's conversion,
00:04:04.67\00:04:07.28
and then especially
after the conversion
00:04:07.28\00:04:10.38
of the Frankish King Clovis,
00:04:10.38\00:04:12.58
Christian
bishops found themselves
00:04:12.58\00:04:14.38
continually running up
against the pagan beliefs
00:04:14.38\00:04:16.79
of the Celts and
the Germanic tribes.
00:04:16.79\00:04:19.82
And these were
pagans who had no desire
00:04:19.82\00:04:22.76
to convert to
Christianity at all.
00:04:22.76\00:04:25.86
And just like the Greeks,
the Romans, and the Egyptians,
00:04:27.23\00:04:29.60
the pagans of Europe had a
rather large stable of gods.
00:04:29.60\00:04:33.37
And that pantheon was such
00:04:33.37\00:04:35.10
a fundamental
part of their culture
00:04:35.10\00:04:36.74
that you still find remnants
of it in our culture today.
00:04:36.74\00:04:41.01
For example, some
of the days of the week
00:04:41.01\00:04:44.25
are named for Roman
gods, like Saturday,
00:04:44.25\00:04:47.32
which is named for Saturn.
00:04:47.32\00:04:49.18
But some of the
other days are named
00:04:49.18\00:04:50.85
for Teutonic or
Germanic gods like Wednesday,
00:04:50.85\00:04:54.62
which is literally
Woden's Tag or Woden's Day.
00:04:54.62\00:04:58.49
And Thursday is
Thor's Tag, and so on.
00:04:58.49\00:05:02.36
Now, there's nothing
particularly wrong with that,
00:05:02.36\00:05:04.67
and I sincerely
doubt that anybody thinks
00:05:04.67\00:05:06.67
I'm worshiping
Thor just because I used
00:05:06.67\00:05:09.27
the Germanic name for
the fifth day of the week.
00:05:09.27\00:05:12.44
Now, in some places,
Christian missionaries
00:05:12.44\00:05:15.01
openly
challenged these pagan gods,
00:05:15.01\00:05:17.25
like the famous
missionary Boniface,
00:05:17.25\00:05:19.68
the man who tried to convert
my ancestors, the Frisian,
00:05:19.68\00:05:23.42
who were tree-worshiping
pagans through and through.
00:05:23.42\00:05:27.29
So what Boniface did was
cut down their sacred oak tree,
00:05:27.29\00:05:31.49
which really
upset a lot of people,
00:05:31.49\00:05:34.10
and eventually they
beheaded the missionary.
00:05:34.10\00:05:37.27
But in other places,
00:05:37.27\00:05:38.50
the church looked
for ways to compromise,
00:05:38.50\00:05:40.47
to incorporate some
of the local culture
00:05:40.47\00:05:43.47
into the church in
order to make Christianity
00:05:43.47\00:05:46.17
seem more attractive.
00:05:46.17\00:05:48.58
So for example, you'll notice
00:05:48.58\00:05:50.55
that in some parts
of the Christian world,
00:05:50.55\00:05:52.58
we still have patron
saints who are dedicated
00:05:52.58\00:05:55.75
to the various
activities of daily life.
00:05:55.75\00:05:58.49
You have St Christopher,
the patron saint of travelers,
00:05:58.49\00:06:01.56
and St. Joseph, the
patron saint of dying people.
00:06:01.56\00:06:05.99
And that really
harkens back to the days
00:06:05.99\00:06:08.03
when our pagan ancestors
00:06:08.03\00:06:09.53
had various gods dedicated
to different activities.
00:06:09.53\00:06:13.54
They had Venus,
the goddess of love,
00:06:13.54\00:06:15.74
and Mars, the god of war,
00:06:15.74\00:06:17.67
and Mercury, the
messenger god, and so on.
00:06:17.67\00:06:21.31
So what the church really did
00:06:21.31\00:06:22.98
was find a
Christianized substitute
00:06:22.98\00:06:25.85
that would allow the pagans
00:06:25.85\00:06:27.22
to keep some of their customs.
00:06:27.22\00:06:30.59
You'll notice that
the same thing happened
00:06:30.59\00:06:32.25
with a lot of pagan holidays.
00:06:32.25\00:06:34.19
The 31st of October was
known to the Celts as Samhain,
00:06:34.19\00:06:37.99
the day when they believed
00:06:37.99\00:06:39.29
that the veil between
the living and the dead
00:06:39.29\00:06:41.03
became really, really thin.
00:06:41.03\00:06:43.90
So they built massive bonfires
00:06:43.90\00:06:45.83
and put candles
inside of carved out turnips
00:06:45.83\00:06:48.37
in order to keep the
spirits of the dead at bay.
00:06:48.37\00:06:51.14
It was such a
prominent part of Celtic culture
00:06:51.14\00:06:53.84
that the church decided they
couldn't just get rid of it.
00:06:53.84\00:06:57.11
So they rebranded it as
All Hallows' Eve or Halloween,
00:06:57.11\00:07:01.15
which was a special festival
00:07:01.15\00:07:02.58
the night before All Saints' Day
00:07:02.58\00:07:04.65
on the 1st of November.
00:07:04.65\00:07:06.59
And that's just
the tip of the iceberg.
00:07:06.59\00:07:08.66
Over the course of time,
00:07:08.66\00:07:09.92
a lot of the
pagan gods and festivals
00:07:09.92\00:07:11.66
were just
Christianized, rebranded.
00:07:11.66\00:07:14.96
But there was one major
deity among the European pagans
00:07:16.36\00:07:18.83
that the church
really could not adopt,
00:07:18.83\00:07:21.44
and it posed a major problem
00:07:21.44\00:07:22.87
because it was such a
deeply entrenched part
00:07:22.87\00:07:24.97
of pagan culture.
00:07:24.97\00:07:26.84
He was known as the horned god,
00:07:26.84\00:07:28.81
and he was a very ancient figure
00:07:28.81\00:07:31.35
for a lot of
ancient pagan traditions,
00:07:31.35\00:07:33.82
not just in Western Europe.
00:07:33.82\00:07:36.69
He was the god of nature
00:07:36.69\00:07:38.42
and was probably
derived from a time
00:07:38.42\00:07:40.32
before the pagans
of the Western world
00:07:40.32\00:07:42.29
had adopted agriculture and
the domestication of animals.
00:07:42.29\00:07:46.46
Before that time,
they were hunters.
00:07:46.46\00:07:48.90
And this horned god
was the god of hunting,
00:07:48.90\00:07:51.43
a character who held the keys
00:07:51.43\00:07:53.44
to the darkest
parts of the forest.
00:07:53.44\00:07:55.87
Now, among some
of the Celtic tribes,
00:07:57.07\00:07:58.91
this horned god
was known as Cernunnos,
00:07:58.91\00:08:01.41
a name that contains
the root word for horn.
00:08:01.41\00:08:04.48
I mean, the Latin
word for horn is cornu,
00:08:04.48\00:08:07.22
and Cernunnos was the Celtic
cognate of that Latin word.
00:08:07.22\00:08:11.82
Most of you know
what a cornucopia is.
00:08:11.82\00:08:13.89
It's a horn of plenty.
00:08:13.89\00:08:15.49
And you'll see that
Cernunnos starts the same way,
00:08:15.49\00:08:18.33
with the Latin word for horn.
00:08:18.33\00:08:20.90
So when we come across
some of the ancient depictions
00:08:20.90\00:08:23.43
for this horned god,
00:08:23.43\00:08:24.93
he's usually shown
sitting in a lotus position,
00:08:24.93\00:08:27.60
kind of like the Buddha,
00:08:27.60\00:08:29.67
and he's got deer
antlers on his head.
00:08:29.67\00:08:32.64
In one hand, he's
often holding a torc,
00:08:32.64\00:08:34.64
which is a stiff
braided ring of metal
00:08:34.64\00:08:37.11
that you wore around the neck.
00:08:37.11\00:08:38.98
And in his other
hand, he holds a serpent.
00:08:38.98\00:08:41.98
He's usually depicted
00:08:41.98\00:08:43.22
with all kinds of
wild game all around him
00:08:43.22\00:08:45.65
because he was the
patron god of hunting,
00:08:45.65\00:08:48.69
but he was also the
god of the underworld,
00:08:49.86\00:08:52.46
the one who welcomed
you to the afterlife.
00:08:52.46\00:08:55.26
Among some tribes,
he was also considered
00:08:55.26\00:08:57.27
the god of fertility.
00:08:57.27\00:08:58.47
So he was a
really practical god,
00:08:58.47\00:09:01.04
covering all the major concerns
00:09:01.04\00:09:02.70
that a tribe of
hunter gatherers might have.
00:09:02.70\00:09:05.74
He's the solution for hunger
because he gives you game.
00:09:05.74\00:09:08.68
He's the solution for the
propagation of the species
00:09:08.68\00:09:11.45
because he's in
charge of fertility,
00:09:11.45\00:09:13.75
and he's the solution to death
00:09:13.75\00:09:15.55
because he escorts
you into the afterlife.
00:09:15.55\00:09:18.52
So this was a really major god.
00:09:18.52\00:09:21.76
Now, in most cultures,
00:09:21.76\00:09:23.22
Cernunnos was at the
very apex of the pantheon,
00:09:23.22\00:09:25.96
and he's probably the
oldest pagan deity in the world.
00:09:25.96\00:09:30.13
And what the
Christian Church discovered
00:09:30.13\00:09:31.80
was that a lot of
their would-be converts
00:09:31.80\00:09:34.34
were not willing
to abandon this god.
00:09:34.34\00:09:37.67
So what did the church do?
00:09:37.67\00:09:39.44
I'll be right back after this.
00:09:39.44\00:09:41.41
- [Announcer] Life
can throw a lot at us.
00:09:45.15\00:09:47.58
Sometimes we don't
have all the answers,
00:09:47.58\00:09:50.95
but that's where
the Bible comes in.
00:09:50.95\00:09:53.39
It's our guide to a
more fulfilling life.
00:09:53.39\00:09:56.49
Here at The Voice of Prophecy,
00:09:56.49\00:09:58.03
we've created the
Discover Bible guides
00:09:58.03\00:10:00.20
to be your guide to the Bible.
00:10:00.20\00:10:01.76
They're designed to
be simple, easy to use,
00:10:01.76\00:10:04.23
and provide answers to many
of life's toughest questions,
00:10:04.23\00:10:07.24
and they're absolutely free.
00:10:07.24\00:10:09.27
So jump online
now or give us a call,
00:10:09.27\00:10:11.61
and start your
journey of discovery.
00:10:11.61\00:10:13.84
- At the beginning of the
year, in the month of January,
00:10:15.24\00:10:17.65
the priests of the horned god
00:10:17.65\00:10:19.21
would often dress
up in animal skins
00:10:19.21\00:10:21.32
and put on a set of horns
00:10:21.32\00:10:22.88
that they could
lead their people
00:10:22.88\00:10:24.75
in ecstatic dances
and other pagan rituals,
00:10:24.75\00:10:27.62
and they would offer sacrifices
00:10:27.62\00:10:29.19
to this major god, Cernunnos.
00:10:29.19\00:10:31.79
Now, this took
place all over Europe,
00:10:31.79\00:10:34.60
and it kept on taking place
00:10:34.60\00:10:36.03
long after the
Catholic church showed up.
00:10:36.03\00:10:38.87
In fact, we have
records of people still dabbling
00:10:38.87\00:10:42.14
in the cult of the
horned god as recently
00:10:42.14\00:10:45.21
as the 1800s, believe it or not.
00:10:45.21\00:10:48.01
Now, in the beginning, when
the church was new to Europe
00:10:48.01\00:10:51.15
and relatively weak,
00:10:51.15\00:10:53.11
it was more inclined to
put up with pagan rituals.
00:10:53.11\00:10:56.52
But then as time moved along
00:10:56.52\00:10:57.89
and the church became
more and more powerful,
00:10:57.89\00:11:00.66
it felt less
inclined to be tolerant.
00:11:00.66\00:11:03.69
So what they did
with this horned god
00:11:03.69\00:11:05.56
was to compare 'em to the
devil, the enemy of Christ.
00:11:05.56\00:11:09.26
Suddenly, pictures of
Lucifer started to look like
00:11:09.26\00:11:12.43
these pagan priests wearing
their horns and animal skins.
00:11:12.43\00:11:16.77
European pagans were now
said to be devil worshipers,
00:11:16.77\00:11:20.54
which might be
the reason that people
00:11:20.54\00:11:22.18
still confuse European
paganism with satanism,
00:11:22.18\00:11:26.05
and they're not the same thing.
00:11:26.05\00:11:28.32
In fact, today's
practitioners of Wicca
00:11:28.32\00:11:30.29
will tell you that
Satan is a Christian character
00:11:30.29\00:11:33.32
who doesn't play any
part in their belief system.
00:11:33.32\00:11:37.06
Now, of course, for Christians,
00:11:37.06\00:11:38.83
every belief system
outside of the Bible
00:11:38.83\00:11:40.96
is said to be at
least inspired by the devil,
00:11:40.96\00:11:44.00
but the pagans of
Europe did not recognize
00:11:44.00\00:11:46.80
an individual
named Lucifer or Satan.
00:11:46.80\00:11:50.41
Now, as a point
of clarification,
00:11:50.41\00:11:52.21
when the church continued
to become more powerful
00:11:52.21\00:11:55.24
and they started
to persecute pagans,
00:11:55.24\00:11:57.61
some of those pagans gladly
labeled Cernunnos as Satan,
00:11:57.61\00:12:01.95
in order to let the bishops know
00:12:01.95\00:12:03.42
that they were indeed
enemies of their church.
00:12:03.42\00:12:07.02
They said, "Look, if
that's what these people hate,
00:12:07.02\00:12:09.59
then that's who we are."
00:12:09.59\00:12:11.56
And to really push back,
00:12:11.56\00:12:12.96
they started taking
aspects of the Catholic mass
00:12:12.96\00:12:15.63
and mocking it
during their own rituals
00:12:15.63\00:12:18.53
in order to clap back against
these aggressive missionaries.
00:12:18.53\00:12:22.27
So I guess over, time,
some of these pagan cults
00:12:22.27\00:12:24.84
really did start to
look like devil worship,
00:12:24.84\00:12:28.58
but it was the Christian
Church that made the first move
00:12:28.58\00:12:31.15
by quite literally
demonizing this horned god.
00:12:31.15\00:12:34.52
And then starting in
the 13th century or so,
00:12:34.52\00:12:37.55
Satan suddenly began to
appear in Christian artwork,
00:12:37.55\00:12:40.69
looking the way that
we think about him today,
00:12:40.69\00:12:43.63
half man, half
animal, and horns.
00:12:43.63\00:12:47.23
But that's not an
image that you'll find
00:12:47.23\00:12:49.56
in the pages of the Bible.
00:12:49.56\00:12:51.30
It just doesn't exist.
00:12:51.30\00:12:53.30
So to make a long story short,
00:12:54.44\00:12:56.64
when the church
couldn't find any way
00:12:56.64\00:12:58.61
to redeem this pagan deity
00:12:58.61\00:13:00.61
or rebrand him as some
kind of Christian character,
00:13:00.61\00:13:03.51
they made him into Satan
in order to get rid of him.
00:13:03.51\00:13:07.02
And if you look through the
records of the Catholic bishops,
00:13:07.02\00:13:09.28
you'll find some of
them wringing their hands
00:13:09.28\00:13:11.12
in anguish over this problem,
00:13:11.12\00:13:12.72
like this account
from the seventh century,
00:13:12.72\00:13:15.92
from the British
Archbishop Theodore.
00:13:15.92\00:13:18.66
He wrote, "If anyone
at the Kalends of January
00:13:18.66\00:13:22.96
goes about as a stag or a bull,
00:13:22.96\00:13:25.00
that is making
himself into a wild animal
00:13:25.00\00:13:27.40
and dressing in the
skin of a herd animal,
00:13:27.40\00:13:29.70
and putting on
the heads of beasts,
00:13:29.70\00:13:32.11
those who in such
wise transform themselves
00:13:32.11\00:13:34.64
into the
appearance of a wild animal,
00:13:34.64\00:13:36.98
penance for three years
because this is devilish."
00:13:36.98\00:13:41.98
So in the beginning,
00:13:42.72\00:13:43.89
Satan actually
appeared with deer antlers,
00:13:43.89\00:13:45.59
not the goat
horns that we see today.
00:13:45.59\00:13:48.06
And over time, we
added the goat horns
00:13:48.06\00:13:50.46
so that he looked more and
more like the Greek God Pan
00:13:50.46\00:13:53.93
who was another pagan
god of the wilderness,
00:13:53.93\00:13:57.77
which brings me to
another rather notorious
00:13:57.77\00:13:59.87
depiction of the devil
that modern occultists use,
00:13:59.87\00:14:02.77
which is Baphomet.
00:14:02.77\00:14:04.71
Chances are you might
be familiar with this one
00:14:04.71\00:14:06.88
because some
modern occult groups
00:14:06.88\00:14:09.18
have provoked an awful
lot of animosity by insisting
00:14:09.18\00:14:12.01
that they wanna put
a statue of children
00:14:12.01\00:14:14.38
adoring Baphomet on
government property.
00:14:14.38\00:14:18.05
And they want that
as a way of pushing back
00:14:18.05\00:14:19.79
against Christians who want
00:14:19.79\00:14:21.02
the 10
Commandments or nativity scenes
00:14:21.02\00:14:23.59
to be on display at
the government courthouse.
00:14:23.59\00:14:26.39
But again, you'll notice
that Baphomet is goat-like.
00:14:27.76\00:14:31.03
He's a horned god with a
goat's head and a man's body,
00:14:31.03\00:14:33.90
and it comes with a
pentagram drawn on his chest,
00:14:33.90\00:14:36.57
which comes from the
ancient mystery religions
00:14:36.57\00:14:39.04
of the very distant past.
00:14:39.04\00:14:41.61
And from what I can tell,
the first time this figure
00:14:41.61\00:14:44.51
showed up in Western culture
00:14:44.51\00:14:45.85
was shortly after
the Crusades started.
00:14:45.85\00:14:48.72
Some people
actually think that Baphomet
00:14:48.72\00:14:50.85
is a corruption
of the name Muhammad
00:14:50.85\00:14:53.36
because Christian
soldiers were trying to
00:14:53.36\00:14:55.06
demonize the Muslims,
00:14:55.06\00:14:56.99
which means that they were
kind of doing the same thing
00:14:56.99\00:14:59.29
the church did with the pagans.
00:14:59.29\00:15:01.13
They were casting their
enemies in the role of the devil
00:15:01.13\00:15:04.60
in order to make them
seem really, really evil.
00:15:04.60\00:15:07.90
Now, what's kind of interesting
00:15:08.84\00:15:10.21
is the way that
the Knights Templar
00:15:10.21\00:15:11.87
eventually got
smeared with a rumor
00:15:11.87\00:15:14.11
about this horned god, Baphomet.
00:15:14.11\00:15:16.78
They were the order of
knights charged with protecting
00:15:16.78\00:15:19.11
the holy land from Muslims
00:15:19.11\00:15:20.72
or, more specifically,
the city of Jerusalem
00:15:20.72\00:15:24.02
and the Temple Mount.
00:15:24.02\00:15:25.92
When the order
eventually fell out of favor
00:15:25.92\00:15:27.89
with the official church,
00:15:27.89\00:15:29.69
people started
spreading a rumor that
00:15:29.69\00:15:32.09
these Templars had been
worshiping the horned god.
00:15:32.09\00:15:35.40
So we still have all
kinds of fantastic stories
00:15:35.40\00:15:37.97
about Templars in
circulation to this day,
00:15:37.97\00:15:41.07
and they even still show up
in modern conspiracy theories.
00:15:41.07\00:15:45.71
The Baphomet that you see today,
00:15:45.71\00:15:47.64
like the one they wanted
to put on government property
00:15:47.64\00:15:49.81
in the state of Oklahoma,
00:15:49.81\00:15:51.88
well, it's a modernization
of a much older version
00:15:51.88\00:15:54.45
of the same thing.
00:15:54.45\00:15:56.28
The finishing touches were
added by a famous occultist
00:15:56.28\00:15:59.19
named Eliphas Levi
00:15:59.19\00:16:01.12
who published a famous
book on occult practices
00:16:01.12\00:16:03.79
back in 1897.
00:16:03.79\00:16:06.33
So to recap, during
the medieval period,
00:16:06.33\00:16:09.70
we picked up all kinds of pagan
leftovers from the cultures
00:16:09.70\00:16:12.80
we were trying to bring
into the Christian Church
00:16:12.80\00:16:15.50
because we were trying to
grease the conversion process.
00:16:15.50\00:16:19.37
And while some of these
customs like, I don't know,
00:16:19.37\00:16:21.54
kissing under the
missile toe were harmless,
00:16:21.54\00:16:25.18
there were other
cultural artifacts
00:16:25.18\00:16:26.95
that began to
distort our understanding
00:16:26.95\00:16:29.15
of Christianity itself,
00:16:29.15\00:16:31.72
like the way we
think about Lucifer.
00:16:31.72\00:16:33.62
In the Bible,
Lucifer is a covering cherub,
00:16:34.82\00:16:38.53
and he's the only angel whoever
gets commended for beauty.
00:16:38.53\00:16:41.96
We saw that in the
famous passage from Ezekiel 28,
00:16:41.96\00:16:45.60
but then in Isaiah 14,
00:16:45.60\00:16:47.67
we find a
description of the very moment
00:16:47.67\00:16:50.17
that this covering
cherub fell from grace.
00:16:50.17\00:16:53.01
Here's what it says,
starting in verse 12.
00:16:53.01\00:16:55.84
How you are fallen
from heaven, o Lucifer,
00:16:55.84\00:16:58.41
son of the morning.
00:16:58.41\00:16:59.71
How you are cut
down to the ground,
00:16:59.71\00:17:01.52
you who weakened the nations.
00:17:01.52\00:17:03.59
For you have said in your heart,
00:17:03.59\00:17:05.05
"I will ascend into heaven.
00:17:05.05\00:17:06.92
I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God.
00:17:06.92\00:17:09.89
I will also sit on the
mount of the congregation
00:17:09.89\00:17:12.83
on the farthest
sides of the north.
00:17:12.83\00:17:14.93
I will ascend above
the heights of the cloud.
00:17:14.93\00:17:17.37
I will be like the Most High."
00:17:17.37\00:17:20.67
yet you shall be
brought down to Sheol,
00:17:20.67\00:17:23.04
to the lowest depths of the Pit.
00:17:23.04\00:17:25.47
What we have in the
Bible is a highly exalted angel
00:17:26.94\00:17:29.58
who let his power and
position go to his head.
00:17:29.58\00:17:32.65
He began to
crave a higher status
00:17:32.65\00:17:35.05
than the one God had given him,
00:17:35.05\00:17:36.82
right up to the point
where he started to think
00:17:36.82\00:17:38.75
he actually
belonged on God's throne.
00:17:38.75\00:17:41.46
And so for that reason,
00:17:41.46\00:17:42.82
he had to be removed
from the presence of God
00:17:42.82\00:17:45.03
before he did any more damage.
00:17:45.03\00:17:48.36
Now, the damage he
did do was substantial.
00:17:48.36\00:17:51.13
In fact, the Bible mentions
00:17:51.13\00:17:52.87
that he managed
to poison the minds
00:17:52.87\00:17:54.47
of 1/3 of heaven's angels,
00:17:54.47\00:17:56.40
who then joined his rebellion,
00:17:56.40\00:17:58.54
which you find
described in Revelation 12,
00:17:58.54\00:18:01.28
where it
describes how the struggle
00:18:01.28\00:18:02.84
between good and evil
in this universe began.
00:18:02.84\00:18:05.61
Here's what it says.
00:18:05.61\00:18:07.22
And war broke out in heaven.
00:18:07.22\00:18:09.55
Michael and his angels
fought with the dragon,
00:18:09.55\00:18:11.89
and the dragon
and his angels fought,
00:18:11.89\00:18:13.66
but they did not prevail,
00:18:13.66\00:18:15.26
nor was a place found for
them in heaven any longer.
00:18:15.26\00:18:18.56
So the great
dragon was cast out,
00:18:18.56\00:18:20.80
that serpent of old
called the Devil and Satan,
00:18:20.80\00:18:23.40
who deceives the whole world.
00:18:23.40\00:18:25.87
He was cast to the earth
00:18:25.87\00:18:27.10
and his angels
were cast out with him.
00:18:27.10\00:18:30.11
What we have in the
Bible is a serpentine devil,
00:18:30.11\00:18:33.41
not a goat-like devil.
00:18:33.41\00:18:35.08
He's the serpent in Eden,
00:18:35.08\00:18:36.31
and he's the dragon of
the Book of Revelation.
00:18:36.31\00:18:38.88
It says that he managed
to deceive a large number of
00:18:38.88\00:18:41.92
angels. And back in verse four,
00:18:41.92\00:18:43.49
it tells us that 1/3 of
the stars in heaven joined him.
00:18:43.49\00:18:47.42
Now, stars are a
common symbol for angels,
00:18:47.42\00:18:50.06
and what it's
telling us is that one third
00:18:50.06\00:18:52.49
of the heavenly host turn
their backs on their creator
00:18:52.49\00:18:55.86
at the beginning
of this cosmic war.
00:18:55.86\00:18:58.33
I'll be right back after this.
00:18:58.33\00:19:00.50
- [Announcer] Dragons,
beasts, cryptic statues.
00:19:04.07\00:19:08.34
Bible prophecy can be
incredibly vivid and confusing.
00:19:08.34\00:19:12.91
If you've ever read
Daniel or Revelation
00:19:12.91\00:19:15.08
and come away scratching
your head, you are not alone.
00:19:15.08\00:19:18.15
Our free Focus
on Prophecy guides
00:19:18.15\00:19:20.56
are designed to help you unlock
the mysteries of the Bible
00:19:20.56\00:19:23.32
and deepen your
understanding of God's plan
00:19:23.32\00:19:25.79
for you and our world,
00:19:25.79\00:19:27.40
study online or
request them by mail
00:19:27.40\00:19:29.83
and start bringing
prophecy into focus today.
00:19:29.83\00:19:32.67
- When the Bible
tells us that the devil
00:19:33.97\00:19:35.60
was thrown out of heaven,
00:19:35.60\00:19:37.21
it doesn't say
that he was sent to live
00:19:37.21\00:19:39.04
in the bowels of the earth
00:19:39.04\00:19:40.34
where he shovels
coal on the fires of hell
00:19:40.34\00:19:42.91
for all eternity.
00:19:42.91\00:19:44.38
You just won't find
that anywhere in the Bible.
00:19:44.38\00:19:48.12
The Bible simply
says the he and his angels
00:19:48.12\00:19:50.65
were cast to the earth.
00:19:50.65\00:19:52.35
This idea that the devil
lives down there somewhere
00:19:52.35\00:19:55.02
beneath our feet
in some fiery cave,
00:19:55.02\00:19:57.89
well, that's just
another medieval hangover
00:19:57.89\00:19:59.66
that has no biblical
foundation whatsoever.
00:19:59.66\00:20:02.60
I mean, just remember that
the horned God of the Celts
00:20:04.03\00:20:06.17
was also the
keeper of the underworld,
00:20:06.17\00:20:09.04
and the same was
true for Greek pagans.
00:20:09.04\00:20:11.07
Hades was their God of a
shadowy realm of the dead.
00:20:11.07\00:20:15.11
It was a decidedly pagan
way of thinking about death,
00:20:15.11\00:20:18.28
and the devil, as we
conceive of him today,
00:20:18.28\00:20:21.25
was reassigned to
step into that pagan role,
00:20:21.25\00:20:24.52
which kind of makes you wonder
00:20:24.52\00:20:25.65
just how much of what we believe
00:20:25.65\00:20:27.12
about death,
hell, and the afterlife
00:20:27.12\00:20:29.96
is actually found in the Bible.
00:20:29.96\00:20:31.49
There was also this
ancient pagan story from Europe
00:20:32.89\00:20:34.83
about a creature
known as the Herlechin,
00:20:34.83\00:20:37.57
a world that eventually
morphed into Harlequin,
00:20:37.57\00:20:40.50
which is a jester or a fool,
00:20:40.50\00:20:42.10
as in the joker that you
find in a pack of playing cards.
00:20:42.10\00:20:46.21
The Herlechin
was a giant monster
00:20:46.21\00:20:48.31
who escorted the
spirits of the dead.
00:20:48.31\00:20:50.68
So Europe was permeated
with these very old stories
00:20:50.68\00:20:53.85
about people
encountering the Herlechin
00:20:53.85\00:20:56.32
in the dead of night.
00:20:56.32\00:20:57.45
Now, in a lot of
Germanic languages, like Dutch,
00:20:58.89\00:21:01.82
this same character was
known simply as the Hellekin,
00:21:01.82\00:21:05.69
a ghostly creature
who hunted at night.
00:21:05.69\00:21:08.36
It's a word that
should look familiar
00:21:08.36\00:21:10.17
because it's got
the word hell in it
00:21:10.17\00:21:12.17
or the pagan underworld,
00:21:12.17\00:21:14.37
and it's got the word kin, which
means a troupe or a family.
00:21:14.37\00:21:18.41
So the Hellekin was a creature
who led a troop of beings
00:21:18.41\00:21:20.98
from the underworld.
00:21:20.98\00:21:22.64
What we did was recast
all these pagan characters
00:21:22.64\00:21:26.78
as the devil.
00:21:26.78\00:21:28.08
And Satan now became
the god of the underworld,
00:21:28.08\00:21:30.79
even though the Bible
never says any such thing.
00:21:30.79\00:21:34.96
Now, that doesn't mean the
Bible doesn't talk about fire
00:21:34.96\00:21:38.09
because it does.
00:21:38.09\00:21:39.33
In fact, in Matthew
25, Jesus mentions a fire
00:21:39.33\00:21:42.56
that is prepared for
the devil and his angels.
00:21:42.56\00:21:45.87
But at the same time, there's
nothing, anywhere in the Bible
00:21:45.87\00:21:48.84
to suggest that this
fire is under the ground
00:21:48.84\00:21:51.64
or it's just a Christian
version of the pagan Hades.
00:21:51.64\00:21:55.14
Instead, the
fire is said to burn
00:21:55.14\00:21:56.75
on the surface of the earth.
00:21:56.75\00:21:58.95
In fact, if you
look at Matthew 13,
00:21:58.95\00:22:01.05
you'll find Jesus parable
of the wheat and the tares
00:22:01.05\00:22:04.22
where he says that
the fire doesn't burn
00:22:04.22\00:22:06.45
until the end of the world,
00:22:06.45\00:22:08.79
and then it burns up here
on the surface of the earth.
00:22:08.79\00:22:13.80
So this idea that
the devil is living
00:22:14.93\00:22:15.86
somewhere beneath our feet
00:22:15.86\00:22:17.10
is really just a lot
of medieval superstition,
00:22:17.10\00:22:20.07
and you will not find it
in the pages of the Bible.
00:22:20.07\00:22:24.01
So of course, now
you've got to wonder,
00:22:24.01\00:22:26.37
why am I spending so
much time talking about this?
00:22:26.37\00:22:29.74
Well, let me put it this way.
00:22:29.74\00:22:31.75
Christianity has an
awful lot of critics
00:22:31.75\00:22:33.75
who like to poke
holes in our faith.
00:22:33.75\00:22:36.15
And personally, I
believe that Christianity
00:22:36.15\00:22:38.19
will stand up
against that criticism.
00:22:38.19\00:22:40.29
After all, it's still
here after 2,000 years
00:22:40.29\00:22:43.53
in spite of some rather
determined efforts to get rid of
00:22:43.53\00:22:46.63
it. But what I quite often find
00:22:47.60\00:22:49.56
is that people who
mock the Christian faith
00:22:49.56\00:22:51.80
are marking
caricatures and fairy tales
00:22:51.80\00:22:55.00
that aren't
actually found in the Bible.
00:22:55.00\00:22:57.24
And the sad part is
that many Christians
00:22:57.24\00:22:59.11
try to defend those ideas
00:22:59.11\00:23:00.61
even though they
were never taught by Jesus
00:23:00.61\00:23:03.48
and never taught
by the disciples.
00:23:03.48\00:23:05.45
These are just fairy
tales and they're not biblical.
00:23:05.45\00:23:09.62
Now, to be clear, the
Bible does describe a devil,
00:23:09.62\00:23:12.72
a fallen angel who led
a rebellion against heaven
00:23:12.72\00:23:15.12
and then convinced the human
race to follow his example,
00:23:15.12\00:23:18.99
but he doesn't have
horns, he isn't part goat,
00:23:18.99\00:23:21.73
and he doesn't
live in a fiery cave.
00:23:21.73\00:23:24.10
And at least part
of the reason people
00:23:24.10\00:23:25.73
mock the idea of a devil
00:23:25.73\00:23:27.57
is because the Christian
Church has actually participated
00:23:27.57\00:23:30.87
in the cartoon
version of this character.
00:23:30.87\00:23:33.81
And and the same
thing has happened
00:23:34.98\00:23:36.21
with other aspects
of the Christian faith.
00:23:36.21\00:23:38.25
More often than
people might realize,
00:23:38.25\00:23:40.08
well-loved Christian teachings
00:23:40.08\00:23:42.18
actually don't have
a basis in scripture.
00:23:42.18\00:23:44.69
For example, most
of us think of cherubs
00:23:44.69\00:23:47.39
not as impressive creatures
00:23:47.39\00:23:48.69
who stand next to
the throne of God,
00:23:48.69\00:23:50.49
but as little babies with wings
00:23:50.49\00:23:52.63
that you find on
Victorian Christmas cards.
00:23:52.63\00:23:54.76
Not in the Bible.
00:23:55.63\00:23:57.17
We talk about St. Peter
letting people into heaven
00:23:57.17\00:23:59.23
as if he's the
guardian of the afterlife.
00:23:59.23\00:24:01.37
But again, not in the Bible.
00:24:01.37\00:24:03.54
It's just another
rewrite of pagan mythology.
00:24:03.54\00:24:06.14
And of course,
there's almost no chance
00:24:06.14\00:24:07.84
Jesus was actually born
on the 25th of December.
00:24:07.84\00:24:11.05
It's a date we borrowed
from a Roman winter festival.
00:24:11.05\00:24:14.32
Here's another one.
00:24:14.32\00:24:15.72
It comes as a huge
surprise for a lot of people
00:24:15.72\00:24:17.69
when they
learned that Christians
00:24:17.69\00:24:19.19
actually continued to observe
the Sabbath and not Sunday,
00:24:19.19\00:24:22.32
and they did that
for hundreds of years.
00:24:22.32\00:24:24.89
And while the Bible
absolutely talks about
00:24:24.89\00:24:26.93
heaven as a real place,
the location of God's throne,
00:24:26.93\00:24:30.13
it doesn't
actually say that you and I
00:24:30.13\00:24:31.77
are gonna live
there for eternity.
00:24:31.77\00:24:34.10
Instead, it says that we're
gonna go there for a little bit,
00:24:34.10\00:24:36.27
but then Jesus, who
is God in human form,
00:24:36.27\00:24:38.94
takes up residents
with us here on this planet.
00:24:38.94\00:24:42.31
I mean, just listen to this.
00:24:42.31\00:24:43.78
It's one of my favorite
passages from Revelation 21.
00:24:43.78\00:24:47.28
Then I, John, saw the
holy city, New Jerusalem,
00:24:47.28\00:24:50.42
coming down out
of heaven from God
00:24:50.42\00:24:52.29
prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband.
00:24:52.29\00:24:55.02
And I heard a loud
voice from heaven saying,
00:24:55.02\00:24:56.76
"Behold, the
tabernacle of God is with men,
00:24:56.76\00:24:59.39
and he will dwell with them,
and they shall be His people.
00:24:59.39\00:25:02.33
God Himself will be
with them and be their God."
00:25:02.33\00:25:05.90
So I guess what
I'm saying is this.
00:25:05.90\00:25:08.27
If you're gonna
discuss the Bible with people,
00:25:08.27\00:25:10.17
at least you make sure you
know what it actually says.
00:25:10.17\00:25:13.27
Read the whole thing,
00:25:13.27\00:25:15.21
because I think you might
be surprised by what you find.
00:25:15.21\00:25:18.15
I'll be right back after this.
00:25:18.15\00:25:20.28
- [Announcer] Here at
the Voice of Prophecy,
00:25:23.59\00:25:24.92
we're committed to creating
00:25:24.92\00:25:26.15
top quality programming
for the whole family,
00:25:26.15\00:25:28.66
like our audio adventure
series, "Discovery Mountain."
00:25:28.66\00:25:32.06
"Discovery Mountain"
is a Bible-based program
00:25:32.06\00:25:34.60
for kids of all
ages and backgrounds.
00:25:34.60\00:25:36.93
Your family will enjoy
the faith-building stories
00:25:36.93\00:25:39.70
from the small
mountain summer camp Penn Town.
00:25:39.70\00:25:42.57
With 24 seasonal
episodes every year
00:25:42.57\00:25:45.04
and fresh content every week,
00:25:45.04\00:25:47.21
there's always a new
adventure just on the horizon.
00:25:47.21\00:25:50.38
- Okay, maybe let
me wrap up by saying
00:25:53.95\00:25:56.52
that one of the biggest
problems modern Christians have
00:25:56.52\00:25:59.29
comes from the fact that
we've had 20 long centuries
00:25:59.29\00:26:02.89
that involves some
pretty bad thinking.
00:26:02.89\00:26:05.36
A lot of people think
they know what the Bible says,
00:26:05.36\00:26:08.23
but there's enough
water under the bridge now
00:26:08.23\00:26:10.20
that we really need to go back
00:26:10.20\00:26:12.20
and do our
homework and make sure.
00:26:12.20\00:26:14.87
Sometimes we just think
the Bible teaches something.
00:26:14.87\00:26:17.97
So maybe it's time to
go to the basics again
00:26:17.97\00:26:20.64
and have a look at what
the founders of this movement
00:26:20.64\00:26:23.01
actually wrote
under inspiration.
00:26:23.01\00:26:25.78
And when you do that, you
can't just pick and choose
00:26:25.78\00:26:28.78
what you're
gonna read or believe,
00:26:28.78\00:26:30.65
or you'll end up with
the same problem again.
00:26:30.65\00:26:32.92
To be honest, a
lot of the criticism
00:26:34.06\00:26:35.76
that people leave on
the church's doorstep,
00:26:35.76\00:26:38.19
a lot of it is
perfectly justified.
00:26:38.19\00:26:40.76
And sometimes when somebody says
00:26:40.76\00:26:42.30
that one of our
beliefs is ridiculous,
00:26:42.30\00:26:45.13
they might actually be right.
00:26:45.13\00:26:47.04
So it's really
important to know for sure
00:26:47.04\00:26:50.21
what the Bible teaches.
00:26:50.21\00:26:52.01
And in order to know
that, you have to read it.
00:26:52.01\00:26:55.81
And as Paul told the
church in Thessalonica,
00:26:55.81\00:26:58.21
"Do not quench the spirit.
00:26:58.21\00:27:00.22
Do not despise prophecies.
00:27:00.22\00:27:02.12
Test all things,
hold fast what is good."
00:27:02.12\00:27:06.62
It's the same thing that he said
00:27:06.62\00:27:08.16
to his young protege,
Timothy, when he wrote,
00:27:08.16\00:27:10.23
"Be diligent to present
yourself approved to God,
00:27:10.23\00:27:13.19
a worker who does
not need to be ashamed,
00:27:13.19\00:27:15.43
rightly dividing
the word of truth.
00:27:15.43\00:27:18.23
But shun profane
and idle babblings,
00:27:18.23\00:27:20.40
for they will
increase to more ungodliness."
00:27:20.40\00:27:24.21
Of course, I'm under no illusion
00:27:24.21\00:27:25.51
that being more
accurate with the Bible
00:27:25.51\00:27:27.34
is going to stop
criticism or mockery
00:27:27.34\00:27:29.54
because that's been
going on since day one
00:27:29.54\00:27:32.11
with the Christian Church.
00:27:32.11\00:27:33.88
But at least let's shoot
for an honest conversation
00:27:33.88\00:27:36.69
and deal with the text itself,
00:27:36.69\00:27:38.49
instead of the
fairy tales we imported
00:27:38.49\00:27:40.46
from other sources
during the Dark Ages.
00:27:40.46\00:27:44.26
Thanks for joining me today.
00:27:44.26\00:27:45.46
I'm Shawn Boonstra,
00:27:45.46\00:27:46.86
and you've been
watching "Authentic."
00:27:46.86\00:27:49.36
[dramatic music]
00:27:50.60\00:27:53.37