The Truth Which Sets Free

By Peter Dunstan

"He who has ears let him hear."

Jesus said those words many times. What did he mean? He also declared, "The truth will set you free." Which truth? Free from what? This book will tell you in no uncertain terms, a message to be stapled on the world's bulletin board for any who pass by, and in particular for those who have the "right ears." It is a thorough explanation of the astonishing freedom won by Christ for his elect and the devastating implications this has for all world religion and philosophy, especially Christianity. It will shatter the myths underpinning many long cherished beliefs and rock the Church to its foundations. Along with many other surprises you will discover that the word "church" is not even in the Bible!

This investigation covers most aspects of the Church with special reference to its origin in early times: fathers, councils, creeds, buildings, names and titles, saints, priesthood and clergy, celibacy, ordination, confirmation, sacraments, tithes, sabbaths, festivals, gospels and media, assurance, second-coming and ecumenical beliefs. All these are weighed against Scripture, namely the teachings of Christ, the apostles and prophets, and found to be either non-existent, obsolete, not the same thing or quite the opposite! However, these concepts did not materialize from nothing; all came from someone, somewhere. The revelation of each source will be quite a shock for readers who thought they had a handle on the facts. Well-documented and researched but written in dynamic style, this presentation is often moving and alarming.

This is the truth which sets free.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Feb 26, 2007
• ISBN: 9781412249508

Peter Dunstan

Peter Dunstan was born in Kolar, India. After attending schools in India, Jamaica and England, he studied at University College London, receiving degrees in Architecture, Planning and Building. He also attended courses in Anthropology, discovering two life-long pursuits and associated interests, the archaeology of ancient cultures and the faiths of the world. Spending countless hours in the libraries and museums of London, he researched original texts of the scriptures of major religions, examined the artifacts of the great civilizations, and pored over exhibits in the halls of natural history and science. He has taught at the tertiary level and given lectures on empires of the past. Traveling extensively in all six continents and living in four of them, he has explored whenever possible the relevant ruins, from Egypt to Peru, India to Mexico, including many off the beaten track. During a working stay in Israel he spent every free day analyzing historical sites from northern Galilee to the Dead Sea, and made similar investigations while serving as a relief aid worker in Muslim countries. Using local transport and hiking across southeastern Europe, from Italy through Greece and Turkey, he traced the footsteps of the apostle Paul, examining the remains of ancient Rome, Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, Pergamon and Laodicea. Also in support of his writing he has researched pertinent antiquities in the museums of Greece, Rome, Cairo, the tombs of Egypt, the Paris Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of New York, the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City and several aboriginal museums in Canada, Australia, Central and South America. He presently lives with his wife and son on Vancouver Island.

Book preview

Copyright © 2002 by Peter Dunstan

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transferred by any other means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written permission of the author.

Author email: [e-mail] Destiner URL www.destiner.com A Destiner Press production in association with and published by Trafford.

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Cover art by Peter Dunstan

"Imperial Band."Monarch butterflies on their remarkable migration home.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dunstan, Peter

       The Truth Which Sets Free.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 1-55369-797-9

ISBN 9-7814-1224-950-8 (ebk)

     1.Christianity—Origins. 2.Church—History—Doctrinal deception.

I.Title.

BS2545.F7D85 2002   230   C2002-903587-2

10   9   8

Contents

1. Church or Elect?

2. Wrong Place, Name & Body

3. The House of God?

4. Right Word, Right Place

5. Early Church Fathers

6. Early Christian Councils

7. Christians?

8. Clergy & Saints

9. Creeds, Confessions, Catechisms

10. Church Sacraments

11. Authority & Confirmation

12. Church Sabbath

13. Church Festivals

14. Sheep & Goats

15. Church Gospels

16. Christian Books, Music, Film

17. Church Rapture?

18. Church Planting or Assembly?

19. Church Assurance

20. Unity or Ecumenism?

21. Church Judgment

22. Separation & Destruction

ADDENDUM

God & Evil

Raising the Dead

Spirit of the Living God

Amazing Grace

Harlot Babylon

Acknowledgements

About the Author

You will know the truth 

and the truth will set you free 

from the church

To the Unknown Scribbler 

who neatly added the graffiti 

(shown above in italics) 

to a revival poster 

on a university campus 

and which God used 

to open my eyes

And to 

The Elect Lady 

in the house on the hill 

and her family 

for insistent questions

And to 

John of Oz 

Israelite without guile

__________________

Scripture quotations from the 

King James Version (KJV) or Authorized Bible. 

New King James Version, Copyright © Thomas Nelson Inc. 1982,1988. 

Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Copyright © Division of Education, 

National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. 1946,1952,1971,1973. 

Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Quotations from the Encyclopedia Britannica 

I5th Edition (1974) and Standard Edition (1999) 

Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Coming soon from the same author

The Dark Powers That Bind

www.destiner.com

1. Church or Elect?

I believe in the holy catholic church, reads the so-called apostle’s creed. Since the day I was called, and I mean God’s choosing of me, for I most certainly did not choose Him, I have always known that there was, is, and always will be something fundamentally and terribly wrong with the church. Even as a juvenile in faith, with little knowledge, I could not utter, in the few times I attended meetings in which the creeds were recited, that I believed in the church. The words would not come forth. Why not? Well for a start this is not the creed of the apostles. It is the creed of men now known as the church fathers and was created by them for an entirely different group of people commonly called the early church. As we shall soon see, no apostle or original disciple in the assembly of God’s chosen people would ever have uttered these words. The church is catholic (wide-reaching) yes, but certainly not holy. It exists yes, but no disciple of the Lord is ever to embrace it. The object of faith, the source of authority, the power to salvation is always, and only, the living Word. No substitute. The church is a fraud of gigantic proportions. Even the word church is not Biblical. It is a deliberate error in translation, perpetrated over a hundred times in New Testament translations by the church. The word church may be used a trillion times in Christian doctrine, but it is not in the Word of God. It was in the church, by the church, and for the church that this word was used to replace the correct Scriptural term. A more detailed examination of the Greek will soon leave you in no doubt of this, if you are given the heart and stomach to continue.

The origins and nature of the church are rooted in unhallowed ground, right from its very beginning. This is not so obvious at first glance. Indeed for the untaught onlooker it is difficult to know what is wrong, although non-Christians are usually more astute than Christians at perceiving the fake. For devoted churchgoers, steeped in its traditions, it is almost impossible to see the light at all. I say almost impossible, because with God all things are possible. Nevertheless the church is a decoy that can hardly be bettered, because there is so much about it that is cloaked in mystery, draped in scriptures, almost too slippery to handle, as subtle and devious as the ancient Serpent himself.

I say this with melancholy because I have seen its damage again and again, to close associates, young converts, and particularly to family members. One committed suicide as a boy due to the church and its guilt being relentlessly stuffed down his throat by his father. Another, who initially received the pure Word with joy, went headlong into the church, and it gladly set its hooks in him. In mere months the church, and not Christ, was his master. Like churchmen of old, he was dismayed at the freedom of the elect; he would no longer break bread with them, and would receive things only from a qualified minister. Indeed, when the whole issue of the church and its inventions had done its work the hate in his heart was so great that, without a doubt, had he lived a few hundred years ago he would have gladly lit the fires at those heretic stakes. The scars this faith left on his family will be carried to the grave. Even now they constantly seek an understanding of what twisted thing was at work.

Where does it come from, this hatred by the church for those whom the Lord has called? Whence came the hounding and killing of disciples by Rome throughout the Dark Ages? How does a mental giant like Augustine, with his seeming grasp of grace, produce a book like The City of God, so far from Biblical truth it created a monstrous travesty? How did Calvin, once capable of such lucid sermons, end up the servant of Christianity rather than Christ, producing those grim tomes, the Institutes of the Christian Religion? How could he design faith-enforcement patrols in the city of Geneva to check on the inhabitants’ devotions and readings? It was contrary to his own texts, but showed that even he did not really believe God was sovereign and capable of keeping His own. How could he, a supposed rejecter of the Papacy’s methods, put Servetus to death for his incorrect teaching? Calvin orchestrated this murder, for which he never repented, showing himself to be no better than the Romanists he railed against. What apostle ever stooped to this? Did Jesus teach this way? Absolutely not. How could Presbyterians, with such seemingly logical and systematic theology, turn around and hunt down non-conformists in their homes for breaking bread as their Lord commanded instead of receiving it from ordained church authorities?

It is a pathetic state of affairs, but it exists, and has always existed. Jesus said repeatedly, Woe to you scribes and Pharisees! (Matthew 23) To his disciples he gave unimagined freedom, but to the church authorities he said, you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you… you are of your father the devil…you are not of God. (John 8:31-47) Stephen, on trial for his life by the church, in reply to the high priest himself, said, you stiff necked people.you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered. (Acts 7:51,52) And again Jesus said to them, You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have life…but I know that you do not have the love of God within you. (John 5:39-42) And to his disciples he gave this chilling warning, If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, because I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you .they will put you out of the synagogues; indeed the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. (John 15:18,19; 16:2)

This is a subject that can appeal only to a very small company of people headed for a very narrow gate. The majority will have no stomach for it. This is not for the Church or the State; the Lord rescues his people from both those traps. This is not a book for those who are at peace with the world, who revel in the traditions of men. This is not for Christians comfortable in their pews or ministers who bathe in the popularity of bestsellers or television. This is for a tiny minority of elite and favored people. But that very favor, bestowed on them by God, also carries the great cost of ostracism, separation from the world, separation from religion, and especially separation from the Church. In the words of their Lord and Master, You will be hated by all men for my sake. (Matthew 10:22; 24:9) In the Scriptures these people are called the elect, the called ones, the chosen of God, those predestined by Him to glory. Here are some of the fundamental differences between elect disciples and churchmen, with critical scripture references. The origins of these differences will be explored in detail in the chapters that follow.

The church looks back to its foundations in the early church and the Church Fathers. Their doctrine is the tradition of men, albeit cleverly disguised and mixed with scripture. Their real father is the devil. (John 8:38,44)

The elect look back to the early disciples and their teaching. (1 Timothy 4:6,7; 2 Timothy 3:14-17) They accept the Word alone. (John 14:23; 17:6,14-17; 2 Peter 1:20,21; Galatians 1:8) They have one father only, God, and no other by that name. (Matthew 23:8-10)

Churchmen look for a visible house of god fashioned after pagan concepts, and in so doing they stumble over the real foundation to their predestined doom. (1 Pet 2:6-8) The church both denies its fetish with the physical pagan house and yet simultaneously teaches it repeatedly. How many times have ministers said that the true church is not a building and then used the term over and over again regarding the clergy, the building, an institution or denomination? They have no intention of giving up this deception, nor can they, because they are blinded to it themselves. But the Scripture allows no such subtle confusion between a pagan temple (kyriakon, church) and the chosen assembly (ekklesia, elect, called out) of God.

The elect do not seek a visible house of God for the pure and simple reason that He does not live in one. (Acts 17:24; Hebrews 8:2,11) According to Hebrews the earthly temple and old priesthood is finished, Christ alone is High Priest, and every elect sheep is likewise a priest with direct access to the Holy of holies in heaven. (Hebrews 8:1,2; 9:11,24; 10:19-22; 1 Peter 2:4,5) Moreover the elect assembly is never called a church in accurately translated scripture. It is never a house of bricks and mortar, nor any kind of building, never a denomination, never an order of clergy, but consists only of God’s elect (1 Pet 2:4,5,8-10; Ephesians 2:20-22), chosen from the foundation of the world (1 Pet 1:2; Ephesians 1:5-9), given by the Father to the ransoming Son, awakened and sealed by the Spirit (Ephesians 1:13,14) for a destiny of unimagined riches to be shared. (Ephesians 1:18-23: note the word in v.22 is ekklesia, not kyriakon or church).

The church goes backwards to ordain its own prelates and priesthoods, creates clergy/laity divisions and upper echelon notions of saints, ruling councils and synods, and other intercessors, all supposedly standing for God and between God and man. All this is darkness. No matter how much may be disguised in pomp or vestments, all of it is spiritual rubbish.

The elect go forward in the brightness of the predestined plan of the almighty and unstoppable God. It is God who ordains them and every one so chosen is a saint. (Ephesians 2:19; Acts 9:13; Romans 1:7; 15:26; 16:2,15; 1 Corinthians 14:33; 2 Corinthians 13:13) Every chosen disciple is a full member of the authentic royal priesthood (1 Pet 2:9), with authority to intercede in the name of the one true high priest (Hebrews 4:14-16) whose tent is not made with hands, not of this creation (Hebrews 9:11), and with direct access to him bar nothing. (Ephesians 2:18) Every one of the called ekklesia is an ambassador of Christ, a representative of the Embassy of embassies. (2 Corinthians 5:20,21) Can status be any greater than that? All the church priests in the world cannot compare to one single elect child of God.

The church looks to creeds and catechisms and other man-made philosophies to explain its doctrines because it is lost, and staggers in darkness. Attempting to be all things to all men, the church will keep and defend pagan festivals, condone all manner of sin and even wed homosexuals, calling this enlightened progress. Therefore God gives them the cup they desire in full measure, even to self-destruction. (Romans 1:18-27; 1 Peter 2:7-13)

The elect are satisfied with the Word alone. The true child hears and recognizes the Father’s voice and responds with faith and obedience. (John 8:31; 14:21-23) Things contrary to the Word, especially sexual sin so fiercely condemned throughout scripture, are rejected. (Ephesians 5:3-13)

Church authorities claim sole right over their invented sacraments which, in extreme cases, the laity are forbidden to perform on pain of persecution. The high churches even serve up the perfect circle breads (which must not be broken) of the pagan sun cults and perform this as a Mass or celebration of the ongoing sacrifice of their god. This replacement of God’s true sacrifice is a very great sin in Scripture, described in both the Old and New Testaments as the abomination which makes desolate. Some churches change the elements from those prescribed in the Word, and some even reserve the elements for the clergy, denying it to the laity. The church decrees the times and days for such sacraments.

The elect have no sacraments or Mass, nor anything close to those unscriptural words. They do only as their Master bids, recognizing His sole authority, equally sharing without rank, deliberately breaking the bread to signify the broken body, the once-for-all and completely successful sacrifice of Christ (Hebrews 7:23-28; 9:24-26; 10:11-14) and honoring the shedding of his redeeming blood as often as they would drink wine at table, in their households, or anywhere, any day, anytime. (Luke 22:19,20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26) This command Jesus gave directly to his own, and only to his own. Never once did Christ break bread in this way with priests or any other church representatives, nor did he even appear to them once after his resurrection. He had already told them they were in dark, not of God. (John 8:19,42-47)

The church is a synagogue of Satan, a field of weeds, going through the motions; tares trying to pass for wheat. (2 Timothy 3:5; Revelation 2:9) Occasionally, there are unfortunate wheat stalks snared in this body who inherently suffer, often without understanding, until their shackles are broken and they escape by the same means as all salvation: God’s mercy, enlightenment, and life-quickening release. (Ephesians 2:1-2; 1 Peter 1:18; 2 Timothy 2:25,26)

The elect or called-out fellowship are a field of ever ripening wheat, the sons of the kingdom (Matthew 13:38) with a few weeds who have slipped in by various means (Jude 1:4), infiltrators planted directly by the devil. (Matthew 13:39) Solid teaching would put most of these churchmen to flight, in the manner that Jesus drove away many because they could not bear the truth of election. (John 6:44,63-66) Some weeds will remain to the very end, at which time God separates and destroys them. (Matthew 13:30; Luke 13:17)

The church wants to be popular, strives to look successful, counting heads, wanting large congregations, preaching little that would offend, so that the business of religion may go on and prosper. Church books and music are produced to further this end, copying the methods of the world, to make sales and be fashionable, to help fill the pews. In numbers they may grow, but in spirit they shrivel, weakening with time, sinking deeper into darkness, joining hands with others ever further from the truth. Their assembling is void because they do not obey. The way to hell is wide and easy, and multitudes enter in, even those who deceive themselves that they are God’s sheep. (Matthew 7:13-15; 22-24)

The elect will never be satisfied with anything but the unadulterated Word for which they hunger and thirst, do not seek popularity (1 Thessalonians 2:4), and may be only a handful in fellowship. The way to heaven is narrow and hard and only a few enter in. (Matthew 7:14)

The church likes its religiosity, its growth, its days of prayers to be public affairs, its giving to be seen, even posting its attendance and money collections, its citizens of the year acknowledged, and its acts noticed and praised by men. The reward is dross, earthly and momentary, for that which is exalted by men comes from a dead heart and is an abomination to God. (Luke 16:15)

The elect should not seek the spotlight but pray and give in quiet and secret as their Father advises. (Matthew 6:1-6) He sees their hearts, which he himself has quickened to life, and their reward is eternal and beyond imagining.

The church, whichever sect it is, strives to have people join, and it will conform its members to itself. It can only replicate itself with church plantings, spread its own particular denomination by proselytizers who will cross over land and sea to gain converts (Matthew 23:15) who will yet again come to church, a futile cycle of vanity. It confirms its members into itself and draws a circle within which members must reside. This is an age-old concept of pagan membership, copied and perfected by Rome and then in part by all the daughter churches, the idea that somehow belonging to them was of saving effect. In fact it is no better than any group. Even a crime mob meeting or homosexual gathering makes its participants feel comfortable in their own company, yet terrible judgement waits. They accept themselves, but are not accepted by God. Truth is not decided by majority vote. Their flocking together is of no advantage at all. The elect need to join nothing, nor is there anything to join for God has already included them, confirmed them in His own truth, called them forth by the Word of life into the only Body they will ever require, His. They are to be conformed, but not to the group (which has no saving power), nor to each other, but solely to the image of his Son. (Romans 8:29; Ephesians 5:1-2) The elect are only once told not to neglect assembling themselves together in the New Testament (Hebrews 10:2426) and this makes no mention of church, or Sabbath, or any other day, or any requirement for a number of participants. Jesus said two or three were sufficient. (Matthew 18:19-21) One thing is absolute; the elect are not to assemble or join with those who do not believe or obey the Word. (Psalm 1; Ephesians 5:7; 2 Thessalonians 3:6)

Churchmen are shackled to Sabbath-keeping and attendance. They are rightly called Sabbath worshippers, missing God altogether. They constantly harassed Jesus himself over this. (Matthew 12:1-2; Luke 6:8-10; 13:13-15; John 5:15-17; 9:13-15) Their inquiry is always, Where were you on Sunday? The very question reveals a corrupt heart, as if it was any of their business, or of any value. In this particular ploy churchmen love to lord it over one another, yet all the while they walk in darkness, the blind leading the blind down to the Pit. The elect belong to the Lord of the Sabbath and are free to walk wherever they will in the Light. They may spend the Sabbath, or any other time that is free from busy work, seeking his presence and considering his truths and greatness. There should be no perverse attendance fixation with them, on any day, at any place. It is not possible to constrain them, particularly in a church. Those born of God cannot help craving the right company, where the truth is taught or shared, because the children of God are alive in the Spirit and seek the voice of both Father and Son. They ask each other not Where were you before, or last time, but Did you learn something of profit recently, and is it well with your walk with God? This reveals the living heart, the one which leads upwards to the Light.

He who has ears, let him hear.

2. Wrong Place, Name & Body

Many contemporaries of Jesus debated his identity (John 7:40,41; 10:24; Matthew 16:13,14) but when Jesus asked his disciple, Simon, for his own opinion, he received the reply, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 16:15-17) Simon was already elect of course, pre-creation, before Christ spoke the imperial words, Follow me. (Mark 1:17) That command brought him irresistibly forth on a planned day in time, the Spirit opening his ears to hear, changing his heart to respond, fishing net dropping from his hands, walking away from his very means of livelihood. Later, with the words above, we see a further confirmation of what was already God’s absolute choice; namely, that Simon really knew who Christ was. At the final supper, Jesus put all of this, the predestined electing plan, the effective limit of the atonement and salvation by grace in a concentrated nutshell. Father.glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you, since you have given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent. I have revealed your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world; yours they were, and you gave them to me and they have kept your word. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you gave me; for they are yours; all mine are yours and all yours are mine. I have guarded them and not one is lost except the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. (John 17: 1-12)

In response to Simon’s statement Jesus declared, "And I tell you, you are Peter (Greek, petros), and on this rock (Greek, petra) I will build my assembly (ekklesia), and the powers of death shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18) Some historians have claimed that this controversial passage was a later insertion by the Roman Church to bolster its claim to the apostolic primacy of the Pope. Not so. The passage is correct, and the wording is critical, perhaps the most crucial time ever when Jesus spoke in metaphors to reveal a truth to his elect while deliberately keeping it hidden it from the lost, indeed, to send a delusion upon that vast multitude who are destined to perish. (Luke 8:10; Matthew 13:10-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:11) Two things are essential to understand in this passage and Jesus’ play on words. Firstly, grammatically, the rock refers not at all to Peter but to his declaration that Jesus was the Christ. The Rock, or eternal cornerstone, is, and can only ever be Jesus Christ, the Word of God. (see John 17:3; Matthew 7:24) Christ would never have made Peter, the most fallible of the eleven elect apostles, the Rock of faith. There is indeed a historical sense in which all the prophets and apostles form a foundation or base layer for the true house of God, the elect, but the sole cornerstone or rock is Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 2:19-22) God alone is the Rock and cornerstone of salvation, never man, and this is stated repeatedly throughout scripture so that God’s people would not get it wrong. This is of such vital importance, and so deliberately misrepresented by the church, that I include 34 typical references. God’s Word is rarely this repetitive, so it must be a critical truth for his elect. (Deuteronomy 32:4,15,18,31; 2 Samuel 22:2,3,32,47; 23:3; Psalm 18:2,31,46; 19:14; 28:1; 31:2,3; 42:9; 62:2,6,7; 71:3; 78:35; 89:26; 92:15; 94:22; 95:1; 144:1,2; Isaiah 8:14; 17:10; 30:29; 44:8; 1 Corinthians 10:4; Romans 9:33) Secondly, Jesus did not say he would build a church on anything. He did not use the word kyriakon, which is the origin of the word church. The word church simply does not exist in the Word of God. (Actually neither does religion, Latin root word religio, meaning strict or obligatory observance of a set of institutionalized attitudes, beliefs, and practices, nor gospel, Anglo-Saxon root word godspell, as we shall see later). This cannot be stressed enough, for the sake of the freedom of God’s elect. Words must be correct, or there can be no knowledge of the truth that sets free; ignorance and liberty do not walk together in the light. Church is derived from the Greek word kyriakon, which is not used in Scripture. A related word, kuriakos (of the lord, of the god) is found in only two places of the New Testament referring to the Lord’s supper (1 Corinthians 11:20) and the Lord’s day (Revelation 1:10) but there is no use of the word kyriakon (house of the god) which is the ancient root of church. Both these truths are not just controversial; they are revolutionary.

Now note the conversation by the well (John 4:19-26), where Christ revealed himself as the very water of life, not to some learned rabbi or priest, not even to a Jew, not even to a man, but to a simple Samaritan woman living in sin. Samaritans were a breakaway Jewish sect which held that the true temple of God was to be established on their Mount Gerizim and not Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. In the 4th century BC, Samaritans had built a rival sanctuary to the Jerusalem temple, later destroyed. In effect, they had that classic misunderstanding which has plagued the earth concerning a thing which some now call the church. Sir, I perceive you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you know not, we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. The woman said to him, I know that Messiah is coming, who is called Christ; when he comes he will show us all things. Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am he." Here she is, faced with the Christ who will reveal all, and one of the first things he tells her is that the church is a useless distraction. She desired a place to worship, but he merely brushed aside her ignorant hang-up. Once again, this truth is not just controversial; it is revolutionary. Christians have tried to get around this by saying there is a true church and a false church. That way they can still hang on to the trappings and traditions. However, this will not stand, it is doomed to failure. It cannot work, because a church of elect disciples is neither true nor false in scripture; the word church is not there at all.

The Greek word for the called out or elect assembly of the Lord in Scripture is ekklesia, similar in meaning to the Hebrew qahal. The word from which church is derived (also Scottish kirk, Netherlands kerk, German kirche, Anglo-Saxon circe, circus) comes from the Greek kyriakon, meaning house of the lord or house of the god, the dwelling place of the deity (temple, sometimes containing an actual idol of the god). It is distinct from ekklesia meaning assembly. (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, Harper Row, 1985) Not only is it distinct, it is removed from it in every way. In the inspired scriptures the Holy Spirit never uses kyriakon at all, never confuses kyriakon with ekklesia, never gives the pagan name of church to the elect. Another Greek word in the New Testament referring to the physical temple is hieron (temple, sacred house, high place, e.g. the temple of Diana in Acts 19:27; the Jerusalem temple in Matthew 24:1; John 7:28; 8:59; 1 Corinthians 9:13). Hieron is never used of the ekklesia or elect. Likewise the Hebrew of the Old Testament uses bayit (house of the god) and heykal (palace of the god) for structures built with human hands: "both terms are secular in origin, both refer to a structure.or dwelling for the deity.it is a pagan concept." (Dictionary of the Bible, McKenzie, MacMillan Publishing, 1965)

Let there be no misunderstanding in this, the word church is a derivative of the word kyriakon that does not occur in Scripture. It is a pagan name and concept for a literal house for a god. Yet this erroneous word church is most definitely found in Bible translations. In the majority of Bible versions the word church is used repeatedly, inserted as a deliberate replacement for and mistranslation of ekklesia. Worse still the word church has up to six different meanings, creating the confusion which the early church intended, and all churches have loved ever since. Church can mean the main governing body other than the state, an organization, a building, the clergy, a denomination or sect. Ekklesia does not have these multiple meanings, and most certainly never refers to a building. That is why church (kyriakon) should never be confused with assembly (ekklesia), nor substituted for ekklesia, because ekklesia is not the origin of the word church. "In the New Testament it (ekklesia) always denotes a group of people…it never signifies a building or denomination." (Harper’s Bible Dictionary)

There is, of course, a built temple in the Old Testament, which was given to the Israelites temporarily, and this was not because of their faith but because of their lack of it. The Jews had also desired a king. Why? They already had an absolute Sovereign, just as Christ is declared to be the only prophet, priest and king of his people. But the Jews wanted to be like the pagans around them; they wanted things that they could see, a sure sign that they had rejected God and become religious like the surrounding nations (1 Sam 8:4-9,19,20). So God gave them up to their desire. Like the original Hebrews who fled Egypt, only to make an idol of Apis the golden calf, blasphemously declaring that this was the Lord who truly rescued them from slavery (Exodus 32), so too the later Jews constantly wanted a return to pagan traditions. They desired first a king and then a temple. After the first disastrous king, Saul, came David. He was not satisfied that the only visible representation of God was the Ark of the Covenant, the box which God had given instructions to be built for the purpose of containing the Ten Commandments inscribed on stone tablets and delivered to Moses. But it is the Word that brings life, not stone, and certainly not bricks and mortar, not wood, not anything erected by man.

Nevertheless, God acceded to David’s request for a temple (2 Sam 7) and delivered its meticulous design, even though the Lord had made it clear that He does not live in a house made with human hands, that His dwelling is in heaven while the earth is for men. (Psalm 115:16) The temple would be for the weak in faith, those who, like the pagans, needed to see something tangible. It would be a mere copy or shadow of the real thing to come, and David was not permitted to build it. The task was given to his son. But it was Solomon who built a house for him. Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with hands; as the prophet (Isaiah) says, ‘Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. What house will you build for me? says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest?’ (Acts 7:48,49) Solomon was at first famed for his wisdom, but later fell away and gave himself to worshipping the pagan mother goddesses, dying finally in sin. (1 Kings 11) All the way up to the time of Jesus the temple caused problems, with priests and people more concerned with temple affairs than right faith before God. Indeed the very people who were engrossed in the religion of the temple (churchmen) were the same ones to reject Christ and call for his death. It was not pagans who called for his crucifixion; it was the pious cream of priestly religious leaders. Rome carried out the execution, but the church plotted and requested it. Instead of destroying him it swept them away; with His death all priestly office, the temple and altar were finished in the eyes of God. The New Testament book of Hebrews details the final revelation of Christ as Prophet, Priest, King and ultimate all-time Sacrifice of sacrifices, making the temple and all its trappings completely obsolete. As predicted by Jesus, God brought forth the Roman army to obliterate the temple. (70 AD)

In the New Testament there is no talk of building a temple at all. No apostle sent out by Christ nor any of the elect disciples in the first century would ever have spent time in such a worthless venture as building a house for God. The very message of the Word makes it a ludicrous proposition. They met where they were, in Jerusalem before its destruction, in marketplaces, spoke in synagogues, high places of public discourse, in houses, wherever. They did not build anything, nor even suggest it once; they made much better use of their resources. But another group was more than ready to do this, to go back to paganism in the name of the Lord. The apostles often alluded to this falling away, this secret intrusion of false teachers among you, (1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Peter 2:1-3; 2 Corinthians 11:3,4,13-15; Galatians 1:6,7), the coming of anti or substitute-christs who would pervert the scriptures and return to the traditions of men. They would attempt to deceive the elect and yet be very distinct from them (1 John 2:18-21;

4:3-6). John said this spirit was already at work in his time, which means as early as the second half of the first century AD !

Paul hinted that the only person temporarily restraining this phenomenon was the Roman Emperor. The early disciples had to be extremely careful about naming or criticizing Caesar since he was to be regarded as god in that overtly pagan empire. Disciples of Christ were put to death. Imposters existed parallel to the elect at all times of course, but only when it was safe and advantageous would the fakes appear in enormous numbers. When the restriction of the Emperor was removed the man of sin would be revealed and the huge sham would flourish with pretended miracles and all kinds of deception. God would deliver them to their delusion, causing them to revel in their falsehood, destining them to condemnation. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12) But the elect would be saved from this fraud, because they were chosen from the beginning, holding fast to the Word they had received in the apostles’ instructions. (2 Thessalonians 2:13-15) A blend of scripture and paganism was coming which would give rise to this disfigured creation. The emperor who opened the floodgates to this was Constantine the Great (c.274-337AD), who officially gave his stamp of approval to Christianity. At the head of this new body would eventually arise a man who would take from the Roman emperors the title of Pontifex Maximus, declaring himself to be divine. Indeed, three of the names given to the Pontiff or Bishop of Rome to this day are Holy Father (Pope, Papa), God upon earth and Vicar of Christ (from the Latin vicarius, literally replacement or instead of’ Christ, the identical meaning of antichrist" in Greek. For more papal names and claims see the Doctrinal Statements in the Anti of Christ chapter of Harlot Babylon in the Addendum). The Papacy also shared the name son of perdition with Judas Iscariot, the false apostle, and the only other in scripture to be so named. (John 17:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:3)

That establishment is what became known as the Church, with all its unscriptural monks (with pagan style shaven heads), nuns (like the pagan vestal virgins, dedicated to their church) celibate priests, holy saints, weeping Madonnas, visions and miracles. Even as early as the Councils of Nicea (325AD) and Ephesus (431AD), the Christian Church officially declared that Mary was Theotokos (mother of God). They taught that Jesus’ mother had supposedly died in Ephesus, city of the great mother goddess of Asia Minor whose temple was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Later they claimed she had risen into heaven from Ephesus to mediate between God and man. This subtle move identified Mary with the mother goddess, the first of many schemes to blend the scripture with paganism and thereby appease all. These sects produced man-made creeds and catechisms to explain the scriptures, as though the power of the Living God, the Word and Spirit, were not enough for His own people. They were wrong (John 16:12-15; 17:14-17). In the midst of all this an enormously influential book, The City of God, appeared from the pen of Augustine of Hippo (354-430AD), a travesty of misrepresenting Scripture and the words of Christ, describing the kingdom of God as if it were a visible realm on earth. Augustine could not have missed the mark any wider (Hebrews 13:13-15), but as the pre-eminent churchman of his time he was successful in laying the foundation for fully-fledged Roman Catholicism and its City-State.

Christ’s words to the church then would have been the same as they were to the church of his day. In vain do you worship me, teaching as truth the doctrines of men. (Mark 7:6-8; Matthew 15:8,9) One can only guess what the elect were actually doing in the early centuries. One thing is sure, they would not have been at these Councils, heaping error upon error. Like the elect of Elijah’s time they were almost invisible. This is an amazing fact. Elijah was a major prophet, granted astonishing powers and prescience in his time and yet he completely despaired at the power of the clergy which he believed had deceived all Israel. He thought he was entirely alone. Then God showed him that there were seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal (the prime pagan deity whose name simply means lord). The apostle Paul used this event to comfort the elect of all ages, declaring that there is always a remnant chosen by grace. (Romans 11:4-6) This is the true assembly and must never be confused with the church.

Meanwhile the church continued its relentless designs, dividing clergy and laity, bringing back the priests and cardinals (from the Latin cardinis meaning hinge, a select college of priests who previously served the god of doors and keys, Janus) and consecrating monks and monasteries copied from the pagans. The church changed the word saint to mean some kind of upper class believer, then listed even the pagan deities as saints, instituting sacraments (another unscriptural word) to be administered by priests alone, and replaced free giving (to the needy and other worthy causes) with the old obsolete tithes (to priest and church). On and on it went, with the only major split before the Reformation being that between the Roman