The Gospel Train

By G. Russell Dey

The Gospel Train left the station long, long ago filled with believers traveling on a straight, resolute track toward an eternal, spiritual paradise. But along the way, different cars of believers were switched off the main track and are now traveling in a somewhat different direction. Even though they are now following many different sets of rails, they all believe they are on the only true path that will take them to their desired destination. This book reveals the ways in which different religions deviated from a common trunk into contrary, discordant branches that are now essentially at war with one another.
The book focuses on what Christian Bibles actually say instead of what believers are told they say. It gives an accurate account of religious history from verifiable documents that are both ancient and up-to-date records from many different sources. The most tantalizing revelation is the nature of God as stated directly from Christian Bibles. Readers are encouraged to use their own Bibles to verify all references to scripture. Both chapter and verse are supplied for reference purposes.
After reading this book, you will never again feel exactly the same way about your religion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 23, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477275825

G. Russell Dey

The author of this book, G. Russell Dey, B.S., D.C., resides in the state of Arizona. He has dedicated more than 30 years to an in-depth and thoroughly detailed investigation into the history and progression of world religions. Much of the information in this book is compiled from validated ancient records dating as far back as can be researched. Dr. Dey has lived a diverse and interesting life. As a young man he worked in the field of computer technology at a time when computers were just beginning to make their way into large corporations and becoming useful in military applications. While working for General Motors Research laboratories and serving in the United States Naval Reserve, he continued his college education on a part time basis. After college he attended professional school at Palmer College of Chiropractic and graduated with a Degree of Doctor Of Chiropractic. He continued pursuing education in the healing arts and became certified, and subsequently registered, as a clinical hypnotherapist. Before and after his years as a Chiropractic physician he worked as a science teacher and medical instructor at various educational institutions. His great interest in religion and spirituality grew as a result of practicing in the field of hypnotherapy. As a devout Christian he was torn between hypnosis, which he knew to be an extremely helpful adjunct to any healing arts practice, and his Christian faith which considers hypnosis to be wicked and devilish. This conflict between his practice and his religion was greatly responsible for him commencing the in-depth study of religious history that resulted in the writing of this book.

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© 2012 G. Russell Dey. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 10/22/12

ISBN: 978-1-4772-7584-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-7583-2 (dj)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-7582-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012918232

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Chapter I History of the Christian Church

Chapter II Faith, Hope and Charity?

Chapter III The Apocrypha

Chapter IV The Dead Sea Scrolls

Chapter V Ecumenical Councils

Chapter VI Crusades and Inquisitions

Chapter VII Historical World Saviors

Chapter VIII Comparable Lives of Known Saviors

Chapter IX Healing by Faith?

Chapter X Is the Bible Historically Reliable?

Chapter XI The Nature of God

Dedication

To seekers of truth everywhere,

and to Maryann

who always understood my quests.

I will never forget you.

Introduction

For purposes of whimsical illustration I liken the history of religion to a train I call The Gospel Train, traveling down a track pulling cars full of believers. The Gospel train left the station thousands of years ago on a straight unwavering track with an engine, a conductor and a specific destination. But along the way, different cars of believers were switched off the main track onto alternate tracks where they picked up a new engine and a new conductor. Each new conductor believed that he knew the only way to arrive at the original destination and because he was in charge, he told everyone exactly how they should behave and exactly how their common desire to arrive at their destination would be accomplished.

There were, and are, costs involved in operating any of the newly conducted trains. They must be kept fueled, maintenance on all of the parts must be kept up and the people must be continually reminded that they are on the express to the promised land. That all costs money, so anyone riding one of the trains must contribute monetarily to its preservation. The conductor and anyone helping him to maintain the train and his ecclesiastical authority, must also receive compensation, it’s their livelihood.

The conductors are said to have gotten their instructions on what must be done to make the journey successful from the very top. They are all in possession of what they say is the only genuine manual for accomplishing the task. Any of the manuals can be copied any number of times, but since they were finalized, no manual can ever be abridged in any way. That is gospel train law.

Anyone who gets off the train or even challenges the complete infallibility of what is contained in the manual is considered to be unworthy of the manuals unapproachable reliability, and that person must be brought back on board and in compliance, or he will be lost wandering in the wilderness without hope. He will never reach the totally contented comfort of his otherwise guaranteed destination, because as each conductor tells his passengers, there are no other trains that are capable of taking them where they want to go.

That, metaphorically speaking, is the current state of affairs today. We are told by the conductor of which ever train we are riding, even though it has been switched off the primary track and is now going in a somewhat different direction, that if we continue to ride his train faithfully, we are assured of reaching our objective.

I realize that my allegorical illustration of the gospel train may seem a little silly to some people, but even so, I had fun creating the story and I think it’s an interesting and entertaining way of understanding a very serious situation; a situation that people can not escape from unless they use the reasoning power that most adult human beings have available to them. That is why I titled this book The Gospel Train and ask that readers give it an honest appraisal. After doing that, if you decide it’s a crazy fabrication that blasphemes your religion, that’s okay; but somehow I believe there will be something left for most readers to think about.

Just riding along and trusting that everything is going in the right direction without giving it much thought, like an unobservant, unmindful passenger who is just along for the ride, is not the responsible thing to do as a human being who was created capable of much more.

In order to ride on any of the alternate track trains, you must check your reasoning ability at the gate because only faith is accepted on these lines. However, riding one of these trains is quite comfortable because it relieves passengers of the burdensome process of contemplative reasoning. Many passengers, though, feel a little uneasy about the total acquiescence necessary to be accepted as a passenger in good standing. It’s normal to feel that way when you are not being encouraged to use all of the abilities you were given when you were created and you are fully capable of using.

When we feel something is not exactly right, and I believe that most people have felt that at one time or another about their religion, we have a responsibility to investigate, to make sure we have all of the facts to back up what we are being told. That’s just the way resourceful, responsible human beings were designed to operate. We were not designed with the purpose of being submissive drones, but to have dominion over all the earth (Genesis 1:26).

To have dominion is to have supreme authority. No one can be said to have supreme authority while just blindly following others. We need leaders, of course, but the leaders should not require complete, uninterrupted trust in whatever it is they are professing. It should never be considered heretical to challenge any hypothesis, theory or doctrine by requiring some kind of verification or logical explanation.

The great scientist Galileo was told that his theory about the movement of heavenly bodies was heretical by professors of philosophy, and at least one Florentine priest denounced his published works from the pulpit. He was later summoned to Rome by the inquisition to stand trial for grave suspicion of heresy. He was compelled in 1633 to abjure (formally renounce his findings) which he did to avoid being tortured and killed. He was sentenced to life in prison. Luckily for him his sentence was commuted to permanent house arrest a little later. Most of his published works were burned and he was further humiliated by having the sentence against him presented in every university.

Since the publication of Galileo’s trial documents in 1870, the entire blame for his fallacious prosecution has been placed on the church and the professors who persuaded the inquisition to bring heresy charges against him. In 1984, a formal commission finally did acknowledge that the church was wrong for prosecuting and persecuting an innocent man.

The time has come for people to begin requiring explanation, verification and accountability from religious leaders with respect to theological teachings. I am confident that the human race has advanced beyond the stage of simple child-like acceptance of what they are being told. Requiring faith without cognizant reasoning is highly condescending toward intelligent human beings and it should no longer be tolerated.

However, I want to be very clear about my position regarding religion. I am not for or against any religion and I steadfastly uphold the right of anyone to worship any way he chooses. But, I believe, before choosing to follow any religious teaching, it is only judicious to look carefully into its history and to make yourself completely cognizant of what its published works actually say. Having faith in anything is warranted only after being well versed in its accuracy and authenticity. No organization should ever require faith without demonstrating full accountability.

This book is designed to show what the Christian Bible, with its current translation, actually says and to present an accurate account of church history. By talking with people of different persuasions, some very religious, some only moderately religious and some very skeptical of religion, I have found that even the vary religious ones are not familiar with their Bibles in anything approaching a scholarly way. I think it’s important to truly understand anything you support and advocate, especially anything as profoundly important as your eternal destiny. So, to that purpose, I dedicate this book.

Foreword

Starting at a very young age, I began wondering about the universe, its plan and purpose and also the reason for human creation. The sciences of astronomy, archaeology and the history of human development have been intriguing to me for as long as I can remember. As a boy of 8 or 9 years old, I delighted in reading about the structure and inclination of our solar system from the old World Book of Knowledge, and other old science books that belonged to my grandfather. The books were all from the late 1800s hundreds and early 1900s hundreds. They discussed such things as the time it would take for a railroad train traveling 38 miles per hour to reach the moon and other objective considerations like that, based on the scientific proficiency of that time.

Evolution of species, according to the writings of Charles Darwin, was in full swing and the drawings and descriptions of the transitional creatures that supposedly existed between apes and humans were exciting to me. I believed it all, even though the evangelistic church we attended railed against such sacrileges. I wanted to be one of the people who would uncover the great secretes hidden in the earth and even the universe.

Even back then, I realized that much of what I was reading was outdated. More recent discoveries and advances in technology had proved that what was thought to be true then was known to be false at a later date and what is believed to be scientifically sound today may well be shown to be erroneous in the future; but that is the tantalizing thing about science. Today’s fact may well become tomorrows folly. Not all scientific conclusions are erroneous to be sure. Many stand the test of time extremely well. But the overall body of scientific knowledge is never beyond suspicion and should never be above examination by anyone.

That should also be true for all religions. Truth has nothing to fear from profound, honest investigation. But investigation into religion, I found, is not enthusiastically welcomed. At least it was not welcomed by any of the different denominations, sects or orders that I contacted for historical information. Doctrinal and promotional material poured in from most all of them, but no solid historical documentation outside of the usual dogma based on an assumption of absolute, unchallengeable truth.

Life is a gigantic, perplexing mystery. Who are we, why are we here, where are we going, or are we going anywhere? So many difficult-to-explain phenomena surround us. UFOs, healing by faith, spirit manifestations, e.s.p. and a host of other extraordinary illustrations outside of the realm of orthodox science are, nevertheless, experienced by many credible and convincing human beings. All of these things provoke our imaginations. Most people have some interest in these strange and seemingly unnatural happenings, but they are skeptical because there never seems to be any irrefutable, conclusive evidence of their legitimacy. They need to be investigated more fully before the absolute truth can be known.

Objective investigation into all of those things is difficult because of predisposed mental programming of what is possible and what is not possible based heavily on religious indoctrination and strong resistance from orthodox science. Religious beliefs are extraordinarily difficult to contemplate and examine objectively. Few people are unprejudiced about religion. If there is a hallmark that is indicative of religion in general, it is blind faith, not inquiring open-mindedness.

The vast majority of people the world over believe in a higher power but have different ideas about who or what it is and how it operates. The one thing that is mostly agreed upon is that higher knowledge can be, or at least has been at some time in the past, brought down to earth, or obtained spiritually, by someone who then gained followers who worship him and his message. A religion then arises based on his life and his teachings. However, different religions have different avatars and each one considers itself the highest with the most perfect message for mankind.

Most societies consist of scientifically oriented members who are devoted to change through investigation of the unknown, using laws of science that have been proven to work, and also religious leaders who follow an unalterable, theological doctrine. A scientist may spend many years attempting to prove a theory but in the end may find the body of uncovered knowledge does not support his position. When this happens, most scientists, very reluctantly, yield to proof that they were wrong. Religious leaders, on the other hand, do not yield or change their beliefs in any way, no matter what.

I’ve always felt that science and theology should be held to similar standards of accountability based on reasonable, manifest conclusions. The foundation of any religion is faith that there is someone or something greater than self who is responsible for the creation of everything including us. That is a reasonable, manifest conclusion because everything including human life is here and we know we couldn’t accomplish anything like that. I don’t know how any rational human being could disagree with that determination. It is a solid premise for any religion, or any other organization or individual, to bear witness to as a solid foundation.

The creator of this or any other universe, has to be the consummate scientist. Creation of any physically constructed universe, whether or not it includes spiritual beings, would certainly require incredibly intelligent construction through manipulation of physical matter. The universe exists, so that obviously happened. Believing that doesn’t require faith, it just requires intelligent observation. It is the basic tenet of religion that is arrived at through faith, and it is also a logical conclusion that is arrived at through intellectual reasoning. So religions, even though they use a different avenue to arrive at their belief, agree with logical reasoning on that point, but then it all falls apart.

We can believe in a creator because we are experiencing a creation. We don’t need faith to believe, we were given logically thinking minds with the ability to observe our surroundings and then draw measured conclusions from our observations. That’s how our minds work, because we were created that way.

Faith in something simply because someone tells us it’s true, especially when it’s illogical, should not be the standard for using our mentality. We were created with far greater reasoning capabilities than that. It’s hard to believe we were created with abilities and capabilities that should not be put to beneficial use. And it’s even harder to believe that we should live in fear of horrible punishment from our creator for using our minds in the way our creator designed them to be used. Why would we be limited to childlike obedience through faith under the threat of terrible punishment for unbelief or, in the case of religions that teach reincarnation, multi-life recycling in order to improve ourselves without memory of the mistakes we made in the previous lives?

We have always been told that science and religion do not mix and that is absolutely true. The reason it’s true is because religion is a human creation and science is not. Our creator designed the universe and in doing, so endowed humans with creative powers of their own. We are at liberty to create whatever we become capable of creating. And, because some humans have a great desire to control others, fear-based religion on this planet came into being. That is why religions substitute faith for intellectual thought and then add fear of punishment from a supernatural deity for not having the required faith in their teachings.

This universe is not secret, unknown, unrevealed or unintelligible (supernatural), it’s natural! It follows the natural physical laws that are incorporated into it, the same laws that were probably used to create it. Creation has not stopped. The Bible tells us that all of creation is completed. It says the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished on the sixth day of creation (Genesis 2:1). But we know