The purpose of this paper is to bring about discernment
among Christians concerning the practices and symbols as found within Black
Greek Letter Organizations (BGLO's) and whether or not they should have a
place in the life of a follower of Jesus Christ when viewed from a
"Biblical" world view.
There are at least
four important questions that need to be answered. They are:
Are BGLO compatible with
Christianity when objectively looked at from a
Biblical world view?
Would incorporating teachings and
imagery of a pagan god
along with the
God of the Bible be considered an act of idolatry?
Are the so called deities (gods) of the pagan faiths
practiced by Israel enemies considered false gods?
For a believer, seeking to obey God
would a connection to a false
"god" and a
commitment and devotion to an organization in connection
with a false god, be an abomination to God?
Have the teachings of the false god's
of pagan societies lifted that society up or brought it
under bondage and or ultimately doom?
"Within"
the church there are those who have made a decision to join either a Sorority
for women or a Fraternity for males. Then there are others who are in a period
of exploration and consideration as to whether or not they should join. I
would encourage one to do a spiritual assessment before joining any GLO or any
organization for that matter.
Young folks are the primary target of GLO's.
Some join out of the tradition of the institution, others due to a family member
or friends who where or is currently part of a fraternity or sorority. Some
claim that membership in a fraternity or sorority is a good first step toward
enjoying all the benefits that college life has to offer.
BGLO's consist of what's typically
called the "The Divine Nine", which
consists of the following
organizations:
"The
Divine Nine."[2]
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity,
Founded 1906, Cornell University
[2]
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority,
Founded 1908, Howard University
[3]
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Founded 1911, Indiana University
[4]
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Founded 1911, Howard University
[5]
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Founded 1913, Howard University
[6]
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Founded 1914, Howard University
[7]
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Founded 1920, Howard University
[8]
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Founded 1922, Butler University
[9]
Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Founded 1963, Morgan State University
[10]
For those who
are professing Christians it is imperative that one's life has a focus on living
by God's word alone (Deut 8:3, Matt 4:3-4). One must not be deceived into taking
lightly the joining of any organization or group including a church. One should
pursue the will of God for one's life to "ensure" the best for one's life. The
benefits of such a pursuit will have rewards even in eternity. For eternity is
God's focus and should be ours.
Our bodies and minds must be completely
devoted to God according to the word of God so that we may prove what the will
of God is. Notice what Paul says in the following passage in Romans
Rom 12:1-2
1
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your
bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is
your spiritual service of worship.
2 And do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which
is good and acceptable and perfect. [1]
As Christian's we
are commanded to (1) prove all things and (2)abstain from all evil 1Thess
5:21-22, and (3) to test the spirits (teachers) (1 John 4:1). Testing and
proving is not just limited to things pertaining to the church but to where ever
we find ourselves in the culture. A failure to do so would be in direct
disobedience to the word of God and reflect a lack of spiritual discernment and
maturity (Heb 5:13-14) or worse yet, it would cast doubts on whether or not one
truly has a relationship with Christ.
In commenting on 1Thess 5:21-22 EdmondHiebert
says the following:
5:21.
In view of this danger Christians need to test
what they hear and read, by comparing it with the Word
of God, to determine if it is divine in its origin. This
is difficult, but it is possible for a spiritual
believer (1 Cor. 2:14). Each Christian has the
responsibility and ability to do this, though some have
more discernment than others (cf.
Acts 17:11; 1 John 4:1). What is discovered to be
good (i.e.,
in harmony with what has been given by the Holy Spirit
in the Word) should be retained.
5:22.
On the other hand counterfeit teaching and living should
be rejected and avoided. Not only should pseudo
prophecies be discarded but also, as Paul broadened his
warning,
every kind and form of evil
should be avoided.
[11]
Spiritual
maturity and discernment is vital as we engage in spiritual warfare (Eph
6:10-12). It is imperative that one understand that Satan doesn't limited
himself to just the affairs of church in the life of the believer but will
attack the believer in any area he can gain a strong hold, to render them
ineffective for the cause of Christ. Therefore its important that one is actively cautious, watchful and vigilant in
light of the prowling of Satan as he seeks opportunities to attack.(1Pet
5:8)
It is important that one be not ignorant of
his schemes, Satan does and can disguise himself as an angel of light and
his servants as
servants of righteousness
(2Cor 11:14-15),
This is why it's paramount that one understands that good works alone is not the
ultimate validation of truth. Therefore one must be fully prepared to engage in
spiritual warfare by clothing themselves with the full armor our God. (Eph
6:11,13). This will enable you to recognize and
resist in the evil day that all those who are born again
"will encounter", count
on it.
Despite its pagan associations some churches openly endorse
the activities and organizations of BGLOs by giving them a forum to
speak and promote their agendas. I have personality witness this in a
historic Black church in Birmingham Alabama. This activity is keeping in
line with the prophetic word where the Holy Spirit has said. in 1 Tim
4:1-2 :
1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from
the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,
2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own
conscience seared with a hot iron.
and again in 2Pet 2:1-3
1But
false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be
false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive
heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift
destruction upon themselves.
2Many
will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth
will be maligned;
3and
in
their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long
ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
Yet despite the strong
biblical warning against paganism and association with Occultic activity (2
Cor 6:14-17). Leadership and laity alike are showing incredible lack
of spiritual responsibility, utter lack of regard for God's commands and no
spiritual discernment what so ever. This has provided an open door for
the "Doctrine of Demons" to flourish and mature unabated. The attitude
reflects the state of apostasy that the church is currently in and shows
that we are indeed in the consummation of the church age.
11 “Be
sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am
going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite,
the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite.
12“Watch
yourself that you make no covenant
with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it
will become a snare in your midst.
13 “But rather, you are to tear
down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut
down their Asherim
14 —for you shall not worship any other
god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God—
15 otherwise you might make a covenant
with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot
with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone
might invite you to eat of his sacrifice,
16 and you might take some of his
daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot
with their gods and cause your sons also to play the
harlot with their gods.
The Integration of
Pagan Deities and Symbolism is undeniable within BGLOactivities. This should raise a red flag of concern for
the Christian.
The use of Pagan Deities and Symbolism needs
an objective
Biblical world view answer not an opinionated subjective answer based on
human reasoning.
Pagan societies held to a belief in a number of
deities, both male and female. These so called deities gave to their
followers a variety of traits and qualities. Many of these deities had
their own distinctive cults that followed specific rituals, honor and even
sacrifice to their particular gods or goddesses. These deities where
identified by what they bestowed on humans. Therefore you have Minerva
the goddess of handicrafts, the professions, the arts, with her owl as a
symbol of the Greek
goddess Athena denoting wisdom, Venus the goddess of love, Apollo the god of
music (principally the lyre, and he directed the choir of the
Muses) and
also of prophecy, colonization, medicine, archery (but not for war or
hunting), poetry, dance, intellectual inquiry and the carer of herds and
flocks.
Because of the spiritual importance, there
are eternal significance and consequence at stake. Following is a partial
list of Pagan Deities used either in secret ritual proceedings and or attire
symbolism. The point being, paganism has its tentacles into BGLOs as the below
table clearly demonstrates.
F=Fraternity S=Sorority
Name
Pagan Deity or Symbol
Historical Traditional Meaning
F
Kappa
Alpha Psi
Apollo
The
son of
Zeus and
Leto, and the twin brother of
Artemis. Apollo was the god of music
(principally the lyre, and he directed the
choir of the
Muses) and also of prophecy,
colonization, medicine, archery (but not for
war or hunting), poetry, dance, intellectual
inquiry and the carer of herds and flocks.
He was also a god of light, known as
"Phoebus" (radiant or beaming, and he was
sometimes identified with
Helios the sun god). He was also the god
of plague and was worshiped as
Smintheus (from sminthos, rat)
and as Parnopius (from parnops,
grasshopper) and was known as the destroyer
of rats and locust, and according to Homer's
Iliad, Apollo shot arrows of plague
into the Greek camp. Apollo being the god of
religious healing would give those guilty of
murder and other immoral deeds a ritual
purification. Sacred to Apollo are the swan
(one legend says that Apollo flew on the
back of a swan to the land of the
Hyperboreans, he would spend the winter
months among them), the wolf and the
dolphin. His attributes are the bow and
arrows, on his head a laurel crown, and the
cithara (or lyre) and plectrum. But his most
famous attribute is the tripod, the symbol
of his prophetic powers.
Apollo was worshiped
throughout the Greek world, at Delphi every
four years they held the Pythian Games in
his honor. He had many epithets, including "Pythian
Apollo" (his name at Delphi), "Apollo
Apotropaeus" (Apollo who averts evil), and
"Apollo Nymphegetes" (Apollo who looks after
the Nymphs). As the god of shepherds he also
had the cult titles "Lukeios" (from
lykos; wolf), protecting the flocks
from wolfs, and "Nomius" (of pastures,
belonging to shepherds). Being the god of
colonists, Apollo influenced his priests at
Delphi to give divine guidance, as to where
the expedition should proceed. This was
during the height of the colonizing era
circa 750-550 BCE. Apollo's title was "Archigetes"
(leader of colonists). According to one
legend, it was Apollo who helped either
Cretan or Arcadian colonists found the city
of Troy.
In art Apollo is at
most times depicted as a handsome young man,
clean shaven and carrying either a lyre, or
his bow and arrows. There are many
sculptures of Apollo and one of the most
famous is the central figure from the west
pediment of the Temple of Zeus, at Olympia,
showing Apollo declaring victory in favor of
the Lapiths in their struggle against the
Centaurs.
[3]
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/apollo.html
DELPHIC
SHRINE
Site
of the ancient temple and
oracle of
Apollo in Greece. Located on the slopes of Mount
Parnassus, it was the centre of the world in ancient Greek religion.
According to legend, the oracle was originally sacred to
Gaea, and Apollo acquired it by slaying her child, the serpent
Python. From 582 BC Delphi was the
site of the
Pythian Games. The oracle was consulted not only on private matters
but also on affairs of state, such as the founding of new colonies
In Egypt, the Sphinx had been a male monster,
combining the body of a lion with the head of a ram or man. But in
Greece the Sphinx became a she-monster, with the head and breasts of a
woman, the body of a lion, the wings of an eagle, and the tail of a
snake.
Mythological creature with a lion's body and a
human's head. It figures prominently in Egyptian and Greek art and
legend. The winged sphinx of Thebes was said to have terrorized people
by demanding the answer to a riddle taught to her by the
Muses—What
is it that has one voice and yet becomes successively four-footed, then
two-footed, then three-footed?—and devoured every person who answered
incorrectly. When
Oedipus
correctly answered “man”—who crawls on all fours in infancy, walks on
two feet when grown, and leans on a staff in old age—the sphinx killed
herself. The earliest and most famous example in art is the Great Sphinx
at Giza in Egypt, built 2500 . The sphinx appeared in the Greek world
1600 and in Mesopotamia 1500 .
In
Roman religion, the goddess of handicrafts, the professions, the
arts, and, later, war. She was commonly identified with the Greek
Athena.
Some scholars believe that worship of Minerva began when Athena's cult
was introduced at Rome from Etruria. Minerva was one of the Capitoline
triad, along with
Jupiter
and
Juno,
and her shrine in Rome was a meeting place for craftsmen's guilds. The
worship of Minerva attained its greatest vogue under the emperor
Domitian,
who claimed her special protection. Owl symbol of the
Greek goddess Athena denoting wisdom
Phi Beta Sigma
Pallas Athena
The Columbia
Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | Date: 2008
Athena , or Pallas Athena , in Greek religion and
mythology, one of the most important Olympian deities. According to
myth, after Zeus seduced Metis he learned that any son she bore would
overthrow him, so he swallowed her alive. Later Hephaestus split Zeus'
skull with an ax, and out sprang Athena, fully armed. Athena was a deity
of diverse functions and attributes. Her most conspicuous role was
perhaps that of a goddess of war, the female counterpart of Ares.
However, she was also a goddess of peace, noted for her compassion and
generosity. Like Minerva, with whom the Romans identified her, she was a
patron of the arts and crafts, especially spinning and weaving. In later
times she was important as a goddess of wisdom. Athena was also a
guardian of cities, notably Athens, where the Parthenon was erected as
her temple.
Atlas
, in Greek mythology, a Titan ; son of Iapetus and Clymene and the
brother of Prometheus. When the Titans were defeated, Atlas was
condemned to hold the sky on his shoulders for all eternity—a mythical
explanation of why the sky does not fall. Hercules shouldered the burden
in exchange for Atlas fetching him the apples of the Hesperides.
In
Greek mythology, a race
of creatures, part horse and part man, dwelling in the mountains of
Thessaly and Arcadia. Traditionally they were the offspring of
Ixion, king of the neighbouring
Lapiths, and were best known for
their fight (centauromachy)
with the Lapiths, which resulted from their attempt to carry off the
bride of Pirithous, son and successor of Ixion. They lost the battle and
were driven from Mount Pelion. In later Greek times they were often
represented drawing the chariot of the wine god Dionysus or bound and
ridden by Eros, the god of love, in allusion to their drunken and
amorous habits. Their general character was that of wild, lawless, and
inhospitable beings, the slaves of their animal passions. (The Centaur
Chiron was not typical in this
respect.) in
Greek
mythology, one of the Centaurs, the son of the Titan Cronus and
Philyra, an Oceanid or sea nymph.
Chiron lived at the foot
of Mount Pelion in Thessaly. Unlike other Centaurs, who were violent and
savage, he was famous for his wisdom and knowledge of medicine. Many
Greek heroes, including Heracles, Achilles, Jason, and Asclepius, were
instructed by him. Chiron frequently appears in the legends of his
grandson, Peleus, and his great-grandson, Achilles. Accidentally pierced
by a poisoned arrow shot by Heracles, he renounced his immortality in
favor of Prometheus and was placed among the stars as the constellation
Sagittarius.
God's position and instruction to believers joining
forces with those who worship and follow other gods is quite clear in
scripture.
First lets look at passages Exodus 20:3 The
first of the ten commandments
Exodus 20:3
“You shall have no other
gods before Me.[1]
"before Me" may mean “in opposition to
Me” as well as “in My presence”, [9] either way it
strongly implies that God's people are to have "no"
association with any type of foreign god,
materialistically, spiritually or other wise.
Association with other gods brings with it the
danger of godless influence from those who don't now
the true and living God.
Is 2:6 6 For You
have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob,
Because they are filled with influences from the
east , And they are soothsayers like the
Philistines, And they strike bargains with the
children of foreigners.[1]
14 Do not be
bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership
have righteousness and
lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? [1]
This is not
and injunction against all associations with
unbelievers. (1Cor 5:9-11; 10:27) Paul encourage the
Christian believer who is married to a non Christian
to remain in the marriage as long as possible. (1
Cor 7:12-16)
This is forbidding the forming
of “close” attachment to the unbeliever,
thus Paul uses the Greek word for bound, (translated
"unequal yoking in the KJV) .”heterozugeo” which
means to come under an unequal or different yoke; a
mismatched.
It is often necessary to
indicate somewhat more precisely the manner in which
one may be wrongly matched with others. Accordingly,
one can translate 2 Cor 6.14 as ‘do
not attempt to work together with those who are
unbelievers’ or ‘do not become partners with those
who do not believe.’
[10]
The figure of speech of
"unequal yoking "(KJV) is based on the command found
in Deuteronomy 22:10.
that prohibited the yoking of an ox and an ass for
plowing, and also on Leviticus 19:19
where the cross breeding of animals of a different
species is forbidden..
To be
"unequally yoked" or "bound" with those involved in
idolatry and heathenism would have resulted in
compromise of beliefs, standards, goals and a
"single minded devotion to God."
Paul
further drives his point home when he says, "...what partnership
have righteousness and lawlessness or
what fellowship has light with darkness"
The Greek word for "partnership
is metoche which is a relationship involving
shared purposes and activity.[10]
This partnership is seen in the relationship
context of those who are unequally yoked, which is
described as "righteousness, Greek dikaiosynē"
(those who do right according to God's word and
"lawlessness, Greek anomia" (those who are against
the law; wrong doing, committers of sinful acts)
being bound together. The same unholy union is
explicitly implied in Paul's metaphoric question
,..." what fellowship has light with darkness"
15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a
believer in common with an unbeliever?
16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we
are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell in
them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be
My people.
Paul hammers harder, making his point with
4 rhetorical questions denoted by the word "what" in V15 and 16 each demanding a
negative answer. The questions also serves to make clear the
incompatibility of Christianity in contrast to the world's
religions with their practices and doctrine and the fact that
believers and non believers have no basis for an intimate
relationship nor common ground in the pursuit of the things of
God. This is because unbelievers do not govern their life
according to the things of God but according the principles of
the world system. (Eph
2:2)
The other reason
believers are to avoid and not enter such unions is because they
belong exclusively to God "“I will dwell in them and
walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My
people. " This should takes us back to Lev 26:11-12, God's promise to Israel is
also a
promise to the church with the difference being he will not only
be among us but also "in us".
17 “Therefore,
come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not
touch what is unclean ; And I will welcome you.
The demand for holiness and fellowship with
God is based on our separation from evil. Therefore God
says, "come from their midst.
In keeping with is promise of his presence,
God demands separation form evil as Paul indicates by quoting
from Is 52:11. This allows us to enjoy our fellowship which is
referred to by the statement ..."I will welcome you". In
the Greek the word "welcome" is the word eisdechomai /ice·dekh·om·ahee
to receive kindly, to treat with favor. Those that come out of
the midst of evil and separate themselves will be receive kindly
by God and be in fellowship with him. To do otherwise is to
blatantly disobey God and to expose ourselves to judgment from
God and Satanic deception.
Syncretism in its basic meaning is the
reconciliation or fusion of differing systems of belief, it reshapes
Christian beliefs and practices, as a result Christianity looses
it's unique nature and speaks with a tone that reflects the world's
culture. In its essence syncretism, is a form of idolatry.
An
example of this can be seen in the following passages of Ezekiel
along with God's displeasure Ezk 38:10:
Ezk 8:3-18
3 He
stretched out the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of
my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and
heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to
the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the
seat of the idol of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy,
was located. 4 And behold, the glory of the God of
Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the
plain. 5 Then He said to me, “Son of man, raise your
eyes now toward the north.” So I raised my eyes toward the
north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this
idol of jealousy at the entrance. 6 And He said to me,
“Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great
abominations which the house of Israel are committing here,
so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will
see still greater abominations.” 7 Then He brought me to
the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, a hole
in the wall. 8 He said to me, “Son of man, now dig
through the wall.” So I dug through the wall, and behold, an
entrance. 9 And He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked
abominations that they are committing here.” 10 So I
entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping
things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols
of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around.
11 Standing in front of them were seventy elders of the
house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing
among them, each man with his censer in his hand and the
fragrance of the cloud of incense rising. 12 Then He
said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the
house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the
room of his carved images? For they say, ‘The Lord does not
see us; the Lord has forsaken the land.’ ” 13 And He
said to me, “Yet you will see still greater abominations
which they are committing.” 14 Then He brought me to the
entrance of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward
the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for
Tammuz. 15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man?
Yet you will see still greater abominations than these.”
16 Then He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s
house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the
Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about
twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord
and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating
themselves eastward toward the sun. 17 He said to me,
“Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for
the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they
have committed here, that they have filled the land with
violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are
putting the twig to their nose. 18 “Therefore, I indeed
will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I
spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet
I will not listen to them.”
These passages
reveal the following:
In this great vision Ezekiel finds
himself transported to the temple in Jerusalem. There he is shown the dire
state of Israelite religion. The very temple grounds
themselves are used for pagan practices of Egyptian
idolatries into which the covenant-people had relapsed,
practicing them in secret places[12]
There was the practice of the
combination of different systems of philosophical and
religious belief and practice. (OT Judaism and Egyptian
Paganism). This is known as
Syncretism.
Just like those in Ezekiel day who intermingle different
systems of philosophical and religious belief and
practice, those within BGLO are guilty of the same
idolatry as the Israelites of old through their practice
of syncretism.
God considers such practices as
offensive and provocative (Ezk
8:17) and a clear violation of the first
commandment(Ex 20:3)
One who
practices such are under the wrath of God (Ezk
8:18) Yet
ones compromising is no less abhorrent to God than the
pagan practices here described.
Doesn't the Philanthropic
Works reflect the Godly Character of BGLO's
I ran across the following while online which
stated, “Some believe that those pastors who belong to “secret
orders,” also believe they have proven themselves in the Christian
arena by means of their good works."
Imagine an organize crime boss who gives
gifts to friends and provide jobs for the jobless in the areas that
he controls, with the intent to gain credibility among the populace
for the purpose of masking his real motives, which is to carry out
criminal activity in the background. Just as this scenario is a real
possibility in the physical realm it is also true in the spirit
realm.
Yet their deeds are lawless because
on one hand they perform good works while on the other they misled
spiritually. Yet some claim what they are doing is compatible with
Christianity and for the good of others. This is dangerous ground, a
person who allows this duplicity in their life is at certain risk of
being one of those that the Lord talk about in Matt 7:21-22.
Some fail to see that good works can be a
deceptive cover for spiritual evil that can dam a person's soul for
eternity. This is Paul's and the Lord's Jesus very point in 2 Cor 11:15 and Matt 7:21-23.
Notice the Apostle Paul's Jesus point in regarding works of righteousness in 2 Cor
11:14-15 that Disguises evil:
2 Cor 11:14-15
14 No wonder, for
even Satan disguises
himself as an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is
not surprising if his servants also disguise
themselves as servants of
righteousness, whose end will
be according to their deeds.
Both Satan and those whom he uses
disguises themselves to hide their evil.
Matt
7:21-23
21 “Not everyone
who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in
heaven will enter.
22 “Many will
say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in
Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your
name perform many miracles?’
23 “And then I
will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me,
you who practice lawlessness.’
Both Satan and those whom he uses disguise
(Greek metaschematizo /met·askh·ay·mat·id·zo - means to change
appearance, transform, masquerade, disguise [16]
). themselves to hide their true nature. In which they
oppose God and the things of God as found in the scriptures.
It is clear from scripture, when one engages their mind, body,
gives their strength and pursuits an ideology, or swear to an oath,
that integrates pagan symbolism, and deities from pagan religious
system is guilty of idolatry and stands guilty before God by
breaking the first three Ten Commandments.
Ex 20:3-5
3 “You shall have no
other gods before Me.
4 “You shall not make
for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven
above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the
earth.
5 “You shall not worship them or serve
them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous
God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the
children, on the third and the fourth generations of those
who hate Me,
For one to consider themselves a professing Christian is
not only guilty of breaking the commandments of God but of
spiritual adultery.
We
are discussing Greek Letter Organizations and Freemasonry in the
body of Christ and how the 2 cannot be mixed. We are discussing
this with former member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and Prince
Hall Masons,
Fred Hatchett of dontgogreek.com
The
following is a series of 8 of the 10 videos by "Youtube
User "Worshipping Jesus" that give clear insight
into the beliefs and practices of BGLO'sin light of Biblical truth[15]
By Hiram E. Sutton
A Non Greek with a family History
in the fraternal (BGLO's and Masonry) orders
[12]
Jamieson, Robert ; Fausset, A. R. ; Fausset, A. R. ; Brown,
David ; Brown, David: A Commentary, Critical and
Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments.
Oak Harbor, WA
: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, S. Eze 8:8
[16]
Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with
Semantic Domains : Greek (New Testament) (electronic
ed.) (DBLG 3571, #1). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems,
Inc.
Email "laymanpe@laymanperspective.com"
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This website is for personal,
noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use of the subject
matter under discussion
he
son of
Zeus and
Leto, and the twin brother of
Artemis. Apollo was the god of music
(principally the lyre, and he directed the
choir of the
Muses) and also of prophecy,
colonization, medicine, archery (but not for
war or hunting), poetry, dance, intellectual
inquiry and the carer of herds and flocks.
He was also a god of light, known as
"Phoebus" (radiant or beaming, and he was
sometimes identified with
Helios the sun god). He was also the god
of plague and was worshiped as
Smintheus (from sminthos, rat)
and as Parnopius (from parnops,
grasshopper) and was known as the destroyer
of rats and locust, and according to Homer's
Iliad, Apollo shot arrows of plague
into the Greek camp. Apollo being the god of
religious healing would give those guilty of
murder and other immoral deeds a ritual
purification. Sacred to Apollo are the swan
(one legend says that Apollo flew on the
back of a swan to the land of the
Hyperboreans, he would spend the winter
months among them), the wolf and the
dolphin. His attributes are the bow and
arrows, on his head a laurel crown, and the
cithara (or lyre) and plectrum. But his most
famous attribute is the tripod, the symbol
of his prophetic powers.
Site
of the ancient temple and
In
Atlas
, in Greek mythology, a Titan ; son of Iapetus and Clymene and the
brother of Prometheus. When the Titans were defeated, Atlas was
condemned to hold the sky on his shoulders for all eternity—a mythical
explanation of why the sky does not fall. Hercules shouldered the burden
in exchange for Atlas fetching him the apples of the Hesperides.
We
are discussing Greek Letter Organizations and Freemasonry in the
body of Christ and how the 2 cannot be mixed. We are discussing
this with former member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and Prince
Hall Masons,
We
are discussing Greek Letter Organizations and
Secret Societies in this installment and how it
affects the life of a Christian.
