Old sheppard,
That is a long list and I will read it and think about it but I didn`t have to look very far to see that what I believe is on the right track.
I don`t normaly trust other peoples studys until I have studyed from my own sources as well because I find most people will twist things to suite what they believe , so the answers are not as simple as reading someone elses artical.
I am wondering if you are simply of the belief of someone elses study hear on this subject. I for one have studied it myself and not taken what others say without thourouly checking there source and understanding were they went wrong or if they are right.
this is what I got within 5 mins of looking up the encarta encyclopedia;
HADES;
in Greek mythology, god of the dead. He was the son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea and the brother of Zeus and Poseidon. When the three brothers divided up the universe after they had deposed their father, Cronus, Hades was awarded the underworld. There, with his queen, Persephone, whom he had abducted from the world above, he ruled the kingdom of the dead
The underworld itself was often called Hades. It was divided into two regions: Erebus, where the dead pass as soon as they die, and Tartarus, the deeper region, where the Titans had been imprisoned. It was a dim and unhappy place, inhabited by vague forms and shadows and guarded by Cerberus, the three-headed, dragon-tailed dog. Sinister rivers separated the underworld from the world above.
the underworld;
Osiris, in Egyptian mythology, one of the principal deities. Originally the local god of Abydos and Busiris, Osiris, who represented the male productive force in nature, became identified with the setting sun. Thus he was regarded as the ruler of the realm of the dead in the mysterious region below the western horizon. Osiris lived on in the underworld as the ruler of the dead.
NOW HEAVEN;
The Book of the Dead also contains instructions for proper conduct before these judges. If the judges decided the deceased had been a sinner, the ka was condemned to hunger and thirst or to be torn to pieces by horrible executioners. If the decision was favorable, the ka went to the heavenly realm of the fields of Yaru, where grain grew 3.7 m (12 ft) high and existence was a glorified version of life on earth. All the necessities for this paradisiacal existence, from furniture to reading matter, were, therefore, put into the tombs.
GREEK MYTH;
(Thessalia), as their home. On Olympus, the gods formed a society that ranked them in terms of authority and powers. However, the gods could roam freely, and individual gods became associated with three main domains-the sky or heaven, the sea, and earth. The 12 chief gods, usually called the Olympians, were Zeus, Hera, Hephaestus, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hestia, Hermes, Demeter, and Poseidon.
Zeus was the head of the gods, and the spiritual father of gods and people. His wife, Hera, was the queen of heaven and the guardian of marriage. Other gods associated with heaven were Hephaestus, god of fire and metalworkers; Athena, goddess of wisdom and war; and Apollo, god of light, poetry, and music. Artemis, goddess of wildlife and the moon; Ares, god of war; and Aphrodite, goddess of love, were other gods of heaven. They were joined by Hestia, goddess of the hearth; and Hermes, messenger of the gods and ruler of science and invention.
well , that took all of 5 mins and all I keep seeing is exactly what I said.
I see christianity right through these encyclopedia cuts and that is a huge concern to me.
the three brothers dividing the universe up (the trinity born in 325 AD)
The three teared world that was taught to christians through the dark age and there was persucution for any one daring to think the world was round and hell a simple myth along with heaven.
The Jews in the time of 200 bc to 100 ad were under mass greek influance.
look at this cut from the encarta old sheppard.
Antiochus IV, called Epiphanes ("the illustrious") (215?-164 BC), king of Syria (175-164BC), son of Antiochus III. From 171 to 168BC, he was involved in a war against Egypt, defeating two Egyptian kings, Ptolemy VI and Ptolemy VIII. He captured Jerusalem, prohibited Judaism, and tried to establish the worship of Greek gods. Under the leadership of the Jewish priest Mattathias (died c. 167 BC) and his sons, the Maccabees, the Jews revolted (168-160 BC) and drove Antiochus from Jerusalem. Later he won victories over the Armenians and Persians.
"Antiochus IV," Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2000. © 1993-1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Most of the christianity we have from the earliest time was influanced by the books of enoch and many other apocraphal books written around the time of antiochus and then the maccabeean kings to try to counteract the huge influances of greek mythology with Ideas of angels coming and taking wives like greek gods and then holy angels overthrowing the greek gods (fallen angels in hebrew myth and Titans in greek myth) and binding them all to hades for judgment in the end.
That all comes from Enoch Who missquotes genesis over and over to establish a new Jewish faith established on the infiltration of paganisim.
this was always the hebrews problem and they were always getting into trouble for being influanced by other gods and nothing changed or has changed today. God is still not happy about the fact that christians and learnered bible students can`t realy agree on much of what the bible says at all as a result of pagan influance.
thats why we needed the reformation and that is why god is going to keep raising up people to tair down these false pagan consepts picked up by christianity.
it is a shame when we can no longer find established truth because there has become so many ways of seeing it.
I see for my self what the bible says , but it says something diffrent to someone else who knows the scriptures just as good and then againg by someone else which explains the thousands of diffrent sects all claiming they follow the bible so I think the church will in the end , have no other choice but to return to being lead and trusting of the holy ghost instead of what some preacher believes or some article says or even the bible on certain issues I would say it is wiser to listen to the holy ghost.
but hey , thats my opinion.
peace
celtic