Urban Apologetics, Conscious Community, & Kemeticism

Apologetics.  To the hearing of many thoughtful Christians, the word “apologetics” isn’t an unfamiliar one, most understand that it doesn’t entail the art of apologizing with skill. One would hope, at least. The phrase “urban apologetics” however, may not be as familiar, so what is it? 

Urban apologetics, to put it simply, is contextualized apologetics. 

The critiques of Christianity are as diverse as its critics; different people have different objections and frameworks from which they house their objections to God, the Bible and the Christian worldview.  While there are regular and common discussions in mainstream Christian apologetics (i.e., creation vs. evolution, moral absolutism vs. moral relativism, theism vs. atheism, etc.) there are other objections that simply aren’t a discussion at the “mainstream table”, but which are nonetheless just as important and worthy of attention. 

Urban apologetic discussions occur in places other than the halls of what is considered mainstream academia. They’re street-level, city based, “off the beaten path” objections held by individuals who, for the purpose of this article, are individuals of African descent, or black people.  

Many things could be said when it comes to the historicity of the arrival of black people to the Western hemisphere.  The atrocities that had to take place in order for the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade to be a ‘success” are INNUMERABLE.  The result?  

IDENTITY AND DIGNITY WERE INHUMANELY STRIPPED FROM INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE MADE IN THE ‘IMAGO DEI’, THE IMAGE OF GOD. 

While it is historically true that slaveholders hijacked and misused Christianity, the charges against and objections to Christianity from this perspective have largely gone ignored in mainstream arenas.  The lack of address to these charges and objections continues to lead black people away from Christianity and the God of Scripture.

Enter: Urban Apologetics.  

The goal of Urban Apologetics is the restoration of identity and dignity WITH the gospel and to provide sound apologetic responses to these contextualized critiques of Christianity.  

After all, the true gospel is Good News - for ALL. 

THE CONSCIOUS COMMUNITY

In today’s social climate the word “conscious” has come to possess several connotations.  For some it’s a triggering word that brings an emotional charge with it, to others it’s more neutral. What is meant when it’s used here? 

To be conscious is to be awake and aware; aware of your surroundings and self, of who you are. 

 In the medical field, the ability to answer questions about one’s identity is a key component in assessing the status of consciousness. As it happens, it’s the same for the CONSCIOUS Community. Where a person lands on the range of being “conscious” is very much related to the knowledge of their identity. 

Within the Community there are different ideologies such as Hebrew Israelism, Moorish Science Temple, Nation of Islam (NOI), Five Percent Nation (Nation of Gods and Earths), and Kemetic Spirituality, to name a few. These ideologies seek to answer the question: Do you know who you are? They’re ideologies based on one’s identity and produce agency in the individual. 

If these ideologies were to be juxtaposed with Christianity, the most important distinguishing element is that the Christian worldview is centered on the person of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. In other words, it’s an ideology not based on our identity; it’s based on His.  Now to look more closely at one of these identity-based ideologies: Kemetic Spirituality. 

WHAT IS KEMETIC SPIRITUALITY?

More and more the task of keeping up with all the ideologies in our world is becoming increasingly laborious. In a culture where “spirituality” seems to steadily become replaced with “religion”, the challenge to keep abreast of all the developments is almost impossible. So, what is Kemetic Spirituality?

The word Kemet means “black land” and Egyptologists note that it refers to the dark soil or silt that would be left behind from the flooding and then receding of the infamous Nile River every year.  Egyptian culture and civilization were heavily influenced by the Nile River.  Today, this “black land” is the region that we call Egypt. In effect, Kemet equals “ancient Egypt”.

Someone who holds to, or practices Kemeticism is referred to as a Kemetic or a Kemetic practitioner, where Kemeticism is the ideology. It can also be referred to as Kemetic Spirituality, Kemetic Science, Kemetic Spiritual Science, or the Kemetic tradition. Of course, these designations aren’t exhaustive.

In brief, Kemeticism encourages people of African descent to return to the ancient Egyptian way of life and religious living; where ancient Egyptian civilization is seen as an origin point. Essentially, Kemeticism is the revival or restoration of ancient Egyptian religious practices.

As a member of the Conscious Community, it possesses two similar characteristics which seem to be present amongst ALL Conscious Community ideologies in varying degrees.  

1. There is a level of disdain for Christianity; Christianity is seen as an oppressive religion; it’s seen as the white man’s religion and one that shouldn’t be practiced by individuals who are black. 

2. On some level, Europeans and/or European culture represents systems of oppression (i.e. the trans-Atlantic slave trade, colonialism, racism) and are seen as antagonistic. 

Oddly enough, before many of these ideas became popular in the African American community they had popularity in, predominantly, European circles.  19th and 20th-century individuals like Kersey Greaves, Gerald Massey, and Alvin Boyd Kuhn unwittingly influenced the Kemetic ideology of individuals who are prominent, accepted, and well-known in the Kemetic community today such as George G.M. James, John Henrik Clarke, and Ben Jochannan (“Dr.” Ben).

An oxymoron at its finest. 

WHAT DO THEY BELIEVE TODAY?

It must be stated that Kemeticism as an ideology is vast and can vary from person to person in practice. Some practitioners even delineate a distinction between the online vs. non-online Kemetic “world”.

For example, while the basis of Kemetic living for many practitioners is living in accordance with Ma’at (the Egyptian deity who personifies truth, balance, order, justice, reciprocity, righteousness, and harmony), for others the pursuit of Ma’at isn’t always the priority. This can be plainly observed in many popular online spaces.

For this reason, it’s always necessary to utilize this caveat: “some not all”. Here are a few ideas that “some, not all” hold to:  

• Christianity Is The White Man’s Religion

• Jesus and/or Christianity Was Created At The Council Of Nicaea

• The 10 Commandments Are A Copy Of The 42 Principles Of Ma’at 

• The Black Woman Is God And Predates Men

• Christianity Was Beat Into And Given To Black People By Their Slave Masters

It would most likely take more articles to unpack the debunk these claims in full;  I’ll say a few things here in response to three of them. 

Christianity is The White Man’s Religion

The charge that Christianity is “the white man’s religion” would only make sense if one ignores the setting of the Hebrew Scriptures, and/or if you’re unaware of the African presence found in Scripture, the early church, and early church history.

Tradition says that [John] Mark traveled to Alexandria - that’s a city in Egypt - where he established the earliest Christian church.  Some of the earliest biblical manuscripts come from Egypt. 

Many influential Church Fathers were North African:

• Clement of Alexandria

• Origin of Alexandria

• Athanasius of Alexandria

• Cyprian of Carthage

• Tertullian of Carthage

• Augustine of Hippo

To say that Africa was excluded from the historicity of Christianity and that it’s the white man’s religion is simply erroneous.

Jesus and/or Christianity Was Created At The Council Of Nicaea

Council of Nicaea

That Jesus and/or Christianity was started at the Council of Nicaea is another regular claim levied by the Kemetic community. However, in order for it to be true, we would have to have NO mention of Christianity prior to the 4th century, which is when the Council of Nicaea took place.

When we do our research however, we find mention of Christianity, Christian doctrine, AND Christians in the 1st century (Roman Emperor Nero blamed Christians for the “Great Fire of Rome”), the 2nd century (Ignatius of Antioch was a Christian martyr sentenced to die in Rome who wrote several letters containing [Christian] doctrinal language) and the 3rd century (Roman Emperor Decius issued an edict which Christians were punished for not obliging).  Again, all prior to the Council of Nicaea. 

Christianity Was Beat Into And Given To Black People By Their Slave Masters

And finally, the idea that people of African descent were forced to abandon their indigenous beliefs and forced to accept Christianity by beating them is simply ahistorical. 

Enslaved Africans understood that their slave masters were giving them a broken and “impostering” Christianity. How do we know this?  All we have to do is listen to those that were enslaved (via slave narratives).  Here’s one such narrative by Charlotte Martin who, in 1854, was born a slave in Florida: 

"[The plantation owner] would not permit them to hold religious meetings or any other kinds of meetings, but they frequently met in secret to conduct religious services. When they were caught, the 'instigators'—known or suspected—were severely flogged. Charlotte recalls how her oldest brother was whipped to death for taking part in one of the religious ceremonies. This cruel act halted the secret religious services." (Library of Congress, Federal Writer’s Project: Slave Narrative Project, Vol. 3, Florida, Anderson-Wilson (with combined interviews of others), image 169))

These aren’t the words of ancestors who were forced to embrace a God they didn’t want to or believe in. It’s the written record of ancestors who willingly loved, prayed to, and believed in a God who would deliver them.

Truth is seldom present in Kemeticism’s claims against Christianity.

To conclude I’d like to quote from an extremely resourceful book called “Street-Level Apologetics: Passion for the City, Clarity for the People”: 

“INEVITABLY, Non-Christian worldviews are simply unable to stand up to the truth of reality and thus, they’re unreliable. Christianity, however, is wholly reliable because it’s foundation rests on a Person who IS Truth and Truth is knowable.” 

And His Name Is Jesus.

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Book of Abraham Study Guide

As Christians, we have the responsibility to examine all the claims of prophets and we are required to hold them to a standard. We are also seekers and lovers of truth, therefore interest needs to be taken when someone says that they have a revelation from God, as Thessalonians 5:21 states, “Test all things; hold fast what is good.” In this case, we will scrutinize specifically the claims of Joseph Smith in regard to the Book of Abraham.

It is imperative that all claims from anyone who states that they have direct revelation from God need to be compared to what the Bible says about the Prophet/Seer in order to verify their legitimacy. God in His mercy did not leave us without a guide; below are two very specific tests of a Prophet in the Bible that need to be kept in mind when reviewing the following information.

Deuteronomy 13:1-5:

“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.”

Deut 18:21-22:

“And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’ when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.”

Fundamental Assertions from Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham from LDS.org

The Lord did not require Joseph Smith to have knowledge of the Egyptian language. By the gift and power of God, Joseph received knowledge about the life and teachings of Abraham.

“Neither the Lord nor Joseph Smith explained the process of translation of the book of Abraham, but some insight can be gained from the Lord’s instructions to Joseph regarding translation. In April 1829, Joseph received a revelation for Oliver Cowdery that taught that both intellectual work and revelation were essential to translating sacred records. It was necessary to “study it out in your mind” and then seek spiritual confirmation. Records indicate that Joseph and others studied the papyri and that close observers also believed that the translation came by revelation. As John Whitmer observed, “Joseph the Seer saw these Record[s] and by the revelation of Jesus Christ could translate these records.”

This view assumes a broader definition of the words translator and translation. According to this view, Joseph’s translation was not a literal rendering of the papyri as a conventional translation would be. Rather, the physical artifacts provided an occasion for meditation, reflection, and revelation. They catalyzed a process whereby God gave to Joseph Smith a revelation about the life of Abraham, even if that revelation did not directly correlate to the characters on the papyri.

The 10th Prophet of Mormonism Joseph Fielding Smith states in Doctrines of Salvation pg. 188, Volume 1:

“Mormonism as it is called must stand or fall on the story of Joseph Smith. He was either a prophet of God divinely called, properly appointed and commissioned or he was one of the biggest frauds the world has ever seen. There is no middle ground.”

In agreement with Joseph Fielding Smith there is no middle ground, Joseph either is a prophet or isn’t. We would argue that the recent position held by the LDS organization has diminished Smith’s claim that the Book of Abraham is an actual translation of the Egyptian papyri. The LDS modern position view also contradicts exactly what Joseph wrote the very beginning of the 1842 Times and Seasons publishing of the Book of Abraham which states:

“A Translation of some Ancient Records, that have fallen into our hands from the Catacombs of Egypt, the Writings of Abraham while he was in Egypt, called the Book of Abraham written by his own hand, upon Papyrus.”– Times and Seasons, Vol. III pg. 704

After reading this excerpt, one can clearly see that Joseph states that this is a translation. One can clearly see that A TRANSLATION is all in BOLD, again there is no confusion here on whether this is a ‘translation’ or ‘revelation’ at-least not on Joseph’s part.

Furthermore, here is a link to "Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language"

This is a journal where Joseph and his scribes wrote down actual translations for hieroglyphs.  This shows that he indeed was translating not reveling the Book of Abraham. This document is from 1835, and the hieroglyphs can be compared to the hieroglyphs from the scrolls that were available.

Quotes from Joseph Smith’s Journal

“Spent the day in translation Egyptian characters from the papyrus” HOC 2:320, 26 Nov 1835”

“The record of Abraham and Joseph, found with the mummies, is beautifully written on papyrus” HOC 2:348, 350-351. 31 Dec 1835

“As Mr. Chandler had been told I [JS] could translate them, he brought me some of the characters, andI gave him the interpretation” HOC 2:235. July 3-6, 1835

“The remainder of this month, I [JS] was continually engaged in translating an alphabet of the Book of Abraham, and arranging a grammar of the Egyptian language as practiced by the ancients” HOC 2:238, July 1835

Before we dig into the translation of the facsimile for the Egyptian papyri, I want it to be made known that the only historical significance to the Book of Abraham was borrowed from Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews. Even if the LDS claim the revelation given from God gave Jospeh divine context, it can be shown that during this time frame that Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews was known to be read and kept by Mormons. Especially Mormons heavily involved in free-masonry, similarities include:

•  The Bible doesn't tell us that Abraham had astronomical knowledge, but again, both Josephus and Joseph do.

  • In the tenth generation after the Flood there was among the Chaldeans a man [Abraham] righteous and great, and skillful in Celestial Science. (Antiquities of the Jews 1:7:2)

  • And it is given unto thee [Abraham] to know the set time of all the stars that are set to give light, until thou come near unto the throne of God. (Abraham 3:10)

Hit the jump - Similarities Between Josephus and Joseph Smith to see several examples of extra biblical context that Joseph drew from Josephus. You can also hit this jump - Masonic Book of Abraham which goes into great detail about the Josephus and Masonic connections to Joseph Smith and sources Joseph typically pulled from.

Book of Abraham Facts and Challenging the Facsimiles

Facts to know about the Book of Abraham:

• Joseph Smith translated Facsimile #1 to represent a time when Abraham was almost sacrificed by an idolatrous Priest of the current Pharaoh. Abraham Chapter 1 speaks of this occasion directly.

• Joseph Smith translated Facsimile #2 as a vague collection of pictures that all depicted the Hebrew God, the star/planet Kolob, an Egyptian God named “Oliblish”. Other depictions are pictures to represent other creations or “governing planets” that borrow light from Kolob.

• Facsimile #3 is explained to be Abraham sitting on the Pharaoh’s throne with the king’s permission. The headdress Abraham is wearing is supposedly to signify Priesthood and Presidency over heaven. These two are accompanied by the Prince of Egypt, the Prince’s Waiter, and a slave with the name Olimlah. The occasion of this facsimile is that Abraham is reasoning upon the principles of Astronomy in the King’s Court.

• The preface of the book of Abraham states that these are the “writings of Abraham while he was in Egypt, called the book of Abraham, written by his own hand upon papyrus.”

• There were many other documents that are believed to be lost in the Chicago fire.

The next couple of pages are where I am going to take the facsimiles piece by piece and show the actual Egyptian meanings. I’m also going to show what the church records that Joseph initially purchased. This is key evidence knowing what Joseph had, and what he drew in himself according to what he claimed God had shown to him.

 Facsimile 1:

The bottom left shows the rediscovered papyrus and what was penciled in by Joseph Smith. This picture was pulled from the Joseph Smith Papers, a book on Joseph Smith’s life published by the Church. The right is the final draft that’s included in the canonized Book of Abraham. The Book of Abraham defines this as a time that Abraham was caught by an idolatrous priest who attempted to sacrifice him to an Egyptian god. The Hebrew God sent an angel to free him. The scriptures are quoted below the pictures.

Abraham Chapter 1: 12-16

And it came to pass that the priests laid violence upon me, that they might slay me also, as they did those virgins upon this altar; and that you may have a knowledge of this altar, I will refer you to the representation at the commencement of this record [this is a reference to the Facsimile shown above]

It was made after the form of a bedstead, such as was had among the Chaldeans, and it stood before the gods of Elkenah, Libnah, Mahmackrah, Korash, and also a god like unto that of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

That you may have an understanding of these gods, I have given you the fashion of them in the figures at the beginning, which manner of figures is called by the Chaldeans Rahleenos, which signifies hieroglyphics.

And as they lifted up their hands upon me, that they might offer me up and take away my life, behold, I lifted up my voice unto the Lord my God, and the Lord hearkened and heard, and he filled me with the vision of the Almighty, and the angel of his presence stood by me, and immediately unloosed my bands;

And his voice was unto me: Abraham, Abraham, behold, my name is Jehovah, and I have heard thee, and have come down to deliver thee

The following image below on the right is what Facsimile 1 is really supposed to look like, based on the same scene commonly discovered elsewhere by Egyptian funerary scribes. I have added Joseph Smith’s hand drawing to the left for comparison. Again as it is explained, the church openly agrees that these facsimiles do not have to do with Abraham, they are typical, normal, everyday depictions that are deposited into the coffins of the deceased. Joseph Smith’s copy is missing The Egyptian God Anubis’ head, and also missing another god in the form of a falcon named Sokar. To give context to this picture, I first need to explain the “Osirian Myth”, and what it has to do with the average Egyptian dead guy.

Facsimile 2:

This what the papyri looked like when Joseph purchased it. The red is to point to the areas missing, and where Joseph filled in himself.

Now here is the same facsimile after Joseph translated it, or completed it through revelation (which was then translated):

So was Joseph correct with the details he drew in? What is this disk like object anyways? We will answer the question below and then add in a photo of the actual completed disk from the British museum to compare/contrast Joseph’ revelation.

• A hypocephalus is a small disk-shaped object generally made of stuccoed linen, but also of papyrus, bronze, gold, wood, or clay, which ancient Egyptians from the Late Period onwards placed under the heads of their dead. The circle was believed to magically protect the deceased, cause the head and body to be enveloped in light and warmth, making the deceased divine.

• Hypocephali symbolized the Eye of Ra (Eye of Horus), which represents the sun deity. The scenes portrayed on them relate to Egyptian ideas of resurrection and life after death, connecting them with the Osirian myth. To the ancient Egyptians the daily setting and rising of the sun was a symbol of death and rebirth. The hypocephalus represented all that the sun encircles — the world of the living, over which it passed during the day, was depicted in the upper half, and that of the dead, which it crossed during the night, in the lower portion.

The photo on the right is a Hypocephalus that is held in the British Museum today.  The photo on the left is the drawings that Joseph added. Though the symbols and inscriptions are never the same because they are specific to the deceased person they were made for, the pictures and symbols of the gods is generally always the same. A simple google search of “hypocephalus” will show hundreds of different versions where you can see similarities and differences. The interesting thing as well is the spots that were empty where Joseph inserted his beliefs are actually spots that were to be the gods of the Egyptian belief system. Therefore they were typically the same from hypocephalus to hypocephalus.

Now that we’ve defined what these mysterious medallions where that were placed underneath the mummy’s heads, we’re going to pick them apart and see the true meaning.

Figures #1 and #2: Joseph Smith refers to these as an Egyptian god named “Oliblish”. Obliblish doesn’t exist in any form of Egyptian theology…

In actuality the Egyptians know this god as Khnum, who is identified with the head of a wavy horned ram. He is the creator god, molding people on a potter’s wheel. He can be represented as a two headed man, a being with a face of man and another of a ram, or a four headed ram, to symbolize his omnipotence.

Figure #3:

Joseph’s Interpretation: “God the Father sitting on his throne, clothed with power and authority.”

In Egyptian belief, the ancient god Ra, who symbolized solar light, known as the Sun God. Ra, the Supreme Solar God was believed to traverse the sky each day in a solar barque, or sun boat, and pass through the realms of the underworld (Duat) each night on another solar barge to reappear in the east every morning. These two sun boats in which Ra was supposed to sail over heaven were called the Atet, or Matet, the boat in which he journeyed from sunrise until noon, and the Sektet boat in which he journeyed from noon until sunset.

A Hymn to Ra is included in the Papyrus of Ani a Book of the Dead that includes reference to the Matet sun boat and the Sektet sun boat as follows:

"Hail, thou Disk, thou lord of rays, who risest on the horizon day by day! Shine thou with thy beams of light upon the face of Osiris Ani, who is true of voice; for he singeth hymns of praise unto thee at dawn, and he maketh thee to set at eventide with words of adoration, May the soul of Ani come forth with thee into heaven, may he go forth in the Matet boat, may he come into port in the Sektet boat, and may he cleave his path among the never-resting stars in the heavens”

Figure #4 Joseph’s Interpretation: “Raukeeyang; also the number 1,000; the measuring of time of oliblish”                                               

In Egyptian belief this is actually Sokar, or Seker, a falcon god. Typically shown on a coffin where the body of the deceased is represented as someone who ushers safe passage to the next life.

Figure #5 Joseph’s Interpretation: “Enish-go-on-dosh” and some other really confusing explanations….

In Egyptian belief, Hathor is an ancient Egyptian goddess who personified the principles of joy, feminine love, and motherhood. She was one of the most important and popular deities throughout the history of ancient Egypt. Hathor was worshipped by royalty and common people alike. In tomb paintings she is often depicted as a cow, welcoming the dead into the next life.

Figure #6 Joseph’s Interpretation: “represents this earth and it’s four corners”. Joseph Smith also refers to these as idolatrous gods in Facsimile #1.

In reality this depicts four sons of Horus were a group of four gods in Egyptian religion, who were essentially the personifications of the four canopic jars, which accompanied mummified bodies. These jars are where embalming fluid and the deceased’s vital organs were kept as the rest of the body was mummified.

Imsety – human form – protected the liver – protected by Isis.

Duamutef – jackal form – protected the stomach – protected by Neith.

Hapi – baboon form – protected the lungs – protected by Nephthys.

Qebehsenuef – hawk form – protected the intestines – protected by his mother Serket

Figure #7 Joseph’s Interpretation: “represents God sitting on his throne, revealing through the heavens the grand key words to the priesthood. Also the sign of the holy ghost unto Abraham in the form of a dove.”

We’re going to have to use a bit of adult language here… but in Figure 7, this is Min, the Egyptian god of male fertility. He is identified as a god with his left hand holding his erect penis to represent fertility, and his right arm to the square holding a flail to represent his authority or provenance. Min is seen on the hypocephalus because it is symbolic of the need to have sex in order to be reborn after death, just as Osiris had sex with Isis before he actually ascended to the next life.

The figure on the left of Min is Nehebu-Kau, whose name is meant “he who harnesses the spirits”. Nehebu-Kau is the guardian of the underworld who is presenting the “eye of horus”. It is an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection, royal power, and good health. He is identified as a snake with arms and legs, arms typically in a praying fashion. Joseph smith calls him the Holy spirit in the form of a dove because half of Nehebu’s body is missing from Joseph’s purchased Hypocephalus.

This is Nehebu-Kau on Joseph Smith’s Hypocephalus compared to the one in the British Museum. Looking back at the incomplete copy that Joseph had, it looks as though he taken a shot in the dark and just claimed that it looked like a dove because the snake was missing half its body, not to mention his own erect phallus... If you go back and look at Facsimile #1 that is suppose to be Abraham on an altar, you can visibly see the deceased man portrayed in the exact pose as Min. Right arm to the square, left hand holding his phallus.

In this picture, you can see Osiris in the middle, Isis his wife on the right, and his son Horus on the left. Why Osiris isn’t standing is because this piece of art is symbolizing that though Isis and Horus live on, they pay respect to the former King Osiris as he has passed on into the next life. So in a sense, Imagine Isis and Horus paying respect to a statue of Osiris. Isis and Osiris are always easily recognized because of their headdresses. When looking at this picture, PLEASE pay attention to their crowns. This is how you identify them in ANY hieroglyph or depiction.

Facsimile 3:       

NOW, referring to Facsimile #3 above, do you recognize anyone familiar? Isis is depicted in the far left as the woman with a circle over her head with curved horns. Her hand is resting on Osiris’s shoulder, just as she is in this picture to the left. That’s not Abraham and the current Pharaoh of the time like Joseph said.

It’s very clear that the person drawn to the far left has a bit of an hour glass shape and should be easily identified at least as a woman, but Joseph called this person the “Pharaoh”. The other 3 persons shown in this picture are not Waiter’s or Slaves as Joseph said. #4 is the Goddess Maat that Osiris brought back from the dead, #5 is the deceased man / petrified mummy that this funerary note came from, and Anubis in his human form at the very right-hand side.

It is RARE to ever see Anubis in human form. He typically is always seen bearing the head of a Jackal, a dog with a reputation of digging up buried corpses and eating the bodies for survival. Anubis is a God that measures your heart with Maat. If you do not pass their judgment, Anubis and his dogs eat your soul essentially. This funerary depiction is to wish safe passage of their judgment, showing Anubis in a non-threatening way. As a whole, once you pass their test of heart, you are then tested again to see if you are worthy of resurrection. Osiris is the only god that can grant you that. This is why you see Ma’at and Anubis bringing the deceased to Osiris for his final test.

This is the goddess Maat. She is known as the goddess of justice and truth. That feather in her hair was used to “weigh” the deceased’s heart to measure their virtue. In Facsimile 3, you can see Maat holding the deceased’s hand, with Anubis ushering them from behind. Maat is identified as the goddess with a feather in her hair in the facsimile.

I STRONGLY advise that you do simple research on any of the Egyptian names shown above. Countless articles, books, and pages will all agree on the above characters. The article clearly states that “Scholars have identified the papyrus fragments as parts of standard funerary texts that were deposited with mummified bodies. These fragments date to between the third century B.C.E. and the first century C.E., long after Abraham lived.”

What this means:

• Abraham did not create “by his own hand” what Joseph Smith had in his possession.

• Abraham was nowhere near being alive during the time these funerary rites were created.

• The credibility of the first chapter of Abraham, testifying of his experience of almost being sacrificed on an altar, must also be false since it directly references Facsimile #1.

Joseph Smith is a false prophet, his failed translation which was also to be divine revelation has failed God’s test of a prophet in Deuteronomy 18. The hope is this, just because Joseph is wrong, does not mean that God by any means is at fault. Instead we can have hope that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - the Eternal and Unchanging God is different than the god Joseph dreamed up in a hat. Joseph’s god was never a god to begin with and it does nothing to tarnish the integrity or sovereignty of God in any way. IF you are LDS and you are reading this I want to leave you with these words.

Paul warns us in 2nd Corinthians 11:4 that there will be people who profess a different christ, a different gospel, who accept a different spirit. How do you know that the christ you believe in, is true? If it is not by His Word, which Christ calls truth in John 17:17 - but by your heart, Jeremiah warns us not to be deceived by the feelings of the flesh (Jeremiah 17:9). Instead test all things to Scripture, be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11, for every word of God is pure, will never wither or ever pass way and it is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path (Proverbs 30:5; Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 24:35; Psalm 119:105).

Jesus Christ is the Eternal, Uncreated, Unchanging God, who upholds the Universe by the Word of His power (Hebrews 1). All things have been created through Him for Him and by Him (John 1:1; Col 1:16). He alone stretched out the heavens, they are a work of His hands (Isa 44:24). He, from the beginning loved righteousness and hated lawlessness (Heb 1:9; Psalm 45:7). He is the great I AM at the burning bush, yes it was Jesus who lead the Israelites out of Egypt, who parted the Red Sea (John 8:24; Jude 1:5). IT is this God, the only God (Isaiah 43:10, Isaiah 44:6) that took on flesh, not to give man the ability to become gods by their own righteous deeds. No He took on flesh, in order that he could overcome in all the ways that Adam failed. Formed from the dirt of the earth and given the breath of life it through Adam, (Gen 1, Isaiah 45) that all have failed, all have gone astray, and do not trust God at His Word (Romans 3).

In Adam we stand in a position of failure, dead in our sins with no ability to have peace with God. BUT Jesus who is fully God and fully Man offered Himself as a Sinless sacrifice. IT is ONLY the Eternal God that could become the perfect sacrifice. Only the Eternal God can appease the wrath of the Eternal God, for Him and His glory alone. The gift Christ offers you is not only the ability to have peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ but He offers a personal relationship with you; He promises that He will never leave you or forsake you. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ causes us to love his Word and humble ourselves before God. Today you can trust God, and have peace with God, but this peace only comes from the great I AM, not from a god among millions of gods. If you have the wrong Christ, one revealed to you contrary to how God revealed Himself to be, you have a christ of fiction and no atonement for your sins. Jesus stated, unless you believe the I AM you will die in your sins.

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Preach Whose Gospel? A Guide to the LDS Missionary Handbook

Knock! Knock!

You open the door on a brisk Saturday morning and you see two well-dressed men smiling from ear to ear. They politely ask you if you have ever heard of Joseph Smith and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS). How would you respond? Would you kindly ask them to leave, or would you invite them in to have a conversation? Do you even feel prepared to defend the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints? Or would their “Christianese” cause you to agree with what they are saying without even knowing they are saying something contrary to Orthodox Christianity? Well, this blog series is going to dive into the Missionary manual titled, "Preach my Gospel" so that you can be prepared if and when they go over their lesson plans at your humble abode.

After this blog series, you will be able to understand the mindset in which the LDS Missionary comes to your door. Secondly, you will be able to bridge the language barrier between the LDS Missionary and Orthodox Christianity, this will enable you to have a fruitful conversation with the Missionary.

Most importantly, as Christians, we need to effectively communicate the gospel. Meaning that when we scale the language barrier we need to tackle the issues that matter most (Who is God? Who is Jesus? and how does one obtain Peace with God?) while avoiding the never-ending circular conversations.

Not only do we need to be able to defend what God says in His Word but we also need to do it with gentleness, reverence, and respect (1 Peter 3:15). If we do not communicate the Gospel with love, we are nothing but a noisy gong (1 Corinthians 13:1).

“Understand that you are not speaking with a person who is trying to trick you, but a person made in the image of God who has been deceived.”

Understanding the culture/worldview of the Missionary is essential, you need to understand that you are not speaking with a person who is trying to trick you, but a person made in the image of God who has been deceived. They are sincere in their belief (though they may be sincerely wrong) who honestly thinks that they are doing the right thing.

The Missionary loves to use analogies to explain understand that there are three basic questions to life: Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? They will relate that at one point in time the truth to those three questions resembled a mirror and that mirror was able to be accessed freely, but since the “Great Apostasy” and through our own “Free Agency” the mirror has become shattered. The shattering of this mirror scattered fragmented pieces of truth around the globe refracting broken reflections of the principles and ordinances of the priesthood.

Looking through the Missionary’s eyes, you as the Investigator may not be certain of your beliefs and they are here to help you through the revelation of Joseph Smith to put these pieces of the mirror back together.

To them, you have lived your whole life being inquisitive, wanting to know the truth, whereas similarly, Joseph Smith lived the beginning of his life investigating, searching for the truth until he claims that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ visited him in the woods and told him that the true church was not on Earth and that they chose him to restore it (we will deal with that later in the series). So it is imperative to understand that even coining you as the “Investigator” the Missionary creates a bond between you and their Prophet. Though unbeknown to most LDS Missionaries this is a psychological ploy that sets up the Investigator to think he has the objective ability to search for truth while being guided prayer and a helpful missionary to go through their lesson plan.

There are a total of six lesson plans in the "Preach my Gospel" handbook. These lesson plans are thoughtfully laid out to prepare the Investigator for the baptismal interview questions. According to Doctrine and Covenants (D&C) 20:37, baptism must take place along with the determination to serve until the end:

“And again, by way of commandment to the church concerning the manner of baptism—All those who humble themselves before God, and desire to be baptized, and come forth with broken hearts and contrite spirits, and witness before the church that they have truly repented of all their sins, and are willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end, and truly manifest by their works that they have received of the Spirit of Christ unto the remission of their sins, shall be received by baptism into his church.” (D&C, 20:37)

The D&C makes it clear that baptism is just the beginning of the road to salvation. True salvation takes endurance and determination to the organization called the LDS church. That is why there is preparation through these lesson plans. They want you to be aware of the commitment you are making by even preparing you for the questions that will be asked during your baptismal interview.

Example of baptismal interview questions are as follows:

• Do you believe that God is our Eternal Father?

• Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior, and Redeemer of the World?

• Do you believe that the Church and the gospel of Jesus Christ have been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith?

• Do you believe that [current Church President] is a prophet of God? What does this mean to you?

• Are you willing to keep the Sabbath day holy, including partaking of the sacrament weekly and rendering service to fellow members?

The next post will dive right into Lesson One from the “Preach my Gospel” manual and we will deal specifically with the nature of the LDS god, spirit children and the restoration of the gospel; according to the LDS organization.

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Through Jones' Colored Glasses

Ladies and Gentlemen, the image above is of the forty-five-year-old Jim Jones receiving the Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian award from Pastor Cecil Williams in 1977. This was almost exactly one year before one of the darkest days in American history when the largest mass/murder-suicide occurred on November 18, 1978, at the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project also known as “Jonestown”, in Guyana, South America.

hand in hand, family with family, body on top of body scattered amongst the cleared jungle floor

It was there where nine-hundred and eighteen bodies were discovered, hand in hand, family with family, body on top of body scattered amongst the cleared jungle floor. One-hundred and fifty of those people were children of the ages ten and under; many who were crushed by the weight of their parent’s bodies were not discovered until their parent’s remains were exhumed. Jonestown, a community once bustling, vibrantly loud with the cheering of Jones’ devoted followers, now laid silent, fogged by the stench of a dirty secret. To undercover this secret, hours upon hours of audio from Jonestown were discovered, scoured through, transcribed, and filed by the FBI.

As Christians, we must get to bottom of this secret and the one question that should be asked is, how did one man, who just a year prior had won an award that stood for peace, equality and justice bring about a dark stain in history that plagues our society to this day? The answer though hidden due to the rising socialist struggle in America is simple, Jones was a communist. Jones, the dark-haired self-titled “Raven” stood at a metaphysical crossroads during one point in his life and thought to himself, “How can I demonstrate my Marxism? The thought was infiltrate the Church.” (Q134 timestamp 14:08-14:16)

Behind Jones’ colored lenses, deep inside the clean-cut interior, rested a spirit of indifference, a person who wanted control, power, and godhood. He wanted to create a society where oppression, equality, and peace would thrive based upon a standard that only he could derive. In the post-civil war and bustling civil rights society of America, Jones saw an oppressed subclass of people as the perfect group of people to charm. In his eyes, they were a poor, segregated and uneducated community that was joined by common suffering, a people who only needed a hope to reach for to start a revolution. Despite the binds of slavery in America and upon its abolishment many of the former African American slaves and their offspring had assimilated and identified with Christianity.

As a result, to infiltrate the church and to appeal to this class of people, Jones needed to sound like the church, he must adopt the same language while interposing different definitions. Fortunately for Jones, the Peace Mission Movement—ushered in by “Father Divine”, George R. Baker—had already developed an intricate offshoot to the metaphysical philosophy of New Thought. Father Divine targeted the African-American population and set out to create a divine commune through the idea of “Divine Economic Socialism”. This school of thought teaches that Christ only exists as consciousness, that all men are innately divine, and that this consciousness can be tapped into. Once a prophet or seer of his time taps into this consciousness, it is through their teaching alone that your divine potential can become unleashed and the kingdom of God can be manifested in this physical reality. Jones then took off in 1956 and went under the wing of Father Divine to learn all that he could about this philosophy.

Father Divine - George R. Baker

Through three years of Father Divine’s teachings, Jones learned that in order to create social change one must be involved with making a change in the community. The ability to influence change in the political and social climate authorizes the belief to the follower that the leader is divine, that they can make actual changes to this physical reality through a higher level of spiritual consciousness. Thus, under the guise of the New Thought philosophy, Jones was able to get his followers to believe that he was god incarnate. They believed that by his word and his views alone, that all can be made well in the world. Hence, to the communist Jones, this fully-formed philosophy would be the perfect vehicle to create fully devout followers, and it would bleed communist ideology into the church. He was calculated and determined with every political statement made, and even went so far as to adopt a child of a different race and name him after himself to show that he alone truly stood for those oppressed. Jones took advantage of a church in crisis because the Christian church had begun to shrink back from the public sphere. Jones saw this retreat and began to provide for the oppressed and downtrodden with education, meals, passion, and purpose. Jones’ dirty secret was that the things he was doing were not to help those around him, but to leverage himself as a god over them.

Jones with his adopted and biological children

It was during this great revival time of the People’s Temple (1965-1977) in San Francisco that Jones devoted himself to human services ministry to appeal to the needs of many different communities. Jones set up foster care, elderly services, and homes for special needs children. He even gave thousands of dollars to different philanthropic causes. He rallied people, educated minorities, and even got them registered and voting. However, great as these things may sound, underneath the exterior was an ideology that was antithetical to the Christian worldview. Jones was doing these things to leverage himself among the masses. He ideologically sold a Promised Land where Divine Economic Socialism could flourish, free from the inhumane conditions of American capitalism. It is this deception that led to the demise of the People’s Temple, for all things built against God will not stand. The man who was supposed to bring life and the kingdom of God to all the people became a harbinger of death and left a kingdom of lifeless bodies lying in a cleared field. The Jonestown mass murder/suicide is to be a lesson to the Christian church, and to all who deem to cling onto a hope rooted in something other than Christ and His Word.

Matthew 28:18-20 states that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Christ and that we as Christians are to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all that Christ has commanded us. The Word of God is the living water, made necessary to sustain life, freedom, and government. It is by His Word that we are upheld in His universe, by His word that all things come together. It is by His decree that all things come to pass and when we do not obey the Word of the King of kings, His wrath will reign supreme. His justice will set out to conquer all those against His command. A society in ruins is part of the Lord’s justice and kindled wrath. When the church is dismissing societal issues and choosing to step out of the public sphere, society is then left without the living water that is necessary to sustain life, culture, and freedom. We are then left with a church in discipline and a world in flames.

As Christians, we must challenge the empty philosophy of the world, and hold society captive to the Word of God, the whole counsel of God and to breathe the Gospel of truth into our culture. When the Gospel is not being proclaimed in its fullness with the Kingship of Jesus Christ over the dominion of life, we see frustration occur within the masses of our population.

J.K. Van Baalen argued that “The cults are the unpaid bills of the Church.” When the Church divorces itself from speaking into society when Christians stop giving freely that living water, the cult climate forms. It is a prime environment of a people longing for a purpose, ready to be set afire by the striking of one match. All creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God (Romans 8:19), and the downtrodden like dried up vessels line up willingly to be set ablaze, trusting that the fire quenches their thirst with the hopes of being one with the eternal flames of change. However, a society that was once bountiful, dripping with life due to this living water, now turns and descends into a city in decay. When the sons of God are not revealing His truth, the cults then ascend unchallenged like embers jumping from one cultural issue to another.

“J.K. Van Baalen argued that “The cults are the unpaid bills of the Church.””

Christians, we as the Church have failed, and these debts are the Church’s burden to bear. The Sovereign King has a purpose in His wrath, and we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Let us therefore arise, grab the sword of truth, and cut into the very fabric of the frustrated. For the cults through established doctrines of demons, and the government through overstepping its bounds in the form of legislation cannot create equality among all men. What makes all men equal is the law of God and the fact that we all have failed to live up to it. We sit in the same position as every other man in front of God—as rebels, liars, and cheats deserving of death. However, it is in our equally failed state among all men that Christ the Eternal God came in the flesh and died for His people in order to bring about His Kingdom. Again, we know that all things work together for the good for those who are called according to His purpose. Nevertheless, for those who do not love God, He will be glorified by making a spectacle of their rebellion.

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It is our greatest hope and deepest prayer before God that through the ministry of Cultish, and our partnership with you, we may see God rescue countless people from darkness.

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