Four Chariots

Deut. 11:4 and what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the Lrd hath destroyed them unto this day.

Judg. 4:7 And I will draw unto thee, to the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thy hand.

Is. 43:17 who bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the mighty man (they lie down together, they shall not rise; they are extinct, they are quenched as a wick).

Jer. 51:24-25 And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lrd. Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lrd, which destroyest all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.

Dan. 2:35b And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
Dan. 2:44-45a And in the days of those kings shall the Gd of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold.

Rev. 17:9-10 Here is the mind that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills, on which the woman sitteth: and they are seven kings; the five are fallen, the one is, the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a little while.

Deut. 8:7-10 For the Lrd thy Gd bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates; a land of olive-trees and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose mountains thou mayest dig copper. And thou shalt eat and be full, and thou shalt bless the Lrd thy Gd for the good land which he hath given thee.

Is. 11:11-16 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lrd will set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, that shall remain, from Assyria [north], and from Egypt [south], and from Pathros [south], and from Cush [south], and from Elam [east], and from Shinar [east], and from Hamath [north], and from the islands of the sea [west]. And he will set up an ensign for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and they that vex Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. And they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines on the west; together shall they despoil the children of the east: they shall put forth their hand upon Edom [south] and Moab [east]; and the children of Ammon [east] shall obey them. And the Lrd will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea [south]; and with his scorching wind will he wave his hand over the River, and will smite it into seven streams, and cause men to march over dryshod. And there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people, that shall remain, from Assyria [north]; like as there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt [south].

Psa. 48:7 With the east wind Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish.

Is. 11:15 And the Lrd will utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his scorching wind will he wave his hand over the River, and will smite it into seven streams, and cause men to march over dryshod.

Jer. 51:1-4 Thus saith the Lrd: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in Leb-kamai, a destroying wind. And I will send unto Babylon strangers, that shall winnow her; and they shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about. Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his coat of mail: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host. And they shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets.

Gen. 13:17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for unto thee will I give it.

Josh. 18:3-4 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go in to possess the land, which the Lrd, the Gd of your fathers, hath given you? Appoint for you three men of each tribe: and I will send them, and they shall arise, and walk through the land, and describe it according to their inheritance; and they shall come unto me.

1Sam. 28:17 And the Lrd hath done unto thee, as he spake by me: and the Lrd hath rent the kingdom out of thy hand, and given it to thy neighbor, even to David.

2Sam. 5:12 And David perceived that the Lrd had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel’s sake.

1Kings 2:11 And the days that David reigned over Israel were 40 years; 7 years reigned he in Hebron, and 33 reigned he in Jerusalem.

1Kings 2:12 And Solomon sat upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly.

1Kings 9:4-5 And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and mine ordinances; then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel for ever, according as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.

2Chr. 13:5 Ought ye not to know that the Lrd, the Gd of Israel, gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?

Is. 11:14 And they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines on the west; together shall they despoil the children of the east: they shall put forth their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.

2Kings 3:22 And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water over against them as red as blood.

Nah. 1:1 The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.

Nah. 2:1-10 He that dasheth in pieces [Babylonian Army] is come up against thee [Nineveh]: keep the fortress, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily. For the Lrd restoreth the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the emptiers have emptied them out, and destroyed their vine-branches. The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the cypress spears are brandished. The chariots rage in the streets; they rush to and fro in the broad ways: the appearance of them is like torches; they run like the lightnings. He remembereth his nobles: they stumble in their march; they make haste to the wall thereof, and the mantelet is prepared. The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved. And it is decreed: she is uncovered, she is carried away; and her handmaids moan as with the voice of doves, beating upon their breasts. But Nineveh hath been from of old like a pool of water: yet they flee away. Stand, stand, they cry; but none looketh back. Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold; for there is no end of the store, the glory of all goodly furniture. She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and anguish is in all loins, and the faces of them all are waxed pale.

Nah. 3:1-3 Ah, the city of blood [Nineveh]! it is all full of lies and rapine; the prey departeth not. The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of wheels, and prancing horses, and bounding chariots, the horseman mounting, and the flashing sword, and the glittering spear, and a multitude of slain, and a great heap of corpses, and there is no end of the bodies; they stumble upon their bodies.

Jer. 25:9-11 behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lrd, and I will send unto Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land [against Israel], and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about; and I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp. And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon 70 years.

Jer. 6:22-23 Thus saith the Lrd, Behold, a people [the Babylonians] cometh from the north country; and a great nation shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth. They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride upon horses, every one set in array, as a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Zion [against Israel].

Jer. 10:22 The voice of tidings, behold, it cometh, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling-place of jackals.

Jer. 23:7-8 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lrd, that they shall no more say, As the Lrd liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, As the Lrd liveth, who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries whither I had driven them. And they shall dwell in their own land.

Ezek. 26:7 For thus saith the Lrd Gd: Behold, I will bring upon Tyre Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and a company, and much people.

Is. 1:24 Therefore saith the Lrd, the Lrd of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies;

Ezek. 5:13 Thus mine anger shall be accomplished, and I will cause my wrath toward them to rest, and I shall be comforted; and they shall know that I, the Lrd, have spoken in my zeal, when I have accomplished my wrath upon them.

Ezek. 16:42 So will I cause my wrath toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.

Jer. 51:11 Make sharp the arrows; hold firm the shields: the Lrd hath stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it: for it is the vengeance of the Lrd, the vengeance of his Temple.

Jer. 50:11-15 Because ye are glad, because ye rejoice, O ye that plunder my heritage, because ye are wanton as a heifer that treadeth out the grain, and neigh as strong horses; your mother shall be utterly put to shame; she that bare you shall be confounded: behold, she shall be the hindermost of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. Because of the wrath of the Lrd she shall not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all ye that bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the Lrd. Shout against her round about: she hath submitted herself; her bulwarks are fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of the Lrd: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.

Jer. 14:1-6 The word of the Lrd that came to Jeremiah concerning the scarcity. Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish, they sit in black upon the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. And their nobles send their little ones to the waters: they come to the cisterns, and find no water; they return with their vessels empty; they are put to shame and confounded, and cover their heads. Because of the ground which is cracked, for that no rain hath been in the land, the plowmen are put to shame, they cover their heads. Yea, the hind also in the field calveth, and forsaketh her young, because there is no grass. And the wild asses stand on the bare heights, they pant for air like jackals; their eyes fail, because there is no herbage.

Ex. 10:12-15 And the Lrd said unto Moses, Stretch out thy hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left. And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lrd brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt; very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

Jer. 51:27-29 Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz: appoint a marshal against her; cause the horses to come up as the prickly locust. Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, the governors thereof, and all the deputies thereof, and all the land of their dominion. And the land trembleth and is in pain; for the purposes of the Lrd against Babylon do stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.

Is. 13:17-19 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not regard silver, and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. And their bows shall dash the young men in pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, shall be as when Gd overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

“Babylon, the capital of the nations of Chaldea, long enjoyed the greatest celebrity of all cities throughout the whole world: and it is from this place that the remaining parts of Mesopotamia and Assyria received the name of Babylonia. The circuit of its walls, which were 200 feet in height, was 60 miles. These walls were also 50 feet in breadth, reckoning to every foot three fingers’ breadth beyond the ordinary measure of our foot. The river Euphrates flowed through the city, with quays of marvellous workmanship erected on either side. The temple there of Jupiter Belus is still in existence; he was the first inventor of the science of Astronomy. In all other respects it has been reduced to a desert, having been drained of its population in consequence of its vicinity to Seleucia, founded for that purpose by Nicator, at a distance of 90 miles, on the confluence of the Tigris and the canal that leads from the Euphrates.”
——Pliny the Elder (pagan Roman), Natural History, Book 6, Chapter 30, Written 77 AD.

“And it happened, after that Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian, who came out of the land of Chettiim, had smitten Darius king of the Persians and Medes, that he reigned in his stead, the first over Greece.”
——First Book of Maccabees (Jewish apocrypha), Chapter 1, Verse 1, Written c. 100 BC.

“Now when Alexander, king of Macedon, had put an end to the dominion of the Persians, and had settled the affairs of Judea after the forementioned manner, he ended his life.”
——Josephus (Jewish Pharisee), Antiquities of the Jews, Book 12, Chapter 1, Section 1, Written c. 93 AD.

Joel 1:6-7 For a nation has risen up against my land, strong, and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the jaw-teeth of a lioness. It has laid my vine to waste and my fig-tree to splintering. It has utterly stripped it, and cast it away; its branches are made white.

“And he [Alexander the Great] made many wars, and won many strong holds, and slew the kings of the earth. And he went through to the ends of the earth, and took spoils of many nations, insomuch that the earth was quiet before him; whereupon he was exalted and his heart was lifted up.”
——First Book of Maccabees (Jewish apocrypha), Chapter 1, Verses 2-3, Written c. 100 BC.

“Persepolis was the capital of the Persian kingdom. Alexander described it to the Macedonians as the most hateful of the cities of Asia,​ and gave it over to his soldiers to plunder, all but the palaces. It was the richest city under the sun and the private houses had been furnished with every sort of wealth over the years. The Macedonians raced into it slaughtering all the men whom they met and plundering the residences; many of the houses belonged to the common people and were abundantly supplied with furniture and wearing apparel of every kind. Here much silver was carried off and no little gold, and many rich dresses gay with sea purple or with gold embroidery became the prize of the victors. The enormous palaces, famed throughout the whole civilized world, fell victim to insult and utter destruction. The Macedonians gave themselves up to this orgy of plunder for a whole day and still could not satisfy their boundless greed for more. Such was their exceeding lust for loot withal that they fought with each other and killed many of their fellows who had appropriated a greater portion of it. The richest of the finds some cut through with their swords so that each might have his own part. Some cut off the hands of those who were grasping at disputed property, being driven mad by their passions.”
——Diodorus Siculus (pagan Greek), Bibliotheca Historica, Book 17, Chapter 70, Written c. 60 BC.

“To the victor belong the spoils of war, and no conqueror ever captured more people and property in so short a lifespan as Alexander the Great of Macedonia (356-323 BC).”
——Frank L. Holt (American archaeologist), The Treasures of Alexander the Great, Page 1, Written 2016.

“Coming to terms with Alexander’s reported wealth has never been an easy prospect. Modern historians generally use such adjectives as ‘enormous,’ ‘colossal,’ and ‘fabulous‘; one scholar describes the king’s loot as ‘enough to stagger the imagination.’ Ancient writers similarly expressed their awe by labeling the king’s wealth ‘incredible‘ or ‘unimaginable.’ The historian Diodorus of Sicily said of the first city captured and destroyed by the young king: ‘More than 6,000 Thebans were killed, more than 30,000 souls were enslaved, and the amount of wealth that he plundered was unimaginable.’ Regarding the treasures Alexander looted in Persia, the historian Quintus Curtius Rufus wrote, ‘The reports of captured wealth are so enormous that the amounts strain credulity.’ In the end, however, Curtius did believe the figures.”
——Frank L. Holt (American archaeologist), The Treasures of Alexander the Great, Page 4, Written 2016.

“The king’s estimated total wealth would mean that if every person alive in 323 BC owned a drachma’s worth of silver, Alexander would be eleven times richer than all of them together.”
——Frank L. Holt (American archaeologist), The Treasures of Alexander the Great, Page 5, Written 2016.

“When Alexander marched south and took control of Egypt unopposed, he proclaimed himself ‘the ruler of the rulers of all the lands; the mighty lion who seizes possession of the mountains, fields, and deserts; the strong bull who protects Egypt; the master of the sea and all the sun encircles; beloved of Re and chosen of Ammon; the son of Ammon, Alexander.'”
——Frank L. Holt (American archaeologist), The Treasures of Alexander the Great, Page 58, Written 2016.

“The earliest ecumenical meditation about Alexander’s plundering seems to have hinged upon the pique of an imaginary pirate: ‘When Alexander the Great captured a certain pirate and scolded him for molesting the seas, the fellow retorted by saying, “We both are in the same business, you and I. But because I do mischief with a little ship, you call me a pirate, while you plunder the world with a giant armada and hail yourself a conqueror!”‘ The first known iteration of this story can be found in the works of Cicero.”
——Frank L. Holt (American archaeologist), The Treasures of Alexander the Great, Page 147, Written 2016.

“He [Augustus] delayed at Brundisium only 27 days — just long enough to satisfy all the demands of the soldiers — and then went to Egypt by a roundabout way through Asia and Syria, laid siege to Alexandria, where Antony had taken refuge with Cleopatra, and soon took the city. Although Antony tried to make terms at the eleventh hour, Augustus forced him to commit suicide, and viewed his corpse. He greatly desired to save Cleopatra alive for his triumph, and even had Psylli brought to her, to suck the poison from her wound, since it was thought that she had died from the bite of an asp.”
——Suetonius (pagan Roman), The Twelve Caesars, Life of Augustus, Paragraph 17, Written 121 AD.

“He [Augustus] reduced Egypt to the form of a [Roman] province, and then to make it more fruitful and better adapted to supply the city with grain, he set his soldiers at work cleaning out all the canals into which the Nile overflows, which in the course of many years had become choked with mud.”
——Suetonius (pagan Roman), The Twelve Caesars, Life of Augustus, Paragraph 18, Written 121 AD.

Dan. 2:40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that crusheth all these, it shall break in pieces and crush.

Dan. 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

Rev. 13:7-8 And it was given unto him [the Beast] to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, every one whose name hath not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been slain.

Dan. 2:40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that crusheth all these, it shall break in pieces and crush.

The Hebrew word for “he-goats” is atudim.

Is. 14:9 Sheol from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the he-goats [atudim] of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.

Ezek. 39:18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of he-goats [atudim], of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.

Psa. 77:16-20 The waters saw thee, O Gd; The waters saw thee, they were afraid: The depths also trembled. The clouds poured out water; The skies sent out a sound: Thine arrows also went abroad. The voice of thy thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lightened the world: The earth trembled and shook. Thy way was in the sea, And thy paths in the great waters, And thy footsteps were not known. You led your people like a flock, By the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Psa. 78:52 But he [Gd] led forth his own people like sheep, And guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

Psa. 80:1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; Thou that sittest above the cherubim, shine forth.

Jer. 23:2-3 Therefore thus saith the Lrd, the Gd of Israel, against the shepherds that feed my people: Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them; behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lrd. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and multiply.

Ezek. 36:37-38 Thus saith the Lrd Gd: For this, moreover, will I be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them: I will increase them with men like a flock. As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am the Lrd.

Zech. 9:16 And the Lrd their Gd will save them in that day as the flock of his people; for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted on high over his land.

Zech. 10:3 Mine anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the he-goats; for the Lrd of hosts hath visited his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them as his goodly horse in the battle.

Josh. 22:33 And the thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel blessed Gd, and spake no more of rising up against them to war to destroy the land wherein the children of Reuben and the children of Gad dwelt.

2Kings 18:25 Am I now risen up without the Lrd against this place to destroy it? The Lrd said unto me, Rise up against this land and destroy it.

Is. 36:1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria rose up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.

Jer. 50:21 Rise up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: slay and utterly destroy after them, saith the Lrd, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

Ezek. 26:3-4 therefore thus saith the Lrd Gd, Behold, I am against thee, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to rise up against thee, as the sea causeth its waves to come up. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her a bare rock.

The Hebrew word (‘al) for “upon” is the same word used for “against.”

Gen. 31:4-12 And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock, and said unto them, I see your father’s [Laban’s] countenance, that it is not toward me as beforetime; but the Gd of my father hath been with me. And ye know that with all my power I have served your father. And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages 10 times; but Gd suffered him not to hurt me. If he said thus, The dotted shall be thy wages; then all the flock bare dotted: and if he said thus, The striped shall be thy wages; then bare all the flock striped. Thus Gd hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me. And it came to pass at the time that the flock conceive, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the he-goats [atudim] which rise up upon the flock were striped, dotted, and spotted. And the angel of Gd said unto me in the dream, Jacob: and I said, Here am I. And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the he-goats [atudim] which rise up upon the flock are striped, dotted, and spotted: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.

Dan. 7:19-25 Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was diverse from all of them, exceeding terrible, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet; and concerning the 10 horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before which 3 fell, even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake great things, whose look was more stout than its fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And as for the 10 horns, out of this kingdom 10 kings shall arise: and another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the former, and he shall put down three kings. And he shall speak words against the Most High, and he shall wear out the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to change the times and the Law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.

Rev. 13:4-7 And they worshipped the dragon, because he gave his authority unto the beast; and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? and who is able to war with him? and there was given to him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and there was given to him authority to act 42 months. And he opened his mouth for blasphemies against Gd, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, even them that dwell in the heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation.

Rev. 11:3-7 And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, standing before the Lrd of the earth. And if any man desireth to hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies; and if any man shall desire to hurt them, in this manner must he be killed. These have the power to shut the heaven, that it rain not during the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall desire. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them.

Is. 1:21 How is the faithful city become a harlot! she that was full of justice! righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.

Jer. 3:6-10 Moreover the Lrd said unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there has played the harlot. And I said after she had done all these things, She will return unto me; but she returned not: and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. And I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorcement, yet treacherous Judah her sister feared not; but she also went and played the harlot. And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks. And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not returned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lrd.

Ezek. 16:1-3 Again the word of the Lrd came unto me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations; and say, Thus saith the Lrd Gd unto Jerusalem: Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of the Canaanite; the Amorite was thy father, and thy mother was a Hittite.
Ezek. 16:8-37 Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lrd Gd, and thou becamest mine. Then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with sealskin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and covered thee with silk. And I decked thee with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck. And I put a ring upon thy nose, and ear-rings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy head. Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil; and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper unto royal estate. And thy renown went forth among the nations for thy beauty; for it was perfect, through my majesty which I had put upon thee, saith the Lrd Gd. But thou didst trust in thy beauty, and you playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and you poured out thy whoredoms on every one that passed by; his it was. And thou didst take of thy garments, and you madest for thee high places decked with divers colors, and you playedst the harlot upon them: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so. Thou didst also take thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and you madest for thee images of men, and didst play the harlot with them; and thou tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them, and didst set mine oil and mine incense before them. My bread also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou didst even set it before them for a sweet savor; and thus it was, saith the Lrd Gd. Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Were thy whoredoms a small matter, that thou hast slain my children, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through the fire unto them? And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast weltering in thy blood. And it is come to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lrd Gd), that thou hast built unto thee a vaulted place, and hast made thee a lofty place in every street. Thou hast built thy lofty place at the head of every way, and hast made thy beauty an abomination, and you have opened wide your legs to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredom. Thou have also committed fornication with the Egyptians, thy neighbors, great of flesh; and hast multiplied thy whoredom, to provoke me to anger. Behold therefore, I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, that are ashamed of thy lewd way. Thou hast played the harlot also with the Assyrians, because thou wast insatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet thou wast not satisfied. Thou hast moreover multiplied thy whoredom unto the land of traffic, unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith. How weak is thy heart, saith the Lrd Gd, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an impudent harlot; in that thou buildest thy vaulted place at the head of every way, and makest thy lofty place in every street, and hast not been as a harlot, in that thou scornest hire. A wife that committeth adultery! that taketh strangers instead of her husband! They give gifts to all harlots; but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and bribest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredoms. And thou art different from other women in thy whoredoms, in that none followeth thee to play the harlot; and whereas thou givest hire, and no hire is given unto thee, therefore thou art different. Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lrd: Thus saith the Lrd Gd, Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness uncovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers; and because of all the idols of thy abominations, and for the blood of thy children, that thou didst give unto them; therefore behold, I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them against thee on every side, and will uncover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.

Rev. 17:1-3 And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls, and spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters; with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and they that dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her fornication. And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness: and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having 7 heads and 10 horns.

Rev. 18:3 For by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen; and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness.

Rev. 18:9 And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived wantonly with her, shall weep and wail over her, when they look upon the smoke of her burning,

“Since the grace of Gd and the most pious emperor Constantine have called us together from different provinces and cities to constitute the great and holy synod in Nicaea, it seemed absolutely necessary that the holy synod should send you a letter so that you may know what was proposed and discussed, and what was decided and enacted. First of all the affair of the impiety and lawlessness of Arius and his followers was discussed in the presence of the most pious emperor Constantine.”
——The Letter of the Synod in Nicaea to the Egyptians, Written c. 325 AD.

“‘And you will consider not only that the number of churches is far greater in the regions I [Constantine the Great] have enumerated than in any other, but also that it is most fitting that all should unite in desiring that which sound reason appears to demand, and in avoiding all participation in the perjured conduct of the Jews. In fine, that I may express my meaning in as few words as possible, it has been determined by the common judgment of all, that the most holy feast of Passover should be kept on one and the same day. For on the one hand a discrepancy of opinion on so sacred a question is unbecoming, and on the other it is surely best to act on a decision which is free from strange folly and error. Receive, then, with all willingness this truly Divine injunction, and regard it as in truth the gift of Gd. For whatever is determined in the holy assemblies of the bishops is to be regarded as indicative of the Divine will. As soon, therefore, as you have communicated these proceedings to all our beloved brethren, you are bound from that time forward to adopt for yourselves, and to enjoin on others the arrangement above mentioned, and the due observance of this most sacred day; that whenever I come into the presence of your love, which I have long desired, I may have it in my power to celebrate the holy feast with you on the same day, and may rejoice with you on all accounts, when I behold the cruel power of Satan removed by Divine aid through the agency of our endeavors, while your faith, and peace, and concord everywhere flourish. Gd preserve you, beloved brethren!’ The emperor [Constantine] transmitted a faithful copy of this letter to every province, wherein they who read it might discern as in a mirror the pure sincerity of his thoughts, and of his piety toward Gd.”
——Eusebius (Greco-Roman Christian), Life of Constantine, Book 3, Chapters 19-20, Written 337 AD.

“The sacred and great and universal synod by Gd’s grace and by decree of your most religious and Chrst-loving emperors Valentinian Augustus and Marcian Augustus assembled in Chalcedon, metropolis of the province of Bithynia, in the shrine of the saintly and triumphant martyr Euphemia, issues the following decrees. In establishing his disciples in the knowledge of the faith, our Lrd and savior Chrst said: ‘My peace I give you, my peace I leave to you,’ so that no one should disagree with his neighbor regarding religious doctrines but that the proclamation of the truth would be uniformly presented. But the evil one never stops trying to smother the seeds of religion with his own tares and is for ever inventing some novelty or other against the truth; so the Master, exercising his usual care for the human race, roused this religious and most faithful emperor to zealous action, and summoned to himself the leaders of the priesthood from everywhere, so that through the working of the grace of Chrst, the master of all of us, every injurious falsehood might be staved off from the sheep of Chrst and they might be fattened on fresh growths of the truth.”
——Council of Chalcedon, Written 451 AD.

“For the selfsame who is truly Gd, is also truly man; and there is no illusion in this union, while the lowliness of man and the loftiness of Godhead meet together. For as Gd is not changed by the compassion [exhibited], so Man is not consumed by the dignity [bestowed]. For each form does the acts which belong to it, in communion with the other; the Word, that is, performing what belongs to the Word, and the flesh carrying out what belongs to the flesh; the one of these shines out in miracles, the other succumbs to injuries.”
——Pope Leo I (Roman Christian), Tome of Leo, Written 449 AD.

“The birth of the flesh is a manifestation of human nature; the Virgin’s child-bearing is an indication of Divine power. The infancy of the Babe is exhibited by the humiliation of swaddling clothes: the greatness of the Highest is declared by the voices of angels. He whom Herod impiously designs to slay is like humanity in its beginnings; but he whom the Magi rejoice to adore on their knees is Lrd of all. Now when he came to the baptism of John his forerunner, lest the fact that the Godhead was covered with a veil of flesh should be concealed, the voice of the Father spake in thunder from heaven, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ Accordingly, him whom, as man, the devil’s subtlety tempts, is the same to whom, as Gd, angels pay duteous service. To hunger, to thirst, to be weary, and to sleep, is evidently human. But to satisfy 5,000 men with 5 loaves, and give to the Samaritan woman that living water, to draw which can secure him that drinks of it from ever thirsting again; to walk on the surface of the sea with feet that sink not, and by rebuking the storm to bring down the ‘uplifted waves,’ is unquestionably Divine. As then—to pass by many points —it does not belong to the same nature to weep with feelings of pity over a dead friend and, after the mass of stone had been removed from the grave where he had lain 4 days, by a voice of command to raise him up to life again; or to hang on the wood, and to make all the elements tremble after daylight had been turned into night; or to be transfixed with nails, and to open the gates of paradise to the faith of the robber; so it does not belong to the same nature to say, ‘I and the Father are one,’ and to say, ‘the Father is greater than I.’“
——Pope Leo I (Roman Christian), Tome of Leo, Written 449 AD.

“From what belongs to us he has that manhood which is inferior to the Father; while from the Father he has equal Godhead with the Father.”
——Pope Leo I (Roman Christian), Tome of Leo, Written 449 AD.

“Accordingly, on account of this unity of Person which is to be understood as existing in both the natures, we read, on the one hand, that ‘the Son of Man came down from heaven,’ inasmuch as the Son of Gd took flesh from that Virgin of whom he was born; and on the other hand, the Son of Gd is said to have been crucified and buried, inasmuch as he underwent this, not in his actual Godhead; wherein the Only-begotten is coeternal and consubstantial with the Father, but in the weakness of human nature.”
——Pope Leo I (Roman Christian), Tome of Leo, Written 449 AD.

“If then he [Eutyches, the Pope’s opponent] accepts the Christian faith, and does not turn away his ear from the preaching of the Gospel, let him see what nature it was that was transfixed with nails and hung on the wood of the cross; and let him understand whence it was that, after the side of the Crucified had been pierced by the soldier’s spear, blood and water flowed out.”
——Pope Leo I (Roman Christian), Tome of Leo, Written 449 AD.

“But when Eutyches, on being questioned in your examination of him, answered, ‘I confess that our Lrd was of two natures before the union, but after the union I confess one nature’; I am astonished that so absurd and perverse a profession as this of his was not rebuked by a censure on the part of any of his judges, and that an utterance extremely foolish and extremely blasphemous was passed over, just as if nothing had been heard which could give offence: seeing that it is as impious to say that the Only-begotten Son of God was of two natures before the Incarnation as it is shocking to affirm that, since the Word became flesh, there has been in him one nature only.”
——Pope Leo I (Roman Christian), Tome of Leo, Written 449 AD.

“So, following the saintly fathers, we all with one voice teach the confession of one and the same Son, our Lrd Jsus Chrst: the same perfect in divinity and perfect in humanity, the same truly Gd and truly man, of a rational soul and a body; consubstantial with the Father as regards his divinity, and the same consubstantial with us as regards his humanity; like us in all respects except for sin; begotten before the ages from the Father as regards his divinity, and in the last days the same for us and for our salvation from Mary, the virgin Mother of Gd as regards his humanity; one and the same Chrst, Son, Lrd, only-begotten, acknowledged in two natures which undergo no confusion, no change, no division, no separation; at no point was the difference between the natures taken away through the union, but rather the property of both natures is preserved and comes together into a single person and a single subsistent being; he is not parted or divided into two persons, but is one and the same only-begotten Son, Gd, Word, Lrd Jsus Chrst, just as the prophets taught from the beginning about him, and as the Lrd Jsus Chrst himself instructed us, and as the creed of the fathers handed it down to us.”
——Council of Chalcedon, Written 451 AD.

“It [the synod of bishops at Chalcedon] has accepted … the letter of the primate of greatest and older Rome, the most blessed and most saintly Archbishop Leo, written to the sainted Archbishop Flavian to put down Eutyches’ evil-mindedness, because it is in agreement with great Peter’s confession and represents a support we have in common.”
——Council of Chalcedon, Written 451 AD.

“There are those who are trying to ruin the proclamation of the truth, and through their private heresies they have spawned novel formulas: some by daring to corrupt the mystery of the Lrd’s economy on our behalf, and refusing to apply the word ‘Mother of Gd’ to the Virgin; and others by introducing a confusion and mixture, and mindlessly imagining that there is a single nature of the flesh and the divinity, and fantastically supposing that in the confusion the divine nature of the Only-begotten is able to suffer.”
——Council of Chalcedon, Written 451 AD.

“It [the synod of bishops at Chalcedon] expels from the assembly of the priests those who dare to say that the divinity of the Only-begotten is able to suffer, and it stands opposed to those who imagine a mixture or confusion between the two natures of Chrst.”
——Council of Chalcedon, Written 451 AD.

“But you say that the synod at Chalcedon also placed the faith of the 318 before its definition. But in that case the innovation is obvious. First it says in plain words, and that twice and three times, that it is itself making a definition; secondly, because it said that our one Lrd Jsus Chrst is made known in two natures; thirdly, to omit the other points, because it called Leo’s letter, which is full of the blasphemies of Nestorius, ‘a pillar of orthodoxy.’“
——Severus of Antioch, Letter 36, Written 510 AD.

“But this you may keep firmly and fixedly in your mind, that no one shall be our fellow-communicant, nor will we consent to greet by letter any man who at the same time receives the wicked synod at Chalcedon contrary to the Law, and does not condemn the Tome of Leo. But, if any concession is necessary, I will stand within the ordinances of the holy Timothy, considering the general benefit of a union of the holy churches, and demanding an open condemnation of the things done at Chalcedon against the orthodox faith, and of the wicked Tome of Leo, and of those who speak of two natures after the union, and the operations of these and their properties.”
——Severus of Antioch, Letter 47, Written 516 AD.

“Our observations prompted us to correct what was happening. We assembled in this imperial city, summoned here by the will of Gd and the command of the most religious emperor [Justinian].”
——Second Council of Constantinople, Written 553 AD.

“If anyone confesses a belief that a union has been made out of the two natures divinity and humanity, or speaks about the one nature of Gd the Word made flesh, but does not understand these things according to what the fathers have taught, namely that from the divine and human natures a union was made according to subsistence, and that one Chrst was formed, and from these expressions tries to introduce one nature or substance made of the deity and human flesh of Chrst: let him be anathema.”
——Second Council of Constantinople, Canon 8, Written 553 AD.

“[I]f anyone, so as to remove the human flesh or to mix up the divinity and the humanity, monstrously invents one nature or substance brought together from the two, and so worships Chrst, but not by a single adoration Gd the Word in human flesh along with his human flesh, as has been the tradition of the church from the beginning: let him be anathema.”
——Second Council of Constantinople, Written 553 AD.

“If anyone will not confess that the Word of Gd has two births, that which is before all ages from the Father, outside time and without a body, and secondly that birth of these latter days when the Word of Gd came down from the heavens and was made flesh of holy and glorious Mary, Mother of Gd and ever-virgin, and was born from her: let him be anathema.”
——Second Council of Constantinople, Written 553 AD.

“Our most mild emperor, champion of right belief and adversary of wrong belief, guided in godly wisdom by this teaching of peace spoken by Gd, has brought together this holy and universal assembly of ours and set at one the whole judgment of the church.”
——Third Council of Constantinople, Written 680-681 AD.

“This same holy and universal synod, here present, faithfully accepts and welcomes with open hands the report of Agatho, most holy and most blessed pope of elder Rome, that came to our most reverend and most faithful emperor Constantine [IV], which rejected by name those who proclaimed and taught, as has been already explained, one will and one principle of action in the incarnate dispensation of Chrst our true Gd; and likewise it approves as well the other synodal report to his Gd-taught serenity, from the synod of 125 bishops dear to Gd meeting under the same most holy pope, as according with the holy synod at Chalcedon and with the Tome of the all-holy and most blessed Leo, pope of the same elder Rome, which was sent to Flavian, who is among the saints, and which that synod called a pillar of right belief, and furthermore with the synodal letters written by the blessed Cyril against the impious Nestorius and to the bishops of the East.”
——Third Council of Constantinople, Written 680-681 AD.

“And we proclaim equally two natural volitions or wills in him and two natural principles of action which undergo no division, no change, no partition, no confusion, in accordance with the teaching of the holy fathers. And the two natural wills not in opposition, as the impious heretics said, far from it, but his human will following, and not resisting or struggling, rather in fact subject to his divine and all powerful will. For the will of the flesh had to be moved, and yet to be subjected to the divine will, according to the most wise Athanasius. For just as his flesh is said to be and is flesh of the Word of Gd, so too the natural will of his flesh is said to and does belong to the Word of Gd, just as he says himself: I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me, calling his own will that of his flesh, since his flesh too became his own. For in the same way that his all holy and blameless animate flesh was not destroyed in being made divine but remained in its own limit and category, so his human will as well was not destroyed by being made divine, but rather was preserved, according to the theologian Gregory, who says: ‘For his willing, when he is considered as savior, is not in opposition to Gd, being made divine in its entirety.’ And we hold there to be two natural principles of action in the same Jsus Chrst our Lrd and true Gd, which undergo no division, no change, no partition, no confusion, that is, a divine principle of action and a human principle of action, according to the godly-speaking Leo, who says most clearly: ‘For each form does in a communion with the other that activity which it possesses as its own, the Word working that which is the Word’s and the body accomplishing the things that are the body’s.’ For of course we will not grant the existence of only a single natural principle of action of both Gd and creature, lest we raise what is made to the level of divine being, or indeed reduce what is most specifically proper to the divine nature to a level befitting creatures for we acknowledge that the miracles and the sufferings are of one and the same according to one or the other of the two natures out of which he is and in which he has his being, as the admirable Cyril said. Therefore, protecting on all sides the ‘no confusion’ and ‘no division,’ we announce the whole in these brief words: Believing our Lrd Jsus Chrst, even after his incarnation, to be one of the holy Trinity and our true Gd, we say that he has two natures shining forth in his one subsistence in which he demonstrated the miracles and the sufferings throughout his entire providential dwelling here, not in appearance but in truth, the difference of the natures being made known in the same one subsistence in that each nature wills and performs the things that are proper to it in a communion with the other; then in accord with this reasoning we hold that two natural wills and principles of action meet in correspondence for the salvation of the human race. So now that these points have been formulated by us with all precision in every respect and with all care, we definitely state that it is not allowable for anyone to produce another faith, that is, to write or to compose or to consider or to teach others; those who dare to compose another faith, or to support or to teach or to hand on another creed to those who wish to turn to knowledge of the truth, whether from Hellenism or Judaism or indeed from any heresy whatsoever, or to introduce novelty of speech, that is, invention of terms, so as to overturn what has now been defined by us, such persons, if they are bishops or clerics, are deprived of their episcopacy or clerical rank, and if they are monks or layfolk they are excommunicated.”
——Third Council of Constantinople, Written 680-681 AD.

“The holy, great and universal synod, by the grace of Gd and by order of our pious and Chrst-loving emperor and empress, Constantine [VI] and his mother Irene, assembled for the second time in the famous metropolis of the Nicaeans in the province of the Bithynians, in the holy church of Gd named after Wisdom, following the tradition of the catholic church, has decreed what is here laid down.”
——Second Council of Nicaea, Written 787 AD.

“Therefore the Lrd Gd, not bearing that what was subject to him should be destroyed by such a corruption, has by his good pleasure summoned us together through the divine diligence and decision of Constantine [VI] and Irene, our faithful emperor and empress, we who are those responsible for the priesthood everywhere, in order that the divinely inspired tradition of the catholic church should receive confirmation by a public decree.”
——Second Council of Nicaea, Written 787 AD.

“[W]e decree with full precision and care that, like the figure of the honored and life-giving cross, the revered and holy images, whether painted or made of mosaic or of other suitable material, are to be exposed in the holy churches of Gd, on sacred instruments and vestments, on walls and panels, in houses and by public ways. These are the images of our Lrd, Gd and savior, Jsus Chrst, and of our Lady without blemish, the holy Gd-bearer, and of the revered angels and of any of the saintly holy men. The more frequently they are seen in representational art, the more are those who see them drawn to remember and long for those who serve as models, and to pay these images the tribute of salutation and respectful veneration. Certainly this is not the full adoration in accordance with our faith, which is properly paid only to the divine nature, but it resembles that given to the figure of the honored and life-giving cross, and also to the holy books of the gospels and to other sacred cult objects. Further, people are drawn to honor these images with the offering of incense and lights, as was piously established by ancient custom. Indeed, the honor paid to an image traverses it, reaching the model, and he who venerates the image, venerates the person represented in that image. So it is that the teaching of our holy fathers is strengthened, namely, the tradition of the catholic church which has received the gospel from one end of the earth to the other. So it is that we really follow Paul, who spoke in Chrst, and the entire divine apostolic group and the holiness of the fathers, clinging fast to the traditions which we have received. So it is that we sing out with the prophets the hymns of victory to the church: Rejoice exceedingly O daughter of Zion, proclaim O daughter of Jerusalem; enjoy your happiness and gladness with a full heart. The Lrd has removed away from you the injustices of your enemies, you have been redeemed from the hand of your foes. The Lrd the king is in your midst, you will never more see evil, and peace will be upon you for time eternal. Therefore all those who dare to think or teach anything different, or who follow the accursed heretics in rejecting ecclesiastical traditions, or who devise innovations, or who spurn anything entrusted to the church (whether it be the gospel or the figure of the cross or any example of representational art or any martyr’s holy relic), or who fabricate perverted and evil prejudices against cherishing any of the lawful traditions of the catholic church, or who secularize the sacred objects and saintly monasteries, we order that they be suspended if they are bishops or clerics, and excommunicated if they are monks or lay people.”
——Second Council of Nicaea, Written 787 AD.

“If anyone does not confess that Chrst our Gd can be represented in his humanity, let him be anathema. If anyone does not accept representation in art of evangelical scenes, let him be anathema. If anyone does not salute such representations as standing for the Lrd and his saints, let him be anathema. If anyone rejects any written or unwritten tradition of the church, let him be anathema.”
——Second Council of Nicaea, Written 787 AD.

“That Hebrews ought not to be received unless they have been converted in sincerity of heart.
Since certain, erring in the superstitions of the Hebrews, have thought to mock at Chrst our Gd, and feigning to be converted to the religion of Chrst do deny him, and in private and secretly keep the Sabbath and observe other Jewish customs, we decree that such persons be not received to communion, nor to prayers, nor into the Church; but let them be openly Hebrews according to their religion, and let them not bring their children to baptism, nor purchase or possess a slave. But if any of them, out of a sincere heart and in faith, is converted and makes profession with his whole heart, setting at naught their customs and observances, and so that others may be convinced and converted, such an one is to be received and baptized, and his children likewise; and let them be taught to take care to hold aloof from the ordinances of the Hebrews. But if they will not do this, let them in no wise be received.”
——Second Council of Nicaea, Canon 8, Written 787 AD.

“All those childish baubles and bacchic rantings, the false writings composed against the venerable icons, should be given in at the episcopal building in Constantinople, so that they can be put away along with other heretical books. If someone is discovered to be hiding such books, if he is a bishop, priest or deacon, let him be suspended, and if he is a lay person or a monk, let him be excommunicated.”
——Second Council of Nicaea, Canon 9, Written 787 AD.

Gen. 30:31 And he [Laban] said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me anything: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again shepherd thy flock and keep it.

Jer. 3:14-15 Return, O backsliding children, saith the Lrd; for I am a husband unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion. And I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

Eph. 4:11 And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers;

1Pet. 2:25 For ye were going astray like sheep; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

Gen. 32:28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for thou hast striven with Gd and with men, and hast prevailed.

Rom. 9:6-8 But it is not as though the word of Gd hath come to nought. For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel: neither, because they are Abraham’s seed, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, it is not the children of the flesh that are children of Gd; but the children of the promise are reckoned for a seed.

Gal. 6:15-16 For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as shall walk by this rule, peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of Gd.

Eph. 2:11-19 Wherefore remember, that once ye, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called Circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands; that ye were at that time separate from Chrst, alienated from the citizenship of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without Gd in the world. But now in Chrst Jsus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; that he might create in himself of the two one new man, so making peace; and might reconcile them both in one body unto Gd through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and he came and preached peace to you that were far off, and peace to them that were nigh: for through him we both have our access in one Spirit unto the Father. So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of Gd.

Joel 1:6-7 For a nation has risen up against my land, strong, and without number; its teeth are the teeth of a lion, and it has the jaw-teeth of a lioness. It has laid my vine to waste and my fig-tree to splintering. It has utterly laid it bare, and cast it away; its branches are made white.

The Hebrew name “Laban” has the exact same spelling as the standard Hebrew word for “white”: laban.

Gen. 31:26-35 And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters as captives of the sword? Wherefore didst thou flee secretly, and steal away from me, and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth and with songs, with tabret and with harp; and didst not suffer me to kiss my sons and my daughters? now hast thou done foolishly. It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take heed to thyself that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad. And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father’s house, yet why have you stolen my gods? And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said, Lest thou shouldest take thy daughters from me by force. With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, he shall not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them. And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two maid-servants; but he found them not. And he went out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent. Now Rachel had taken the idols, and put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat upon them. And Laban felt about all the tent, but found them not. And she said to her father, Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise up before thee; for the manner of women is upon me. And he searched, but he did not find the idols.

Mark 8:31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after 3 days rise again.

Jer. 1:11-12 Moreover the word of the Lrd came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a staff of an almond-tree [shaqed]. Then said the Lrd unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I watch over [shoqed] my word to perform it.

Zech. 11:10 And I took my staff Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples.

Hos. 4:11-13 Fornication and wine and new wine take away the understanding. My people ask counsel at their piece of wood, and their staff declares unto them; for the spirit of fornication hath caused them to err, and they have played the harlot, departing from under their Gd. They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters play the harlot, and your brides commit adultery.

Prov. 18:4 The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters; The wellspring of wisdom is as a flowing brook.

Is. 55:1-4 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples.

Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lrd Gd, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lrd.

Eph. 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, even as Chrst also loved the church, and gave himself up for it; that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Gen. 30:31-34 And he [Laban] said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me anything: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed thy flock and keep it. I will pass through all thy flock to-day, removing from there every dotted and spotty one, and every black one among the sheep, and the spotty and dotted among the goats: and of such shall be my hire. So shall my righteousness answer for me hereafter, when thou shalt come concerning my hire that is before thee: every one that is not dotted and spotty among the goats, and black among the sheep, that if found with me, shall be counted stolen. And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.

Gen. 30:35-36 And he [Laban] removed that day the he-goats that were striped and spotty, and all the she-goats that were dotted and spotty, every one that had white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons; and he [Laban] set 3 days’ journey between himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

Gen. 30:37-43 And Jacob took him a staff of fresh poplar [Hebrew: libneh, from laban: “white”], and of the almond, and of the plane-tree [Hebrew: ‘ermon, from ‘erom: “naked, bare”]; and he stripped white, stripped-spots in them laying bare the white which was on the staffs. And he set the staffs which he had stripped over against the flocks in the troughs in the watering-troughs where the flocks came to drink; and they conceived when they came to drink. And the flocks conceived at the staffs, and the flocks brought forth striped, dotted, and spotty. And Jacob separated the lambs, and he set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban: and he put his own droves apart, and put them not unto Laban’s flock. And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger of the flock did conceive, that Jacob laid the staffs before the eyes of the flock in the troughs, that they might conceive at the staffs; but when the flock were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. And the man increased exceedingly, and had large flocks, and maid-servants and men-servants, and camels and asses.

1Kings 12:28-33 Whereupon the king [Jeroboam] took counsel, and he made two calves of gold; and he said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin; for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. And he made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, that were not of the sons of Levi. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the 8th month, on the 15th day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he went up unto the altar; so did he in Beth-el, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places that he had made. And he went up unto the altar which he had made in Beth-el on the 15th day in the 8th month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart: and he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and went up unto the altar, to burn incense.

2Kings 17:21 For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lrd, and made them sin a great sin.

Jer. 2:4-7 Hear ye the word of the Lrd, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lrd, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? Neither said they, Where is the Lrd that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that none passed through, and where no man dwelt? And I brought you into a plentiful land, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination.

Hos. 4:6-13 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the Law of thy Gd, I also will forget thy children. As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me: I will change their glory into shame. They feed on the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity. And it shall be, like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and will requite them their doings. And they shall eat, and not have enough; they shall play the harlot, and shall not increase; because they have left off taking heed to the Lrd. Fornication and wine and new wine take away the understanding. My people ask counsel at their piece of wood, and their staff declares unto them; for the spirit of fornication hath caused them to err, and they have played the harlot, departing from under their Gd. They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and terebinths, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters play the harlot, and your brides commit adultery.

Col. 2:8 Take heed lest there shall be any one that maketh spoil of you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Chrst.

“These are the doctrines of men and of demons produced for itching ears of the spirit of this world’s wisdom: this the Lrd called foolishness, and chose the foolish things of the world to confound even philosophy itself. For [philosophy] it is which is the material of the world’s wisdom, the rash interpreter of the nature and the dispensation of Gd. Indeed heresies are themselves instigated by philosophy. From this source came the Æons, and I known not what infinite forms, and the trinity of man in the system of Valentinus, who was of Plato’s school. From the same source came Marcion’s better god, with all his tranquillity; he came of the Stoics. Then, again, the opinion that the soul dies is held by the Epicureans; while the denial of the restoration of the body is taken from the aggregate school of all the philosophers; also, when matter is made equal to Gd, then you have the teaching of Zeno; and when any doctrine is alleged touching a god of fire, then Heraclitus comes in. The same subject-matter is discussed over and over again by the heretics and the philosophers; the same arguments are involved. Whence comes evil? Why is it permitted? What is the origin of man? And in what way does he come? Besides the question which Valentinus has very lately proposed — Whence comes Gd? Which he settles with the answer: From enthymesis and ectroma. Unhappy Aristotle! Who invented for these men dialectics, the art of building up and pulling down; an art so evasive in its propositions, so far-fetched in its conjectures, so harsh, in its arguments, so productive of contentions — embarrassing even to itself, retracting everything, and really treating of nothing! Whence spring those fables and endless genealogies, and unprofitable questions, and words which spread like a cancer? From all these, when the apostle would restrain us, he expressly names philosophy as that which he would have us be on our guard against. Writing to the Colossians, he says, ‘See that no one beguile you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, and contrary to the wisdom of the Holy Ghost.’ He had been at Athens, and had in his interviews [with its philosophers] become acquainted with that human wisdom which pretends to know the truth, while it only corrupts it, and is itself divided into its own manifold heresies, by the variety of its mutually repugnant sects. What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem? What concord is there between the Academy and the Church? What between heretics and Christians?”
——Tertullian, Prescription Against Heretics, Chapter 7, Written c. 200 AD.

In 270-275 AD, the Roman Empire minted coins with an image of the bust of the Sun god on the front with the inscription “Sol [Roman Sun god], lord of the Roman Empire” and on the back an image of Emperor Aurelian sacrificing at a pagan altar with an inscription “Aurelian Augustus Consul.”
——Roman Empire Coins, RIC V Aurelian 319 and RIC V Aurelian 322, Minted 270-275 AD.

“In correspondence with the manner of the sun’s rising, prayers are made looking towards the sunrise in the east. Whence also the most ancient temples looked towards the west, that people might be taught to turn to the east when facing the images. Let my prayer be directed before You as incense, the uplifting of my hands as the evening sacrifice, say the Psalms.”
——Clement of Alexandria (Greco-Roman Christian), Stromata, Book 7, Chapter 7, Written c. 200 AD.

“What the Lrd says, ‘I am the light of the world,’ I think is clear to those who have eyes, from which they become partakers of this light: but those who have eyes only in the flesh do not understand what the Lrd Jsus Chrst said, ‘I am the light of the world.’ And perhaps it is not said that the Lrd is this sun, which completes the day with its rising and setting? For there have been heretics who thought this. They believed that the visible and public sun, exposed to the eyes of the flesh, was Chrst the Lrd. But the right faith of the Catholic Church rejects such a notion and recognizes it as a diabolical doctrine: not only recognizing it by belief but also by disputing where possible. Therefore, we condemn such an error, which the holy Church has anathematized from the beginning. We do not make the Lrd Jsus Chrst this sun that we see rising from the east and setting in the west, whose course is marked by its rays being obscured by clouds; this is not the Lrd Chrst. The Lrd Chrst is not made the sun, but through whom the sun was made.”
——Augustine (Roman Christian), In the Gospel of John, Tractate 34, Chapter 2, Patrologia Latina 35, Page 1652, Written c. 408-420 AD.

“From such a system of teaching proceeds also the ungodly practice of certain foolish folk who worship the sun as it rises at the beginning of daylight from elevated positions: even some Christians think it is so proper to do this that, before entering the blessed Apostle Peter’s basilica, which is dedicated to the One Living and true Gd, when they have mounted the steps which lead to the raised platform, they turn round and bow themselves towards the rising sun and with bent neck do homage to its brilliant orb. We are full of grief and vexation that this should happen, which is partly due to the fault of ignorance and partly to the spirit of heathenism: because although some of them do perhaps worship the Creator of that fair light rather than the Light itself, which is His creature, yet we must abstain even from the appearance of this observance: for if one who has abandoned the worship of gods, finds it in our own worship, will he not hark back again to this fragment of his old superstition, as if it were allowable, when he sees it to be common both to Christians and to infidels?”
——Pope Leo I (Roman Christian), Sermon 27, Chapter 4, Written c. 450 AD.

“Woe to those who worship the sun, the roof, and the stars! For I have seen many who worship and pray to the sun. When the sun rises, they pray and say, ‘Have mercy on us, rejoice, O sun-knower!’ And heretics do this, but also Christians, abandoning the faith and reading with heretics. Why do you abandon the Creator of the heavens, the sun, the moon, and the stars, to worship what is created? One must not worship the creation rather than the Creator.”
——Eusebius of Alexandria (Orthodox Christian), Sermons, Patrologia Graeca 86, Page 453, Written c. 550 AD.

“Dedicating the days [of the week] to the seven stars called planets was instituted by the Egyptians, but is now found among all mankind, though its adoption has been comparatively recent; at any rate the ancient Greeks never were acquainted with it, so far as I am aware. But since it is also now no doubt the custom both with all other men and also with the Romans themselves, and is to them already in a way an ancestral tradition, I wish to write briefly of it, telling how and in what way it has been so arranged.”
——Cassius Dio (pagan Greco-Roman), Historia Romana, Book 37, Chapter 18, Written c. 220 AD.

“The days [of the week] are called after the gods, whose names the Romans consecrated to certain stars. Indeed, they named the first day after the sun, which is the chief of all the stars, just as the same day is the head of all the days.”
——Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae, Book 5, Chapter 30, Written c. 620 AD.

“The order of the stars with respect to the days [of the week] is thus: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn.”
——Vettius Valens, Anthologia, Book 1, Chapter 10, Written c. 155 AD.

“When Nero Caesar Augustus and Cossus Lentulus son of Cossus were consuls, 8 days before the ides of February, the Day of the Sun, 16th day of the moon, the nundinae at Cumae, 5 days before the ides of February the nundinae at Pompeii.”
——Graffito Within Private House Casa delle Nozze d’Argento at Pompeii, Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, Volume 4, Part 2, Page 515, Entry 4182, Written 60 AD.

“The 9th day before the Kalends of June [May 24], the Emperor … It was the Day of the Sun.”
——Wall Inscription at Pompeii and Herculaneum, Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, Volume 4, Part 2, Page 717, Entry 6838, Written Before 79 AD.

Ex. 20:8-11 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the 7th day is a sabbath unto the Lrd thy Gd: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in 6 days the Lrd made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the 7th day: wherefore the Lrd blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.

“If, then, those who had lived according to ancient practices came to the newness of hope, no longer keeping the Sabbath but living in accordance with the Lrd’s day [the Day of the Sun], on which our life also arose through him and his death.”
——Ignatius of Antioch (Greco-Roman Christian), Epistle to the Magnesians, Chapter 9, Written c. 120 AD.

The pagan Roman Day of the Sun was:
1) The first day;
2) Connected to light because the first day was dedicated to the Sun god.

The first reason that Justin Martyr gave for Christians gathering on the Day of the Sun was because it was:
1) The first day;
2) Connected to light because Gd created light on the first day.

“[Justin Martyr writing to Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius] But the Day of the Sun is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which Gd, changing the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jsus Chrst our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn; and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the Day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration.”
——Justin Martyr (Roman Christian), First Apology, Chapter 67, Written c. 156 AD.

In 197 AD:
1) Pagans held the Day of the Sun as a day of festivity in honor of the Sun god;
2) Pagans worshiped the Sun god by praying toward the East at sunrise;
3) Christians held the Day of the Sun as a day of festivity;
4) Christians prayed toward the East;
5) Pagans thought Christians worshipped the Sun god.

“Others, with greater regard to good manners, it must be confessed, suppose that the Sun is the god of the Christians, because it is a well-known fact that we pray towards the East, or because we make the Day of the Sun a day of festivity. What then? Do you do less than this? Do not many among you, with an affectation of sometimes worshipping the heavenly bodies likewise, move your lips in the direction of the sunrise? It is you, at all events, who have even admitted the sun into the calendar of the week; and you have selected its day, in preference to the preceding day as the most suitable in the week for either an entire abstinence from the bath, or for its postponement until the evening, or for taking rest and for banqueting. By resorting to these customs, you deliberately deviate from your own religious rites to those of strangers. For the Jewish feasts on the Sabbath and the Purification, and Jewish also are the ceremonies of the lamps, and the fasts of unleavened bread, and the littoral prayers, all which institutions and practices are of course foreign from your gods. Wherefore, that I may return from this digression, you who reproach us with the Sun and the Day of the Sun should consider your proximity to us. We are not far off from your Saturn and your days of rest.”
——Tertullian (Roman Christian), Ad Nationes, Book 1, Chapter 13, Written 197 AD.

“Others, in turn, surely with more knowledge and greater plausibility, think that the Sun is our god. We may be considered Persians perhaps, though we do not revere the orb of day depicted on a piece of fabric, having himself present everywhere in his own sphere. The notion undoubtedly stems from our practice of facing East in prayer. But you, many of you, also under the guise sometimes of honoring the celestial bodies, move your mouths toward the sunrise. Similarly, if we dedicate the Day of the Sun to celebration, for a vastly different reason than Sun-worship, we bear some resemblance to those among you who set aside the day of Saturn for relaxation and indulgence, though they too stray far from Jewish traditions, of which they are unaware.”
——Tertullian (Roman Christian), Apology, Chapter 16, Written 197 AD.

From 309-318, the Roman Empire minted coins with the bust of Constantine the Great on the front and a nude image of the Sun god on the back, with the inscription “To the unconquered Sun, my companion.”
——Roman Empire Coins; RIC VI Lugdunum 307, RIC VI Londinium 121a, RIC VI Treveri 899, RIC VI Rome 335a, RIC VII Ticinum 7, RIC VII Lugdunum 20, RIC VII Arelate 58, RIC VII Treveri 102, RIC VII Treveri 134, RIC VII Arelate 164; Minted 309-318 AD.

In 320-321 AD, the Roman Empire minted a coin with the bust of Constantine the Great on the front and on the back a nude image of the Sun god presenting a personification of Victory standing on a globe to Constantine who is in military attire, with the inscription “To the Sun god, my companion, our Augustus.”
——Roman Empire Coin, RIC VII Ticinum 108, Minted 320-321 AD.

“And at dawn, at the same sunrises of our own light, we proclaim the mercy of Gd upon us, and during the nights, we demonstrate His truth through a sober and pure way of life. Moreover, all the other observances that were necessary to perform on the Sabbath, we ourselves have transferred to the Lrd’s Day [the Day of the Sun], considering it more authoritative, superior, and honorable than the Jewish Sabbath. For Gd spoke in the creation of the world, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And in accordance with this, the Sun of righteousness has dawned upon our souls. Therefore, it has been handed down to us also to gather together on this day.”
——Eusebius (Greco-Roman Christian), Commentary on the Psalms, 23.1172, Written c. 320 AD.

“On the venerable Day of the Sun [venerabili die solis] let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country however persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits because it often happens that another day is not suitable for grain-sowing or vine planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost.”
——Constantine the Great to Elpidius, Code of Justinian, Book 3, Chapter 12, Written March 321 AD.

“Just as it appears to Us most unseemly that the Day of the Sun, which is celebrated on account of its own veneration, should be occupied with legal altercations and with noxious controversies of the litigation of contending parties, so it is pleasant and fitting that those acts which are especially desired shall be accomplished on that day. Therefore, all men shall have the right to emancipate and to release from slavery on this festive day, and the legal formalities thereof are not forbidden.”
——Constantine the Great to Elpidius, Theodosian Code, Book 2, Chapter 8, Written July 321 AD.

“Accordingly he [Constantine] enjoined on all the subjects of the Roman empire to observe the Lrd’s day [the Day of the Sun], as a day of rest, and also to honor the day which precedes the Sabbath; in memory, I suppose, of what the Savior of mankind is recorded to have achieved on that day. And since his desire was to teach his whole army zealously to honor the Savior’s day [the Day of the Sun] (which derives its name from light, and from the sun), he freely granted to those among them who were partakers of the divine faith, leisure for attendance on the services of the Church of Gd, in order that they might be able, without impediment, to perform their religious worship.”
——Eusebius (Greco-Roman Christian), Life of Constantine, Book 4, Chapter 18, Written 337 AD.

“He [Constantine] also enjoined the observance of the day termed the Lrd’s day, which the Jews call the first day of the week, and which the pagans dedicate to the Sun, as likewise the day before the seventh, and commanded that no judicial or other business should be transacted on those days, but that Gd should be served with prayers and supplications. He honored the Lrd’s day, because on it Chrst arose from the dead, and the day above mentioned, because on it he was crucified.”
——Sozomen, Ecclesiastical History, Book 1, Chapter 8, Written c. 440 AD.

“Christians must not Judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Ld’s Day [the Day of the Sun]; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be Judaizers, let them be anathema from Chrst.”
——Council of Laodicea, Canon 29, Written 363 AD.

“It is Our will that no Christian shall be sued by tax collectors on the Day of the Sun, which has recently been considered fortunate/lucky [faustus], and by this interdict of Our statute We sanction peril against any person who should dare to commit this offense.”
——Roman Emperors Valentinian and Valens to Florianus, Governor of Venetia; Theodosian Code; Book 8, Chapter 8; Written 368, 370, and 373 AD.

“For he [Jsus] did in fact come to abolish the Sabbath, but he could not have abolished it if it had been other than his own. No one destroys someone else’s work unless he is a renter and a nuisance, the kind of person who asks for punishment. But since the Sabbath belonged to him he said, ‘The Son of Man is Lrd of the Sabbath’; and he said, ‘Man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for man.’ Now if Gd made the Sabbath for man, and valued man more highly than the Sabbath, then [there is one Gd, who made the law of the Sabbath] so that everyone would be aware of the rest [Gd has given us now], and the repose of the things to come; for the things here are types of the heavenly things. Here things are partial, but there is all perfection. So the Sabbath of the Law was in force until Chrst’s arrival. But he abolished that Sabbath and gave us the supreme Sabbath, the Lrd himself, our Rest and Sabbath Repose.”
——Epiphanius (Greco-Roman Christian), Panarion, Book 2, Chapter 66, Section 85, Written 375 AD.

“On the Day of the Sun, which our ancestors rightly called the Lrd’s Day, the prosecution of all litigation, court business, and suits, shall be entirely suspended. No person shall demand the payment of a public or a private debt, nor shall there be any cognizance of controversies before arbitrators, whether they have been requested in court or chosen voluntarily. That person shall be adjudged not only infamous but also sacrilegious who turns aside from the inspiration and ritual of holy religion.”
——Roman Emperors Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius to Principius, Praetorian Prefect; Theodosian Code; Book 2, Chapter 8; Written 386 AD.

“If any of you, whether you are here present or not, shall go to the spectacle of the [feast of] Trumpets, or rush off to the synagogue, or go up to the shrine of Matrona, or take part in fasting, or share in the Sabbath, or observe any other Jewish ritual great or small, I call heaven and earth as my witnesses that I am guiltless of the blood of all of you. These words will stand by your side and mine on the day of our Lrd Jsus Chrst. If you heed them, they will bring you great confidence; if you heed them not or conceal anyone who dares to do those things, my words shall stand against you as bitter accusations.”
——John Chrysostom (Greco-Roman Christian), Against the Jews, Homily 1, Section 8, Written 387 AD.

“Contests in the circuses shall be prohibited on the festal Days of the Sun [festis solis diebus], except on the birthdays of Our Clemency, in order that no concourse of people to the spectacles may divert men from the reverend mysteries of the Christian law.”
——Roman Emperors Valentinian, Theodosius, and Arcadius to Proculus, Prefect of the City; Theodosian Code; Book 2, Chapter 8; Written 392 AD.

“On the Lrd’s Day, which is commonly called the Day of the Sun, We permit absolutely no amusements to be produced, even if by chance as the ends of the years return upon themselves this day should be the anniversary of the day when the beginning of Our reign shone forth, or if it should be the day to which are assigned the solemn rites that are due to the birthday.”
——Roman Emperors Honorius and Theodosius to Jovius, Praetorian Prefect; Theodosian Code; Book 2, Chapter 8; Written 409 AD.

In Greek and Latin, the spring festival of “Easter” has always been called “Passover,” which is derived from the following words:
1) Hebrew: פֶּסַח‎, Pesach;
2) Greek: Πάσχα, Pascha;
3) Latin: Pascha.

In most languages of the world, the festival of Easter is known by names derived from “Passover” and not “Easter.”

English and German are the only languages in the world that refer to the festival of Passover as “Easter”:
1) English: Easter;
2) German: Ostern.

Lev. 23:5 In the 1st month on the 14th day of the month at evening is the Lrd’s Passover.

“A question of no small importance arose at that time [c. 189 AD]. For the parishes of all Asia, as from an older tradition, held that the 14th day of the moon, on which day the Jews were commanded to sacrifice the lamb, should be observed as the feast of the Savior’s Passover. It was therefore necessary to end their fast on that day, whatever day of the week it should happen to be. But it was not the custom of the churches in the rest of the world to end it at this time, as they observed the practice which, from apostolic tradition, has prevailed to the present time, of terminating the fast on no other day than on that of the resurrection of our Savior [first day of the week]. Synods and assemblies of bishops were held on this account, and all, with one consent, through mutual correspondence drew up an ecclesiastical decree, that the mystery of the resurrection of the Lrd should be celebrated on no other but the Lrd’s day [the Day of the Sun], and that we should observe the close of the paschal fast on this day only. There is still extant a writing of those who were then assembled in Palestine, over whom Theophilus, bishop of Caesarea, and Narcissus, bishop of Jerusalem, presided. And there is also another writing extant of those who were assembled at Rome to consider the same question, which bears the name of Bishop Victor; also of the bishops in Pontus [area in modern-day northeastern Turkey] over whom Palmas, as the oldest, presided; and of the parishes in Gaul [area of modern-day France] of which Irenaeus was bishop, and of those in Osrhoëne and the cities there; and a personal letter of Bacchylus, bishop of the church at Corinth, and of a great many others, who uttered the same opinion and judgment, and cast the same vote. And that which has been given above was their unanimous decision.”
——Eusebius (Greco-Roman Christian), Quotations of Irenaeus, Church History, Book 5, Chapter 23, Written 312-324 AD.

“In the first place, concerning the celebration of Passover Sunday: That it be observed by us on one day and at one time in all the earth, and that you should send out letters to all, as is the custom.”
——Council of Arles, Canon 1, Written 314 AD.

“We [the bishops assembled at Nicaea] have also gratifying intelligence to communicate to you relative to unity of judgment on the subject of the most holy feast of Passover: for this point also has been happily settled through your prayers; so that all the brethren in the East who have heretofore kept this festival when the Jews did, will henceforth conform to the Romans and to us, and to all who from the earliest time have observed our period of celebrating Passover.”
——Bishops Assembled at Nicaea, Letter to Alexandrian Church, Written 325 AD.

“At the council we also considered the issue of our holiest day, Passover, and it was determined by common consent that everyone, everywhere should celebrate it on one and the same day. For what can be more appropriate, or what more solemn, than that this feast from which we have received the hope of immortality, should be kept by all without variation, using the same order and a clear arrangement? And in the first place, it seemed very unworthy for us to keep this most sacred feast following the custom of the Jews, a people who have soiled their hands in a most terrible outrage, and have thus polluted their souls, and are now deservedly blind. Since we have cast aside their way of calculating the date of the festival, we can ensure that future generations can celebrate this observance at the more accurate time which we have kept from the first day of the passion until the present time. Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd.”
——Constantine the Great, Letter to the Churches, Written 325 AD.

“We all have a most sacred obligation, to unite in desiring whatever common sense seems to demand, and what has no association with the perjury of the Jews. But to sum up matters briefly, it was determined by common consent that the most holy festival of Passover should be solemnized on one and the same day [on the Day of the Sun]; for it is not at all decent that there should be in such a sacred serious matter any difference. It is quite commendable to adopt this option which has nothing to do with any strange errors, nor deviates from what is right. Since these things are consistent, gladly receive this heavenly and truly divine command. For whatever is done in the sacred assemblies of the bishops can be traced to Divine will.”
——Constantine the Great, Letter to the Churches, Written 325 AD.

“In this manner numberless assertions were put forth by each party [at the Council of Nicaea], and a violent controversy arose at the very commencement. Notwithstanding this, the emperor [Constantine] gave patient audience to all alike, and received every proposition with steadfast attention, and by occasionally assisting the argument of each party in turn, he gradually disposed even the most vehement disputants to a reconciliation. At the same time, by the affability of his address to all, and his use of the Greek language, with which he was not altogether unacquainted, he appeared in a truly attractive and amiable light, persuading some, convincing others by his reasonings, praising those who spoke well, and urging all to unity of sentiment, until at last he succeeded in bringing them to one mind and judgment respecting every disputed question. The result was that they were not only united as concerning the faith, but that the time for the celebration of the salutary feast of Passover was agreed on by all. Those points also which were sanctioned by the resolution of the whole body were committed to writing, and received the signature of each several member. Then the emperor, believing that he had thus obtained a second victory over the adversary of the Church, proceeded to solemnize a triumphal festival in honor of Gd.”
——Eusebius (Greco-Roman Christian), Life of Constantine, Book 3, Chapters 13-14, Written 337 AD.

“For they [Audian Christians] choose to celebrate the Passover with the Jews – that is, they contentiously celebrate the Passover at the same time that the Jews are holding their Festival of Unleavened Bread. And indeed, that this used to be the church’s custom – even though they tell churchmen a slanderous thing in this regard and say ‘You abandoned the fathers’ Passover observance in Constantine’s time from deference to the emperor, and changed the day to suit the emperor.'”
——Epiphanius, Panarion, Book 3, Chapter 70, Section 9, Written 375 AD.

“They [the bishops assembled at Nicaea] passed certain ecclesiastical canons at the council besides, and at the same time decreed with regard to the Passover that there must be one unanimous concord in the celebration of Gd’s holy and supremely excellent day. For it was variously observed by people; some kept it early, some between [the disputed dates], but others, late. And in a word, there was a great deal of controversy then. But through the blessed Constantine, Gd directed the right ordering of these things for the sake of peace.”
——Epiphanius, Panarion, Book 2, Chapter 69, Written 375 AD.

“In fact Gd accomplished two highly important things through Constantine, the most beloved of Gd and forever the most blessed. [One was] the gathering of an ecumenical council, and the publication of the creed that was issued at Nicaea and confessed the assembled bishops with their signatures – the deposition of Arius and the declaration to all of the purity of the faith. [The other was] their correction of the Passover for our unity’s sake. For long ago, even from the earliest days, its various celebrations in the church differed, occasioning ridicule every year, with some keeping it a week early and quarreling with the others, others a week late—some celebrating it in advance, some in between, others afterwards. And in a word, as is not unknown to many scholarly persons, there was a lot of muddle and tiresomeness every time a controversy was aroused in the church’s teaching about this festival—as in the time of Polycarp and Victor the East was at odds with the West and they would not accept letters of commendation from each other. But in as many other times—as in the time of Alexander, the bishop of Alexandria, and Criscentius, when each is found writing to the other and quarreling, and down to our own day. This has been the situation ever since [the church] was thrown into disorder after the time of the circumcised bishops [c. 135 AD]. And so [bishops], gathering then from every quarter and making a precise investigation, determined that the festival be celebrated with one accord, as befits its date and rite.”
——Epiphanius, Panarion, Book 3, Chapter 70, Written 375 AD.

“Indeed, their Passover and Feast of Tabernacles, and whatever else they do, are profane and abominable; what they carry out is not worship, but lawlessness and transgression and outrage committed on Gd.”
——John Chrysostom, Against the Jews, Homily 2, Written 387 AD.

“No person shall convoke such secret and hidden assemblies; they shall be forbidden in the country, they shall be prohibited within the walls, they shall be condemned in public and private habitations. Furthermore, investigation shall be made with the greatest care, so that if any persons should not convene on the same day for Passover, in obedience to religion, they shall undoubtedly be considered as persons whom We have condemned by this law.”
——Roman Emperors Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius to Postumianus, Praetorian Prefect; Theodosian Code; Book 16, Chapter 5; Written 382 AD.

“We do not permit to go unavenged that transgression which was disregarded by the Emperors in former times and is practiced by accursed men in violation of the sacred law, and especially by those deserters and fugitives from the company of the Novatians who strive to be considered the authors rather than the more powerful persons of the aforesaid sect, whose name is derived from the crime, inasmuch as they wish to be called Protopaschites. But if the Novatians should suppose that the day of Passover, noteworthy and commemorated through the ages, ought to be celebrated on another day than that observed by the bishops of the orthodox, deportation as well as confiscation shall pursue the authors of such assemblies. Against such persons an even more severe punishment ought to have been promulgated, since in this crime they even surpass the insanity of the heretics by observing the festival of Passover at another time than that of the orthodox, and thus they venerate almost another Son of Gd than the one whom We worship.”
——Roman Emperors Honorius and Theodosius to Anthemius, Praetorian Prefect; Theodosian Code; Book 16, Chapter 6; Written 413 AD.

“We punish with confiscation of their goods and exile, Manichaeans and those persons who are called Pepyzites. Likewise, those persons who are worse than all other heretics in this one belief, namely, that they disagree with all others as to the venerable day of Passover shall be punished with the same penalty if they persist in the aforesaid madness.”
——Roman Emperors Honorius and Theodosius to Asclepiodotus, Praetorian Prefect; Theodosian Code; Book 16, Chapter 10; Written 423 AD.

From at least around 65 AD to 410 AD, the Romans considered the winter solstice to be on 25 December.

“The movement of the sun is different from that of the sky, as it moves from the winter solstice [bruma] to the summer solstice. It is called ‘bruma’ [winter solstice] because the day is shortest then; ‘solstitium’ [solstice] because the sun was seen to stand still on that day, when it is closest to us. When the sun comes to the midpoint between the winter solstice and the summer solstice, where the day becomes equal to the night, it is called the ‘equinox.’
——Marcus Terentius Varro (pagan Roman), De Lingua Latina, Book 6, Chapter 2, Written c. 45 BC.

“Winter solstice [bruma] is the first of the new sun and the last of the old: Phoebus and the year begin at the same time.”
——Ovid, Fasti, Book 1, Lines 163-164, Written 8 AD.

“From the setting of the Pleiades until the winter solstice, which is commonly completed around 25 December, in the 8th part of Capricorn, they use the stored honeycombs, and they sustain themselves with it until the rising of Arcturus.”
——Columella (pagan Roman), De Res Rustica, Book 9, Chapter 14, Section 12, Written c. 65 AD.

“The winter solstice begins December 25, at the 8th degree of Capricorn, in general.”
——Pliny the Elder (pagan Roman), Natural History, Book 18, Chapter 59, Written 77 AD.

“At the beginning of summer with the new sun: for the new sun is properly on 25 December. But at that time there are no ears of grain, which are known to be called “aristae” due to their dryness.”
——Servius the Grammarian (pagan Roman), Commentary on the Aeneid of Vergil, Book 7, Line 720, Written c. 410 AD.

“Month of December.
[December] 22: Winter solstice.
[December] 23: Procyon [star] sets in the morning.
[December] 25: Birthday of the Sun. Light increases.”
——Antiochus of Athens (pagan Greek), Calendar of Antiochus, Month of December, Written c. 200 AD.

“For this reason also it is said that Isis, when she perceived that she was pregnant, put upon herself an amulet on the 6th day of the month Phaophi; and about the time of the winter solstice she [Isis] gave birth to Harpocrates [Sun god Horus], imperfect and premature, amid the early flowers and shoots.”
——Plutarch (pagan Greek), Isis and Osiris, Section 65, Written c. 100 AD.

Around 200 AD, Christians disagreed about the date of Jsus’ birth.

Writing around 200 AD, Clement of Alexandria does not mention 25 December as a date considered by some Christians as the date of Jsus’ birth.

“And there are those who have determined not only the year of our Lrd’s birth, but also the day, and they say that it took place in the 28th year of Augustus, and in the 25th day of Pachon [20 May]. And the followers of Basilides hold the day of his baptism as a festival, spending the night before in readings. And they say that it was the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, the 15th day of the month Tubi [10 January]; and some that it was the 11th of the same month [6 January]. And treating of his passion, with very great accuracy, some say that it took place in the 16th year of Tiberius, on the 25th of Phamenoth; and others the 25th of Pharmuthi and others say that on the 19th of Pharmuthi the Saviour suffered. Further, others say that He was born on the 24th or 25th of Pharmuthi [19 or 20 April].”
——Clement of Alexandria (Greco-Roman Christian), Stromata, Book 1, Chapter 21, Written c. 200 AD.

“December 25: Birthday of Invictus [Invincible Sun god], games ordered, 30 races.”
——Furius Dionysius Filocalus, Chronograph of 354, Part 6, Written 354 AD.

“To follow out my plan in regard to places: the circus [horse-track arena] is chiefly consecrated to the Sun, whose temple stands in the middle of it, and whose image shines forth from its temple summit; for they have not thought it proper to pay sacred honours underneath a roof to an object they have itself in open space. Those who assert that the first spectacle was exhibited by Circe, and in honour of the Sun her father, as they will have it, maintain also the name of circus was derived from her.”
——Tertullian (Roman Christian), De Spectaculis, Chapter 8, Written c. 200 AD.

“Not to mention among our great works, the Circus Maximus, that was constructed by the Dictator Cæsar, one stadium in width and three in length, and occupying, with the adjacent buildings, no less than four jugera, with room for 260,000 spectators seated.”
——Pliny the Elder (pagan Roman), Natural History, Book 36, Chapter 24, Written 77 AD.

“The same populace, if the goddess Nortia had favored the Etruscans, if the secure old age of the ruler had been suppressed, in this very hour they would call Sejanus Augustus. Long ago, since we no longer sell our votes, it has cast off its cares. For the one who once gave power, authority, armies, everything, now restrains himself and anxiously desires only two things, bread and circuses.”
——Juvenal (pagan Roman), Book 4, Satires 10, Written c. 110 AD.

“That is the only pain for those fleeing their homeland [of Rome], that is the sorrow, to have missed a single year of the Circus.”
——Juvenal (pagan Roman), Book 4, Satires 11, Written c. 110 AD.

“December 25: Birth of Chrst in Bethlehem of Judea.”
——Furius Dionysius Filocalus, Chronograph of 354, Part 12, Written 354 AD.

“But the Lrd was born on 25th December in the winter. This is when the ripe olives are pressed to produce ointment or crisma; this is the season when [the field is sown with various seeds] and when bleating lambs are born; this is when the vines are pruned with sickles so that they produce the sweet juice which made the drunk. I am the vine and my Father is the gardener. Every branch which does not bear fruit will be cut off and thrown in the fire. They also call it ‘Birthday of the Unconquered [Sun god].’ But who is unconquered if not our Lrd, who suffered death and then conquered it? Or when they call it ‘Birthday of the Sun’ – well, Chrst is the sun of righteousness that the prophet Malachi spoke of: The sun of righteousness shall arise for all you who fear his name; salvation is in his wings.”
——On the Solstices and Equinoxes (Roman Christian homily), Chapter 9, Written c. 350 AD.

“Come then, and let us celebrate in the best way we can the anniversary festival [the Festival of the Birthday of the Sun on 25 December] which the imperial city is keeping by sacrifices, with unusual splendour. And yet I feel how difficult it is for the human mind even to form a conception of that Sun who is not visible to the sense, if our notion of Him is to be derived from the Sun that is visible; but to express the same in language, however inadequately, is, perhaps, beyond the capability of man!”
——Roman Emperor Julian (pagan), Oration to the Sovereign Sun, Written 362 AD.

“Immediately at the end of the last month [December], which is Saturn’s, and previous to the festival in question [New Year’s], we celebrate the most solemn of our Games [on 25 December], dedicating it to the honour of the Invincible Sun god, during which it is not lawful for anything cruel (although necessary), which the previous month [December] presented in its shows, should be perpetrated on this occasion. The Saturnalia [held from 17-23 December], being the concluding festival, are closely followed in cyclic order by the Festival of the Sun [on 25 December], that which I hope that the Powers above will grant me frequently to chant, and to celebrate, and above all others, may the Sovereign Sun, lord of the universe!“
——Roman Emperor Julian (pagan), Oration to the Sovereign Sun, Written 362 AD.

“Let us repeat it yet again: ‘This is the day which the Lrd hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.’ On this day darkness begins to diminish, and the duration of the night is contracted by the waxing of the sun’s rays. Not fortuitously or arbitrarily did Gd ordain, in connection with this Feast, that the Divine life should now be made manifest in human life.”
——Gregory of Nyssa, Homily on the Nativity, Written c. 375 AD.

“So the day which bestowed so great a gift by setting Felix in the heights of heaven is the day of our yearly ritual. It comes after the solstice, the time when Chrst was born in the flesh and transformed the cold winter season with a new sun, when He granted men His birth that brings salvation, and ordered the nights to shorten and the daylight to grow with Himself.”
——Paulinus of Nola (Roman Christian), Poem 14, Section 13, Written c. 400 AD.

“For we were night when we lived in unbelief. And since that unbelief, which had covered the whole world like a night, had to be diminished as faith grew, on the day of the birth of our Lrd Jsus Chrst, the night begins to suffer loss, and the day begins to grow. Therefore, brothers, we celebrate this solemn day, not as unbelievers because of this sun, but because of Him who made this sun. For the Word was made flesh, so that for our sake He might be under the sun. He was under the sun in His flesh, but above the whole world in His majesty, in which He created the sun. Now, even in His flesh, He is above this sun, which those who are blind in mind worship as a god, not seeing the true Sun of justice.”
——Augustine (Roman Christian), Sermon 190: On the Birth of the Lrd, Chapter 1, Patrologia Latina 38, Page 1007, Written c. 410 AD.

“For in religious rites, it is observed as a sacred secret that when the sun is in the upper hemisphere, that is, the diurnal hemisphere, he is called Apollo; but when in the lower hemisphere, that is, the nocturnal hemisphere, he is considered Dionysus, who is Liber Pater. Moreover, the images of Liber Pater are sometimes depicted as a child and sometimes as a young man; furthermore, in a bearded and old age, as the Greeks call him βασσαρέα and Βρισέα, and as the Neapolitans in Campania celebrate him, calling him Ἥβωνα. These variations in age are referred to the sun, so that at the winter solstice it appears as a child, as the Egyptians present it from a certain day in the temple, when, on the shortest day, it appears like a small and infant-like figure. From there, as the increases proceed, the spring equinox similarly acquires the strength of a youth and is adorned with the figure of a young man. Later, it reaches its fullest age with the appearance of a beard at the summer solstice, when it attains its greatest growth. From then on, through decreases, it is depicted in the fourth form as an old man.”
——Macrobius (pagan Roman), Saturnalia, Book 1, Chapter 18, Written c. 430 AD.

“Having therefore so confident a hope, dearly beloved, abide firm in the Faith in which you are built: lest that same tempter whose tyranny over you Chrst has already destroyed, win you back again with any of his wiles, and mar even the joys of the present festival [25 December] by his deceitful art, misleading simpler souls with the pestilential notion of some to whom this our solemn feast day [25 December] seems to derive its honour, not so much from the nativity of Chrst as, according to them, from the rising of the new sun. Such men’s hearts are wrapped in total darkness, and have no growing perception of the true Light: for they are still drawn away by the foolish errors of heathendom, and because they cannot lift the eyes of their mind above that which their carnal sight beholds, they pay divine honour to the luminaries that minister to the world. Let not Christian souls entertain any such wicked superstition and portentous lie.”
——Pope Leo I (Roman Christian), Sermon 22: On the Feast of the Nativity, Chapter 6, Written c. 450 AD.

In the following letter, King Theodoric the Great provides an extensive description of the Circus at the time of his reign (471-526 AD).

“The sight of a chariot-race drives out morality and invites the most trifling contentions; it is the emptier of honourable conduct, the ever-flowing spring of squabbles: a thing which ancient times considered sacred, but which a contentious future generation has made to be a mockery. For Aenomaus is said first to have exhibited this sport at Elis, a city of Asia, and afterwards Romulus, at the time of the rape of the Sabines, displayed it in rural fashion to Italy, no buildings for the purpose being yet founded. Long after, Augustus, the lord of the world, raising his works to the same high level as his power, built a fabric marvellous even to Romans, which stretched far into the Vallis Murcia. This immense mass, firmly girt round with hills, enclosed a space which was fitted to be the theatre of great events. Twelve Ostia at the entrance represent the 12 signs of the Zodiac. These are suddenly and equally opened by ropes let down by the Hermulae [little pilasters]. The four colours worn by the four parties of charioteers denote the seasons: green for verdant spring, blue for cloudy winter, red for flaming summer, white for frosty autumn. Thus, throughout the spectacle we see a determination to represent the works of Nature. The Biga [two-horse chariot] is made in imitation of the moon, the Quadriga [four-horse chariot] of the sun. The circus horses, by means of which the servants of the Circus announce the heats that are to be run, imitate the herald-swiftness of the morning star. Thus it came to pass that while they deemed they were worshipping the stars, they profaned their religion by parodying it in their games. A white line is drawn not far from the ostia to each Podium [balcony], that the contest may begin when the quadrigae pass it, lest they should interrupt the view of the spectators by their attempts to get each before the other. There are always seven circuits round the goal-posts to one heat, in analogy with the days of the week. The goal-posts themselves have, like the decani of the Zodiac, each three pinnacles, round which the swift quadrigae circle like the sun. The wheels indicate the boundaries of East and West. The channel which surrounds the Circus presents us with an image of the glassy sea, whence come the dolphins which swim hither through the waters. The lofty obelisks lift their height towards heaven; but the upper one [the Lateran Obelisk] is dedicated to the sun, the lower one [the Flaminio Obelisk] to the moon: and upon them the sacred rites of the ancients are indicated with Chaldee signs for letters.”
——Theodoric the Great to Faustus (Praetorian Prefect), Cassiodorus, Variae, Book 3, Chapter 51, Written c. 540 AD.

“By us [Christians], to whom are strange the Sabbaths and new moons and festivals formerly beloved by Gd, the Saturnalia and New Year’s and Midwinter’s festivals and Matronalia are frequented — presents come and go — New Year’s gifts — games join their noise — banquets join their din! Oh better fidelity of the nations to their own sect, which claims no solemnity of the Christians for itself! Not the Lrd’s day, not Pentecost, even it they had known them, would they have shared with us; for they would fear lest they should seem to be Christians. We are not apprehensive lest we seem to be heathens!“
——Tertullian, On Idolatry, Chapter 14, Written c. 205 AD.

“Without exception, biblical authors ascribe to Gd strong emotions. Gd becomes angry and repents, feels sorrow and rejoices. Above all else, he is the Gd of self-sacrificial love and self-giving compassion. He hears prayers and responds to them. The Gd of the Bible is deeply involved in history. The prophetic writings speak of him as actually suffering with and for humanity. In contrast, the god of the Greek philosophers, according to this reading, takes no interest in human affairs and is entirely immune from suffering. This deity cannot be influenced by anything external. It is useless to pray to it, except for the psychological benefit of moral exercise. Being incapable of feelings and emotions, such a god is also incapable of love and care.”
——Paul L. Gavrilyuk (Orthodox Christian), The Suffering of the Impassible god, Page 2, Written 2004.

“Divine impassibility [inability to suffer] makes its debut on the philosophical scene in the writings of Aristotle, twice with reference to the opinion of Anaxagoras that the divine mind remains unmixed and in this narrow sense apathes [inability to suffer]. Building upon Anaxagoras’ insight, the Stagirite [Aristotle] argued that since the Unmoved Mover cannot be moved by anything else, he remained impassible [unable to suffer] in the sense of not being acted upon.”
——Paul L. Gavrilyuk (Orthodox Christian), The Suffering of the Impassible god, Pages 34-35, Written 2004.

Acts 17:16-21 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he beheld the city full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with them that met him. And certain also of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, What would this babbler say? others, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached Jsus and the resurrection. And they took hold of him, and brought him unto the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new teaching is, which is spoken by thee? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (Now all the Athenians and the strangers sojourning there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.)

“‘And even if there is a war, it would not be dreadful not to have the gods as allies.’ And again, ‘To lead a pure life and to pass it with Matron himself having the gods as allies.’ And against the same one concerning Charinus: ‘But to their [the gods’] incorruptibility follows the inability to suffer by anything causing them a certain pleasure or bringing upon them pain from outside.'”
——Epicurus (pagan Greek), Fragment 99, Written c. 300 BC.
——Quoted by Hermann Usener, Epicurea, Page 132, Written 1887.

“On the same principle of reasoning, we think that the gods are happy and immortal; for that nature which hath assured us that there are gods has likewise imprinted in our minds the knowledge of their immortality and felicity; and if so, what Epicurus hath declared in these words is true: ‘That which is eternally happy cannot be burdened with any labor itself, nor can it impose any labor on another; nor can it be influenced by resentment or favor: because things which are liable to such feelings must be weak and frail.'”
——Cicero (pagan Roman), On the Nature of the gods, 1.44, Written 45 BC.

“Surely the mighty power of the Infinite Being is most worthy our great and earnest contemplation; the nature of which we must necessarily understand to be such that everything in it is made to correspond completely to some other answering part. This is called by Epicurus ἰσονομία; that is to say, an equal distribution or even disposition of things. From hence he draws this inference, that, as there is such a vast multitude of mortals, there cannot be a less number of immortals; and if those which perish are innumerable, those which are preserved ought also to be countless. Your sect, Balbus, frequently ask us how the gods live, and how they pass their time? Their life is the most happy, and the most abounding with all kinds of blessings, which can be conceived. They do nothing. They are embarrassed with no business; nor do they perform any work. They rejoice in the possession of their own wisdom and virtue. They are satisfied that they shall ever enjoy the fulness of eternal pleasures.”
——Cicero (pagan Roman), On the Nature of the gods, 1.50, Written 45 BC.

“But they [the gods] are free from pain. Is that sufficient for beings who are supposed to enjoy all good things and the most supreme felicity? The deity, they say, is constantly meditating on his own happiness, for he has no other idea which can possibly occupy his mind.”
——Cicero (pagan Roman), On the Nature of the gods, 1.114, Written 45 BC.

Lucretius wrote the poem De Rerum Natura in order to explain Epicurean philosophy to a Roman audience.

“For all the gods must of themselves enjoy immortal aeons and supreme repose, withdrawn from our affairs, detached, afar: immune from peril and immune from pain, themselves abounding in riches of their own, needing not us, they are not touched by wrath they are not taken by service or by gift.”
——Lucretius (pagan Roman), De Rerum Natura, Book 2, Lines 642-648, Written c. 50 BC.

“Accordingly, on account of this unity of Person which is to be understood as existing in both the natures, we read, on the one hand, that ‘the Son of Man came down from heaven,’ inasmuch as the Son of Gd took flesh from that Virgin of whom he was born; and on the other hand, the Son of Gd is said to have been crucified and buried, inasmuch as he underwent this, not in his actual Godhead; wherein the Only-begotten is coeternal and consubstantial with the Father, but in the weakness of human nature.”
——Pope Leo I (Roman Christian), Tome of Leo, Written 449 AD.

“There are those who are trying to ruin the proclamation of the truth, and through their private heresies they have spawned novel formulas: some by daring to corrupt the mystery of the Lrd’s economy on our behalf, and refusing to apply the word ‘Mother of Gd’ to the Virgin; and others by introducing a confusion and mixture, and mindlessly imagining that there is a single nature of the flesh and the divinity, and fantastically supposing that in the confusion the divine nature of the Only-begotten is able to suffer.”
——Council of Chalcedon, Written 451 AD.

“It [the synod of bishops at Chalcedon] expels from the assembly of the priests those who dare to say that the divinity of the Only-begotten is able to suffer, and it stands opposed to those who imagine a mixture or confusion between the two natures of Chrst.”
——Council of Chalcedon, Written 451 AD.

Dan. 2:43-44 And whereas thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron doth not mingle with clay. And in the days of those kings shall the Gd of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Dan. 7:13-14 I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

Dan. 7:17-18 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, that shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.

Dan. 7:21-22 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

Dan. 7:26-27 But the judgment shall be set, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High: his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

Ezek. 43:5-7 And the Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the Lrd filled the house. And I heard one speaking unto me out of the house; and a man stood by me. And he said unto me, Son of man, this is the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, and by the dead bodies of their kings in their high places;

Rev. 20:1-6 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished: after this he must be loosed for a little time. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jsus, and for the word of Gd, and such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they lived, and reigned with Chrst a thousand years. The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: over these the second death hath no power; but they shall be priests of Gd and of Chrst, and shall reign with him a thousand years.