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Tuesday 28 May 2024
Sunday 26 May 2024
Stop divisive Progress Pride flag displays Petition
Christian concern have started a petition ( see below) over the concerns raised by the flying of the Sodomite pride flags please sign the petition at the following Anti Pride flag link to see the below information on their site.
Christian Concern started this petition to Councillor Adam Hug (Leader of Westminster City Council) - 2024/05/24Each June, our neighbourhoods are swamped with Pride flags as councils, shops and other businesses signal their support for LGBTQ+ ideology.
It’s time to stop this.
Rainbow flags are bad enough – but 'Progress Pride' flags add transgender stripes – a movement that has done untold damage to gender-questioning children in recent years. They also add brown and black stripes, wrongly conflating racial identity with sexual and gender identities.
These flags are particularly offensive, and ugly to boot.
Christian Concern is objecting to a massive display of Progress Pride flags planned for Regent Street in 2024. These divisive, gaudy displays are completely inappropriate for this historic, iconic street at the centre of London. They make everyone who doesn’t support the whole LGBTQ+ agenda feel unwelcome.
There are many good reasons not to allow these displays:
- They send the message that Christians, and others with historic beliefs about sexuality and gender are not welcome
- They even cause division amongst the groups they claim to represent, many of whom are concerned about gender ideology
- They are particularly ugly and not in keeping with the historic character of central London
It’s not just Westminster that flies these divisive flags.
But by signing this petition you are sending a message to councils around the nation that these garish displays should be stopped.
If you sign the petition and tick the box to receive updates from Christian Concern, we will also be able to send you more information on how to oppose Progress Pride flags being flown from government buildings, businesses and churches near you.
Sign the petition to tell Westminster City Council that these displays of Progress Pride flags should be stopped.
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Dear Councillor Adam Hug,
Please stop authorising large scale displays of Pride Progress flags in Westminster, in particular Regent Street.
Pride Progress flags are divisive. They do not promote inclusion – in fact, they exacerbate tensions between people of different characteristics – religions, sexual orientations and gender identity.
Many people experience these flags as an attack on historic, traditional beliefs about sex and gender. They send the message that people holding these views – which are worthy of respect in a democratic society – are not welcome.
Please block these displays in 2024 and in the future so that everyone can feel welcome in Regent Street and the surrounding areas.
This petition is written by Christian Concern (CGPE240522).
Saturday 25 May 2024
Vegetable oil Why Are We Consuming Engine Lubricant?
In today’s world, where lies spread by our enemies are rampant and the mainstream media often fails to provide accurate information, I have found solace in the esoteric health wisdom of the dissident internet. Like many of you the scamdemic has only reinforced my belief that the mainstream medical establishment is largely not to be trusted and I have found that seeking alternative sources of information has led me to make some of the best decisions for my health. One such decision was to remove industrial seed oils from my diet, and the results have been nothing short of transformative. With this simple move I’ve dropped 30 pounds, removed all the inflammation in my body, and feel better and stronger than ever.
To understand why seed oils are bad for you, it is essential to first understand their history. Seed oils, such as soybean, canola, and corn oil, were first introduced in the early 20th century as a response to the growing demand for cheap, mass-produced vegetable oils. These oils were initially used in margarine production as a substitute for animal fats, which were more expensive and harder to produce. However, the process of extracting these oils is far from natural. Seed oils are derived from seeds that are not naturally oily, such as soybeans, corn, and cottonseeds. To extract the oil from these seeds, they must first be treated with harsh chemicals, such as hexane, a neurotoxin that is also used in the production of glue and paint thinner. The seeds are then subjected to high temperatures and pressure, which further degrades the quality of the oil.
The Origins of Canola Oil
Canola oil, one of the most common types of industrial seed oils, has a long and storied history that is often overlooked by those who consume it. Originally developed in Canada during the 1970s, canola oil was derived from the rapeseed plant, which had long been used as a source of oil for various industrial purposes.
One of the most notable uses of rapeseed oil was as a lubricant for diesel engines. The oil was prized for its ability to withstand high temperatures and its low freezing point, making it an ideal lubricant for engines operating in harsh environments.
Despite its origins as an industrial lubricant, canola oil was eventually transformed into a food product through a series of genetic modifications and chemical processes. Through selective breeding, scientists were able to create a new strain of rapeseed with lower levels of erucic acid, a toxic compound that made the oil unsuitable for human consumption. Once the new strain of rapeseed was developed, the oil was subjected to a series of chemical processes, including degumming, bleaching, and deodorizing, in order to remove any remaining impurities and make it more palatable for human consumption. Inspect the packaging of the foods you are consuming and you’ll find that this Frankenstein engine lubricant is in just about everything you eat.
Why Seed Oils Are Bad for You
The consequences of consuming these highly processed, chemically extracted oils are numerous. One of the most significant issues with seed oils is their high concentration of omega-6 fatty acids. While omega-6s are essential for our health, the Western diet is already heavily skewed in favor of these fatty acids, with a ratio of around 20:1 of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids. This imbalance can lead to chronic inflammation, which is at the root of many modern health issues, including heart disease, diabetes, and autoimmune disorders.
In addition to their high omega-6 content, seed oils are also highly unstable and prone to oxidation. When exposed to heat, light, or air, these oils can break down into toxic compounds, such as free radicals and lipid peroxides, which can damage cells and contribute to the development of cancer and other diseases. Furthermore, seed oils have been linked to a host of other health problems, including obesity, insulin resistance, and impaired brain function. These oils can also interfere with the absorption of essential nutrients, such as vitamins A, D, E, and K, which are crucial for maintaining optimal health.
What to Replace Seed Oils With
If seed oils are so detrimental to our health, what should we be using instead? The answer is simple: natural, unprocessed fats. Fats that have been used by humans for thousands of years, such as olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, and animal fats like butter and lard, are far superior to the industrial seed oils that have become ubiquitous in the modern diet. These traditional fats are rich in nutrients, such as vitamins A, D, E, and K, and are less prone to oxidation, making them a much healthier option for cooking and consumption. Additionally, these fats are often rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which can help to counterbalance the excess of omega-6s in the Western diet and promote overall health and well-being.
Removing industrial seed oils from my diet has been hands down the best thing I have ever done for my health. The journey to discovering the truth about these oils has been a long and winding one, but the results have been more than worth it. By seeking out alternative sources of information and trusting in the wisdom of the dissident internet, I have been able to take control of my health and make informed decisions about the foods I consume.
It is no secret that our enemies want us weak, sick, and distracted. They know that a strong, healthy, and mentally sharp population is much harder to control and manipulate. The promotion of seed oils as a “healthy alternative” to traditional fats is just one example of the many ways in which our enemies are actively working to undermine our health and well-being. By filling our diets with these harmful oils, they are able to keep us in a state of chronic inflammation, which weakens our immune systems, impairs our cognitive function, and makes us more susceptible to a wide range of diseases and health issues.
The ultimate goal of our enemies is the destruction of our nations and the replacement of our people with those who are more easily controlled and manipulated. By keeping us sick, weak, and distracted, they are able to accelerate this process and ensure that we are unable to resist their plans.
The promotion of unhealthy foods, such as seed oils, is just one aspect of this larger strategy. By keeping us in a state of poor health, they are able to make it easier for them to bring in millions of foreign migrants who will replace us in our own countries. They know that a sick, weak, and distracted population is less likely to stand up and fight against this invasion, making it easier for them to carry out their plans.
The Importance of Taking Control of Our Health
In order to resist the plans of our enemies and protect our nations, it is essential that we take control of our health and well-being. By removing harmful substances, such as seed oils, from our diets and replacing them with natural, unprocessed fats, we can strengthen our bodies and minds, making it more difficult for our enemies to control and manipulate us.
It is crucial that we become aware of the ways in which our enemies are actively working to undermine our health and well-being and take action to counteract their efforts. By educating ourselves about the dangers of seed oils and other harmful substances, we can make informed decisions about the foods we consume and take control of our health and well-being—and eventually take back our homelands for the glory of God.
Andrew Torba
CEO, Gab.com
Christ is King
Friday 24 May 2024
Neil Oliver: ‘…they’re laughing in our faces!’
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Wednesday 22 May 2024
Overcoming The Unimaginable Temptation of Modernity
Overcoming The Unimaginable Temptation of Modernity
As you browse through a threads on X you are unexpectedly inundated with explicit sexual content. Scrolling through your Facebook feed you stumble upon AI-generated images of partially clothed celebrities and Reels showcasing women in bikinis performing TikTok dances. Even a simple drive down the road presents an array of billboards featuring scantily dressed women peddling various products. Upon entering the grocery store, you are confronted with an overwhelming selection of high-calorie foods laden with addictive sugars and processed ingredients. With just a few taps on the glass screen in your hand, you can instantly access a plethora of temptations, including pride, lust, envy, and countless others.
The great spiritual battle of our day is the unimaginable temptation of modernity.
It is not uncommon to see more naked bodies under a typical post on X (formerly known as Twitter) than our great-grandfathers would have seen in their entire lives. This constant exposure to such material is designed to desensitize us, leading to a weakening of our moral compass and an erosion of our commitment to purity and holiness. You see stuff like this so often and all around you that it becomes the “norm” and you shrug it off, but deep down we all know it’s not the norm—it’s grotesque.
We ban p*rnographic content on Gab and have worked diligently over the years to see to it that it has no place in our community. This is one of the many reasons that Christians love Gab and over the past year we've seen many leave X and come to Gab because of the sheer volume of explicit content that is unavoidable on X.
As Christians, we must remember that no amount of temptation is too great for our Lord to overcome. The Bible teaches us in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
So, how can we overcome the immense temptation we face in today’s digital age? The answer is simple: flee from it. In 2 Timothy 2:22, Paul encourages Timothy to “flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”
This means actively avoiding situations and content that can lead to temptation. It may require setting boundaries on our use of technology, such as limiting our time on social media or using content filters to block explicit material. It could also involve surrounding ourselves with like-minded believers who can encourage and support us in our pursuit of purity and holiness.
In addition to fleeing from temptation, we must also cultivate a deep and abiding relationship with our Lord. By spending time in prayer, reading and studying the Bible, and engaging in regular fellowship with other believers, we can strengthen our spiritual foundation and better resist the allure of worldly temptations.
It is crucial to remember that we are not alone in our struggle against temptation. As members of the body of Christ, we are called to support and encourage one another in our spiritual journeys. By sharing our struggles and seeking accountability from our fellow believers, we can find the strength and courage to overcome even the most formidable of temptations.
As a parent, navigating the temptations of modernity can be a daunting task. The world we live in today is filled with distractions, vices, and unhealthy influences that can have a profound impact on the development and well-being of our children. It is our responsibility as parents to guide and protect our children, helping them to make wise choices and resist the allure of worldly temptations. One of the most significant challenges we face as parents is the prevalence of technology in our daily lives. From smartphones and tablets to video games and social media, our children are constantly exposed to a wealth of information and entertainment that can be both beneficial and detrimental to their development.
To navigate this challenge, it is essential to set clear boundaries and establish healthy habits around technology use. This may involve setting limits on screen time, monitoring the content our children consume, and encouraging them to engage in more wholesome activities such as reading, playing outdoors, or spending time with family and friends.
Another area where parents must be vigilant is in the realm of consumerism and materialism.
The constant barrage of advertising and marketing messages can create a culture of excess and consumerism that can be detrimental to our children’s sense of contentment and well-being. As parents, it is our responsibility to model healthy attitudes towards material possessions and to teach our children the value of gratitude, generosity, and contentment.
Finally, as our children grow and mature, they will inevitably face their own personal struggles and temptations. Whether it is the temptation to engage in unhealthy behaviors, to give in to peer pressure, or to pursue worldly desires, our role as parents is to be a steady and loving presence in their lives, offering guidance, support, and encouragement as they navigate the challenges of life.
Being a parent in today’s world requires a great deal of wisdom, patience, and perseverance. By setting clear boundaries, modeling healthy behaviors, and offering love and support, we can help our children to navigate the temptations of modernity and grow into strong, resilient, and compassionate people.
The amount of temptation that people face today is truly unimaginable. The digital age has brought about a level of exposure to worldly content that our ancestors could never have fathomed. However, as Christians, we must remember that our Lord is greater than any temptation we may face. By fleeing from temptation, cultivating a strong relationship with God, and seeking support from our fellow believers, we can overcome the challenges of this digital age and grow in our pursuit of purity and holiness.
Lord have mercy and be with us.
Andrew Torba
Christ is King
Tuesday 21 May 2024
Religious Implications of the Carthaginian Theory
The culture of the Jewish people following the death of Christ has puzzled Christians for centuries. How could the people of the Old Testament, who followed God (albeit imperfectly), persist in rejection of Christ and exist in what appeared to be such a uniquely amoral state? Jews in the Middle Ages were notorious for cruelty and greed, and there is even evidence that they would occasionally sacrifice Christian children. Some believe that the Ashkenazi Jews of today are not the Jews of the Bible, but are descended from medieval Turkish converts, in what is known as the Khazar theory. However, genetic testing contradicts this, and Sephardic Jews don’t seem to have had a significantly better reputation. In a more theologically plausible theory, Medieval Christians believed that the Jews were cursed due to their murder of Christ, with St. Thomas Aquinas and Pope Gregory IX saying they were sentenced to perpetual servitude due to their rejection of Christ.[1] While that could certainly explain their loss of nationhood and the destruction of the Second Temple, it’s also clear that much of this corruption predated Christ, or they never would have had Him crucified in the first place. A different theory, put forward by Ron Unz in the article Prof. John Beaty and the True Origin of the Jews, may provide additional context as to why they rejected Christ, why they have continued to be so obstinate in their rejection, and why they seem to have such a unique streak of cultural immorality. The theory states that the bulk of modern Jews descend from Carthaginian/Phoenician converts, who began to convert to Judaism following the Roman destruction of Carthage in 146 BC. If this is true, the implications of it extend beyond genealogy.
A Brief Summary of the Carthaginian Theory
For those who have not read the article, the Carthaginian theory perfectly solves a strange puzzle with regard to modern Jewish origins. Unz summarizes the puzzle as follows:
“Most mainstream experts seemed to quietly concede that Sand was correct in arguing that by the time of the Roman Empire the overwhelming majority of the Jews living along the shores of the Mediterranean were probably of convert stock, having little ancestry from the Israelites of Palestine. Yet the genetic evidence painted a very different picture for the major subsequent Jewish populations.
As mentioned, the Ashkenazi Jews seem to derive from Middle Eastern males who took European wives in the centuries after the Fall of Rome. Meanwhile, the Sephardic Jews of Muslim Spain are also of Middle Eastern ancestry, and they were the wealthiest and most numerous component of Jewry throughout much of the Middle Ages prior to their 1492 expulsion by Ferdinand and Isabella. So, if only a small fraction of Jews had roots in Palestine, it appears quite odd that these would have become the progenitors of both the Sephardic and male Ashkenazi lines. Genetic evidence seems to conflict with strong literary and historical evidence.”
These seemingly contradictory bodies of evidence are brought together by the Carthaginian hypothesis. The Carthaginians/Phoenicians were a Canaanite people, closely related to the Judeans, and so the difference between the two would not be picked up by our insufficiently precise genetic testing. Carthage also had a massive empire of roughly four million people, and so it would’ve provided an ample source of converts around the Mediterranean. After the destruction of Carthage by Rome, the defeated and stateless Carthaginians would’ve found the religion of their devout cousins very attractive, given that it prophesized a messiah that would save their people. The Carthaginians were also known for being excellent merchants and urban-dwellers, similar to modern day Jews, but quite different from the peasants of Judea. As we will examine below, this theory would also connect modern Jews with the Canaanite ancestors of the Carthaginians.
People of the Book?
“And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.”
-Genesis 9:25
The Bible uses the term “Canaanite” to refer to the indigenous pagan tribes in the land of Canaan (modern day Israel and Lebanon). The story of the Canaanites begins with their namesake, Canaan. The Bible describes how Canaan’s father, Ham, witnesses Noah naked and tells his brothers about it, rather than helping cover Noah up. As punishment, Noah curses Canaan in Genesis 9:25. Canaan’s descendants settle in the land of Canaan, and they are condemned for practicing incest, homosexuality, bestiality, and child sacrifice (Leviticus 18). God eventually commands the Israelites to remove them from the southern portion of the land (modern day Israel). While some are under the impression that the Canaanites were completely annihilated, the Bible states in Judges 3 1:4 that the Canaanites in the north (modern day Lebanon) were allowed to survive so as to test future Israelites in battle.
While the Bible describes the people of this land as Canaanites, the Greeks had a different name for them: Phoenicians. Carthage was founded by the Phoenicians as a colony in the 9th century BC,[2] roughly three centuries after modern scholars believe the Canaanite displacement at the hands of the Israelites occurred. However, there is little reason to think these Phoenicians/Carthaginians were anything other than the direct descendants of the Biblical Canaanites. Ephraim Stern, chairman of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute of Archaeology, stated that the Phoenicians were the descendants of the Biblical-era Canaanites, some of whom were forced out of Palestine by the Israelites around 1200 BC.[3] Already, an incredible irony presents itself. Modern scholars subtly acknowledge that the vast majority of Roman Jews never left Palestine, meaning that modern Palestinians are the closest descendants of the ancient Israelites. Others have already pointed out how ironic it is that the entire Zionist project justifies itself off the claim that they are the descendants of the Israelites, but in reality, they are expelling the actual descendants of the Israelites from the holy land. The Carthaginian theory further deepens this already remarkable irony. Zionist settlers are not just a foreign entity attacking the true Israelites, but are actually the descendants of the people that were cursed and explicitly ordered for removal from the land by God, according to scriptures that religious Zionists themselves believe in. They do have a connection to the holy land, it’s just not the one they want. From a Christian perspective, the story of modern Zionism is the story of a bitter people attempting to reverse God’s judgment upon them without Christ, and who have been allowed to exist so as to test Israelites in combat. This ends up remaining true theologically, in the sense that Christians are the new Israelites and Christian societies have been seized by Jewish organizations, and it’s also become true again literally, in the sense that Israelite descendants are now physically in combat with Canaanite descendants in the holy land.
Defining Modern Judaism
It is commonly believed that modern day Jews are followers of the Old Testament, only differentiated from Christians by their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. The Hebrew scriptures seem to clearly point to Jesus as the Messiah, leaving Christians frustrated for centuries over the Jewish refusal to accept this. However, the scholarship of Prof. Israel Shahak has shown that the modern Jewish religion includes a wide variety of strange, seemingly pagan practices. Many have accused them of general devil worship, but Canaanite origins could provide greater clarity as to the essence of their beliefs. As we covered earlier, the Canaanites in the Bible engaged in a host of disturbing pagan practices, including child sacrifice. One might be tempted to think that three thousand years is too long for any link to remain; perhaps the migration to Carthage resulted in significant change to the Canaanite culture, or perhaps the destruction of Carthage and mass conversion to Judaism resulted in an overhaul of their religious practices. However, the historical record shows that this is not the case. Despite the distance between Carthage and Phoenicia, the Phoenician Carthaginians retained an unsevered connection with their native religion, and this included the practice of child sacrifice. For many years it was doubted that the Carthaginians actually sacrificed children, but recent findings have provided overwhelming evidence that they did.[4] An article in Haaretz provides a useful summary:
“Though they dispersed throughout the western Mediterranean, the Phoenicians remained united by their religious practices. For centuries, Carthage sent a delegation to Tyre each year to sacrifice at the temple of the city-god Melqart. In Carthage itself, the chief deities were the divine couple Baal-Hammon, meaning “Lord of the Brazier,” and Tanit, identified with Astarte. The most notorious characteristic of Phoenician religion was the practice of child sacrifice. The area around the western Mediterranean (Carthage, Western Sicily, Southern Sardinia) is littered with burials of sacrificed children, but in truth, the practice was commonplace in the Phoenician cities all over the Levant. Diodorus Siculus reports that in 310 B.C.E., during an attack on the city, the Carthaginians sacrificed over 200 children of noble birth to appease Baal-Hammon.”[5]
The scholarship of Prof. Ariel Toaff shows that this practice also did not end with the destruction of Carthage, and that European Jews practiced child sacrifice well into the Middle Ages. The existence of Carthaginian child sacrifice strongly supports the accounts of Canaanite child sacrifice in the Bible, as well as Prof. Toaff’s research, and shows a significant link between Rabbinic Judaism and Canaanite paganism.
Another intriguing continuity is the role of Saturn in Jewish culture. The historian Eusebius records that the Phoenician supreme deity, El, was deified as the star Saturn. The Romans also linked Saturn with the Carthaginian supreme deity, Baal-Hammon, possibly reinforced by the fact that Saturn ate his children in Roman mythology. Roman and Medieval Jewish sources attest that at least some form of Saturn/Baal-Hammon worship remained even after the Carthaginians mass converted to Judaism. Shlomo Sela, a professor in the Department of Jewish Thought at Bar Ilan University, analyzed the works of Abraham ibn Ezra, a prominent Medieval Jewish commentator, who wrote a lengthy work attempting to defend the link between the Jews and Saturn. Sela wrote that this link is “historically vouched for in almost all the sources which have been presented above to demonstrate the persistence of the Saturn-Jewish connection from antiquity till the Middle Ages. Thus, both Tacitus and St. Augustine asserted that the Jews made the Sabbath their rest day in order to honor or worship Saturn.”[6] Lest anyone think that this was just Roman or Christian propaganda, Sela also states: “That Jewish society of the Talmudic period recognized the same association is shown by the fact that the Babylonian Talmud (Shabbat 156a) refers to Saturn as Shabbetai, i.e., the star of Shabbat (Saturday).”[7] Ibn Ezra himself did not deny that the Shabbat (Sabbath) was related to Saturn, but defended it by saying that Jews rested to protect themselves from Saturn’s malignant influence, which was supposedly strongest on that day. The Jewish newspaper, Forward, also admits the link, but claims that the Jews named Saturn after the Sabbath simply because the Romans believed the Jews were resting in honor of Saturn.[8] Both of these explanations raise serious questions. The Old Testament clearly and repeatedly states that God blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy, and that it’s to be dedicated only to God (Exodus 20:8-11). If devout Jews rest for Saturn, even if we are to believe that it’s to protect themselves from Saturn, this would be religiously errant at the very least. Along with that, one would think that pious Jews would be deeply offended by the Roman accusation that they dedicated the Sabbath to a malicious pagan deity and would strenuously resist such a connection given the severe scriptural warnings against idol worship. Instead, they appear to have had no problem with naming Saturn “the Sabbath star”, casting doubt on the idea that the Romans were wrong about this. Given that Jews have resisted conversion to Christianity for two-thousand years under enormous pressure, and that they even use a different mathematical plus sign because ours looks too much like a cross, a misnomer here would seem like quite the oversight.
Along with the historical evidence, Prof. Shahak also pointed out something interesting in his book Jewish History, Jewish-Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years:
“Perhaps the most sacred Jewish formula, ‘Hear 0 Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one’, recited several times each day by every pious Jew, can at the present time mean two contrary things. It can mean that the Lord is indeed ‘one’; but it can also mean that a certain stage in the union of the male and female deities has been reached or is being promoted by the proper recitation of this formula.”
After having read this initially, I was baffled, and wondered how such an odd belief could have ended up in modern Judaism. With the Carthaginian context though, it makes perfect sense, as the Carthaginians worshipped a divine couple, the male Baal-Hammon and the female Tanit, as mentioned above.
Assuming that the Carthaginian theory is true, the evidence suggests that the modern Jewish religion is a sort of hybrid between genuine Torah Judaism and Canaanite paganism. This should be unsurprising, as the Phoenicians were a proud people with an empire that had lasted a millennium, and they were probably reluctant to totally shirk their own religion in favor of one coming from their impoverished peasant cousins. This also foreshadowed their eventual refusal to accept the Christianity that the rest of the Roman Empire (even Judea) adopted, with the bitter memories of Roman conquest further entrenching their obstinance.
The Pharisees and the Star of Remphan
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.”
-Matthew 23:15
By the time of Christ’s conflict with the Pharisees almost two centuries after the destruction of Carthage, the bulk of the Carthaginian conversions had likely already happened. The impact of this on Jerusalem was probably substantial, especially given the influence that modern Jewish populations tend to exert over urban areas. The Encyclopedia Britannica states that converts became “increasingly numerous in Palestine” during this period, and there were many who “observed one or more Jewish practices without being fully converted.”[9]
The prominence of the Pharisees may itself have been an example of this impact, as they were defined in large part by their rejection of Greek influence and their eager overseas proselytizing,[10] so their movement would’ve been closely linked with Carthaginian converts who resented the domination of the Greco-Roman civilization. Prof. Shahak pointed out how modern Judaism is fixated on rituals, sometimes without regard to whether God or Satan is being worshipped. This obsession with ritual over substance is also something Jesus condemned the Pharisees for, and it could be evidence that they compromised with their new allies. One can easily imagine how the Pharisees may have started off with good intentions in their mission to convert the Carthaginian masses, but found them more stubborn than hoped. Tempted by the wealth and power that these potential new converts could bring them, the Pharisees essentially made a Faustian bargain with the Carthaginians, downplaying differences of theology and emphasizing areas of less controversy, such as superficial rituals and the coming of a messiah. As a result, Carthaginian Saturnism gradually infected the Pharisees, and this new syncretic religion blinded them to the Messiah that would not revive the empire.
A tragic fall in this fashion would really just be a rhyming of history, as the Old Testament includes many stories of the Israelites being negatively influenced by surrounding pagans. St. Stephen appears to allude to this in his speech to the Sanhedrin (Acts 7), where he compares their actions to those of disobedient Israelites in the Old Testament, including some who decided to worship Moloch and Remphan over God:
“Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.”
-Acts 7:43
Remphan (or Rephan) is the Egyptian name for Saturn.[11] Stephen is referencing Amos 5:26 when he refers to the star of Remphan:
“But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.”
-Amos 5:26
Chiun is the Hebrew name for Saturn, and the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary on this verse states that Saturn was probably represented with a star symbol: “Probably there was a figure of a star on the head of the image of the idol, to represent the planet Saturn; hence “images” correspond to “star” in the parallel clause.”[12] It seems quite possible that Carthaginian influence led to a revival in the usage of this star of Saturn symbol, and is what led Stephen to refer to this specific verse. When asking ourselves what this star symbol may have looked like, there is of course one very obvious candidate: the Star of David. Not many Christians seem to be aware of this, but there is no mention in the Old Testament of any sort of “star” of David, a star symbol for David, or anything else that could plausibly link David with the modern Jewish symbol.[13] Theories for the origin of the Star of David are vague and varied, but the Jewish Virtual Library’s page on the topic interestingly says that “The oldest undisputed example is on a seal from the seventh century B.C.E. found in Sidon.”[14] Sidon was a major Canaanite/Phoenician city, and the 7th century BC is just a century after the prophet Amos is said to have lived.[15] The page also states that Arab and Jewish sources referred to the hexagram as “the seal of Solomon” and that this connects the symbol with early “Judeo-Christian” magic such as the first-century[16] magical work The Testament of Solomon. In this non-canonical work, God gives Solomon a ring engraved with a pentagram that allows him to control demons, and the story ends with Solomon worshipping Moloch and Remphan in exchange for sex. This seems to be the earliest documentary source for the Star of David, which happens to be from the time Stephen lived and happens to also link the symbol with Saturn/Remphan. Were Amos and Stephen speaking of the Star of David when they condemned this star of Saturn symbol? We may never be able to confirm this, but given that the oldest example of the Star of David is from around the time of Amos, in a major city of Saturn worshippers, and its first documented appearances also associate it with Saturn in the time of Stephen, this seems highly likely. It also seems highly likely that Carthaginian pagan influence played a role in the Jewish corruption that led to Christ’s crucifixion, as Canaanite influence did with the spurning of Amos.
What I will engage in now will be pure speculation, and it might seem outlandish, but I do think it logically follows from Christian belief. If you’re a Christian, you believe that God spoke to and revealed many things to the Israelites in the Old Testament, and you also believe that Satan is real and does engage with humanity at least occasionally. Keeping that in mind, the Jewish Virtual Library states a revealing motive behind the widespread usage of the Star of David: “The prime motive behind the wide diffusion of the sign in the 19th century was the desire to imitate Christianity. The Jews looked for a striking and simple sign which would “symbolize” Judaism in the same way as the cross symbolizes Christianity.” Christians have long seen the sun as a natural symbol of God, and if God created a natural symbol of Satan, Saturn would be a logical choice. Saturn is the most distant planet from the sun that the ancients were aware of, and is also quite literally chained by its rings. In 1981, the Voyager mission made the remarkable discovery of a giant hexagonal storm on Saturn’s north pole, something the ancients could not possibly have been aware of, which makes it very coincidental that a hexagram ended up representing Saturn.
In Greek mythology, Saturn was also chained by Jupiter,[17] another coincidence given that the ancients were also unaware of Saturn’s rings. Did Satan reveal aspects of Saturn to entice the Canaanites to idolatry? Did he then revive the symbol they created, so he could counter the cross after Christ’s resurrection? Of course this is purely speculatory, but this is a series of coincidences that I think is worth pondering for any believing Christian.
Far from being a simple origin story of the Jewish people, the Carthaginian theory recontextualizes thousands of years of Christian-Jewish relations and Biblical history. Zionists would find themselves the villains of their own story, and the past three millennia would look like a continuous tale of combat between the people of God and a wicked Saturnian cult. Instead of a principled commitment to the Hebrew scriptures that Rabbinic Jews claim is their reason for rejecting Christ, the real reason would look more like pagan corruption, combined with an undying grudge against Rome and its Church, which stole their empire from them in the same way that the Israelites banished them from their homeland. Rome succeeding the Israelites in this fashion would prefigure the Roman Church as the new Israel. Instead of joining the new Israel, Jews still seek the old one, completely unaware that it was never even theirs. Perhaps, with better knowledge of their origins, they could finally find the humility to end their wandering in the wilderness.
Notes
[1] https://thomistica.net/letter-to-margaret-of-flanders#:~:text=Thomas%20Aquinas%27s%20Letter%20to%20Margaret,other%20issues%2C%20as%20well).
[2] https://www.worldhistory.org/Carthaginian_Religion/#google_vignette
[3] https://library.biblicalarchaeology.org/article/phoenicia-and-its-special-relationship-with-israel/
[4] https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2014-01-23-ancient-carthaginians-really-did-sacrifice-their-children
[5] https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2016-07-28/ty-article/did-the-phoenicians-even-exist/0000017f-eab1-ddba-a37f-eafff7340000
[6] https://www.academia.edu/38440339/Abraham_Ibn_Ezras_Appropiation_of_Saturn pg. 40
[7] https://katz.sas.upenn.edu/resources/blog/saturn-and-jews
[8] https://forward.com/news/9794/the-sabbath-planet/
[9] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Judaism/Hellenistic-Judaism-4th-century-bce-2nd-century-ce
[10] “The rise of the Pharisees may thus be seen, in a sense, as a reaction against the more profound Hellenization favoured by the Sadducees, who were allied with the philhellenic Hasmoneans”
“The eagerness of the Pharisees to win converts is attested in The Gospel According to Matthew (23:15), which states that the Pharisees would ‘traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte.’”
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Judaism/Hellenistic-Judaism-4th-century-bce-2nd-century-ce
[11] https://www.internationalstandardbible.com/R/rephan.html
[12] https://biblehub.com/commentaries/jfb/amos/5.htm
[13] https://www.gotquestions.org/star-of-David.html
[14] https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/magen-david#google_vignette
[15] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Book-of-Amos
[16] https://web.archive.org/web/20190503205000/https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/divinity/rt/otp/guestlectures/harding/