Page 83 - Gods Plan of the Ages

Mythology and the Bible

n the preceding chapters of this book I have labored to show forth through the Scriptures
IYahweh's plan to reconcile all things in the creation to Himself through Christ. The rule
of Christ must continue UNTIL He has accomplished a full and perfect reconciliation of
the creation.

Ephesians 1:22-23
And He (God the Father) put all things in subjection under His (Christ the Son's) feet, and
gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who
fills all in all.

I Corinthians 15:27-28
But when He says, "All things are put in subjection," it is evident that He is excepted who
put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son
Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God
may be all in all.

Seeing that these things are declared in plain speech in the Scriptures, how is it that
the majority of the body of Christ have not understood or accepted the reconciliation of all
things to the Father? Where did the abominable doctrines of eternal torment arise from
which leave a majority of mankind and one third of the angels forever separated from God?
The apostle Paul prophesied that in the latter days men (in the Church) would not
endure sound doctrine. He declared that they would turn aside to myths and fables. The
doctrine of eternal torment is a myth. Those familiar with Greek and Roman mythology will
recognize the origins from which the church's doctrines arose. Centuries before Christ's
birth the Greeks believed in a place of the dead called Hades. Far below Hades was
Tarturus, a place of unending torment and suffering.
One of the Greek myths related to a king named Tantalus. King Tantalus transgressed
greatly against the gods. As punishment he was imprisoned eternally in Tartarus. Tantalus'
punishment for his actions was to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low
branches. Tantalus was gripped with hunger. The desire for the fruit so close at hand was
maddening. Whenever Tantalus reached for the fruit, the branches would rise, keeping the
fruit just beyond his grasp. Likewise, Tantalus was tortured with thirst. Whenever he bent
low to drink from the pool of water in which he was standing, the waters would recede out
of his reach.
Another Greek myth told of King Sisyphus. Sisyphus boasted that he was more clever
than Zeus, the chief of the Greek gods. Zeus punished Sisyphus by imprisoning him in
Tartarus. King Sisyphus was given the task of rolling a large boulder up a hill that came to
a sharp peak. As soon as the boulder reached the top, it would roll back down the other side.
The process had to be repeated continually. Thus Sisyphus was doomed to an eternity of
frustration.
A third Greek myth tells of King Ixion, who was another to transgress against the gods.
King Ixion lusted after Zeus' wife Hera. Ixion sought to ravish Hera even in the presence of
her husband. As punishment, King Ixion was bound to a flaming wheel representing his
unbridled flaming lusts. He was forever tortured upon this wheel in Tartarus.
In each of these myths we see that the Greeks adopted a belief that the worst
transgressors would be cast into a place of eternal torment that was befitting their wicked
deeds. This punishment was viewed as an act of vengeance by the gods that consigned men