What if mythology were not myth?

  When did it become myth...  ...and why?

Dave Hickson - July 2006 - dave@truemyths.com

 
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True Myths – Introduction

 last updated - 11.28.2010

PREFACE & INTRODUCTION

If you are here, reading this, you are likely a "critical thinker", a questioner and that’s exactly what is desperately needed today, people who don’t live in the bubble of spoon-fed news, science, or religion…. So, welcome aboard.  Too many people don't question, and worse, they fully embrace what they've been "told" (vs. researched themselves) as the absolute truth, and cling to their beliefs with "dogma"... Dogma, be it religious, political, or scientific, is the root of all evil.... ....pause, and think about that for a moment and I think you'll likely agree...

With that said, it is likewise not my desire to tell someone what to think, but to get people to do that, which is think.  Nor do I espouse that what you are about to read is the absolute truth, but I move with the purpose to present data, facts, and in some cases hypothetical thoughts, very good ones, but, hypothetical still.  For example, someone that is of the fundamental Christian belief and also has dogma, will not want to consider such texts as the Dead Sea Scrolls, anything from the Essenes (even though it is now believed that Jesus was of the Essene sect of study) the Nag Hammadi or the Gnostic writings (even the Gnosis means "ones of knowledge") because they have been "told" that since 325AD, all things were ordained by God, "personally", and thus there is no need for debate or discussion, it is done.  But the "fact" is, these and others, many others, are very real and authentic writings.  In fact, they have been authenticated by renown scientist and scholars to the same time, just prior to and just after the time of Jesus Christ, or Yeshua Christos, the "Anointed One" more property stated.  The point being, with a modest amount of research, there is an overwhelming amount of ancient artifacts, texts and archeology that tells a very powerful story when properly knitted together. 

Is mythology really myth?  Are the stories of the Bible's Old Testament of giants, chariots of fire, whirlwinds, wheels in wheels, parting of the Red Sea, Pharaohs, sticks turning into snakes, and more, fact, or also myth?  Could the abomination of the fallen angels, as told in Genesis Ch. 6, be so bad, that they in fact, point to "mythology", of half man, half horse, and "gods" who came to earth and "saw the daughters of man" and caused such atrocities that the world was flooded by Yahweh, the "god" of the Old Testament, whom was sad he created man? Likewise, are we to believe or dismiss evolution as espoused by the Darwinian purist?  If studied objectively and with a critical eye, is there room for truths, deliberate omission, and even possibly forgeries in both?

Medieval Painting of Nephilim and Daughter of Man

Now today, many people want to throw the Bible out completely, as myth, or old tales that have no basis of reality.  But the fact is, archeologically, everyday, more items and artifacts are uncovered, naming Biblical kings, events, and cities, all depicted in the Bible.  Yet, on the other side of the coin, there are many that believe the Bible was penned by God himself, either miraculously (e.g. 10 Commandment Tablets) or the authors and scribes were "possessed by the Spirit of God" and thus wrote basically in a trance, and therefore, it is perfect and done.  Unfortunately, as many things today, these two views are quite polarized.

Sumerian Image

Date - 4,000BC

I have studied archaeology, geology, physics, scripture, religion, ancient texts, mystical places, quantum physics, etc., for over 25 years, in some subjects more, much more, in some subjects, less...  I have read and own many many books on these subjects, many of which are great books by great authors, and I will quote and reference them throughout my book.  However, the problem I have found is that nearly all these books are micro-focused (down in the weeds) vs. macro-focused (big picture, connect the dots), so the reader of these great books, as good as they are, will be presented with microscopic detail about each individual subject vs. high-level tying them together and presenting a cohesive message, picture, and story, the story of mankind and our existence here on “earth”.

Right down to that, the word “earth”, how did it come to exists, the name “earth”?  Why not some other term to describe this blue ball in which we live on and call our celestial home during our mortal existence?

Net-Net (or bottom-line), everything is not as it seems, everything is not as we’ve been taught in our spoon-fed news, spoon-fed history, spoon-fed religion, or spoon-fed science either for that matter…

This, the introduction, should be the easy part, but it’s not, in fact, it is second in complicatedness only to the summary, that must successfully weave this intricate and wild set of subjects together…  Some of which will be controversial to some, and loudly resonate to others.

GOAL OF THE BOOK

The goal of the book is to bring together a loosely-connected variety of complicated and detailed subjects into a scenery, much like that of an ancient Persian or Oriental rug.  And, just like the rug weaver, using all these different materials, ideas, and colors individually and collectively to tell both micro and macro stories.  Each subject must stand on its own but when tied together with the other subjects tells the BIG PICTURE and scenery like the old Persian or Oriental rug does.

There are many authors that are much smarter than me in any of these given subjects, truly much smarter.  However, what I have come to realize is that each subject is so detailed, and so into the weeds of things, that the average person either doesn’t have the time, prior-knowledge-capacity, or the desire to dive that deep into each subject that these great authors will take you on.  There are hundreds, and even many thousands of books out there on any of these subjects, but the goal here is to present the material at a higher and more digestible level and to connect the stories, events, and evidence into a bigger picture.

BACKGROUND, EARLY QUESTIONING, AND ONGOING RESEARCH

I am a technology entrepreneur, raised in America, from a hard working family.  Much of my early perspective on “ancient things” was that from the Catholic Church, and eventual Baptist Church (another story unto itself).   However, even then, I questioned many things, to the extent that it bothered my parents a bit, and for sure any church leaders.  Things such as;

  • Why are there so many names for the God of the Old Testament?  Such as, God, Lord, LORD,  Jehovah, Yahweh, Elohim, I AM, Adoni, Let Us, and Most High are just a few.

  • Why are there the terms God, gods, Lord and LORD, why are they used, why are they different, what is their origin?

  • What is the meaning in many places in Genesis, for the use of:

  • Let us make man in our image and after our likeness

  • Let us go down and confuse their language

  • They shall be as one of us

  • If during the days of the Old Testament, if there was only one God, why does the second commandment states; “thou shalt have no other Gods before thee (me), for I am a jealous God, and there are no others like me”?  Isn't jealously a non-omniscient emotion?  Doesn't there have to be "something or someone" else there to invoke such an emotion?  How does this relate to the "Let Us" as referenced earlier relate?

  • The very name "Most High" implies there were other "gods", just "lower" according to Yahweh, no?

  • Who or what were the Cherubim in the Garden of Eden guarding the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and what were their  "flaming swords"?

Artist James Neff Image of Ezekiel's Wheel in a Wheel

Ezekiel Chapter 1

  • How do we know so much about this “rebellion” of Satan and his rebel-angels, but there’s a few very sparse verses (6 to be exact) in the Bible about it?  Where did that knowledge come from, about the rebellion, was it oral tradition, or was it in some other “writings” some place?

  • How is it and why is it that the Bible mentions the planetary/solar systems of Orion, Arcturus, and Pleiades, (400 Light Years from Earth!) twice in Job and Amos, and even that there are seven stars/suns when they are 400 Light Years from Earth!?!?!  Who had this knowledge and shared it with the author(s)?

  • Why is it that the Old Testament is so much different than the New Testament?  Especially if one omits the Pauline texts and focuses on the Gospels, Peter, Jude, Revelation and a few other non-Pauline text? e.g. Why is the Old Testament (eye for an eye), soooooo different from what Jesus said in the New Testament (turn the other cheek)?

  • Why is it Yahweh (Jehovah), the God of the Semitic peoples demanded to be "worshiped" but Jesus (whom used the term "Father", never "God") did not want to be "worshiped" such as the manner in which Yahweh demanded?

  • Why did Cain slew Abel and when he went to East of Eden to find his wife, where was that and who was his wife and where did she come from if Cain and Abel were Adam and Eve's first children?

  • What is the Hebrew meaning for the word "adam" because it's certainly not originally intended as a persons name, nor is "eve".

  • What does the Genesis verse really mean when it states "and the serpent beguiled (Hebrew - seduced) Eve"? Also, what is really going on in the verses in Genesis Ch.1 verses 15-16?

  • What is meant by the verses in Jeremiah 4:23-27, no man, no birds, cities were broken down?  Was this a catastrophe before Adam? A quote about a pre-Adomite race?  A creation that was destroyed, prior to the Genesis Ch. 1 (and the earth was without form an void).  The Hebrew translations for "without form and void" are EXACTLY the same in both verses!  This thought is further solidified by the statement "Yet I will not make a full end"....

    23 I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void;
          And the heavens, they had no light.
          

    24 I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled,
          And all the hills moved back and forth.
          

    25 I beheld, and indeed there was no man,
          And all the birds of the heavens had fled.
          

    26 I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness,
          And all its cities were broken down
          At the presence of the LORD,
          By His fierce anger.

    27 For thus says the LORD:
          “ The whole land shall be desolate;
          Yet I will not make a full end.

     

  • Why is it that the Trinity is not taught in the Bible, and wasn't a "thought" until 325AD?  Yes, Jesus said; "I and the Father are one in the same", but that could easily be, "I have his proxy or authority" as in, "I have been authorized by the Father to accomplish this tasks".  Any Biblical historian knows this is a fact, I will quote them in the following chapters and book, but the modern Church spins this over and over again, the question is why wasn't it taught until 325AD and why did it become "extra biblical doctrine" then?

  • What can we learn from the verse about Jesus - "He grew in knowledge and stature"? If Jesus was "God", how could He grow in "knowledge", wouldn't he have had all knowledge?

  • What can be learned from the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus says; "Father, take this cup from me!"?  If Jesus was "God", why would He say this, clearly He "had fear" here, and he was pondering wanting out, although only momentarily according to this verse, but clearly, Jesus was shaken by the soon to be events that were going to overcome Him.

  • Why did Jesus introduce the term “Father” and not use God, Lord, LORD, Adoni, Elohim, etc?

  • Why is it that Jesus said; "call no one your Father, for your Father is in Heaven", but the Catholic Church immediately introduces all "priests as the title father"? (rest assured, this isn't a book focused on only the Catholic Church, it's just that is was THE CHURCH for almost 1,500 years, so....)

  • Why did Jesus only reference the Old Testament a few times and refuse to quote a commandment (which one is the most important one) when asked?

  • Why did Jesus toss out many of the Old Testament Laws, such as working or performing a miracle on the "Sabbath" , "dietary conditions", and many others?

  • What did Jesus mean when he said that John the Baptist is "Elijah come again, even though you will not believe it"?

  • What did Jesus mean by "it is your faith that has healed you..."?

  • What did Jesus mean when he told the Apostles "you can do all the things I've done and more, if you believe"?

  • Why did the Romans (the Catholic Church, and eventually Roman Catholic) change the day of rest/worship from Saturday, the Sunday?

  • Was Jesus really born on Dec 25th?  Most scholars believe not, why did the Roman Catholic Church pick that day/date?

  • What did Jesus mean when he said; "no one gets to the Father except through me"?  Was that a reference to "heaven" or "the creator", or both, or neither? 

  • Is the Shroud of Turin an amazing medieval forgery, or the real burial cloth of Jesus, with the image of the Christ burned in during resurrection?

Shroud of Turin

Date - Very Much Debated

  • Why does the Vatican/ St. Peter's Square have the 2nd largest "pagan obelisks" in the very center, which was taken from Egypt by Marco Polo? And what do the circles and lines around it symbolize?

  • Why is it, that the world largest obelisks is actually in Washington D.C. and is called "The Washington Monument", and what does it truly represent?

St. Peter's or Vatican Square - Egyptian Obelisks

Date - 2,000 to 3,000BC

  • If there is an Old Testament Commandment to not have graven images, why is the Vatican City have 1,000's of statues, including in their churches?

  • Why is it that so many medieval (and older) cathedrals in Europe have strange gargoyles, some with horns, some with wings, some eating their young, or strangling/molesting a half woman, half fish?

Gargoyle - Bern Cathedral, Switzerland and Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, France

Date - Middle Ages

 

  • When did "mythology" become "myth", and why?

  • Does the Catholic Priest really believe the process of the Eucharist converts the cracker to the body of Christ and the grape juice the blood of Jesus, really?

  • Why were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob so special?  Why did they prosper so much?  Was it because they were “obedient” to this God (Yahweh) that would punish and even kill them (or their child, at their own hands) and thus, Yahweh rewarded them and taught them things that others didn’t know, be it agriculture, architecture, breeding of livestock, etc.?

  • Why did the Jews, when in the desert with Moses, craft a golden calf, or golden bull and why are bull horns so prevalent in Egyptian paintings?  Are they related?

  • In Egyptian Mythology, the god Seth, known as the "god of chaos", is known to be the second son of Geb and Nut, grandchildren of Ra, is there any similarities with Seth, the son of Adam?

  • What is the meaning of the "red disc" that is often depicted in the middle of the calf or bull horns?

  • Why are there so many paintings of a "disc with wings" in Sumerian and Egyptian art?

Hathor and Seth

One of many many "winged discs" depicted in Sumerian and Egyptian Art

  • What is meant by “the long suffering God during the days of Noah” and that he was “sad that he had made man”?

  • Why did the God of the Old Testament (Yahweh) have so many people killed as documented in the Old Testament?  Clearly, it was a form of "ethnic cleansing" and not just "they don't follow/worship me" if you're reading the texts objectively. 

  • Who were the line of Anak (Anakim(s)) in the Old Testament that were always associated with "the giants"?

  • Why did nearly all the major patriarchs of the Old Testament spend time in Egypt?  This includes Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, in fact all of the 12 Tribes of Israel went there.  Moses was born and raised there, lived with Pharaohs as did Joseph.  Jesus was there from birth to what is believed to be 12 years old, why?

Medieval Painting Depicting Jesus and the Disciples, with a Flying Object in the Background (one of hundreds)

Date - 1,350

  • Why is the Catholic Bible that I was originally raised with quite different than the Protestant Bible with more books and chapters?   And yet these are different that the Greek Orthodox and even still, there are variations in the Gospels (Textus Receptus vs. Westcott & Hort, and a few others)

  • Why are there so many different transitions of the the Bible, e.g. KJV, NKJV, NIV, AS, NAS, AB, NCV, Wycliff, CEV, NLT and many more?

  • If the Bible is "timeless", should we still stone sinners? Should women be 100% subservient as Paul describes? Maybe we should take up animal sacrifices?  What kind of problems have occurred because the Apostle Paul says devoted men shouldn't be married, e.g Catholic Priest?

  • Strangely, why is the word "dragon" used in the Old Testament 19 times, as if referring to "real" creatures?

  • What really happened at the Council of Nicaea and was it really presided over by God himself, and thus "perfect" as we are all told?

  • If the first Council in 325AD, was ordained/presided over by God directly, then why have there been a total of 21 Councils (ecumenical councils) if the first one was presided by God directly?  Wouldn't God gotten it right the first time?

  • Why do the books in the Apocrypha deserve printing but aren’t included? (because they weren't quote un quote "divinely inspired"?  If yes, who decided what was divinely inspired vs. every day ole writings?  Did someone tell them or was their some "judgment criteria" and what was that criteria, and who established that criteria in the first place, and of course, why?

  • What about the 12 Books quoted and referenced in the Old Testament, but are not included in the "canonized" Bible? (names will be provided in a later chapter)

"The Baptism of Christ” - FitzwilliamMusuem, Cambridge, England Painted by Flemish artist Aert De Gelder

Date - 1,710

  • During Constantine's rule and for many century's after, if a person was found with an "unauthorized" version, book, script, text, etc... you were killed!  Is that Christ-like?  Or is the more Roman and Old Testament?

  • Why were the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Gnostics, the writings of the Essian's, and the Nag Hammadi texts hidden from the public for so long, and what can we contrast/learn from them?

  • If everything we "need to know" is in the Bible as we know it, why do we read books by other authors at all?

  • Why is there a "Vatican Secret Archive"?????

  • Why are there so many different branches of the Protestant religion?

  • What is meant by all of the uses of “sons of God” in the Old Testament, almost unanimously associated with evil, including being with Satan (Job Ch. 1), but this is not the case in the New Testament.

  • Why was Deuteronomy 32:8 changed from "sons of god" to "sons of Adam"?

  • Why is it for nearly 2,000 years, the sons of God was taught as "the ungodly line of Seth", vs. what they really were/are?

  • Why did Jesus repeatedly say; 'I am the Son of Man"?

  • What do the constant Old Testament references and uses of the terms describing God's arrival of “chariots of fire”, or “came on a cloud”, "thundering cloud", "cloud of glory", or “whirlwind” really mean?

“The Annunciation” Painted by Carlo Crivelli on display in the National Gallery in London.
Date - 1,486

  • How is it that the angels of the Old Testament ate with Abraham, and wrestled with Jacob all night long and were lusted after in Sodom and Gomorrah, did they take on physical bodies for this "earthly" event?

  • What is the meaning behind Jacob’s dream (stairway to heaven, or Jacob’s ladder) ?

  • What is Ezekiel describing in Ezekiel 1:4-28? And what is the wheel in the wheel, and the oddly described creatures in and about the wheel?

  • How and where did Enoch and Elijah go, when "taken up", and many other Old Testament prophets when they were “taken up” or “carried to” some place above, sometimes in the spirit, others imply physically, and of course, a few to never physically return, in particular Enoch?

  • How can God be omniscient, but not “foresee” that Satan would rebel, that Eve would take of the proverbial apple (of which of course it surely was not an apple!), or that Yahweh would have to destroy man (for he was sorry he created them) with a flood as described in Genesis Chapter 6 ?

  • How can an omniscient God be angry one moment and the next be pleased? One minute it’s death to you all, then it’s mercy and grace, how and why can this be?

  • How can an omniscient God have such “emotions” that are drastically different and swinging emotions?

  • Why did the tabernacle (and so many other items ordered by God) need to be so precise and exact, was there some type of technology employed there?

  • Why would someone die if they touched the Ark of the Covenant?

  • How was Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed, the walls of Jericho suddenly fell, the Red Sea departed and more?

  • Why was God so pleased when David played the harp? Was it also because he defeated the giant, which was a descendant of Anak (Anakims)?

  • Why do all ancient cultures have drawings and images of very large people (giants or gods), including the very isolated Hawaiian's?

  • Did Egypt have electricity in 2000BC? When combined with the "Bagdad Battery", it does seem quite possible.

Image from the Crypt of Dendera  and a Bagdad Battery for Ancient Babylon (an example of a giant or god showing them light?)

Date - 2,000BC and 250BC Respectively

 

  • Why do we have the different races, largely described as African, Caucasian, Asian, Native Indian(s), Hispanic, and the peoples of India and Arabia/Persia?  How did the come to be, did they really all evolve, but for some reason differently, to the extent of tongue, culture, skin color, and interestingly, different religious/spiritual belief's in their native homelands?

  • Why do we have so many different religions, all believing and teaching they are the "only way" and willing to kill, or be killed for it?

  • What is the origin of the myth of "sacrificing virgins to the gods" and could it be tied to the verses in Genesis Chapter 6 "for they took wives of all they chose"?

  • Did the Greeks, Egyptians, Babylonian's, etc., build all these buildings, temples, images, and stories out of complete myth, or were they based upon some ancient truth, that at some point in their future (our past) became myth, and if so, why?

  • What are we to make of the 3,000 year old images found in Egypt's New Kingdom Temple in Abydos?

  • What about the Mayan Rocket believed to be from 700AD?

  • Just like Judeo-Christians have rendered possible images of Noah's Ark, Ezikiel's Wheel and a Wheel, so to have other ancient religious texts, such as the Hindu text of Vimana (or Vaimanika) Sastra texts which when drawn according to the description, depicts something that clearly looks like a flying machine from 400BC or earlier.

Coincidence, or Ancient Flying Machines? (images can still be seen on the ceiling beams in the temple in Abydos)

Date - 1000BC

 

Gold Carving from Pre-Columbia South America (one of many, this one is on display at the Smithsonian Institute)

Date - 1,000 to 1,500AD

 

3,000 Year Old Kush Rocket, found in a  gold mine in Kush, Egypt (note the two people standing next to the rocket image)

Date - 1,000BC

 

Mayan Rocket, Flames, Proper Seating, Breathing Apparatus, Foot Pedals, all 1,300 Years Old? (Discovered by Ruz Luhillier in 1952)

Date - 700AD

 

Image Rendered from the Words in the Vimana (or Vaimanika) Sastra (drawing done in 1923)

Date - 400BC

 

Other Images Rendered from the Viman Sastra Texts

Date - 400BC

   

 

  • What should we make of the possible evidence of an Atomic blast, or war explosion several cities in Ancient India, just two being Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, archeologist and scientist say from 5,000 to 6,000 years ago?

  • Is it possible that the Sumerians documented real events 6,000 years ago, and not myths?

  • How did the Sumerian's know our exact solar system, including planets that we didn't discover until Gallelao in the middle ages, and pluto, which was unknown until 1930.  Additionally, how would the Sumerians know the location and EXACT proportion (sizes) of these planets?

Sumerian Cuneiform Scroll Clay Image

Date - 6,000BC

  • What should we make of the gold carved items from the jungles of Columbia, Peru, etc. that are images of what appear to be "flying vehicles" or jets, yet are thousands of years old?

  • Why were there so many "first" in Sumer (Ur in the Old Testament, where Abraham was from)?  Monumental items, such as Agriculture, Animal Domestication, Politics, Architecture, Mathematics, Astronomy, a total of 39 first, all in Sumer?

  • How did we go from wandering the deserts and wilderness and struggling for a day to day existence, to suddenly, and seemingly overnight, in Sumer history begins for what we could call modern or civilized man?

  • What should we make of the Sumerian tablets that tell the tales of "The Epic of Gilgamesh" (global flood) and "The Epic of Creation", that are possibly 2,000 years older than the parallel stories in the Bible?

  • How is it that a map, proven to be from 1513 (is currently in the British Museum of History) called the Piri Reis has a perfect drawing of Antarctica, 300 years before it was even discovered?  But here's the wild part, it shows the actual land mass as it existed/exist without ice and glaciers!

Piri Reis Map Discovered 1929 (currently in the British Museum of History)

Date - 1,513

  • What does the medical symbol, the caduceus (winged staff with two intertwined serpents) mean and what are it's true origins and meaning?

Caduceus - Winged Staff with Intertwined Serpents

Date - Unknown

  • How is the staff with a single "bronze" snake on it that Moses raised up in the desert different than that of The Rod of Asclepius?

  • How are we supposed to interpret all the ancient Sumerian, Babylonian, and Egyptian "winged beings" and discs with wings?

  • What should we make of the Nazca Lines in Peru?

Nazca Lines in Peru - Many stretch for many many miles

Date - Unknown

  • How should we interpret many of the "petroglyphs" around the world and their seemingly bizarre images, that some call "ancient astronauts"?

  • Is Junk DNA, really "junk" ?

  • Why is the time-line between Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon man, so sudden, and the difference between the two so punctuated?  Prior to that evolution, as espoused by Darwin and today's scientist was painfully slow, taking millions and even billions of years. and the changes very very minor.  Then, suddenly, modern man appears and Neanderthal disappears in the shortest time-line in all of evolution?

Sego Canyon Utah Petroglyphs (Just two of 100's of pictures taken by the author in January of 2009)

Date - 4,000BC to 1,000BC

 

Other So-Called "Ancient Astronauts" from Around the World (just a few of the 1,000's of examples found)

Date - 10,000 to 1,000BC

 

  • Why did the Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 "exploring" space crafts, launched in 1972 and 1973 respectively, have a plaque, depicting humans, and our exact location in the Milky Way Galaxy?

Pioneer 10 and 11 Plaque Depicting Humans, and our EXACT Location in the Milky Way Galaxy

Date - 1972 & 1973

  • Lastly, why does the U.S. Government, through NASA, spend MANY MANY BILLIONS, possibly TRILLIONS (black hole projects are not accounted for) on space exploration, and most recently SIM (Space Interferometry Mission) with the purpose of finding habitable planets?

While I had what I describe as “healthy questions” about the Bible and Religion(s), at an early age, I also vehemently questioned Evolution as espoused in the purist perspective of early Darwinism.   Similar to the questions about Biblical Creation, I just couldn’t blindly accept the complete randomness of the great thinker, Charles Darwin’s approach.  He has some truly brilliant points, but I questioned many things there as well. 

To answer any questions about me right up front, I am NOT an ID (Intelligent Design) supporter as it is in the current movement, which ultimately is designed to allow the teaching of the "spoon-fed version" of the Biblical Creation in schools.  However, I to strongly believe that Darwin’s “randomness” and the Bible’s “creation view” both require a bit of a blind leap of “faith”, and in essence, they both are religions of belief if you will.  So, with that said, I do support teaching both perspectives, that is until the veil is lifted from the broader world eyes, at which time, I believe people will see there are truth(s) in both espoused positions.

THE BIG MOMENTS IN MY QUESTIONING

I believe the next big moment in my life about “questioning” was brought on when my dad bought the book The Chariots of the Gods by the great author Erich Daniken and then the documentary film that came shortly after.  I was in my teens at the time and went crazy over the ideas espoused by Erich Daniken, but there wasn’t an internet, and the card catalog at the local town library certainly didn’t have anything to offer, so what was I left with?  Greek and Roman Mythology, which is what I studied, thanks to my brother, who is much smarter than I.  However, I was quickly bored with the watered down and filter version available at that time, so I lost interest for a decade, that is until my mid to late 20’s. 

For some reason, one night, during my late 20's, I picked up an old Bible (that my brother had given me) and started reading Genesis, and when I got to Genesis Chapter 6, I was floored at what I read and felt like I had never seen before.

Genesis 6:1-4 - And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.  And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.  There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

Interestingly, the Hebrew translation for “old” in the phrase heroes of old, translates to “perpetual”, or “everlasting”, but we’ll save that for later.

Then, there is the reference to the sons of God in Job Chapter 1

Job 1:6 Now the day came when  the sons of God  came to present themselves before the Lord – and Satan also arrived among them.

Then, there’s 3 more quick and easy references to these “sons of God”, and/or Nephilim that really clinched the issue for me, the are:

1st Peter 3:18 - Because Christ also suffered  once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring you to God, by being put to death in the flesh but by being made alive in the spirit. 3:19 In it he went and preached to the spirits in prison, 3:20 after they were disobedient long ago  when God patiently waited  in the days of Noah as an ark was being constructed.

 2nd Peter 2:4 - For if God did not spare the angels who sinned,  but threw them into hell  and locked them up  in chains  in utter darkness,  to be kept until the judgment    

Jude 1: 6-7 - And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh.

Where did Peter and Jude get this knowledge of these fallen angels?  Was it divinely inspired as many are taught, did Jesus "tell them", was it "oral tradition", or from some other text??? Finding these other verses led me on a 25 year journey of ALL things ancient.  I viewed the Bible and all other ancient texts differently.  Suddenly, I saw things in the Old Testament more like Mythology (but not necessarily being “myth”) than some boring old book with a bunch of wars and ethnic cleansing.  A whole new dimension of reading started to unfold for me, as I hope it does for you........

I asked myself, "why is it the Catholic (and largely Protestant Religion(s)) taught that the sons of God in the Old Testament, and in particular, Genesis Chapter 6 were the "ungodly line of Seth" when clearly, they were the fallen angels or Nephilim?  What would "motivate" them to do that, and what "benefit" would it have for them?  AND, could it also relate to why they (the council) wouldn't want the Book of Enoch canonized? This is a VERY important question!

Anyhow, I once again studied Egyptian, Greek, and Roman Mythology, but differently this time, much differently.

Antikythera Mechanism  (Just one examples of Ancient Technology that will be provided)

Date - 200BC (found in the waters of Greece in 1901)

  

The internet was just starting to become a good research tool, and Amazon was like my private book vault, well, if I was willing to give up that credit card number, which I did, often, very often. 

That is when I somehow stumbled upon Zecharia Sitchin and his book the 12th Planet, Genesis Revisited, Cosmic Code and several others, all of which I found difficult to read and follow, but fascinating at the same time.  Today, I still follow himSecharia, as he is one of the great minds of Sumerian Antiquities, but I respectfully question some of his assumptions and espoused ideas.  Nevertheless, I still admire him and Samuel Kramer (History Begins at Sumer) and many of us should feel greatly indebted to their life and works, as well as the many other great authors I will quote and reference.

WHAT IF

One day, I asked myself a few of the following two questions:

  1. What if the Dark Ages never happened? Humanity lost 1,000 years during this period.  In fact, instead of advancing, we digressed, as shown by the lack of plumbing in London that caused the plague, when the Romans clearly understood plumbing and its importance not only in cleaner living arrangements, but in health.

  2. What if if the great minds were allowed to express themselves and their brilliant and highly creative ideas openly?  Most of the great thinkers hid their ideas and manuscripts until they were on their death beds because if it went against the Church, they were killed for heresy against the Church.  Remember, the world was flat, "earth" was the center of the universe, the sun rotated around earth vs. the opposite, and of course ONLY a Roman Catholic Priest was "worthy" of reading the actual text of the Bible prior to King James.

Look at what has happened technologically from 1950 to today, just a mere 60 years!  What if we had not lost nearly 1,000 years!?!?!  How advanced would we be?  Not just technologically.....

CLOSING

I come to this from the approach that both mythology and the Bible are largely true, and in some cases, very true, but misconstrued by the powers to be for reasons of convenience and control....

What can we learn from comparative mythology and comparative religions? What can we also learn from the world wide ancient ruins, Sumerian texts, Dead Sea Scrolls, Nag Hammadi, Gnostics, and many other ancient text, typically considered "myth", and recent scientific and archaeological discoveries?

Many of you reading this have probably had a similar journey, or you wouldn’t be here reading this right now.  You have possibly read some of the same books, researched and questioned some of the same subjects, as those above.

I hope to entertain you, educate you, and of course, inspire you, inspire you to think, and possibly even write your own book for others to learn from.  Remember, without thinkers and authors, we wouldn’t be here right now. 

The truth is out there and the truth shall set you free.

Dave Hickson

dave@truemyths.com

 
 
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