Happy Firstfruits!

Did the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) really rise from the dead on Easter morning?

Every year churches around the world meet for sunrise service on Easter morning to mark the exact time of the resurrection of the Man of Truth from the dead.  This is often done outdoors facing the east to observe the sun rising.  When the sun rises there is usually some sort of celebratory singing to mark the moment that Easter has begun.  People greet each other with "Happy Easter!".

For this event people wear their Easter outfits. These are usually new clothes that were bought for this event and can be worn later throughout the year.  Among men and young boys the Easter outfits are typically suits or something similar.  Among the adult women the Easter outfits are usually dresses in Spring colors and decorated with emblems of Spring like Spring foliage.  Sometimes the adult women and older girls would wear white hats decorated with emblems of Spring or similarly decorated Easter Bonnets.  Younger girls, especially before puberty, typically wear a long white Easter Dress with a ribbon in the middle, usually green, that is tied as a bow in the back. The ribbon is traditionally pastel green although it sometimes another pastel color to represent Spring flowers.

People then typically eat breakfast together.  The menus vary from congregation to congregation but eggs are usually at the center of the meal along with little white Easter cakes about the size of a doughnut.

Then they go into the main sanctuary of the church building.  The sanctuary is decorated with living Spring foliage like Easter Lilies.  There is usually a sermon about the resurrection.  All of the songs are usually about the resurrection.

After the main service, many congregations meet together for Easter dinner.  Easter dinner typically features ham and hard boiled eggs.  There are also usually large white Easter cakes that may also feature various decorations of eggs, Spring foliage and rabbits.

Usually before dinner is eaten children are given their Easter Baskets and Easter gifts.  The Easter Baskets are usually made of wicker and lined with grass (plastic grass in the US).  The Easter Baskets are usually loaded with things like chocolate rabbits and candies of various sorts in the shape of eggs or baby birds.  Often the Easter gifts are also somehow associated with Spring like toy gardening sets or a baby rabbit, chick or duck for example.  As the children get older the Easter gifts often become more expensive and are usually something geared towards getting the children ready for the day when they will leave their parents house to start their own families.  After receiving their Easter Baskets and Easter gifts the children (and sometimes adults) proceed to playing the Easter Game.

The Easter Game is a game featuring Easter Eggs and the Easter Bunny.  Easter Eggs are hard boiled eggs that were colored and decorated the night before.  Decorations have traditionally featured symbols of Spring and fertility.  Fertility is normally represented by things like rabbits, chicks and baby ducks.  The Easter Eggs are given to someone who that plays the part of the Easter Bunny.  The Easter Bunny then hides the Easter Eggs.

The children then search for the hidden Easter Eggs and place them in their Easter Baskets.  On the first round of playing the Easter Game there are often prizes awarded after all of the Easter Eggs have been found.  Typically the prizes are for things like being the first to find an Easter Egg, finding the most Easter Eggs and finding certain special prize Easter Eggs.  After the first round, someone else, usually whoever found the most Easter Eggs, plays the part of the Easter Bunny.  This can continue for many rounds even though there are not usually prizes after the first round.

Alternatively, sometimes there is an Easter Egg Roll instead of the Easter Game.  In this case, the Easter Bunny is only played by one person once and the Easter Eggs are just spread across the grass with most of them in plain sight.  The children line up and when the Easter Bunny says "Go" the children all run to gather as many Easter Eggs as possible.  When it is over similar prizes to those of the first round of the Easter Game are awarded.  The most famous Easter Egg Roll is probably the one done on the White House lawn each year where the President of the United States is the one who says "Go" and awards the prizes.

So overall Easter is a fun day.  Many times during the day you will hear people saying "Happy Easter!" to each other as they enjoy the festivities.  The participants are often full of joy as they are doing all of these things to celebrate the resurrection of the Man of Truth.  If the Man of Truth overcoming the death, the grave and Hell so people could come into the House of Truth is not worth celebrating, then nothing is worth celebrating.  Who can blame the Children of Truth (someone who obeys The Father of Truth because they love Him) for wanting to celebrate that?

The problem is not with celebrating the resurrection of the Man of Truth but rather with the customs and traditions used to celebrate the resurrection of the Man of Truth.

First of all Easter is the end of the so-called "Holy Week" instituted by the False Church of Rome.  Holy week begins on the Sunday before Easter and is called "Palms Sunday".   Palms Sunday commemorates the triumphant entry of the Man of Truth in Jerusalem a week before his resurrection when people laid palm leaves for him to ride over on the donkey he had borrowed.  Later comes Maundy Thursday, to commemorate the Last Supper when the Man of Truth was betrayed.  Then comes Good Friday to commemorate the Man of Truth being crucified.  Then comes Black Sabbath, when people are forbidden to congregate together and all rituals cease, except those that concern dying, to commemorate the Man of Truth lying in the grave.  Finally comes Easter Sunday that commemorates the resurrection of the Man of Truth from the grave.

The first problem with Holy Week is the entire timing of the series of event.  The Man of Truth did not eat the Last Supper on Thursday, the die on Friday, lay in the grave on Saturday and then rise from the dead on Sunday morning.  The Man of Truth plainly said that he would be in the grave for three whole nights and three whole days (Matthew 12:40).  Friday day, Friday night, Saturday day, Saturday night with the Man of Truth rising from the grave at sunrise on Sunday only gives two days and two nights for the Man of Truth to be in the grave even if you count all day Friday. (Even though he was only in the grave for a few minutes of Friday day.)  Even if you count Sunday day because he supposedly rose at sunrise when the day begins you still end up an entire night short of three days and three nights for the Man of Truth to be in the grave.  If the Man of Truth rose from the grave at sunrise on Sunday then he had to die before sunset on Wednesday to give three whole days and three whole nights in the grave. The actual timing of events given in the Book of Truth (the Bible) from the time of the Last Supper until the resurrection and what the Man of Truth did while his body was in the grave made for Four Busy Days.

Even the False Church of Rome knows this because "Spy Wednesday" that commemorates the anointing of the feet of the Man of Truth and the betrayal by Judas (Yahudah aka Judah) Iscariot acknowledges this.  It is celebrated by slowly dimming out all of the lights, creating a crash to symbolize the death of the Man of Truth and then a rumbling is produced to symbolize the earthquake that occurred when the Man of Truth died.  So the chronology of the events commemorated by Holy Week is actually: The Triumphant Entry (Palms Sunday),  the betrayal and death of the Man of Truth (Spy Wednesday),  The Last Supper (Maundy Thursday), the crucifixion of the Man of Truth (Good Friday),  the Man of Truth laying in the grave (Black Sabbath), and finally the Man of Truth rising from the grave (Easter Sunday).  Not only does this contradict the Book of Truth it also does not even make any sense.  That is probably why Spy Wednesday has fallen out of observation in many places.

This highlights the bigger problem that Holy week is the end of the Lenten season that began on Fat Tuesday about seven weeks earlier.  The entire Holy week has the same things wrong with it as Ash Wednesday.

However, Easter has its own set of additional problems.  It not only has traditions that came from the False Church of Rome but also traditions that came from the Druids like those that polluted Celtic Christianity until its original form was completely obscured by these practices.

The problems start with the word "Easter" itself.  "Easter" is the English name of the fertility goddess that the Druids worshiped.  Easter originally did not float around like it does now but occurred on the Spring equinox which is currently on March 20th most years.  In fact, groups that are reviving the religion of the Druids today, like the Wiccans, still call their festival for observing the Spring equinox "Easter" after the fertility goddess.  The German name was "Eostre" and can be traced back to the same Greek word that the female hormone "Estrogen" got its name from.

In the lore of the Druids, "Easter" would arrive every year being pulled by hares (rabbits) and young babies with dragon fly wings.  When "Easter" arrived she was always accompanied by other symbols of fertility like mating birds and storks (who supposedly brought babies to people).  "Easter" was always dressed in a brand new long white dress denoting that she had once again became a virgin.  The dress of "Easter" was had a ribbon in the middle, usually green to symbolize Spring, that was tied as a bow in the back.

"Easter" was not only the fertility goddess but was also known as the goddess of the sunrise.  "Easter" would always arrive at the sunrise on the day of the Spring equinox.  Those involved in the religion of the Druids, that covered most of western Europe at times, would have a sun rise service facing the east to welcome "Easter".   They would dress in new clothes in the colors of Spring.  The married women would wear decorative head wear called "Easter" Hats or "Easter" Bonnets.  The virgin girls would wear white "Easter" dresses with a ribbon in the middle, usually green, that was tied as a bow in the back.  When the sun rose the Druids and their worshipers would greet each other with "Happy Easter!".  Then they would gather to listen to a message about "Easter" and to sing songs of praise to "Easter".

"Easter" was also known as "the Queen of Heaven".  The arrival of "Easter" was honored by throwing a banquet for "the Queen of Heaven".  The banquet featured roasted swine, hard boiled eggs and little white cakes called "Easter" Cakes.  The "Easter" Cakes were usually decorated with symbols of Spring and fertility. The symbols of fertility were usually eggs, baby birds and especially rabbits.

The celebration was held outside when the weather permitted but if the weather did not permit then the celebration was moved inside to a large meeting room.  When it was moved inside people would bring living Spring foliage in little buckets or pots as decorations for their meeting room.

The festival proceeded by people playing the "Easter" Game.  The "Easter" Game consisted of someone playing the part of the "Easter" Bunny (rabbit).  The "Easter" Bunny would hide "Easter" Eggs.  Then the children would look for the "Easter" Eggs and place them in their wicker "Easter" Baskets that were lined with green grass.  When all of the "Easter" Eggs were found then prizes would be awarded for things like being the first to find an "Easter" Egg, finding the most "Easter" Eggs and finding special prize "Easter" Eggs.  The "Easter" Game was often repeated but prizes were usually only given the first time it was played.

All through the festival people would greet each other with "Happy Easter!" as they enjoyed the festivities.

Over the centuries, the Children of Truth in the lands of the Druids would face terrible persecution at times for not participating in the rites of "Easter".  When the False Church of Rome came in it did with "Easter" what it had done with other similar idolatrous holidays that had been celebrated before its arrival.  The False Church of Rome "Christianized" the Druid holiday of "Easter".  The former worshipers of the religion of the Druids who came under their control were allowed to keep most of the traditions of "Easter" worship and even continue to call the holiday "Easter".  They only had to agree to make a few modifications.

The date would be changed to the Sunday following the "Pascal" full moon.  The "Pascal" full moon was the first full moon on or after the Spring Equinox so the new "Christianized" Easter would still have the timing of its celebration tied to the Spring Equinox. This would put the new "Christianized" Easter on the same day that the rest of the False Church of Rome was observing the resurrection of the Man of Truth as the last day of Holy Week.

(The Spring Equinox was fixed as March 21st even though many years it falls a day later or a day sooner.  The "Pascal" full moon is calculated rather than observed and is off from the actual full moon most years. The lunar cycle averages a little over twenty-nine and a half days so the "Pascal" full moon has about a thirty day date range and the following Sunday can be as much a week later.  This is why Easter bounces around year after year inside a time span that is about a month in duration.)  

Secondly, the theme would no longer be the arrival of the fertility goddess "Easter" whose name the "Christianized" Easter still bore but rather the resurrection of the Man of Truth.   They could keep on proclaiming the name of the fertility goddess of the Druids by greeting each other with "Happy Easter!" but the summon and songs would be about the resurrection.  They could even pay homage to "Easter" in their songs of worship and in their summons as long as it was about the Man of Truth being resurrected on "Easter" morning.  They could keep on playing the "Easter" Game by saying that the "Easter" Eggs represented the resurrection of the Man of Truth instead of fertility.

Third, the False Church of Rome had a few traditions of their own to add that complemented the traditions that came from the Druids celebration of "Easter" in many ways.  For example, the False Church of Rome already had a tradition of placing red colored eggs on the altar during its celebration of the resurrection of the Man of Truth.  So it did not seem unreasonable to have "Easter" Eggs dyed as well.

However, neither the Druids nor the False Church of Rome were the originator of these practices.

The fertility goddess of the Druids named "Easter" was called by other names in other places long before the Celts and Gauls moved into western Europe.  The worship of this fertility goddess started not long after the Flood.  The Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) gave the commandment to Noah (Noach) and his sons to multiply and fill the Earth with people (Genesis 9:1-7).  It was Nimrod (Nimrud), the son of Cush (Kush), the son of Noah, who was the first to rebel against the Father of Truth after the flood (Genesis 10:8-9).  [The phrase "mighty hunter before the Lord" is more literally "mighty hunter in the face of YHVH".  We still use the expression "in your face" to show opposition to what someone is doing.  He was effective (mighty) in being a hunter of souls by creating his own religion system in the face of the Father of Truth that took men away from worshiping Him.]  Nimrod then began having walled cities built to house those who joined his religion starting with Babel (Babylon) and then went out from there into other nations like Assyria (Genesis 10:10-12).  The religion of Babylon was that of people worshiping living things like animals, various images along with the sun, moon and stars in the heavens (space outside of the atmosphere) (Deuteronomy 4:16-19).  The religion of Babylon that Nimrod started was for those who did not want to worship the Father of Truth but wanted to worshiping the creation rather than the Creator (Romans 1:21-25).

The first city he built, Babylon, was built when all people still spoke the same language so that they would not be scattered across the Earth as the Father of Truth had commanded (Genesis 11:1-4).  [The tower was more accurately for reaching up to observe the heavens (sun, moon, and stars) that were central to the religion of Nimrod that began in Babylon.]  So when the Father of Truth confused their languages to restrain them from doing every evil thing that they could think of and to cause them to be scattered across the Earth as He had commanded then people took the religion of Babylon with them but the names of the gods were now different names in each language (Genesis 11:5-9).

Another name for "Easter" is also "Ashtareth" in the language of the Phoenicians that the Sidonians came to speak over time (1 Kings 11:5).  The "Easter" of the Druids in English is the same as the "Asherah" of the Canaanites that was the center of the Babylonian sun god worship that they had inherited from Babylon (2 Kings 17:16).  "Easter" the fertility goddess was also known as "The Queen of Heaven" among those who practiced the religion of Babylon (Jeremiah 44:25).

"Easter" was known as "Esther" among the Persians which is the name that Mordecai the Jew had called Hadassah the Jew to hide her identity as a Jew (Esther 2:7-10).  (This was all part of the trap that the Father of Truth had prepared to expose and destroy the enemies of the Jews as explained in For Such A Time As This.)

Of course, the details of the story of "Easter" changed as diverse groups moved across the globe over the centuries.  Still they maintained certain elements of the original story.  In the original story an egg of wondrous size (carried by storks in some versions) fell from the heavens into the Euphrates River at sunrise on the day of the Spring Equinox.  Fish then rolled this egg to the banks of the Euphrates River and the naked virgin "Easter" came out of the egg.  "Easter" then pointed at a bird and turned it into an egg laying rabbit.  This egg laying rabbit was known as the "Easter" rabbit (bunny). 

This event allegedly happened on a Friday and for this reason fish were eaten on Friday as remains the practice by the False Church of Rome to this day.  It is probably also why Muslims continued to observe Friday as a weekly holy day like Arabs had for thousands of years before Mohammed.  This is the original Good Friday.

Nimrod probably picked Friday because it is the sixth day of the week when man was created (Genesis 1:27-31).  The religion of Babylon that Nimrod used to hunt souls exalts man above the Father of Truth so it exalts the day of the creation of man over the Sabbath that He gave as a weekly holy day.  

Afterwards Nimrod built Babylon on the banks of the Euphrates River where "Easter" supposedly came out of the "Easter" Egg.  (Later the story tells of the Lamenter, who could only be Shem in reality, that killed Nimrod by speaking a prophecy.  In the imagery of Babylon, horns represent power, so the Lamenter is pictured as a boar because the horns of a boar are the tusks in its mouth.  The boar kills Nimrod by tusking his ankles.  So the death of Nimrod is avenged each year by people killing and eating swine at the celebration of "Easter".)

The original story of the "Easter" Egg is also the source of adding a roasted egg to Seder plates by the Rabbis when they were in Babylon that continues to this day.

Now you might be wondering if this where the word "Easter" came from then why is it in some translations of the Book of Truth as a holiday that the Children of Truth observed.  The word "Easter" only appears in one place in the Book of Truth in some translations (Acts 12:4).  If we just take a peek under the covers then we will find that the Greek word that was translated as  "Easter" is "Pascha".  "Pascha" literally means "Passover" as it is translated everywhere else in the Renewed Covenant (B'rit Chadashah aka The New Testament).  The reason that the translators translated "Pascha" as "Easter" in this one place is because the "Christianized" Easter is called "Pascha" everywhere else where the False Church of Rome has had sway except for the lands where the religion of the Druids had been practiced.  The translators of this particular passage were apparently ignorant of the fact that the Apostles of Truth actually observed Passover (Pesach) instead of Easter.

Still you might be wondering if it matters that the Children of Truth have been ignorantly proclaiming the name of the Druid goddess of fertility and practicing the rites of worshiping the Druid goddess of fertility when celebrating the resurrection of the Man of Truth.   Does it really matter to the Father of Truth how His Children celebrate the resurrection of the Man of Truth?

He wants His children to have nothing to do with anything that came from Babylonian sun god worship, including "Easter" (Asherah), so that they can belong to Him alone (Deuteronomy 7:5-6).  He wants His children to destroy the practices of Babylonian sun god worship, including those of "Easter" (Asherah), and not to include those practices in worshiping Him (Deuteronomy 12:2-4).  He does not want His Children using the same practices of idol worship that He hates, like the practices of worshiping "Easter", when they worship Him instead of the practices that He has laid out in the Book of Truth (Deuteronomy 12:30-32).  It was for carrying out the practices of "Easter" (Asherah) that the Jews in the Promised Land were thrust out of their inheritance from the Father of Truth (1 Kings 14:15).

The Father of Truth does not want His Children proclaiming the name of other gods like "Easter" with expression like "Happy Easter!" or singing of "Easter" in their worship songs or even using "Easter" in their sermons about the resurrection of the Man of Truth (Exodus 23:13).  He has commanded His Children to destroy everything associated with "Easter" (Asherah) and to not eat "Easter" (Asherah) dinner (Exodus 34:13-16).  He does not want His Children going to outdoor parks to roast and eat the flesh of swine (ham) as part of their worship (Isaiah 65:3-5).  He does not want His Children to make and eat "Easter" (The Queen of Heaven) cakes to celebrate the resurrection of His Son (Jeremiah 7:17-19).  He calls services conducted from the places meant for His Children to gather to worship Him that consist of the worshipers facing the east to celebrate when the sun rises, like those done in celebrating "Easter", the thing that He hates the most (Ezekiel 8:15-17)!

If this was true for those who did not have a circumcised heart then how much more so it must grieve the Father of Truth when those whose hearts He has circumcised do these things (Deuteronomy 30:6).  He has given the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) to the Children of Truth so they could worship Him in the way that He commanded (Ezekiel 11:18-20).  The Children of Truth were made clean and given the Spirit of Truth so they could worship Him in the way He commanded (Ezekiel 36:25-27).  The Spirit of Truth will lead the Children of Truth to worship Him in truth according to the commandments of the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law) that He gave to the Jews (John 4:22-24).  The Father of Truth is still calling the Children of Truth to come out from including the practices of idol worship, like the practices of "Easter", in their worship of Him and to worship Him in only the way that He truly desires (2 Corinthians 6:15-18).

In fact, in most places outside of the lands where the religion of the Druids had been practiced people eat lamb instead of ham when they are celebrating what they call "Passover" to commemorate the resurrection of the Man of Truth.  Since the Great Schism occurred, the Western (Latin) division and the Eastern (Greek) division of the False Church of Rome do not even observe their commemoration of the resurrection of the Man of Truth on the same day most years.  The Latin division of the False Church of Rome uses tables calculated long ago to determine when the "Paschal" full moon occurs to determine the timing of Holy Week.  The Greek division of the False Church of Rome always observes their commemoration of the resurrection of the Man of Truth on the Sunday after the Passover that occurs on the Rabbinic calendar that commemorates the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage.

Not only that but when I lived in Greece the Greeks would even commemorate the resurrection of the Man of Truth by roasting a lamb whole and eating all of it on that day because they said this is what the Apostles of Truth told them to do.  This is exactly what the Father of Truth told the children of Israel to do to commemorate their deliverance from Egyptian bondage (Exodus 12:3-10).

The Greeks do this because the Apostles of Truth knew that the Man of Truth died at the time of Passover as plainly stated in their own writings (Matthew 26:2).  The Man of Truth died on the day of Passover when the lambs were slain (John 19:14).

The day after (Sunday) the Sabbath (Saturday) that came after Passover was the feast of Firstfruits (Bikkurim) when the first of the sheave of barely was offered before the rest could be harvested (Leviticus 23:5-15).

The Man of Truth rose from the dead about the time when nautical twilight ends, which is when light first appears about an hour before sunrise, on the first day of the week (Sunday) (Matthew 28:1-3).  The women went to better take care of his dead body about an hour BEFORE sunrise, when it was still dark, on the first day of the week (Sunday) but the Man of Truth had already risen (John 20:1-3). 

At this time "Easter" was still being celebrated on the Spring equinox and did not even occur on a Sunday most years.  The earliest that the barley can be ripe enough to be offered for First Fruits is at least eleven days after the Spring Equinox and even more than a forty days later at the latest.  (An extra month is added to the Biblical calendar if the barley is not in the "aviv" state of ripeness when the new moon of the next month appears after the twelfth month of the Biblical calendar is over.)  In fact, on the year the Man of Truth rose from the grave, First Fruits began at sunset of the twenty-eighth of April, making the date of the Resurrection to be the twenty-ninth of April, which is four days after the latest occurrence of "Easter" on the modern calendar. (The only year that there were three days and three nights between the day when the Passover Lambs were slain and First Fruits that always fell on the first day of the week (Sunday) between the years 24 AD to 44 AD was 31 AD.  First Fruits began at close to its latest possible date in 31 AD.  This is further verified by other information in the Gospels that makes it possible to know when was Jesus born as well.)

The fact is that the Man of Truth did not rise from the grave on Easter morning. The Man of Truth rose from the grave at the first flicker of light near the middle of First Fruits.  That is why the Man of Truth is called the Firstfruits of those who will be resurrected from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:20).

It is evident that even the False Church of Rome knew in the beginning that the practices of celebrating "Easter" were not from the Father of Truth.  These practices of celebrating "Easter" has an origin that is even older than the False Church of Rome or the Druids or even Nimrod.  These practices are built upon lies, lies and more lies.  All lies, like the lie of using the practices of  "Easter" to celebrate the resurrection of the Man of Truth, came from the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil) (John 8:44).

You may have been performing all of these idolatrous rituals that celebrate "Easter" out of ignorance that the Father of Truth has graciously overlooked but now that you know the truth about these practices the Father of Truth is commanding you to do so no more (Acts 17:29-31)!!!

The Children of Truth should not give any place in their lives for anything that is from the Father of Lies (Ephesians 4:27).  The Children of Truth are supposed to be living according to the light of His Word and doing what is acceptable to Their Father (Ephesians 5:8-10).  They are have nothing to do with the darkness of things that come from the Father of Lies, like the celebration of  "Easter", but instead reprove these practices so others can come into the light as well (Ephesians 5:11-12).  The Children of Truth should teach nothing except the Word of Truth instead of continuing a fable about a woman that came out a giant egg that fell form the sky and then turned a bird into an egg laying rabbit (1 Timothy 1:3-4).  The Children of Truth should do everything they can to always be walking in truth.

It is much better and closer to the truth for the Children of Truth to greet each other with "Happy Resurrection Sunday" when they celebrate the day that the Man of Truth rose from the dead since he did indeed rise from the dead on Sunday, the first day of the week.  Still the Man of Truth did not rise from the dead on the first day of any week, but on the first day of the week after Passover that is called "First Fruits". Still not even that is nowhere near as good as greeting each other with "Happy Firstfruits!" as they should actually be celebrating the resurrection of the Man of Truth in the way that His Father intended on the day of First Fruits.

Even though it's a Jewish thing to be following the Man of Truth that does not mean that First Fruits is just for the Jewish Children of Truth.  It's not just a Jewish thing to celebrate First Fruits as the day when the Man of Truth rose from the dead.  The Greatest Play Ever that is played out in the Feasts of Truth told the story of the death, burial and resurrection of the Man of Truth long before it ever happened.  It is by observing Passover that the Children of Truth commemorate the death of the Lamb that Their Father provided.  It is by keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread that the Children of Truth remember that the death of the Man of Truth made removing the leaven of sin possible.  It is by celebrating the raising of the First Fruits that they celebrate the raising of the Man of Truth from the dead.

The Children of Truth just need to remember that since the Temple is not standing and most of them are not Jewish nor living in Israel that they are playing with broken toys when they celebrate the Feasts of Truth.  So there is room for diversity in exactly how each congregation or individual celebrates the resurrection of the Man of Truth as long as they do not include idolatrous customs like those used to celebrate "Easter".  Let the Spirit of Truth lead them in their celebration of the resurrection of Man of Truth in a way that is fitting for their congregation including greeting each other with "Happy Firstfruits!"

Of course, you really have nothing to celebrate until you come into the House of Truth.  You can only come into the House of Truth by surrendering total control of your life to the Man of Truth because you believe that He was resurrected by the Father of Truth (Romans 10:9).  For those who come into the House of Truth the resurrection of the Man of Truth is greatest cause of celebration there ever will be but for those who reject His kingship over their lives the resurrection of the Man of Truth is greatest cause of mourning there will ever be (2 Corinthians 2:14-16).

Come into the House of Truth.

The Cart Before The Horse

If people could read only one chapter or book of the Bible what should it be?

When I lived in Greece I was involved with a group who smuggled Bibles into Yugoslavia.  The former country of Yugoslavia was a satellite country of the USSR and its border with Greece was part of the Iron Curtain that people back in the USA were always talking about.  It was the height of the Cold War and the tensions along the border were high.

The USSR was a communist country whose official religion was atheism.  Their police state hunted down, tortured and killed the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him).  The most dangerous thing to possess in Yugoslavia was a Bible.

Nonetheless the demand for Bibles in Yugoslavia was incredible.  In fact, we could not smuggle in nearly enough Bibles for everyone who wanted one to have one.  So the Children of Truth in Yugoslavia would take a Bible and carefully cut out each page with a razor blade.   A single page was small enough to hide easily and when necessary could be quickly discarded or destroyed.

The pages were then distributed among the Children of Truth in a somewhat random fashion from underground church to underground church.  Inside of each underground church each member typically got one or sometimes two pages.  When a member got two pages the member would usually pass one of the pages on to someone who had not yet come into the House of Truth to read.  The member would then read the other page over and over again until the member had memorized the entire page.  After a page was memorized the member would then find another member who had also memorized their page and the two would trade pages.  Eventually one underground church would be able to trade some of its pages with another underground church.

Of course, the number of available pages was forever shrinking due to giving pages to people who had not come into the House of Truth and to being forced to discard or destroy a page to survive.  Obviously, the pages of the people who were caught were taken out of circulation.  This is why it was so vital that we continued our operation of smuggling Bibles into Yugoslavia.

So needless to say most of the Children of Truth never actually were able to read the entire Book of Truth.  They would get a random sampling of pages over many years that might constitute the number of pages in a single book about the size of the Gospel of Matthew.

This got me thinking.  If you could only give one chapter of the Book of Truth to someone ever what chapter would you give them?  (We'll pretend that each chapter takes a page.)  If you could only someone one book from the Book of Truth which book would you give them?

For me there are several good candidates for the one chapter that I would give them but if it came down to it I would give them Romans 10.  As far as which book I would give them, again there are several good candidates but if it came down to it I would give them Romans.

Now your answers maybe different than mine because as I said there are several good candidates for both the single chapter and the single book (the chapter need not belong to the book).  However, one thing is certain, if someone who knew nothing about the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) was going to receive only one chapter or even one book from the Book of Truth ever then it had better be from the Renewed Covenant (B'rit Chadashah aka The New Testament).

It is for this reason that when I disciple someone who has just came into the House of Truth that I have them read the entire Renewed Covenant before I ever have them read the Original Covenant (Tanach aka The Old Testament).  Otherwise I would be putting the cart before the horse.

Now some people have said that having someone start reading at the Gospel of Matthew (Mattiyahu), continuing through Revelation, then going to Genesis (B'reshit) and going forward from there until the entire Original Covenant is finished is like starting a book in the middle, reading to the end, then going to the front and reading to the middle.  Their usual question is: Who reads a book from the middle first?

First of all, the Book of Truth (The Bible) is really a collection of more than 60 books that tell an epic story.  So their question would be better stated as who starts an epic story in the middle, then goes to the end and then goes to the beginning to catch up to the middle?

The answer is almost everyone.  This is actually very common not just with books but also with movies and even television franchises.  For example, Star Trek did this.  The original series covered in the middle of the Starfleet time line, then Next Generation and its spin offs went to the end of the Starfleet time line and finally Enterprise covered the beginning of Starfleet time line.  In fact, not only did the audience watch the story of Star Fleet in this order but it was also written in this order.  The same could be said about countless other franchises including book series written long before electronic media existed.

The reason that this method of middle, end, and then beginning when telling an epic story is repeated so often is that it works.  It not only works with telling epic stories but it is often used in education as well.  How many times have teachers introduced a concept with a brief explanation, then explained how the concept fits into the big picture and then finally got around to the minute details of how the concept actually works?

The reason this methodology works is because it does not focus on a linear order of first to last in terms of time but rather focuses on a priority order of first to last in terms of importance for the audience to understand.  The middle part often has the highest priority for the audience to understand.

The middle is often the part that glues everything else together like peanut butter holding two pieces of bread together to form a peanut butter sandwich.  It is not so much that the peanut butter is more necessary, because it takes all of it to form a peanut butter sandwich, as it is that the peanut butter is what connects everything together to form the peanut butter sandwich.  Without the peanut butter you just have two unconnected pieces of bread.  Without both pieces of bread you do not have a sandwich.  Still the peanut butter is what makes it a peanut butter sandwich instead of a chicken salad sandwich.  Since the peanut butter is the part holds everything together and defines the character of the sandwich then it is most important part of the sandwich.  The entire sandwich hinges on the peanut butter.

In the same way the story of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth is the most important part of the Book of Truth.  He is the subject of every chapter of every book in the Book of Truth - even when it is not obvious on the surface.  The Book of Truth begins with the need for the Man of Truth and ends with the reign of the Man of Truth.  The part that holds it all together is the story of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth.  The story told by the first part of the Book of Truth can never be understood properly until people know the Man of Truth.  They come to know the Man of Truth by reading the middle part of the Book of Truth.  That is one reason why having someone who has surrendered their life to the Man of Truth start with the first book of the Book of Truth is putting the cart before the horse.

The Book of Truth says the same thing.

The foundation of the House of Truth starts with the writings of the Apostles of Truth (the Renewed Covenant) and then continues with the writings of the Prophets of Truth (the Original Covenant) but it is the Man of Truth who holds the House of Truth together (Ephesians 2:19-21).  The writings of the Prophets of Truth were written first, but the writings of the Apostles of Truth pull out the most important concepts of the writings of the Prophets of Truth, without giving all the details so that people can know the Man of Truth (2 Peter 3:1-2).  For this reason the Apostles of Truth are told to rejoice first, and then the Prophets of Truth, when the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) avenges their blood, even though the Prophets of Truth were obviously martyred first (Revelation 18:20).  Starting with the writings of the Prophets of Truth, and then going to the writings of the Apostles of Truth, is putting the cart before the horse.

The early Prophets of Truth, who foretold the the Man of Truth coming down from Heaven, did not understand what the Man of Truth would accomplished on the Earth like the Apostles of Truth, and the later Prophets of Truth, who spoke by the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) after the Man of Truth returned to Heaven (Ephesians 3:3-5).  The Apostles of Truth were the first ones to understand that the Gentiles were also to be brought into the House of Truth as equal members of the family of the Father of Truth (Ephesians 3:6).  The Apostles of Truth were the first to be sent to bring the Gentiles into the House of Truth as full members, without requiring them to first become Jews through circumcision (Ephesians 3:7-8).  The Apostles of Truth were the first to understand that this had always been the hidden plan of the Father of Truth in sending the Man of Truth to this Earth (Ephesians 3:9-11).

The Apostles of Truth were the first to understand that everything that had happened from the day that the Father of Truth called Abraham (Abram) to form the Jewish people, to the day that the descendants of Abraham rebelled against the Father of Truth in crucifying the Man of Truth, was all part of the secret plan to save the entire human race.  The Apostles of Truth were the first to have their eyes opened by the Spirit of Truth, so they could see that the plan of the Father of Truth for the Jewish people had always been about the Gentiles.  The writings of the Apostles of Truth have higher priority than the writings of the Prophets of Truth, because they are the writings that tell the story of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth.  Since the writings of the Prophets of Truth contain pieces of the puzzle, but the writing of the Apostles of Truth show the picture that the puzzle forms, then reading the writings of the Prophets of Truth before the writings of the Apostles of Truth is putting the cart before the horse.

The Apostles of Truth also followed this same pattern of starting with what the Man of Truth did on this Earth, when they brought the Good News to the Gentiles, before they ever directed the Gentiles towards the writings of the Prophets of Truth in the Original Covenant.

Consider the first Gentile to come into the House of Truth without first becoming a Jew through circumcision.  Cornelius the Italian was not totally ignorant of the Father of Truth, but was one of the proselytes of the gate (ger toshav) who feared the Father of Truth, but who had not made the cut when it came to circumcision (Acts 10:1-2).  An Angel of Truth told Cornelius the Italian to send for Peter the Jew (Cephas aka Simon aka Simeon aka the Apostle Peter), who would tell him how to come into the House of Truth (Acts 10:3-6).  When Peter the Jew came to tell Cornelius the Italian how to come into the House of Truth, there were a large number of other Gentiles who wanted to come into the House of Truth as well (Acts 10:27-33).  Then Peter the Jew preached to them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (Acts 10:34-42).  Peter the Jew barely even mentioned the Prophets of Truth, and did not quote or even paraphrase any of their writings (Acts 10:43).  The moment these Gentiles believed his message, they were baptized in the Spirit of Truth (Acts 10:44-46).  Then these Gentiles were baptized in water, and Peter the Jew stayed with them for several days, because they had come into the House of Truth (Acts 10:46-48).  When Peter the Jew rehearsed the whole matter before the other Apostles of Truth, and the Jewish congregation they agreed that the Gentiles had came into the House of Truth by hearing only about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (Acts 11:15-18).  Peter the Jew did not teach the Gentiles about the writings of the Prophets of Truth, before he preached to them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth, because that is putting the cart before the horse.

In like manner, when Barnabas the Jew (The Apostle Barnabas) and Paul the Jew (Shaul aka Saul aka The Apostle Paul) went to preach the Word of Truth to Sergius Paulus the Gentile they were resisted by Elymas the Sorcerer (Acts 13:6-8).  When Sergius Paulus the Gentile saw how the power of the Spirit of Truth overcame the power of Elymas the Sorcerer then he came into the House of Truth by seeing the doctrine of the Man of Truth demonstrated (Acts 13:9-12).

When Paul the Jew preached to the Jews and Gentile proselytes of the gate at Antioch (Pisidia) he started with a very short summary of the history of the Jewish people up to the time of King Saul (Acts 13:14-21).  He then told them that the Man of Truth was the descendent of King David that had been promised to Israel (Acts 13:22-23).  He then preached about what the Man of Truth had done on this Earth so that both the Jews and Gentiles in his audience could come into the House of Truth (Acts 13:24-38).  He had not even discussed the Law that the Father of Truth gave Moses because people can only come into the House of Truth by believing what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (Acts 13:39-41).  Afterwards Paul the Jew urged the Jews and Gentile proselytes who believed the Good News about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth to continue in the grace that the Father of Truth had demonstrated by sending the Man of Truth to this Earth (Acts 13:42-43).  The next Sabbath Paul the Jew again preached the same message to almost all of the Gentiles in Antioch (Pisidia) (Acts 13:42-44).  Paul the Jew then said that any of the Jews who did not believe the message of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth had rejected eternal life but the Gentiles who would believe this message would come into the House of Truth (Acts 13:45-47).  It was believing the message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth that caused the Gentiles to come into the House of Truth (Acts 13:48).

Paul the Jew and Barnabas the Jew then continued to preach about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth in Iconium to both the Jews and the Gentiles while the Spirit of Truth continued to confirm their message with signs and wonders (Acts 14:1-3).  Then they went to Lystra where they preached only about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth and the Spirit of Truth again confirmed their message with a wondrous sign when one of the Gentiles believed the message (Acts 14:6-10).  These were true idol worshiping Gentiles and not proselytes of the gate (Acts 14:11-13).  Paul the Jew then told these Gentiles that the Father of Truth had sent them to preach the message of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth to turn these Gentiles from idolatry (Acts 14:14-18).  Paul the Jew and Barnabas the Jew then finished their mission to the Gentiles in Derby by first preaching to them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth and then going on to teach the Gentiles about other things from the Book of Truth (Acts 14:20-21).  They then returned to every place they had been to organize the Jewish and Gentile Children of Truth into congregations while preaching that they should continue to keep their faith in what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (Acts 14:22-25).

So during the entire first mission of Paul the Jew to the Gentiles he only mentioned what the Prophets of Truth had written when preaching to Jews and Gentile proselytes of the gate who were knew something about the writings of the Prophets of Truth.  Even then most of his message was about what the Man of Truth had done on this Earth.  When he preached to Gentiles who knew nothing about the writings of the Prophets of Truth he only preached about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth.  It was only afterwards that he would begin to discuss other things like the reign of the Man of Truth and what was written in the writings of the Prophets of Truth.  Paul the Jew gave priority to what the Man of Truth did on this Earth because that is what people must believe to come into the House of Truth.  Paul the Jew demonstrated that teaching the Gentiles about the writings of the Prophets of Truth before preaching to them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth is putting the cart before the horse.

Seven years after Peter the Jew had preached to Cornelius the Italian and three years after Paul the Jew had returned to Antioch some of the Jewish Children of Truth said that the Gentiles had to keep the Law that the Father of Truth gave Moses to come into the House of Truth (Acts 15:4-6).  So Peter the Jew reminded them that the Gentiles had already came into the House of Truth without even hearing from the Original Covenant (Acts 15:7-11).  Paul the Jew and Barnabas the Jew in like manner testified of how the Spirit of Truth had confirmed the preaching to the Gentiles about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth with signs and wonders (Acts 15:12).  James the Jew (Ja'acob aka Jacob aka The Apostle James) then showed that the Gentiles coming into the House of Truth without even hearing from the writings of the Prophets of Truth as had happened with Peter the Jew was what the Prophets of Truth had written about (Acts 15:13-17).  Since it had always been the plan of the Father of Truth to save the Gentiles by telling them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth then the Gentiles could learn from the Original Covenant afterwards (Acts 15:18-21).  Learning about the Law that the Father of Truth gave Moses before believing the message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth is putting the cart before the horse.

When Paul the Jew arrived in Philippi there was not even ten Jewish men and Gentile proselytes of righteousness (ger tzadikim - Gentiles who had become Jews through circumcision) there that was needed to form a synagogue so they met by the river for prayer instead (Acts 16:12-13). When Paul the Jew told them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth then Lydia and her household were baptized in water after they came into the House of Truth (Acts 16:14-15).  When the Philippian jailor, who was an idol worshiping Gentile who had not been at the river, wanted to come into the House of Truth Paul the Jew told him about what the Man of Truth had done on this Earth without telling him anything else (Acts 16:30-32).  It was believing the message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth that caused the household of the Philippian jailer to be baptized to show that they had came into the House of Truth (Acts 16:33-34).

When Paul the Jew finally came to Thessaloniki where there was an actual synagogue then he taught out of the writings of the Prophets of Truth to confirm the truth of his message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (Acts 17:1-3).  It was believing the message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth that brought both Jews and Gentile proselytes into the House of Truth (Acts 17:3-4).  In like manner the Jews and Gentile proselytes at Berea examined the writings of the Prophets of Truth to confirm the truth of the message of Paul the Jew about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth so that they could come into the House of Truth (Acts 17:10-12).  When Paul the Jew went to Athens he may have discussed the writings of the Prophets of Truth in the synagogue but he only preached about what the Man of Truth did on this earth with the idol worshiping Gentiles in the market place (Acts 17:16-18).  When Paul the Jew was examined about his preaching on Mars Hill (Areopagus) he started with telling these Gentiles that he came to proclaim to them the unknown God that they worshiped without knowing (Acts 17:19-23).   He then told them that the Father of Truth was the unknown God who their ancestors had left to worship idols (Acts 17:24-29).  He then told them about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth so they could return to worshiping the Father of Truth (Acts 17:30-32).  Paul the Jew told only about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth because that was all that was needed to cause some of these idol worshiping Gentiles to come into the House of Truth (Acts 17:33-34).

So without fail Paul the Jew gave the highest priority to what the Man of Truth did on this Earth.  When he dealt with Jews and Gentile proselytes who knew the writings of the Prophets of Truth then he used those writings to show that his message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth was true.  When he dealt with Gentiles who worshiped idols then he told them only about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth because that was all that was needed for them to come into the House of Truth.  It was only after these Gentiles came into the House of Truth that he taught them about the writings of the Prophets of Truth.  Paul the Jew plainly demonstrated in his second mission to the Gentiles that starting with the writings of the Prophets of Truth before telling people about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth is putting the cart before the horse.

When Paul the Jew was among the people of Corinth he preached about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (1 Corinthians 1:17-18).  It was preaching about what the Man of Truth did on this earth that cased both the Jews and Gentiles of Corinth to come into the House of Truth (1 Corinthians 1:21-24).  It is for this reason that Paul the Jew sought not to be known among the Corinthian Children of Truth for anything except the message of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth as confirmed by the Spirit of Truth working signs and wonders (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).  Paul the Jew gave what the Man of Truth did on this Earth top priority because giving anything else top priority would have been putting the cart before the horse.

So the Apostles of Truth consistently started with what the Man of Truth did on this Earth when they brought both Jews and Gentiles into the House of Truth.  In fact, when they dealing with Gentiles who did not know anything about the writings of the Prophets of Truth they did not even mention those writing when telling them how to come into the House of Truth.  They gave the highest priority to telling people about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth.  This is the minimum information that people need to come into the House of Truth.

The four Gospels tell the story of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth from four different perspectives that are tailored towards four different kinds of people.  (There are four different basic personality types as well.) The writings of the Apostles of Truth have a higher priority than the writings of the Prophets of Truth as has already been demonstrated.  That is why when people first come into the House of Truth they should begin at the middle of the Book of Truth in the Gospel of Matthew and go forward from there to the end of the writings of the Apostles of Truth.

So does this mean that the Apostles of Truth taught people only about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth?

No it does not.  The Apostles of Truth constantly quoted from the writings of the Prophets of Truth in their own writings (Romans 9:17).  They constantly held up the writings of the Prophets of Truth as the standard for proving that their own writings were from the Father of Truth (Romans 16:25-27).  They constantly showed that their message was in no way at odds with the writings of the Prophets of Truth (1 Corinthians 15:2-4).  Their constantly showed that the message they proclaimed to bring the Gentiles into the House of Truth had always been part of the plan laid out in the writings of the Prophets of Truth (Galatians 3:8).   They showed that the writings of the Prophets of Truth had convicted everyone of sin so that everyone could come into the House of Truth (Galatians 3:22).  They affirmed that all scripture, including the writings of the Prophets of Truth, were profitable for helping the Children of Truth become like the Man of Truth (2 Timothy 3:15-17).  They taught that the writings of the Prophets of Truth were just as necessary as their own writings to avoid falling into error (2 Peter 3:15-17).

So the writings of the Apostles of Truth start off with what the Man of Truth did on this Earth and proceed to explain how that fits in the big picture of the redemption of the human race.  However, the Apostles of Truth knew that the Children of Truth eventually were going to need the details of how to do the things they wrote about at a high level so they directed the Children of Truth towards the writings of the Prophets of Truth after they were firmly in the House of Truth.  That is why after people finish reading the writings of the Apostles they should go to Genesis and go forward from there to the end of the writings of the Prophets of Truth.

Now you might be wondering why things have to be done in this order.  Why can people not just start off in the writings of the Prophets of Truth and go forward from there?  Why is this putting the cart before the horse?

The human heart is exceedingly wicked and deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9).  This why those who were given the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law) could not keep it (John 7:19).  Those who received the Law of Truth by the hands of the Angels of Truth still did not keep it (Acts 7:53).  Since a wicked heart cannot keep the Law of Truth then people need the Man of Truth to change them first (Acts 13:38-39).  The Law of Truth can only bring condemnation to those who cannot keep it (Romans 2:11-13).  People cannot keep the Law of Truth because their flesh is too weak to keep it so they need the Man of Truth to change them (Romans 8:3).  People cannot understand the writings of the Prophet of Truth correctly until the Man of Truth removes the veil from their hearts (2 Corinthians 3:14-16).   It is utterly useless to read the writings of the Prophets of Truth until the Man of Truth gives them the ability to keep the Law of Truth (Galatians 2:16-18).  This is why the Man of Truth had to die for people so they could understand the writings of the Prophets of Truth (Galatians 2:19-21).

The Father of Truth has to circumcise the fleshly covering from off the human heart before people can love Him with all their heart (Deuteronomy 30:6).  The Father of Truth has to give them a new heart before they can keep His commandments (Ezekiel 11:19-20).   The Father of Truth gives them a new heart so they can keep His commandments by putting the Spirit of Truth inside them (Ezekiel 36:26-27). This is why the Man of Truth said that people must be born again through the Spirit of Truth (John 3:3-7).  The Man of Truth had to die to cleanse people from sin before the Spirit of Truth could be sent to live in them (John 16:7).  The Spirit of Truth changes the human heart so that people can live in peace with the Father of Truth by keeping His commandments (Romans 8:4-6).  The Spirit of Truth only comes to live inside of people as the Father of Truth promised after they believe the message about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth (Ephesians 1:13).

The Father of Truth wants people to repent so that they can receive a new heart and the Spirit of Truth because He has no pleasure in destroying sinners (Ezekiel 18:30-32).  The first thing people must be told is what the Man of Truth did on this Earth because there is no other name whereby they can be saved (Acts 4:10-12).  It is telling people what the Man of Truth did on this Earth that saves those who believe the message (Romans 1:15-17).  People cannot come into the House of Truth until they surrender control of their lives to the Man of Truth because they believe that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead (Romans 10:8-10).  Everyone, Jew and Gentile, who believes the message of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth will be saved (Romans 10:11-13).  It is only by preaching about what the Man of Truth did on this Earth that people can come into the House of Truth by hearing the message of what the Man of Truth did on this Earth and believing that message (Romans 10:14-17).

Come into the House of Truth.

Celtic Christianity

Can Celtic Christianity be restored to its original form?

There has been a movement to restore Celtic Christianity, by people of Celtic descent, in recent years.  The biggest obstacle is, that there is no agreement among those in this movement, on what exactly that means.

Some people want to bring back the use of Celtic symbols, like the three leaf clover and wild goose, that were used to explain concepts from the Book of Truth (The Bible) to Celtic people for centuries.  Other people want to return to meeting in buildings with distinctive Celtic architecture and decoration.  There is also a desire to return to using Celtic instruments, Celtic musical styles, and Celtic dance in praise praise worship.   In fact, there have been a number of popular songs among the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him), that have a definite Celtic influence.  Some want to do all the above, and even return to conducting services completely in Celtic languages, like Gaelic.

While there is absolutely nothing wrong with people being proud of their heritage, and wanting to express their love for the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) through their culture, there is one area of great contention that must be negotiated with care.  The fact is, there is great disagreement on what exactly are the doctrines, rituals, and practices, that define Celtic Christianity.

The main reason for this is, because these doctrines, rituals, and practices, have changed considerably several times over the centuries.  Since the doctrines, rituals, and practices, of Celtic Christianity have changed so many times, people have a hard time even agreeing, whether Celtic Christianity was even a distinctively different type of Christianity.

For example, some people teach that any congregation can practice Celtic Christianity, by adhering to the seven distinctives of Celtic Christianity, that make up the acronym "He Me His".  "He Me His" stands for Hope, Equality, Mystery, Environment, Holism, Immanence, Simplicity.  So their thought is, that Celtic Christianity was never a separate movement, but just a different way of seeing the world. Accordingly, any of the Children of Truth who incorporate this world view, are practicing Celtic Christianity.

Yet others teach, that Celtic Christianity was just the presence of the False Church of Rome, in Celtic lands like Britain, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Is it really true that Celtic Christianity was never more than a subsidiary of the False Church of Rome?  Were its practices distinct from the practices of other groups of the Children of Truth, who rejected the authority of the False Church of Rome?

The confusion to whether Celtic Christianity was something distinctive from the False Church of Rome, or were the practices of the False Church of Rome being carried out in Celtic lands, in Celtic languages, comes from the struggle, that Celtic followers of the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) have faced.  It has been difficult over the centuries to maintain a Celtic identity, while following the Man of Truth.  These Children of Truth are Celtic according to their flesh, so they desire to maintain Celtic practices, that do not prevent them from following the Man of Truth fully.

At times, areas where Celtic Christianity was practiced like Ireland, would go through periods of domination, by practices from various sources.  These sources would try to pull the Celtic Children of Truth into accepting doctrines, practices, and rituals, that their ancestors had practiced, but were contrary to what the Father of Truth commanded in the Book of Truth.

The two main forces were those who followed the pre-Christian religion of the Celts, that is commonly identified by the Druids, who carried out their rituals, and the False Church of Rome.  These two forces had long been enemies, and had been at war with each other, before the Man of Truth was ever born.

This can be seen plainly in the history of the Roman Empire.  In 54 BC, when Julius Caesar was conquering the Gallic areas that included Britain, during the Gallic Wars, he sought to destroy the Druids, and their practices. every place that he encountered them, and forced Celts to worship the Roman gods instead.  During the attempt of Domitian to establish a universal Roman religion, during his reign as emperor that began in 90 AD, he successfully managed to completely wipe out the Druids, and their religion, across the entire Roman Empire, including Britain.  However, the Druids were not through fighting back.  In 367 AD, when the Romans were busy fighting against the Alamani near modern day Austria, British Romans along Hadrian's wall mutinied, and joined the Picts of Caledonia (Scotland) in attacking the Romans in Britain, in a concerted effort, with the Irish attacking on the west coast of Britain, and the Saxons attacking on the east coast of Britain, in what is known as the Great Conspiracy.  Then the Romans withdrew completely from Britain in 407 AD, when Constantine III declared himself, Emperor of the West.  The Britons and Gauls then fully rejected Roman Law, and returned to their former religion of the Druids.  Shortly afterwards, the Saxons, who followed the same religion as the Druids, invaded and forced the Celtic Children of Truth, to either flee to Cornwall, Wales, or Brittany (France across the English Channel), or to operate completely underground, while the religion of the Druids, became once again become the common religion of the land.  Rome was sacked in 410 AD, but the False Church of Rome would continue to fight with the Druids, for religious control of the land of Celts, for hundreds of years.

So, sometimes the practitioners of the religion of the Druids, would rise up and bring persecution to the point, that the Children of Truth became a small minority.  This would lead to the inclusion of some of the rituals, and practices of the Druids, to be mixed in with Celtic Christianity, to bring about peace.

A good example is the ancient Druid holiday of Sanhaim, that began the season of cold, dearth, and darkness, that marked the beginning of the year on the Celtic calendar.  This holiday is most usually called "Halloween", for celebrating the night time portion of Sanhaim.  It is often unwittingly celebrated by many of the Children of Truth, who are not even Celtic.

At other times, the False Church of Rome would rise to prominence, and persecute those who did not recognize the authority of the False Church of Rome.  They would also persecute the Children of Truth, until they became a small minority.  This would also lead to the inclusion of some of the rituals, and practices, of the False Church of Rome to be mixed in with Celtic Christianity, to bring about peace.

A good example is the ancient Roman holidays of Sol Invictus, and Saturnalia, that were celebrated to mark the winter solstice, and to remind people that the greenery of agriculture would return, after winter.  The customs of these holidays had been incorporated in a new "Christian" holiday is most usually called "Christmas".  It is often unwittingly celebrated by many of the Children of Truth, who are not even part of the False Church of Rome.

Through the centuries, those who reject the authority of the False Church of Rome, identified themselves as Celtic Christianity.  Yet, at the exact same time, those who recognized the authority of the False Church of Rome, also identified themselves as Celtic Christianity.  Over time, these two groups would even start adopting some of the practices of each other, which only added to the confusion.

Still the war between those who have accepted the authority of the False Church of Rome, and those who reject that authority, has continued right up to modern times in Ireland.  Also, the war between those who favor the religion of the Druids, and those who favor the religion of the False Church of Rome, continues as a cold war.  Today those who are trying to revive the pre-Christian religion of the Druids, are called Wiccans.  They still reject anything from Rome, as being foreign to Celtic religion.

So the doctrine, practices, and rituals, of Celtic Christianity have been so blurred by external influences, that it seems impossible to restore Celtic Christianity, to its original form.  Celtic people cannot really restore Celtic Christianity, until they understand what Celtic Christianity originally looked like.  Fortunately, this can be done by tracing Celtic Christianity back to its original roots, to find its original form, before it was polluted by the Druids, and the False Church of Rome.

Contrary to popular belief, Saint Patrick was not the first to bring Christianity to Ireland, although his timely arrival to lead the people of north Ireland out of the religion of the Druids, was more than just the Luck of the Irish.  He was never part of the False Church of Rome, although it has venerated him, just like it has venerated others, who were never part of the False Church of Rome, like Mary (Mariam), the mother of the Man of Truth.  Saint Patrick practiced Celtic Christianity, without the influence of the False Church of Rome, and quite possibly without the influence of the Druids, as well.  He may not have even been the first to bring the Good News to northern Ireland, since he went there in the era when Roman influence had been driven out of Britain, and the religion of the Druids had came to dominate the landscape of the British isles once again.

He appears to have introduced the concept of the three leaf clover, illustrating how the Father of Truth, the Man of Truth, and the Spirit of Truth (Ruach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost), could be separate entities that were connected together as one, to northern Ireland.  He may have also introduced using the wild goose, to illustrate how the Spirit of Truth operates in ways that are unpredictable to man.  Yet, he may have only been passing down ideas that he had already learned.

Celtic Christianity came into existence, more than three hundred years, before Saint Patrick was born.  The earliest confirmed martyr in Britain died in 209 AD.  However, there is sufficient evidence, that Celtic Christianity existed more than one hundred years before that.

There are conflicting stories about exactly when this happened, according to the various sources.  The idea that Paul the Jew (Shaul aka Saul aka The Apostle Paul) personally came to Britain, and created Celtic Christianity, was not introduced until the 1800's.  The life of Paul the Jew is well documented in his own epistles, and the book of Acts in the Renewed Covenant (B'rit Chadashah aka The New Testament).  It it certain, that he never went to Britain.

However other sources, like Gildas the Wise, who died in 512 AD, indicate a date of the arrival of the Good News to Britain, as being before the martyrdom of Paul the Jew in Rome in 67 AD.  It could not have been during the reign of Tiberius, who died in 37 AD, as some have interpreted the writings of Gildas the Wise, because this was five years before the Good News was first preached to the Gentiles in 42 AD, and seven years before Paul the Jew made his first mission trip to the Gentiles in 44 AD.  The earliest credible record indicates, that it might have been as early as 54 AD, during the reign of Claudius.  

 

Even older sources, from as far away as Alexandria, Egypt, also mention the Good News being preached among the Britons, before 100 AD.  These various sources disagree on the exact timing of when this preaching began, or even who first brought the Good News to the Celts of Britain. However, what does seem certain, from what these sources do agree on, is that a disciple of Paul the Jew, or possibly a disciple of a disciple of Paul the Jew, first brought the Good News to the Celts of Britain, some time before 100 AD. 

So the original doctrine, rituals, and practices, of Celtic Christianity can be clearly understood, by examining the doctrine, rituals, and practices, that Paul the Jew taught his Gentile disciples.  These same doctrine, rituals, and practices, were then be taught to the Celts of Britain in their own language, and in the context of things that Celts were familiar with.  This is the original form of Celtic Christianity.

So what were the doctrine, rituals, and practices, that Paul the Jew taught his Gentile disciples?

It starts with the doctrine of the Man of Truth, who Paul the Jew followed.

The doctrine of the Man of Truth was, to carry out his great commission to preach the Good News to people of all ethnic groups (Mark 16:15-16).  The doctrine of the Man of Truth was, that supernatural signs would follow those, who carried out his great commission (Mark 16:17-18).  Paul the Jew was to preach the Good News, with the confirmation of the message by supernatural signs, given by the Spirit of Truth, just like all other believers were commissioned, to operate after the Man of Truth returned to Heaven (Mark 16:19-20).

Consider how Paul the Jew, dealt with those who practiced any kind of sorcery, like that of the Druids.  A sorcerer, like unto one of the Druids, opposed Paul the Jew bringing the Good News, to anyone who had been under his sway (Acts 13:6-8).   Paul the Jew used the supernatural power, that comes from the Spirit of Truth, to move this practitioner of the supernatural power of the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan Aka The Devil), out of the way (Acts 13:9-11).  The doctrine of the Man of Truth that Paul the Jew taught, was a doctrine of action (Acts 13:12).

Paul the Jew continued to operate in the miracle working power of the Spirit of Truth, when he preached to the Gentiles, as proof that the Father of Truth had accepted the Gentiles (Acts 15:12).   Paul the Jew operated in the miracle working power of the Spirit of Truth, so the Gentiles would be obedient in both word, and deed (Romans 15:18-19). His doctrine was not based on his own strength, or human wisdom, but upon demonstrations of the power that comes from the Spirit of Truth (1 Corinthians 2:3-5).

The doctrine of the resurrection of the Man of Truth, that Paul the Jew taught, was something that the Gentiles had never heard before (Acts 17:18-20).  Paul the Jew taught, that all men were created by the Father of Truth, and he was turning the Gentiles back, to the One who had created them (Acts 17:22-27).  He taught, that the Father of Truth was nothing like the gods, that the pagans worshiped (Acts 17:28-29).  He taught, that the resurrection of the Man of Truth, was the proof that the Gentiles were to turn, from worshiping other gods, and back to worshiping the Father of Truth (Acts 17:30-31).  The doctrine that Paul the Jew taught his Gentile disciples, focused on what the Man of Truth had done on the cross, to deliver people from sin (1 Corinthians 2:1-2). Paul the Jew taught the Gentiles, that the blood of the Man of Truth, gave them hope of being able to draw close to the Father of Truth (Ephesians 2:11-13).

Paul the Jew taught, that his doctrine had to be obeyed, in order for people to be delivered from sin (Romans 6:16-18).  Paul the Jew taught, that the Gentiles were to mark, and avoid, anyone that taught anything that was contrary to the doctrine he taught, because they did so out of selfish motives (Romans 16:16-17). He taught, that the Gentiles were not carried away, by the doctrines of men (Ephesians 4:14).  The doctrine he taught the Gentiles, was not based on a religion of self-denial, that was only the commandments of men (Colossians 2:21-23).  Paul the Jew taught the Gentiles, that there was no mediator, like a priest of the False Church of Rome, between them, and the Father of Truth, except for the Man of Truth (1 Timothy 2:5-7).

Paul the Jew taught his disciple Timothy the Jew (Timotheus), to teach the Gentiles, to accept no other doctrine, other than what he taught, and to never give heed to the fables of the Gentiles (1 Timothy 1:2-4).  Paul the Jew taught, that sound doctrine was based on what was taught in the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law), and the Law of Truth defined right, and wrong (1 Timothy 1:8-11).  Paul the Jew called doctrines, like those taught by the False Church of Rome, the doctrines of the Spirit of Lies (devils aka demons aka unclean spirits aka gods), to cause people to turn away from following the Man of Truth (1 Timothy 4:1-3).  Paul the Jew commanded, that the Gentiles only be taught the good doctrine, that he had taught Timothy the Jew, and avoid all fables (1 Timothy 4:6-7).  Paul the Jew commanded, that Timothy the Jew attend to the doctrine, that had given to him, and to operate in the Spirit of Truth, that had been given to him, so that the Gentiles could be saved, by hearing the Good News (1 Timothy 4:13-16).  Paul the Jew taught, that the Children of Truth were to withdraw themselves, from anyone who taught any doctrine, that was contrary, to the one that he had taught to Timothy the Jew (1 Timothy 6:3-5).  Paul the Jew instructed Timothy the Jew, to only teach the Gentiles, the same sound doctrine that he had taught the Gentiles (2 Timothy 1:11-13).

Paul the Jew taught, that the both the writings of the Prophets of Truth, contained in the Original Covenant (Tanach aka The Old Testament), and the writings of the Apostles of Truth, contained in the Renewed Covenant, formed the foundation of the House of Truth, that Gentiles came into, through faith in the Man of Truth, and the work of the Spirit of Truth (Ephesians 2:19-22).  Paul the Jew taught, that the entire Book of Truth, was the only basis for sound doctrine, including the Original Covenant, that Timothy the Jew had learned as a child (2 Timothy 3:14-17).  This is the sound doctrine, that Paul the Jew exhorted Timothy the Jew, to teach to the Gentiles, instead of just teaching them, whatever they wanted to hear (2 Timothy 4:1-3).

Paul the Jew also commanded Titus the Greek, to teach the Gentiles, doctrine based on the entire Book of Truth (Titus 1:7-9).  Paul the Jew commanded Titus the Greek, to teach the Gentiles, to live their lives in accordance with the entire Book of Truth (Titus 2:1-5).

So in short, the doctrine that Paul the Jew taught to the Gentiles, and commanded his disciples to teach to the Gentiles, was based on the entire Book of Truth.  His doctrine built upon, what was taught in the Law of Truth, because it is The Unchanging Law.  His doctrine said, that the preaching of the death, burial, and resurrection, of the Man of Truth, should be accompanied, by the Spirit of Truth demonstrating supernatural signs, to prove that the Good News, was a message from the Father of Truth.  His doctrine said, that any fables of men, including those that came from the Druids, and the False Church of Rome, were to be rejected, as coming from the Father of Lies, and the Spirits of Lies.  His doctrine said, that the Gentiles were never to submit, to man-made rules to appear pious, like those taught by the False Church of Rome.  His doctrine that was taught to the Gentiles, was that the Children of Truth were have nothing to do with those, who tried to include anything, other than the doctrine, he got from the Man of Truth.  This included anything from the Druids, or the False Church of Rome.  His doctrine, that was the foundation of the original form of Celtic Christianity, that was free from the influence of both the Druids, and the False Church of Rome.

What rituals did Paul the Jew teach the Gentiles to observe?

Paul the Jew was baptized as soon as he came into the House of Truth (Acts 9:17-18).  Paul the Jew preached the baptism of repentance, in water, on his first mission to the Gentiles (Acts 13:16-24).  For this reason, he baptized Lydia the Jew, at the river outside of Philippi (Acts 16:13-15).  In like manner, he baptized the Gentile Philippian jailer, and his family, in the same river, when they came into the House of Truth (Acts 16:31-33).  In Corinth, he baptized Jews and Gentiles together, when they came into the House of Truth (Acts 18:6-8).  In the area of Ephesus, Paul the Jew baptized those who came into the House of Truth, who had previously been baptized in water, without first coming into the House of Truth (Acts 19:3-5).  Paul the Jew was ever mindful, that he had been baptized, when he came into the House of Truth (Acts 22:14-16).  However, Paul the Jew did not baptize every believer, who came into the House of Truth due to his preaching, personally (1 Corinthians 1:14-16).

Paul the Jew taught the Gentiles, that being baptized in water, showed that they were dead to living in sin, just like the Man of Truth was dead to living in this world, when he died on the cross (Romans 6:2-4).  Paul the Jew never baptized anyone in his own name, because the Man of Truth was the one who was crucified to save them (1 Corinthians 1:13-15).  Paul the Jew was not sent to the Gentiles, so they could be baptized, but to preach about the death of the Man of Truth on the cross, so they could come into the House of Truth (1 Corinthians 1:17-18).  Paul the Jew taught, that baptism was for all of the Children of Truth, both Jews and Gentiles (Galatians 3:26-28).  Paul the Jew taught the Gentiles, that they died with the Man of Truth to sin, and came back alive to the Father of Truth, when they were baptized (Colossians 2:12).

Paul the Jew was commissioned, to go to the Gentiles, by the laying on of hands (Acts 13:1-3).  Paul the Jew in like manner commissioned Timothy the Jew, to carry on his work, by the laying on of hands (1 Timothy 4:14).  Paul the Jew instructed Timothy the Jew, to commission his disciples, to carry on the work of preaching the Good News, by the laying on of hands (1 Timothy 5:22).

Paul the Jew laid hands on believers, so they could be be baptized in the Spirit of Truth (Acts 19:5-7).  Paul the Jew also laid hands on the sick, so they would be healed (Acts 28:7-9).

Paul the Jew taught, that the Gentiles should take communion, to remember the blood that the Man of Truth shed on the cross, for their salvation, and how his body was broken, for their healing (1 Corinthians 10:16).   Paul the Jew taught the Gentiles, that the Man of Truth had commanded, that communion be done in remembrance of his death on the cross (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).  Paul the Jew taught the Gentiles, to examine themselves carefully, and to not partake of communion casually, because it represented the blood, and body, of the Man of Truth on the cross (1 Corinthians 11:27-29).  Paul the Jew taught the Gentiles, that many were sick, and some of them had died, from not partaking of communion reverently (1 Corinthians 11:27-29).

So the rituals that Paul the Jew taught the Gentiles, were few in number, and simple to carry out.  Paul the Jew taught the Gentiles, to be baptized in water, to show that they had a new identity in the Man of Truth, and were now dead to sin.  Paul the Jew taught the Gentiles, to commission those who were ready to carry on the work of preaching the Good News, with the laying on of hands.  Paul the Jew taught the Gentiles, that people could be baptized in the Spirit of Truth, by the laying on of hands.  Paul the Jew taught the Gentiles, to heal the sick, by the laying on of hands.  Paul the Jew taught the Gentiles, to keep communion to remember, that the body of the Man of Truth was broken, for their healing, and the blood of the Man of Truth was shed, to deliver them from sin.

What practices did Paul the Jew teach the Gentiles?

Paul the Jew had the Gentiles congregate together, to hear the Good News, on the Sabbath (Acts 13:42-44).  Paul the Jew preached on the Sabbath, by the river at Philippi (Acts 16:13).  Paul the Jew was in the custom of preaching the Good News on the Sabbath (Acts 17:2).  Paul the Jew reasoned on every Sabbath, with the Jews and the Gentiles (Acts 18:4).

Paul the Jew left people, who wanted to hear more about the Man of Truth, in Ephesus, in order to keep one of the Feasts of Truth, in Jerusalem (Acts 18:19-21).  Paul the Jew kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread with the Gentiles, at Philippi, where so few Jews lived, that they had to meet by the river, because they did not have ten Jewish men to form a synagogue (Acts 20:6).  Paul the Jew only met briefly at Miletus, with the elders of the congregation of Ephesus, that he had started, so he could make it to Jerusalem, in time for Pentecost (Shavout) (Acts 20:15-17).  Paul the Jew taught the Gentiles, about keeping Passover, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).   Paul the Jew told the Gentiles, that he would not leave Ephesus, until Pentecost was over (1 Corinthians 16:6-8).

Paul the Jew taught, that the Gentile Children of Truth should not participate, in anything that came from anywhere, except the Book of Truth, because those things came from worshiping the Spirits of Lies (1 Corinthians 10:19-21).  Paul the Jew taught the Gentile Children of Truth, to not continue in the practices, that they kept when they had been in darkness (Ephesians 5:8-12).  Paul the Jew taught the Gentile Children of Truth, to not let anyone judge them for meeting on the Sabbath, and keeping the Feasts of Truth, because these things told the story of the Man of Truth, and what he was yet to do for the Children of Truth (Colossians 2:16-17).

So Paul the Jew taught the Gentiles, to congregate together on the Sabbath, like he did.  Paul the Jew taught the Gentiles, to keep the Feasts of Truth.  Paul the Gentile taught the Gentiles, to avoid practices that came from idolatry, and the worship of false gods.

Paul the Jew never taught the Gentile Children of Truth, to meet on Sunday, instead of the Sabbath.  This did not even start occurring, until long after he was dead, as explained in Who Changed The Sabbath.  Paul the Jew was like the Mensch who killed Christmas, when it came to pagan holidays.  Paul the Jew urged the Gentiles, to rid their lives of practices from these holidays, like they were cleaning up the Christmas mess.  Paul the Jew never taught them, to have anything to do with the pagan practices of Ash Wednesday.  Paul the Jew celebrated the Feasts of Truth, with the Gentiles he taught, because he understood that it's not just a Jewish thing, to observe the Feasts of Truth.  Paul the Jew wanted the Gentiles, to understand the Greatest Play Ever.

So, Celtic Christianity can be revived to its original form, by doing what Paul the Jew taught his disciples to do, in a Celtic context.  This is what the founders of Celtic Christianity did.  This is the original form of Celtic Christianity, before it was polluted with the doctrine, rituals, and practices, of the Druids, and the False Church of Rome.

Let the Celts meet in buildings, with distinctive Celtic architecture, and decorations, as long as they do not include anything, that resembles the images used by the Druids, or the False Church of Rome.  Let the Spirit of Truth operate in their midst, when they preach the Good News, while avoiding any mention of the fables of the Druids, or the False Church of Rome.  Let them avoid any kind of acts of supposed piety, that the False Church of Rome would impose upon them.  Let them have nothing to do with anyone, who would turn them from the doctrine of the Book of Truth, like the Druids, or the False Church of Rome.  Let them embrace the entire Book of Truth, because that is the only way to know the pure doctrine of Celtic Christianity, in its original form.

Let the Celts keep the rituals of baptism, the laying on of hands, and communion in their congregations, in their solemn Celtic manner.  Let them keep no other rituals, for these are the only rituals of Celtic Christianity, in its original form.

Let them play their songs of joy on the Irish harp, the bagpipes, and every other Celtic instrument, to praise the Father of Truth, when they congregate together on the Sabbath.  Let their beautiful Celtic style show forth, in their songs of praise on the Sabbath!  Let the Celts rejoice with river dancing, jigs, and reels, when they keep the Feasts of Truth.  The Sabbath, and holidays found in the Book of Truth, are the only such practices, that belonged to Celtic Christianity, in its original form.

Of course, there can be no revival of Celtic Christianity, to its original form, without Celts coming into the House of Truth.  Everyone comes into the House of Truth, by surrendering control of their lives to the Man of Truth, because they believe that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead (Romans 10:8-10).  Celts, other Gentiles, and even Jews, all come into the House of Truth the same way (Romans 10:11-13).

Come into the House of Truth.