A Closer Look at Christianity by Barbara A. Brown

PURE MONOTHEISM IS RESTORED

When the Jews continued to reject Jesus despite the fact that he was one of them, and despite the scope of his work, he told them that the covenant God had made with them was to be rescinded in the face of their stubbornness and hard-headedness:
"Therefore I say unto you, the Kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruit thereof"' (Matthew 21:43)

The followers of Jesus eagerly latched onto this, seeing themselves as the new "Chosen People" of God.
Christianity Continues To Digress From the Straight Path

By the fourth century, however, Christianity was well established as a religion: doctrines were formalized, as was a Canon of Scripture.

As seen earlier, the true teachings of Jesus were all but forgotten by Christians in favor of the teachings by Paul of Tarsus. Pagan beliefs and traditions were brought into Christianity by Paul in order to win converts among the pagan Gentiles of his time; all Christian doctrines have their roots in paganism. As more and more pagans converted to Christianity, this meant that more and more pagan beliefs found their way into Christianity.

Pagan holidays were "made over" into Christian holidays: the birthday of Mithras on December 25 became the birthday of Jesus (with the help of pagan rituals from the Roman festival of Saturnalia thrown in for good measure); the festival for the dead became All Saints' Day; the day set aside to celebrate the resurrection of the god Attis became the day set aside to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus (with various pagan fertility rites thrown in for good measure here, too).

The Jewish Sabbath, set by God on the seventh day of the week in the Mosaic Law, was changed by Christianity to the first day of the week. Sunday was figured to be the day in which Jesus rose from the dead, but it also must be kept in mind that, first and foremost, Sunday was the Mithraic "Day of the Conquering Sun".

Christian ideas on sexuality and marriage were heavily influenced by pagan traditions found in Neoplatonism, Stoicism and Gnosticism. All these religions thought sex to be an evil force, with monasticism and chastity being virtues to strive for; Christianity heartilly embraced such ideas, thus putting mankind and the family unit in a unnatural state that had never been decreed by God.

Pagan rituals and beliefs were annoying to early Christian missionaries, as these traditions were simply too entrenched for dislodgement by any means. In 598 C. E., Pope Gregory the Great came to the aid of the missionaries by issuing a bull which said that the priests should allow the people to continue using old customs and beliefs, but that such should be "steered" towards "the praise" of God.

Therefore, the people continued their belief in sorcery, witchcraft, hobgoblins, black magic, etc., as the priests told them that such delusions were "manifestations" of Satan.

Saints and '’holy relics" were also encouraged, as such were believed to have power to drive away the devil.

Christianity, with its heavy infusion of pagan beliefs and traditions, along with its having Jesus--rather than God--as the focus of faith, was a mess, plain and simple.

The Need For Another Messenger

The Jews were lost in their books of Law; the Christians were lost in their veneration of a human prophet. God decided to give mankind one more try in a last effort to establish pure monotheism on earth.

The Prophet Abraham, as noted in chapter one, had two sons; in addition to Isaac, there was Ishmael, the elder to the two. When God made His covenant with Abraham concerning Isaac, He also had some words to say of Ishmael:
"And as for Ishamel, I have heard thee: Behold I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation." (Genesis 17:20)

The Covenant with Ismael Is Fufilled

Ishmael and his mother settled in Arabia where they lived and developed, over the years, into that great nation which had been foretold by God. In 610 C.E., God's promise of blessing his progeny was fulfilled when a descendant of Ishmael, an upstanding 40-year-old merchant named Muhammad, was called by God to bring His Word to all mankind.

The covenant God had made with Abraham was now complete, and the establishment of pure monotheism--Islam, or submission to the One God--was on its way to becoming a reality at last.

That blessing was indeed one of great power as Prophet Muhammad saw the firm establishment of Islam take place during his lifetime, and he brought the Words of God to his people in a form that has remained unchanged to this very day.

The foundations of Islam are the foundations of true monotheism: worship of God and God alone, and obedience to His Law. Pure monotheism was once again restored.