who controls the knowledge and why...

What would you say if I told you that from the earliest times elitist (those with power) have worked to manipulate knowledge to justify their power? I believe a number of people would accept that statement as true.

Have you ever thought about the world’s knowledge base and applied that paradigm to each separate section? How are the elitists manipulating the sciences, language, entertainment, etc.?

What if there really is a God who long ago communicated His intentions to a select group of people but that knowledge was twisted to support the narrative of elitism? And what if that God from time to time stepped into human history to throw off those elites and return truth to the people?

Some of you may disregard this possibility simply because you don’t believe in God, but I ask you to set that aside for a few minutes to think through this strain of thought. Hopefully you will gain something from it logically even if you continue in rejecting the belief in God.

The Bible we have today is composed of an Old Testament and New Testament. Most translations of the Old Testament are based on the Tanakh, with varying degrees of influence from the Septuigent (LXX), and less so, the Targums. But what if the Tanakh was the product of that elitist (Pharisaical) intent to place themselves in either the line of God or as God’s interpreters of those texts?

Did you know that most of the OT citations in the NT are from the LXX (and Aramaic texts) and not the Tanakh? Why did the early church fathers choose to include that text instead of the LXX or Targums? Availability definitely effected the decision but the Tanakh also lends itself nicely to the elitist narrative by obscuring references to the Messiah and pointing more to a people who control the Word and The Land – and thereby the gates to heaven. This narrative was picked up by the early church (after Constantine) for one reason or another… possibly out of fear of the rulers – and propagated down the halls of time to this present day.

Martin Luther may have protested many of the Catholic church’s faults, but he missed a number of them. It was a large task to completely reform such a heretical structure so we can forgive him for not getting it completely right (also because no one ever does). Many of those who followed him however failed to continue the reforms and became complacent to teach the heresy of the universal (Catholic) church with variations on the reforms of Luther. Over the years, instead of moving towards clearer understanding the church fragmented with internecine squabbles over stupid questions like how many angels fit on the head of a pin.

Though the centuries, various heresies were found to not fit completely and were then tweaked a little to one side or another instead of being completely thrown out. We find ourselves today a completely fractured church split into hundreds of denominations.

But I digress…

The biggest lie that is told by the elites is that they hold the keys to heaven or that if you don’t follow their example or set of rules you will burn in hell for eternity. Nice gospel… A word that means “good news” over time included more and more truly bad news. Eternal Hell became orthodox - the only point of unity within the multiple denominations - and to speak otherwise became the worst possible heresy. But was that really God’s plan? To included something in His good news that would cause embarrassment for some – to the point of never being able to express the gospel in public? Or a cudgel by which red-faced preachers would attempt to get people to refrain from sin? Worse yet, it became a point of pride for those who could avoid an eternal damnation that seemed to reach into time to torture the living.

And here we have arrived. A world run by elites simply because people are too uninformed (or ill-informed) to understand that God didn’t intend for each person to be ruled by an elite class but by Him first and then by ourselves as well. So many have become used to listening to the elites we have terms for it like normalcy bias or elitist bias. God said don’t trust in human leaders; so what do we do? Look to them for guidance?

But what of the theology of it… if I haven’t lost everyone already, what does the Bible really say? If Jesus died – taking the penalty for the sins of all mankind – why is anyone punished? Didn’t Jesus speak about people going to hell? He told the parable of the rich man in Hades after all.

Answers to all the possible questions could take a while to explain to the completely incredulous, but some may see the truth in a few simple answers. For believers, possibly a clearer understanding of the shear scope of God’s grace which motivates to sharing the truth in grace with those who accept the elitist narrative of the Bible.

Why did Jesus use the Greek Mythology term "Hades" instead of the Jewish term "Sheol"? Certainly Hades was used in the LXX to translate the Hebrew Sheol, but the two words really didn't mean the same thing. While Hades did represent a place of eternal punishment, Sheol did not - meaning a a dark and gloomy place with no punishment attached. It's first seen in Genesis 37:35 when Jacob is told that Joseph was attacked and killed by a wild beast. Jacob said, "Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son." Should we believe Jacob was going to eternal damnation for mourning the loss of a son?

The “Eternal” hell they want us to fear – "aionios" usually mistranslated “eternal” or “everlasting” but translated better to “lasting throughout the age”. Meaning punishment has a set duration. In the Bible all sin is debt – with a duration that is limited by the law of Jubilee (not eternal). In the LXX Jonah was in the belly of the fish for "aionios" which lasted only 3 days...

Isaiah 45:23 and Romans 14:11 state that every knee will bow and every tongue confess; not just the knees and tongues of believers. While Romans 10:9 states that those confess with their tongue will be saved. Every tongue will confess – everyone who confesses will be saved.

In Revelation 20 we see the nations come down with Satan to over through Jerusalem and end up cast into the lake of fire yet in Rev 21:24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. Further in Revelation 21:25 the gates of Heaven will never be closed...

Most clearly stated (for me): 1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. Protasis and apodosis… the “all” in Adam are the same “all” in Christ.

in Act 3:20-21 Jesus is in heaven until the "period of restoration of all things"... not "some things", or even "most things," - All Things.

Back to Revelation, Jesus is called "The Beginning and The End" - in Genesis 1:1 God created the heavens and the earth in "The Beginning." Let that sink in... all things were in fact created in Christ - all things will be restored with His return. Only death and "hades" (mythology) will be "no more."

I have already stretched this too long so I will leave off with these last thoughts.

I want you to know - to understand - that not all Christians believe that non-Christians (or people who commit certain sins) will burn for eternity in hell.

Finally, the Scriptures tell us not to trust in princes – yet the princes tell us not to trust in scriptures (or to trust only in the official interpretation of them)… will you follow their advice?