The Religion of the Future part 2 (The Spirits of our Age)

   

                Again, we arrive at the controversial stage of this blog, and for most people they will turn away from this and will not listen to what is going to be said. Father Seraphim Rose was a bright man, with many wonderful insights from God. Along with the knowledge gleaned from Patristic church literature that has been passed down for over 2,000 years. Therefore, when such a giant of our generation writes about the deceptions taking place in our world, I believe I have the very right and responsibility to inform the people of this world to take heed and to help lead them back onto the narrow and straight path. We are of course going to be dealing with the chapter on UFOs that inspired The UFO Deception by Father Spyridon Bailey and which of course you can find a full book review of on this sight. Let me preface something if I did not earlier, my family has experience with UFOs...I do not discredit nor disavow them for their belief in such objects. In fact, I would say that Orthodox Christians would say that they are very real...but not just in the way that you would think.

 

                First let me say that Father Seraphim Rose's book does not deal primarily with UFOs in the same way that Father Spyridon does. Father Spyridon's is an entire book devoted to the subject, Father Rose's? Just a chapter. But the impact is just the same. Like Father Spyridon, Father Seraphim Rose agrees that we cannot lump all sightings of UFOs into the category of demonic spirits that people have witnessed. Some are very clearly military and secret agencies performing tasks that they do not want the general population to discover and so they cover it up with the belief that extraterrestrials are visiting us to get the people to not dig further into the story and to go about their business devoid of the knowledge of what they are doing. In fact, before the wild craze that was ETs and the possibility of life on other planets, most scientists who reported and observed the early accounts of eyewitnesses of UFOs believed them to be highly advanced technology, usually American, but also Russian (page 80). However most if not many of the UFOs that are seen and the humanoids that are "uncovered" are the spirits of this age. They are the ghosts of years past, they are the dragons, the serpents, the fantastical creatures of mythology and fairytales. Though they have changed their appearance to meet the expectations of the people of this generation, their mission, to prepare us for the coming of the Antichrist, remains the same. Father Seraphim Rose explains in these discussions within the topic of UFOs that the prince of air (Eph. 2:2) is Satan himself, the devil and that his "miracles" take place within the air, because that is his only true place of power. On page 101, Father Seraphim Rose, states quite unashamedly, "Men have abandoned Christianity, and look for "saviours" from outer space..." These spirits perform their acts in the sky and deceive many. He even assumes that the Antichrist himself, might descend from the air, to conclude his imitation of Jesus, like the UFOs do on occasion. (Page 111). Father warns Christians to walk more cautiously and soberly on the path of salvation during these times, because the apocalyptic times are getting closer at hand (page 113)

 

Concluding the discussion on page 114, Father Seraphim warns all Christians to not believe in these fairy tales of demonic origins and to remind ourselves that we must be prepared for the coming of the Antichrist. He also states that all Christians believe in higher beings. No, not extraterrestrials, but angels, and demons. They are not our saviours, they are created beings just like us, some have fallen away and want to drag us away from God, which have become demons. Those who want to lead us toward God and to His Logos, are the angels. We must not rely on our senses to tell us whether these things are pure and good, which some believe these beings to be. We also cannot rely on our senses to tell us these things are evil, which also some believe these beings to be. We must rest in the writings of the Church, the Holy Scriptures, and the Christian witness. We do not have time to be caught up in arguments that do not have basis in our salvation. We must remain firmly rooted in our Faith.

 

 

 

Amen.

UFOs and the Deception of Extraterrestrials

     This one is going to be a little controversial, as many people are on both sides of the argument of this topic. However,  I am going to do something that I haven't done on this blog yet...and that is a book review, or at least a summary of a book.  I recently read The UFO Deception by Father Spyridon Bailey, and must say it is one of the greatest works Orthodox Christianity has produced at least in the 21st Century.  The book takes a look at the various claims of a variety of scientists and eyewitness accounts to determine the root cause of the phenomenon that is UFOs and whether there is something more at work than meets the eye. Through the use of the own words of Carl Sagan, Carl Jung and others Father Spyridon systematically tears through the deceptions that our government and other celebrities of this age promulgate in the existence of UFOs and extraterrestrial life. One of Father's quotes that sticks out with me is that the lies spread by scientists and the government are all in preparation for the coming of the Antichrist (not the antichrist which is the spirit but the final one Antichrist). Father Spyridon also states that now through the promise of technology, the satanic worshippers and atheists of the world have even more sway in tearing the faithful away from the Body of Christ, which is the Church.  Father Spyridon on page 91 states, "Here Sagan is acknowledging the reason for his yearning for ETs to exist, because without them he imagines human life is alone and purposeless." Others he quotes clearly state their goal in discovering ETs is to destroy traditional religion as we know it.  

    We as Orthodox Christians understand that the gates of Hell cannot and will not overcome the church, but we must still fight against this blatant attack on the church and defend her positions and honor. Father Spyridon continues on page 99, "...truth cannot be interpreted by the limited scientific findings of the day." But We as Orthodox Christians know where truth can be found...Holy Tradition, both in the scriptures and in the every day life of the Church. On the very next page, page 100, Father Spyridon makes his most ardent and most logical point. He states, "...for man experiencing a limited timespan during whatever theories are fashionable in his age, the gamble of  risking his eternal salvation  on such shifting sands demands a very strong faith in the science of his day." Father clearly states within the context of the writing that believing in the church, resting in the Rock of Faith, that is the apostolic faith presented by the Orthodox Church is more logical and more just than relying on what man has said about the world. Man's understanding of the world comes from a limited knowledge, from his discovery of what God has ordained and put in motion. Holy Tradition, is what God has given us for the benefit of our salvation and placing our faith in anything less is idolatry. 

    Another valid point that Father makes within all the context of the book, is that the government, and the media are controlling the narrative to deceive the people.  Throughout the book he quotes generals, airmen, naval officers and journalists who have seen the documents the government is supposedly hiding from the public, but in reality these narratives all published by credited sources are used by the government to control the flow of information. In reality, they want to prepare us for the inevitable creation of an alien threat to create the One World Government that is to be led by the Antichrist. Something that was new to me was the revelation from Father that both the United States Government and the Government of the USSR worked tirelessly together during the cold war to bring about this alien threat. On page 35 of the book, Father quotes directly from one of the most "beloved" presidents of the United States in modern history Ronald Reagan. Reagan states, "I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from the outside world." Father continues his discussion by listing a number of other political leaders from various countries like Russia, Greece and the UK, all with varying degrees of the same statement.  The government's clear goal is to remove national identity with a humanitarian one, but one that will lead us to destruction, not to salvation.  By creating this threat themselves the governments of the world are keeping the people in check and destroying the very soul of humanity.

    Finally he takes a look at the nature of the "abductions" conducted by aliens through eyewitness accounts. Father looks at it as always through the eyes of the Christian witness and shows that many of the so called procedures conducted by the aliens are akin to occult and satanic practices, finally giving the last nail in the coffin of aliens being demons.  While I could focus on the other aspects he presents in this book, I believe if you want the whole picture you should buy yourself a copy of The UFO Deception by Father Spyridon Bailey. What I have gleaned from it might not be what you glean and I would hate for you to miss this wonderful book. 

Amen.