The Zeitgeist (spirit of the age or spirit of the time) is the intellectual fashion or dominant school of thought that typifies and influences the culture of a particular period in time. (from Wiki)
A friend mentioned having seen the movie Zeitgeist. I would not recommend it. (Read the film synopsis here! Excerpt from Wiki: The Zeitgeist film, according to writer Paul Constant, is “based solely on anecdotal evidence, it’s probably drawing more people into the Truth movement than anything else”. Jay Kinney questioned the accuracy of its claims and the quality of its arguments, describing it as agitprop and propaganda.)
My friend said he watched it with a few others that were interested and they would stop the movie every so often to discuss what was wrong with the movies logic and conclusions. I realized it was probably one of those movies that serve as a little raven that comes and snatched the Word from your heart:
“Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them.” – Jesus (Matthew 13:3 NLT)
I was curious what it was all about having never heard of it before so I watched it – but before I did, I asked the Lord Jesus to watch it with me. Sometimes when I ask this, he says, “I don’t want you to watch this!” Like he did when I rented Kingsman Secret Service.
This time, I felt the go ahead. Sure enough, I was right. The first thing this movie does is to overtly try to wrestle faith in the Lord Jesus Christ from you. It goes after this hard and fast – no other faith is attacked, just Christianity.
I guess that you expect people to be good journalists and actually do their research… wait… I guess I am the only person who is foolish enough to expect people to attempt good journalism? Doesn’t anyone care about their reputation as a truth teller anymore? If you want to unpack and unravel the spiders web of lies in your mind if you have already seen this film (totally just thought of the spiders in the elvish forest in The Hobbit) then this is a must read: http://www.gotquestions.org/zeitgeist-movie.html
But seriously, first read the above article before moving on if this topic is of any interest to you. It is actually researched. Mine is just shooting from the hip response… ok? (And it has been about a month since I watched it.)
Sadly, I had read online that this movie was part of someone’s “spiritual awakening”.
While I watched it, I not only saw through their arguments, but I also learned SO much about the ways the devil works and about Jesus. For instance, I learned about how the signs in the heavens relate to the Lord Jesus.
“Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years”” Genesis 1:14 NASB
Regarding the time of Christ’s coming:
“There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken…” – Jesus (Luke 21:25-26)
So, the stars, according to the Scriptures are for signs, and as Jesus points out, the signs relate to who he is – Yeshua – out of whom all creation sprang forth. It all speaks of him!
The movie points out (perhaps accurately?) that at the time of Moses the earth was passing into a new sign, from Taurus (the bull) to that of Aries (the ram). Jesus introduced the age of Pisces (the fish) and we are about to transition into Aquarius (the water bearer) in about a hundred or so years?
I also learned more about how Jesus relates to the sun and how astrological symbols and some sacred geometry point to and exalt Jesus. I also came to understand how many of the prophecies about Christ made so much more sense in light of all this. It was fascinating to think about! I’m sure the producers of Zeitgeist would be loathed to discover that their attempt at taking my faith from me only got me more interested in how fascinating and all encompassing Jesus really is!
Here is a prophecy that made more sense (if Jesus was indeed incorporating the religious understandings of his day as suggested by the movie – the movie is SO off base and clearly deceptive and God hating so it is hard to know what, if anything, they say is true! I am curious as to what form Jewish Kabballah (spiritual understandings and esoteric studies) was in the time of Christ that no doubt Jesus would have been speaking to (ie. the mindset/worlview of the first century Jew). Here is the Scripture:
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up… And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” – Jesus (John 3:14, 12:32)
The makers of the movie Zeitgeist belabor the point of astrological signs and how Christ related. Their position was, “See! Jesus was just a metaphor for Sun worship! It is likely that Jesus Christ never even existed! But that “his” disciples were just reviving ancient Egyptian sun worship and astrology.”
Through researching the story of St. Patrick I was interested to discover that Patrick (among many others) tied his understanding of Christ to the sun referring to the Christ as “Helios” (Greek “Sun”). I came to learn that for many early Christians, the sun itself became a powerful daily reminder of Christ (just as God always intended the sun to be). It would be awesome to reclaim this understanding and dive even deeper into understanding these things.
Ultimately God has always been the God of all humans. I wrote a little “poem” about this many years ago:
The Human God
He is not the Muslim God
He is not the Hindu God
He is not the Buddist God
But He is the human God
He is not the Morman God
He is not the Krishna God
He is not the Pagan God
But He is the human God
He is not the Jewish God
He is not the Catholic God
He is not the Christian God
But He is the human God
He is the God for every human creature
who became a human creature
to save the human creature
He is the human God
—–
I have had this feeling for some time that God is so much bigger than even the best and most pure belief system (Christianity) could possibly convey. And also this idea that Jesus Christ was the only human being who ever lived. What I mean by that is that while all of us are created in God’s image, only Jesus has ever perfectly bore that image, lived that image. Now He has become the One New Man in whom we all find our salvation, identity, and existence… no, not simply existence. He is our life.
I wrote that because my awareness was expanding. God is bigger than any of our Christian constructs. All truth is God’s truth. Everone knows something of him. There are many ‘true’ things even in other religions in the world. He is everywhere – in everyone and all things because he is the source and sustainer of all creation. All creation is, essentially, Christ. The earth really is full of his glory just as Scripture says. It’s not his fault that we have frustrated and dulled our vision by sin of how glorious this world could be through sin yet he continues to work tirelessly for redemption for every last one of us. It’s awesome to be part of that… part of him.
Back to the movie… It was revealed (in the cross examination in the link above) that mostly the legends of a “Savior born of a virgin who did miracles” the movie put forward were largely fabricated by the makers of Zeitgeist (or others?). But, even if it were true and these legends had flooded the worlds religions and psyche prior to Christ coming on the scene, I could see two reasons for this.
The first reason is the one that the movie makers mockingly dismiss, that the devil has counterfeited the truth in a game of smoke and mirrors to inoculate people from the Truth when it did arrive. To think that the enemy wouldn’t try something like this would be a grave underestimation of the enemy. All he can do is imitate and copycat and counterfeit the real and the true because that is all he ever had to work with. Remember, all creation sprang from the One who is real and true… the Truth.
Secondly, I believe God in his Sovereignty allowed/allows the devil to counterfeit and God then uses all of these metaphors in culture (the counterfeits) for building a bridge and a common language for those who know the truth to communicate the Truth in a way the hearers will grasp. Missionaries today look for these metaphors when approaching any new culture and have great success when utilizing them. What the devil meant for evil the Lord uses for good… again.
Once you know this it is amazing how you can pick up on fascinating details about and regarding the true faith by observing the counterfeits. But, as we all know, you won’t be able to know what is counterfeit or not if you aren’t intimately familiar with the real thing – Jesus. FBI money counterfeit investigators study the real thing so well that they can spot a counterfeit. We must do the same or suffer the profound loss of believing the lie.
One thought I had while watching this movie was to ask myself, “What sort of person would entrust their everlasting soul into the care of these faithless movie makers?”
Answer: Someone who is already a God hater? Someone who has little connection to Christ and could be swayed? (I think of those who would be duped by Dan Brown’s Davinci Code and his impeccable historical and journalistic “research” years ago… not!).
It is a terrifying and sad thing to lose faith as some of you reading this know first hand. But what joy to finally arrive at and land on the Truth – Jesus. You really come to appreciate the island of Reality that is Christ in this ocean of diarrhea that is ‘the world’ after experiencing that!
The movie then seeks to underscore that the 9/11 “terrorist” attack was an inside job. They do their “investigative” work well (said ‘tongue in cheek’ considering the source). But, I must say, it is convincing even in spite of the source of the information. After hearing the eyewitness interviews I can’t say I don’t believe that it was. (I watched another 9/11 expose video Loose Change)
The Trojan Horse Effect
I have found that the devil will use a great deal of ‘true’ things to cloak his lies and he hijacks a great many things (well, everything really) that belong to God and are a Christians inheritance in order to then steal the inheritance from the believer. It is an effective tactic and I have seen so many reject true things because of it. I am always so encouraged when I run into believers who are ‘reclaiming Sacred Geometry for Jesus’ or something along those lines. I feel sorry for them though because they are up against some really tough opposition: fearful Christians who will tar and feather them and throw them under the nearest bus.
I guarantee that the results of the content of this movie will play right into the enemies hands. He wants you to distrust God and the government. I am not saying everyone in government are saints and many may well be demonically possessed and part of the illuminati (Ha!). But, over and above all of that, God rules from heaven. The devil and the demons are God’s unwitting servants anyway and so are government officials. We must, as the Bible says, respect our leaders and pay taxes because not to do so only hurts ourselves, our community, and our own families.
You have no idea how uncomfortable I am with at least questioning the possibility that 9/11 was an inside job (by our own government?) to then say, yea, let’s just do what the Bible says and respect and honor them because, of course, they have our best interests at heart. But, as I pointed out in my blog: Respect and Honor Obama, both the apostle Paul and Peter recommend honoring the emperor Nero who tortured Christians for sport and burned Rome (brought down the towers) and blamed it on the Christians (Muslim radicals in this case). Yet, The Scripture still stands. Respect leaders, pay taxes, etc… Research it yourself.
Final Thoughts
Putting aside the conspiracy theories part I wanted to spend the most time talking about the first part (not part 2 and 3) of Zeitgeist because I think it is most important in a world as corrupt and evil as ours to have an anchor. The LORD Jesus is that Anchor. He knows all the diabolical plans that the “Illuminati” have for us sheep and we need a Good Shepherd watching out for us. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who has laid down his life for his sheep.
The stars, along with everything else, declares the glory of God and the story of God. There were elements in article I pointed you to earlier akin to demonizing alcohol because some abuse it. The author goes after the stargazers and astrologers and to be sure, anything taken apart from or removed from Christ is devilish in nature because that is what the devil does – he removes/ignores/diminishes/rejects Christ. But consider that the Magi were star gazers and it led them to the Christ. Knowing a thing or two about how God has written the Gospel in the stars is very useful. The same goes for Sacred Geometry. Jewish scholars have found it incredibly helpful in understanding things of God.
“Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted.” Titus 1:15
I am deeply saddened by how some within Christ’s church are corrupted and unbelieving. I’ve been infected for much of my “faith” life myself and am deeply committed to the cure… Jesus, Grace, the Truth, Holy Spirit.
“The Holy Spirit is trapped within unbelieving believers and he wants out.” – Bill Johnson
I want to live pure in heart knowing there is nothing evil in and of itself and that God is all in all and… I could start sharing Scripture with you that would blow your mind and you will find unbelievable… so I won’t.
The Bible and God are true in ways that too many of us just find unacceptable. Like Nicodemus, we really “can’t handle the truth” (as much as I hate that quote as it has been used by arrogant “truth watchdogs”). I want to be able to handle the truth. I was praying about that tonight as I read John 3. I barely can accept the earthly truths and I SO want to start experiencing the heavenly truths Jesus has for us.
“Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. 12 But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things?” – Jesus
Like what kind of things? (<–Hilarious!!!)
Your replies (and challenges) are most welcome as always! Immerse yourself in God’s Word and be childlike in your trust and fully abandoned to your loving heavenly Papa! Shalom!
Related: Read more about the film here… very interesting
