God Speaks Out on "The New Morality" Ambassador College Department of Theology
Chapter 4
Origin of Pagan Dualism
WE NEED to understand, now, precisely what was this pagan interpretation of sex. We need, also, to know the facts of its origin. What was the real source of this attitude of "shame" which flowed on the tide of the Babylonian Mystery religion into the Roman world, now wearing the label "Christianity"? How, in a word, did this concept come to be accepted as "Christian"? Emphatically it was not the teaching of Hebraism, nor of Jesus. Never was it embraced or taught by the original apostles. It is not to be found in the Scriptures.
The Soul Is Composed of Matter
This teaching reached Roman "Christianity" by way of Greece. But it flowed, at an earlier date, into Greece from Egypt. Yet it stems from a still much earlier source, actually in the Garden of Eden. There we find its real author! God had told the first man, Adam, that he, as a man, was wholly physical. Here was the newly created man. Grasp the significance if you can! Suddenly, a full-grown adult MAN received consciousness. He looked around. Everywhere he saw BEAUTY! There were colorful flowers, stately trees, green lawns, entrancing shrubs, shimmering pools, the audible laughter of a rippling stream. He was surrounded by breath-taking magnificence. Then the man looked at himself. He must have wondered: "WHAT AM I?" Once, I remember, I fainted. Then, when consciousness again came suddenly, the question was gasped, involuntarily: "Where am I?" But Adam must have wondered, not only where, but WHAT! And God told him. "You are DUST." After the man had sinned, God said: "... out of [the ground] wast thou taken: for DUST THOU ART, and unto dust shalt THOU return." God did not say "dust your BODY is." He said the conscious MAN was dust — composed of matter. The revelation of God is plain: "God formed MAN of the dust of the ground" (Genesis 2:7). This man, composed of physical matter from the ground, became a soul (same verse). This Scripture does not say God put an immortal soul into a material body. It says God breathed BREATH into his nostrils — into the MAN'S lungs. God breathed this breath — this air — into the man's nostrils, just as all men breathe air in and out of their nostrils — just as dumb animals do! This man, composed of matter out of the ground, became a breathing, living soul. The soul, then, came out of the ground. The soul is composed of matter, not spirit. The word "soul" is translated from the Hebrew nephesh. It means "life of animals."
The Spirit Is Not the Man
Elsewhere the Bible speaks of a spirit IN man. But this spirit is not the man — it is something that is IN the man. Connected with the physical brain (matter) of the man, it forms human MIND. It merely imparts the power of intellect and personality. But Satan counterfeited this. Satan does not represent this spirit as merely something that is IN the MAN. Satan palmed it off as an immortal soul. Satan led people to believe this spirit IS the man, not something IN the man. Satan then led men to believe the BODY is merely the HOUSE in which the MAN (falsely represented as an immortal soul) dwells. The spirit that is IN a man has no consciousness of itself. It cannot know, apart from the physical brain. It cannot see, of itself. Coupled with the brain, it can see only through the physical eye. It cannot hear without the human ear. PROOF: A blind man has this human spirit in him — but it sees NOTHING. This spirit is in a deaf man. But he cannot hear, though he has full powers of MIND otherwise. If this spirit cannot see without a functioning physical eye, nor hear without a properly functioning physical ear, in a living man, it most certainly cannot see or hear apart from a dead man. Neither can it know or think apart from the physical brain. By a physical drug the physical brain may be rendered unconscious. This drug cannot affect the spirit in the man — yet he knows nothing while the brain is rendered unconscious, even though his spirit is still in him. Thus, as the Bible plainly says, dead men "know not anything." This spirit is not the man. It is merely something IN him which imparts intellect or MIND power to the brain. It is not a ghost. It is spirit essence. It is merely an ingredient added to the brain which produces human MIND. It is a HUMAN spirit. The MAN with this spirit can know only PHYSICAL things. It requires the addition of another Spirit — God's HOLY Spirit — to open the human mind to comprehension of spiritual things (I Cor. 2:9). God says that what came from the dust was the MAN. Satan deceives men into believing that what came from the ground was not the MAN, but the HOUSE in which the man dwells — the GARMENT the man wears — the PRISON which holds the "immortal soul" captive! Jesus Christ said, "That which is born of the flesh [matter from the ground] IS FLESH [matter from dust]." Nowhere does the Bible say man IS a spirit. It says man is mortal. It says the soul that sins shall DIE. Jesus Christ said man may be BORN AGAIN — next time, born of GOD, who is a SPIRIT. Then, He said, we shall be SPIRIT. But now we are FLESH! Christ came to reveal the HOPE of humanity — to be BORN of GOD, by a resurrection from the dead. Born into the very GOD FAMILY. That is what salvation is! Satan has blinded a deceived world from this GREAT HOPE! He seeks to destroy all this, deceiving men into believing man is already immortal — an "immortal soul" that can't die — could not be resurrected from the DEAD! Thus Satan seeks to destroy the Gospel! But what has all this to do with the origin of this teaching that sex is evil? IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH IT! Satan uttered the first recorded lie in the history of mankind. He told mother Eve she would not surely die — or, in other words, that she was an "immortal soul." But God says souls that sin SHALL DIE (Ezek. 18:4, and Ezek. 18:20).
History's First Recorded Lie
Notice how SATAN HIMSELF put in human minds the sense of shame and guilt toward sex. In the "Creation chapter," Genesis 1, it is written that in creating man, God created the physical sex organs — "... male and female created He them" (verse 27). "And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was VERY GOOD" (verse 31). The physical organs of sex, then, God pronounced "VERY GOOD." God gave the first man and his wife full instruction in regard to His intended purposes and uses of sex, as we shall cover in detail later. God ended His instruction — His teaching — of necessary basic spiritual and physical knowledge, as recorded in Genesis 2:24: "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." Then follows verse 25: "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." NOTICE CAREFULLY! God had been personally with Adam and Eve. The three had been talking together. Adam and Eve were naked. Nothing in God's instruction regarding husband-and-wife relationship had caused them to experience any sense of shame in regard to sex. In the privacy of this one married couple, bound in marriage by the Holy God who was speaking with them, there was absolutely no sense of shame in regard to sex. Now continue right on — next verse! See what now happened! Remember, as originally inspired and written, the Bible was not divided into chapters and verses. These were added by uninspired men much later, as a matter of convenience in Biblical study. The very next verse, continuing immediately, is verse 1 of chapter 3: "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the ETERNAL God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" Immediately Satan begins to discredit God's teaching. He subtilely and craftily implies, "Look! God knows better than that! God was misrepresenting! Now listen to ME, and I will lead you into truth!" God had told Adam and Eve that the wages of sin is DEATH — for eternity — ETERNAL punishment! God told them they were MORTAL, and could DIE! Satan uttered the first recorded lie of history: "Ye shall not SURELY die!" In other words, "Why, God was deceiving you. He knew you are IMMORTAL SOULS!"
Satan Implants Sense of Shame
The Genesis account is exceedingly brief and condensed. It merely summarizes, in fewest words, these conversations and events. We learn much from later passages, and from history. Filling in the omitted gaps and details, it becomes clear that what Satan said, in more detail, was approximately this: "You won't surely die — why, you are an immortal soul that can't die. Did God tell you that you were made from the dust of the ground? That's only a half-truth! It is only your BODY that was made out of matter. The real YOU is a spirit. You are an immortal, immaterial SPIRIT. Since you are immortal, and shall live into eternity, you have lived from eternity. God didn't create YOU. You have always been! All that God created was that BODY you can see and feel. And that BODY is evil! It is nasty, especially those sex organs you are leaving uncovered! Why, SHAME on you! Don't you know that physical sex is degrading, filthy, shameful? WHY didn't God tell you that? You see, God was deceiving you. All that God made is filthy, shameful, evil. Go cover up your nakedness! Hide it! The real you is a holy, righteous, pure immortal SPIRIT — but your BODY is the PRISON that an evil God has entombed you in — a degrading, sinful, filthy BODY. Yes, you ought to be ashamed!" As soon as Satan got in his lying, deceptive talk, and the woman had obeyed him, eating the forbidden fruit, and her husband deliberately had eaten it with her, the next verses tell us this: "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons" (verse 7). Now continue, next verse: "And they heard the voice of the ETERNAL God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the ETERNAL God among the trees of the garden. And the ETERNAL God called unto Adam, and said unto him, WHERE ART THOU? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I WAS AFRAID, BECAUSE I WAS NAKED; and I hid myself" (verses 8-10). Notice God's answer! "WHO TOLD THEE THAT THOU WAST NAKED?" (Verse 11.) Yes, WHO put the sense of shame about sex in the minds of Adam and Eve? It was SATAN who had been telling them things! GOD DIDN'T! All the time God had been talking to them, instructing them in true and right knowledge, they were naked. But NOTHING in all God taught them gave them any sense of shame toward sex. This idea that sex is evil CAME FROM SATAN. It was an accusation against God — an attempt to make what God designed appear to be contaminated and degrading. It was inextricably tied up with the false "immortal soul" lie!
WHY God Covered Them
But absolutely nothing in what you have just read justifies nudism, or nudist colonies. That is not the teaching of God at all! Rather, God Himself clothed Adam and Eve. Let's now learn how — under what circumstances, and WHY! When God had talked with Adam and Eve, immediately following their very creation, He was instructing them in a situation of husband-and-wife privacy. As long as they were the only humans, alone by themselves (so far as any other humans are concerned), God gave them no instruction to cover their bodies. God is everywhere present at all times — omnipresent! When a husband and wife, today, are alone, in the privacy of their own bedroom, God is invisibly present! But, when their children, and other people — the PUBLIC — ALL LIVING — are introduced, then, we read that GOD HIMSELF clothed Adam and Eve. Notice it! It appears later, in the same chapter: "And Adam called his wife's name Eve: because she was the mother of ALL LIVING [her children — their family — the public]. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the ETERNAL God make coats of skins, and clothed them" (Gen. 3:20-21). Notice the expression: "The ETERNAL God... clothed them." The Hebrew word God inspired Moses to write here, for "clothed," is labash. It does not mean to cover nakedness — to hide nakedness — or any such meaning. The Hebrew word meaning to conceal nakedness is kasah. But the word Moses was inspired to write, labash, means, rather, the donning of apparel, raiment. It refers rather to outer garments than underclothing. It implies the idea of adorning, or decorating, or displaying, rather than concealing or covering over, or hiding. So notice, God did NOT kasah them — did not cover nakedness, conceal nakedness, but rather He labashed them — adorned, clothed them. Of course this clothing did cover nakedness. The difference between the two Hebrew words, labash, and kasah, is one of purpose and intent, rather than the fact of being covered. Both do cover nudity. But the Hebrew kasah, carries the connotation of concealing, or hiding something, while labash includes no such meaning, and implies adding attractiveness rather than hiding shamefulness. In other words, although God's clothing did cover their bodies, it DID NOT imply any sense of shame! This does not mean, under any circumstances, that God would approve nudity. NOT AT ALL. God CLOTHED man! God intended man to KEEP CLOTHED! God intended that we NEVER expose or exhibit the pubic region of our bodies — but THE REASON is not because the pubic region which God designed and made is degrading or evil, but rather, as a matter of proper modesty and decorum! It is a matter of propriety — of courtesy to others — that we take care of certain eliminative functions privately. This does not imply there is sin or evil in going to the toilet. It is a matter of etiquette — consideration for others — rather than to cover up something WRONG. In the same manner, God wills that we wear clothes — that we do not expose the sex region of the body — as a matter of decorum and propriety — but NOT because the sex organs which God designed are themselves evil.
Clothing Necessary
There are two additional reasons. God designed sex for use only between a husband and wife whom God has joined in holy wedlock. He designed sex for righteous uses — and one of them is to bind husband and wife together in a loving relationship unshared with any other. The very privacy of this marriage relationship makes it sacred, makes husband and wife dear to each other in a special way never shared with any other. This entire loving, sacred, precious relationship is greatly impaired, or destroyed, when shared with any other. That is why fornication and adultery are so harmful to their participants, and therefore CAPITAL SINS. The second additional reason for avoiding indecent or lewd exposure is that undue exposure of the female body is automatically lust — arousing to the carnal male mind. Burlesque and girlie shows, strip-tease acts, and all such exhibitions, are deliberately intended to attract male admissions for profit, through lust. God did not intend a man to expose himself even before his own sons. The example of Shem and Japheth, sons of Noah, backing up with a garment on their shoulders, to cover the nakedness of their father, ought to be sufficient. And here the Hebrew word for "covered the nakedness" (Gen. 9:23) is kasah, and not labash. Nevertheless, these passages in Genesis show positively that the origin of the concept that sex is evil and shameful originated with SATAN — and not from God! The pagan world accepted this lie. As a teaching, or doctrine, it became a universally accepted dogma. This fable was popularized by the Greek philosopher Plato, founder of the curricular system of education. Plato wrote it in his book The Phaedo.
"Shame" Tied to "Immortal Soul" Lie
It was from this "immortal soul" doctrine that the concept of sex as evil itself stemmed. Notice how it developed! This "immortal soul" doctrine teaches that man is DUAL. While it claims falsely that the "immortal soul" is the real man, and the body is merely the prison in which he is entombed, yet it teaches inconsistently that man is DUAL — both soul and body. Thus, the real MAN is represented as being spiritual, pure, good, righteous, already having immortality. It represents the body — the FLESH — as being essentially evil, filthy, nasty. Sex organs and sex functioning are physical — of the BODY, and therefore fleshly, sensual, and evil. This satanic doctrine is the very antithesis of GOD'S revelation of the true FACTS. It is a diabolical LIE! God formed MAN of the dust of the ground. MAN is FLESH. And God beheld everything that He had made, and, behold, IT WAS VERY GOOD! It is what man thinks and does that is sinful. But Satan blasphemes the Holy GOD, by saying that what God made was very filthy, nasty, evil, and sinful. Satan represents the "spirit in man" as being, itself, the conscious MAN. The true FACT is, the "spirit IN man" merely imparts certain characteristics to the physical BRAIN. Animals have BRAINS, the same as humans. Yet animals do not have MINDS! Animals cannot reason from memorized facts and knowledge, draw conclusions, make decisions, will to act according to a thought-out plan. Animals cannot imagine, formulate plans, invent mechanisms. Animal BRAINS cannot devise codes of morals, and exercise self-discipline according to reasoned-out decisions. Animals, in a word, have BRAINS and instinct, but their brains are incapable of SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE accumulated by the human MIND. WHY is this? What is the real difference between animal BRAIN, actuated only by instinct, and human MIND? God's Word explains it, in I Corinthians 2: "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?" (Verse 11.) It is this spirit that is IN man, which, added to material BRAIN, gives this human brain the functions of MIND. But this Scripture plainly says that this spirit is merely something that is IN the MAN. It is not the man!
What Man's Spirit Imparts
This spirit in man cannot, of itself, see anything. The human BRAIN sees through the human physical EYE. It hears through the physical ear. The spirit in man cannot know, or think, or remember, of itself. Of itself, it has no consciousness. It merely imparts human mind-powers and personality to the human brain. A man dies, and in that very day his thinking stops, his thoughts cease (Psalm 146:4). Notice it! A man dies, and HE — the man — returns to the earth. "In that very day his thoughts perish." Dead people are totally unconscious — they know nothing (Eccl. 9:5). When this spirit leaves man at death, it has no consciousness — IT SLEEPS (I Cor. 11:30; 15:51; I Thes. 4:14). But this spirit is not the "soul" — that which God formed out of material dust became the SOUL! The soul is MATERIAL — not spiritual. This HUMAN spirit imparts to the human brain the power of MIND. Without it, no man could comprehend HUMAN knowledge — which is wholly physical and material knowledge. This knowledge is confined to that which enters the mind through the five sensory channels. But such a mind still cannot comprehend spiritual knowledge. Spiritual things cannot be seen with the eye, heard with the ear, felt with the hands. The greatest minds — scientific, philosophical minds — cannot really come to know and understand SPIRITUAL truths. Just as no animal BRAIN, without this human SPIRIT that is IN MAN, can have MIND and comprehension of PHYSICAL knowledge on the HUMAN plane; even so, no HUMAN MIND can have comprehension of spiritual things on the divine plane, unless or until the HOLY SPIRIT of God has been imparted to this human mind. Notice it — the same verse: "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God" (I Cor. 2:11). Read the verses before and after. Get the whole meaning in its context. It becomes PLAIN! Satan has deceived the whole world into counterfeiting this human spirit, and representing it as an immortal soul. That is Satan's LIE! Now SEE WHERE ALL THIS LEADS! This satanic, dualistic teaching flowed from Egypt into Greece. It was first introduced by Socrates, a SEX pervert. Then his pupil Plato popularized it in his book The Phaedo. Plato founded the system of pagan schools, on the curricular form. By the time of Christ, these pagan schools, as stated before, dotted the Roman Empire. They were the only schools. They inoculated into the unsuspecting minds of children this dualistic concept. Automatically children in the western world, becoming "Christian," absorbed the concept that sex, being of the flesh, was filthy, evil, and sinful. This "hush-hush" attitude of "shame" toward sex was bound up in the pagan myth of the "immortality of the soul"! This was the heart and core of both Hellenistic philosophy, and the pagan religions. There were, of course, various pagan religions. Yet they all stemmed from the same Semiramis origin. This original paragon of licentiousness — this white harlot married to the black despot Nimrod — was the real Isis of Egypt, the Isi of India, the Fortuna of pagan Rome, the Ceres of Greece. Also she was the goddess Ishtar of Assyria and Babylon — the Astarte of Phoenicia (in both cases pronounced EASTER) — to this day celebrated in the spring of the year as a supposed Christian festival! Yes, Semiramis also was the original Venus!
The World Into Which Jesus Came
This dualistic teaching was the basic hypothesis of all Grecian thought, writing, and religion. It was, as Cole styles it, "the soil in which the pale flowers of asceticism grew. Sex was regarded as low and degrading, an act in which man descended to the level of the beast." Into such a world Jesus Christ came. IN such a world Simon Magus launched his spurious "Christianity." During that first 446 years, the children of "Christians" were, of necessity, taught in these pagan schools. They grew to adulthood accepting the ASSUMPTION of this dualistic interpretation of sex as a matter of course. It was never questioned. They supposed it was the "Christian" view. By the beginning of the 6th century this concept was firmly rooted in western "Christianity." The invasion of the barbarians from the north, and fall of the Roman Empire in 476, ended this system of pagan schools. But the concepts and beliefs were by then firmly established. From the 6th to the 12th centuries the Roman Church conducted the monastic schools and the cathedral schools. These were operated for the teaching of the monks and the priests. However, during all this time there were no printed books. Textbooks had to be produced by hand, one at a time. And the heritage of the old pagan texts continued on.
Copyright © 2024 Herbert W Armstrong Library