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Particulars of Christianity:
315 Global Conspiracy
(and Freemasonry)


Mystery: The Religion of the Conspirators (Part 2)

Intro: A Biblical Look at "Conspiracy"
Conspiracy: What does the Bible Say?
Conspiracy Against God in the End Times
Revelation Records the Conspiracy
The Lifespan of the Conspiracy (Part 1)
The Lifespan of the Conspiracy (Part 2)
Mystery: The Religion of the Conspirators (Part 1)
Mystery: The Religion of the Conspirators (Part 2)
Part 1: Mystery Religion in Modern Groups
Part 2: Financial Influence and Freemasonry
Part 3: The Great Merchants and Global Deception
Conspiracy Study Reference and Research Section
Controlling the News: Goldberg and Quigley



Where John writes in 1 John 4 that the spirit of antichrist is already in the world, we believe that is a direct parallel to Paul's statement in 2 Thessalonians 2 that "the mystery of iniquity doth already work."

1 John 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery [3466] of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

We connect these two passages because in them both John and Paul are talking about the antichrist and something currently at work in the world. John writes of the spirit of antichrist, which was already in the world at his time. And Paul writes of the mystery of iniquity, which was at work already and which precedes the coming of a man he refers to as "the Wicked One," "the man of sin," and "the son of perdition." All of these are terms for the antichrist spoken of by John.

And notice from 2 Thessalonians 2:4, that this man of sin whom the mystery of iniquity precedes, will present himself as "God." This is extremely similar to the idea presented by both Jesus Christ and John, that antichrists are fake Christs, men who claim to be Christ when they are not. John sets the antichrist in the category of such men, just a Paul here tells us that the man of sin will think he himself is God. This tells us that not only does John have Gnosticism in mind, but Paul does as well for through the acquisition of secret gnosis, the Gnostics believed they would ascend to divinity.

And we also find mention of the Gnostic heresy elsewhere in Paul's writings, specifically in his instructions to Timothy.

(NIV) 1 Timothy 6:20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge [1108].

(NIV) 1 Timothy 6:20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science [1108] falsely so called.

1108 gnwsiv gnosis gno'-sis
from 1097; TDNT-1:689,119; n f
AV-knowledge 28, science 1; 29
1) knowledge signifies in general intelligence, understanding
1a) the general knowledge of Christian religion
1b) the deeper more perfect and enlarged knowledge of this religion, such as belongs to the more advanced
1c) esp. of things lawful and unlawful for Christians
1d) moral wisdom, such as is seen in right living

In this passage, the Greek word for "knowledge" is "gnosis," the root word for Gnosticism. The battle against Gnosticism and its corrupted view of Jesus Christ was already underway at the time the New Testament was written.

But if both John and Paul understood that the antichrist would follow in the Gnostic tradition of their day, how does that Gnosticism connect to the end times and the modern world?

First, it connects to "Mystery Babylon" depicted in Revelation 17:5 and prophesied to be around during the end time reign of the antichrist. Second, as we will show, Gnosticism not only evolved from Babylonian mystery religions incorporating Jesus Christ into its doctrine, but it also evolved into other religious sects still existing and still prominent in modern times.

Regarding the first point, we connect the "mystery of iniquity" spoken of by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2 to the "Mystery, Babylon the Great" described in Revelation 17 as deceiving the world around the time of the antichrist.

Revelation 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, [3466] BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

As we stated earlier we can connect these two occurrences of the word "mystery" for two reasons. First, the word "mystery" is the same Greek word in both passages. And second, these 2 occurrences of that Greek word are the only 2 (out of a total 27 in the New Testament) where the word "mystery" refers to ungodly religious mysteries. (By "ungodly" here we mean "mysteries" not revealed by God to his people but supposedly obtained through other means besides God's revelation. In particular, these "mysteries" were allegedly revealed as esoteric knowledge usually involving the practice of secret religious rites, as we will later discuss.)

When we research Gnosticism at the time of the New Testament, we find that it predated Christianity and after the ascension of Christ, as Christianity began to spread, it incorporated Christianity into its belief structure. And evidence of the Babylonian origins and connections of Gnosticism are not hard to find.

"History: The origins of the Gnostic world view have been sought by scholars in the dualism of Iranian religion, the allegorical Idealism of the Middle Platonic philosophers, and the apocalypticism of certain Jewish mystics. There are analogies also with Egyptian and Mesopotamian thought." - britannica.com

"Gnosticism: Scholars trace these salvation religions back to such diverse sources as Jewish mysticism, Hellenistic mystery cults, Iranian religious dualism (see Zoroastrianism), and Babylonian and Egyptian mythology. The definition of gnosis [knowledge] as concern with the Eternal was already present in earlier Greek philosophy, although its connection with the later Gnostic movement is distant at best. Christian ideas were quickly incorporated into these syncretistic systems, and by the 2d cent. the largest of them, organized by Valentinus and Basilides, were a significant rival to Christianity." - encyclopedia.com

And evidence of what Gnostics believed is also readily available.

"Some Gnostics taught that the world is ruled by evil archons, among them the deity of the Old Testament, who hold captive the spirit of humanity. The heavenly pleroma was the center of the divine life, and Jesus was interpreted as an intermediary eternal being, or aeon, sent from the pleroma to restore the lost knowledge of humanity's divine origin. Gnostics held secret formulas, which they believed would free them at death from the evil archons and restore them to their heavenly abode." - encyclopedia.com

"Archon: in Gnosticism, any of a number of world-governing powers that were created with the material world by a subordinate deity called the Demiurge (Creator). The Gnostics were religious dualists who held that matter is evil and the spirit good and that salvation is attained by esoteric knowledge, or gnosis." - britannica.com

We also find similar information regarding Mystery Religions in general.

"Mysteries: in Greek and Roman religion, some important secret cults...Secret societies were formed, usually headed by a priest or a hierophant. By the 5th cent. B.C. mysteries were an important part of the fabric of Hellenic life. Although the mystic rites were kept secret, it was known that they required elaborate initiations, including purification rites, beholding sacred objects, accepting occult knowledge, and acting out a sacred drama. Some mysteries were of foreign origin, such as the Middle Eastern cults of Cybele, Isis, and Mithra; some were embodied survivals of indigenous rites...The popularity of mystery cults spread in the Hellenistic age and still more widely in Roman times." - encyclopedia.com

And we can trace the guiding principles of the Gnosticism mystery religion all the way back to Babylon using the Bible. Let's consider Daniel 2. When all of the wise men, astrologers, and magicians of Babylon could not solve the riddle of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream, what happened to Daniel when he did solve it?

Daniel 2: 46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. 47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.

Remember, Daniel has just revealed the mysterious dream and its mysterious meaning concerning future events. No other wise man in the kingdom could do this. So, what is the response? Is it consistent with what we might expect from a Gnostic worldview? Absolutely. Nebuchadnezzar proclaims that Daniel's God is a revealer of secrets. He deduces this from the fact that Daniel could reveal the secret of his dream. Gnosticism even teaches this very principle concerning Jesus Christ. They see Christ as an intermediary sent to reveal divine secrets to men. Here we see Nebuchadnezzar taking note of Daniel's God as a revealer of secrets. This idea of divine mysteries passed on to men to enlighten them is perfectly consistent with Gnostic thought.

And what else does the king say? Because Daniel's God revealed the dream and its meaning to Daniel, he proclaims that Daniel's God is "a God of gods." This is perfectly consistent with Gnostic thought. Gnostics believe that there is a series of divine beings emanating out from the unknowable God, or fullness. Nebuchadnezzar's proclamation could indicate either that in the excitement of the moment, he thought Daniel's God was the fullness, the unknowable God, or perhaps that Daniel's God was simply higher up in the series of emanating gods than any other known at the time.

And what is the culmination of all this? Because of Daniel's superior knowledge and understanding of these esoteric symbols and their meaning, King Nebuchadnezzar immediately begins to bow down and worship Daniel. And he commands for offerings to be made to him. The driving idea is that Daniel's superior knowledge reveals that he is an elevated being worthy of their worship. This too, is perfectly consistent with Gnostic thought, which teaches that divine secrets elevate a man by illuminating his inner divine being.

The language of this passage is perfectly consistent with what we would expect from a Gnostic worldview. Not only does Nebuchadnezzar's response indicate the prominent influence of the guiding principles behind Gnosticism in ancient Babylon, but Revelation 17:5's association of "Mystery" and "Babylon the Great" also indicates that Gnostic principles are central to this prominent end time institution.

From this we deduce the following. Gnosticism was simply one form in the history of the mystery religion, which went all the way back to Babylon. And some later form of this same mystery religion will be around and thriving at the time of the antichrist just before Christ's return. Judging from the words of John and Paul, this later stage of the mystery religion will maintain many of the same guiding principles found in the Gnosticism of the apostle's day, particularly their view of Jesus Christ. Finally, we also know from John and Paul that this tradition was not only at work in their day but its work was integral to the arrival and unfolding of the empire of the antichrist.

Therefore, at the time John wrote his epistles, Gnosticism had both of the following traits. First, it was a mystery religion involving secret rituals conveying allegedly hidden religious truths. This trait is implied by the use of the word "mystery" in 2 Thessalonians 2 and Revelation 17.

Second, Gnostics saw Jesus as A Christ, but denied that Jesus and the Christ were the same being. Thus, Gnostics denied both that Jesus was THE Christ and also that Jesus Christ was God who came into the world conceived and born as a man. Therefore, Gnosticism fits with the term "mystery" in 2 Thessalonians 2 and Revelation 17 and Gnosticism fits with John's depictions of antichrists, deceivers, and the antichrist spirit in his first two epistles. And both the "mystery" and the spirit of antichrist were already at work in their day according to Paul and John.

So, the Gnostics match all three of the following qualifications. They were a sect inherently composed of false Christs. (They denied that Jesus was the Christ. They denied that Jesus Christ was God come in the flesh.) And they were around and at work at the time John wrote his epistles and Paul wrote 2 Thessalonians 2. And Gnosticism was an evolved form of Babylonian mystery religions, which further connects it not only to 2 Thessalonians 2, but Revelation 17:5 where we find a description of "Mystery Babylon."

What does all this mean for our study? In summary, it means that Gnosticism (as a form of mystery religion) connects not only with Babylon of the past, but mystery Babylon of the end times in the future. It also connects with the mystery of iniquity and spirit of antichrist at work in John and Paul's day.

As we said at the beginning of this section, this portion of our study is dedicated to demonstrating the long lifespan of the conspiracy prior to the final 3 1/2 to 7 years before Christ's return. Since we have traced the existence of this conspiracy through its religious aspects back to the Gnostics of John and Paul's day and back even farther to the mystery religions of ancient Babylon, the only thing missing in our puzzle is a connection to some current group.

In another series of articles entitled "The Term ÔBeast' In Revelation" (in the End Times (Eschatology) Section of the In-Depth Bible Studies) we also demonstrate from the scripture the political aspects of this conspiracy and trace its development through human history.

We have identified the traits of the Gnostics that John stated were inherent to the spirit of antichrist and shown that John's words connect directly to 2 Thessalonians 2 and Revelation 17-18 in which John tells us this type of mystery cult was around in the first century and will be involved in controlling global politics and finance in the end times. So, all that is necessary in order for us to know if this ancient conspiracy is at work in our day is for us to look around and see if there is any group acting as modern version of the mystery religion, which upholds the basic principles of the Gnostics and is involved in these types of activities.

First, let's remember what we looking for. We're looking for a secret sect who share the principle beliefs of the Gnostics and who are also involved in spheres of political influence, commercial and financial influence, and information distribution. This same group not only uses secret rituals and believes in secret religious truths that will elevate humans to divinity, but they therefore also believe in the Christ-consciousness and its corresponding doctrine that Jesus and the Christ were not the same being, but two separate entities.

We will now move on to demonstrate that these Gnostic teachings survived, evolved, and continued through organizations such as the Knights Templar and the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.