Sid Roth - The Conspiracy to Erase Christianity's Origins, Part 1
Sid Roth: Hello, Sid Roth here. Let me tell you something. I have a question for you. My question is, now normally you ask me questions. But my question for you is, how did something so Jewish, that took place in a Jewish land, that involved just Jewish people, that involved just the Jewish scriptures, that involved the one that died on the cross and rose from the dead and on the cross, it said, "King of the Jews" become the opposite of Judaism literally? How did something become so un-Jewish that started out not 99.9 like ivory: 100% Jewish. I have from the land of Israel, a scholar Dr. Robert Fischer. Now, Bob, that is really a phenomenal question. Most people don't even know that Jesus is Jewish alone, let alone have the land. How Christianity became the opposite of Judaism. How did this all happen?
Dr. Bob Fischer: Well Sid, it started out Jewish as you pointed out. But then it got carried off to Rome, it got carried off to emperor Constantine where a mix took place between the Jewish understanding in the "Torah" and the pagan understanding in "Mithraism". And there was a combination of pure Torah Judaism and an understanding of Yeshua.
Sid Roth: Alright, well you got to help. I know this, "Torah" is what?
Dr. Bob Fischer: "Torah" is the old testament, the first 5 books of the old testament. Excuse me, the "Tanakh" is the whole thing.
Sid Roth: Okay, so you're telling me it started out with pure Judaism, pure Torah, or pure first 5 books of the old testament, and then paganism came in through Constantine?
Dr. Bob Fischer: Well first we have Yeshua of course, Jesus shows up. And then when the whole Jewish understanding, when Christianity began as a Jewish understanding, and it was exported through Paul to a variety of places including Rome. It got mixed up with pagan understandings. "Mithraism" is sun worship and Constantine was a sun worshipper. So the pure Jewish understanding was mixed in with the paganistic understandings, we got this big blur. And then it came back full circle to Israel and else ware in the form of the byzantine church. And that's when the church really began as a mix of pure Judaism and paganism.
Sid Roth: But wait a second, now. You're saying paganism: are you saying there are traditions in Christianity today that are pure pagan?
Dr. Bob Fischer: They're a combination of paganism but there, yes to answer your question. Yes, there are such things as the worship of the sun.
Sid Roth: Wait a second, they don't worship the sun in Christianity.
Dr. Bob Fischer: Well, you might be surprised. The "Halo" for example.
Sid Roth: On these pictures, the halo over the saints?
Dr. Bob Fischer: The halo is a very Satanic paganistic symbol. And every Roman Catholic Cathedral, you notice that the "Dome" is a "Sunburst".
Sid Roth: Mm.
Dr. Bob Fischer: A pure sunburst. The sun symbol is predominant. It's on the papal vestments. It's in the domes of the Cathedrals as I pointed out. It's very predominant. Mithra was the sun god.
Sid Roth: But wait a second, the one thing I know about Judaism, we don't want idolatry. So, therefore, if the first church was all Jewish, why did they allow this?
Dr. Bob Fischer: They didn't really allow it, it simply happened. For the first several decades of the religion or of the faith in Israel, it was entirely Jewish or almost entirely Jewish. Certainly there were some gentile believers. And they were worshipping, you know they just simply they were anticipating the arrival of a Jewish Messiah who looked just like Jesus. Just like Yeshua. And when he showed up they embraced him in droves. Then the whole thing got exported, it got exported to Rome, and it got polluted like I say. With all of these, I think, for example, shabbat. Saturday is the...
Sid Roth: The sabbath...
Dr. Bob Fischer: ...The sabbath. The sabbath is the ordained biblical day, the holy day. And 325 ad that the council of Nicaea, it was officially changed by Constantine to Sunday, literally "Sun-day", which was the birthday of Mithra.
Sid Roth: But wait, there still had to be some Jewish believers in this council of Nicaea that would say, "Stop, you're violating one of the 10 commandments".
Dr. Bob Fischer: Wouldn't that be something that one would expect? However, all of the so-called "Jewish bishops" to use the church term, were excluded from the council of Nicaea.
Sid Roth: Why?
Dr. Bob Fischer: Because the church had already, the church fathers and Constantine and his people had already de-judaized the original Jewish-Christian understanding if you will.
Sid Roth: Help me out. Why would they do that? Why would they change what's in the scriptures? What was the motivation?
Dr. Bob Fischer: They simply wanted to distance themselves from everything Jewish. There was an innate anti-semitism that existed from the very beginning. Everything Jewish went down the road, and everything, I shouldn't say everything. They tried to get rid of things that were purely Jewish. Obviously, they couldn't get rid of the old covenant, the old testament. They couldn't get rid of the basic understandings, but they did get rid of so many purely Jewish things.
Sid Roth: Now, alright. Alright, they got rid of it, so that's the answer to my question, but then what happened to all those Jewish people that believed in Jesus?
Dr. Bob Fischer: They continued on, they were all in Israel. For all intents and purposes, at that point, I mean in time, I hate to call them Messianic Jewish believers, but they were believers. They were Jews, they were anticipating the arrival of the Jewish Messiah and they embraced him. And they went on worshipping as Jews. They simply were looking for this Messiah. This is recorded in the dead sea scrolls. They understood everything about him. Who he would be. They understood that he would be atoning.
Sid Roth: I tell you what, we'll be right back after this word.
Sid Roth: I'm speaking to Dr. Bob Fischer from Israel. He's an Israeli scholar, and I'll tell you something. I have seen these dvd's that he has produced, and they are sensational. Okay, Bob, we're talking about how something so Jewish became the opposite of Judaism, this fellow Constantine changed things legally. He changed the sabbath you said, or the shabbat to Sunday. A question that a lot of our people are wondering right now. That is, is there anything wrong with worshipping God on Sunday?
Dr. Bob Fischer: Absolutely not. God can be worshiped on any day, anywhere.
Sid Roth: So did God change the sabbath from Saturday to Sunday?
Dr. Bob Fischer: Certainly he didn't, I mean this is one of the commandments. Saturday is Saturday, shabbat is shabbat.
Sid Roth: Okay, out of curiosity, I'll tell you what happens to me. You see, I'm a Jewish believer in Jesus also, and I observe the sabbath, but you'll find me in church most Sunday's. The reason that I observe the sabbath, the commandments say, "Do it". You know how I observe it? The word "Sabbath" means "Rest". That's my day of rest. When someone goes to church, that not's rest. You talk to a pastor, you ask him if he's at rest on Sunday. He's not, God created the human body to be at rest. Okay, what about Easter? Where did this come from? The bunny, the Easter eggs?
Dr. Bob Fischer: Ah, this is something else that happened at the council of Nicaea in 325 ad. Easter, the resurrection of our Lord took place, it was a Jewish thing. It took place on the 14th of Nisan, which is "Pesach" (peh'-sakh), passover: it was a Jewish holiday. For reasons of their own again to distance themselves from everything Jewish about the faith, Constantine mandated that the holiday, be changed to a fertility God named, eostre (ostara). Eostre was pagan fertility Goddess, and this was her birthday. She was a pagan thing. The Easter bunny is a fertility symbol. The Easter egg is a fertility symbol. You know we're actually selling "Resurrection eggs". These are plastic eggs that are sold to our children. They contain a verse of scripture, so we're packaging scripture in a plastic egg that we're giving to our children. They're receiving the word of God in a pagan symbol. This is the blending I was talking about. It's a modern day example.
Sid Roth: Well, you know what I find fascinating? Going through your dvd's, you talk about the early roots of Christianity and I have a question for you. We know at Pentecost that 3,000 Jewish people became believers in the Messiah. What did they do? They didn't have any, well, they went to the temple. We know that from the Bible. They went into homes. What are 3,000 Jewish people that are brand new believers in Jesus and know nothing else except Judaism do?
Dr. Bob Fischer: Well, they met in synagogues. They were welcome with open arms by all of the sects of Judaism at the time. They met in synagogues, they met in the upper room of course, on mount Zion that held about 120 of them. As you point out, now 3,000 in one day, we read in the book of acts. But there were many, many thousand, maybe even as many as a million Jewish believers according to some sources.
Sid Roth: Did you get that? A million Jewish believers in Jesus at the turn of the first century!
Dr. Bob Fischer: Yeah, this is one estimate, it may not be that high, but it certainly was at lease a have-a-million. But imagine these people meeting in synagogues, meeting in their homes. There was clearly a "Home church" to use the expression, a kind of worship system at the time. They met at homes, they met in synagogues, they met wherever they could meet. But it was a very vital and active religion and it was entirely Jewish at that point and time.
Sid Roth: What about Christmas? Where did that come from?
Dr. Bob Fischer: Christmas is another pagan holiday. Christmas is a winter solstice when mithra the sun God was born. This was his birthday, so this was mandated as the celebration. It was created by man, it was created by Constantine, again the church fathers as the celebration. Of course, we don't when Yeshua was born with any certainty, but we generally believe he was born during the feast of Succoth, or tabernacles. The feast of tabernacles, which is in the fall.
Sid Roth: Well, then if he was born then when did Miriam-and by the way, don't send me any letters. I do know the English, is "Mary", but "Miriam" was her name. Mary the name, didn't even exist 2,000: did it exist 2,000 years ago? Of course not!
Dr. Bob Fischer: Of course not, of course, it wasn't Mary. Mary?
Sid Roth: The name Mary. Miriam existed. Okay, when did Miriam conceive?
Dr. Bob Fischer: Well, she probably conceived during Hanukkah. You know if you start out that he was born in all likelihood on the first day of the feast of tabernacles, Succoth, then he would have been circumcised on the 8th day which was the last day. And if you back up 9 months, he was conceived during the feast of Hanukkah, the festival of lights, which is really exciting.
Sid Roth: Tell me, oh wow!
Dr. Bob Fischer: Yeah it's going off!
Sid Roth: But tell me about another biblical festival that had to do with Yeshua.
Dr. Bob Fischer: All biblical festivals have to do with Yeshua. Well, pesach (peh'-sakh) for example is passover. Passover was the day or the timeframe when he was crucified and he rose again.
Sid Roth: My goodness, why didn't you tell Mel Gibson this? I'll tell you what, we're going to be back in just a moment. And there are so many things I'm curious about. I know you are too about these new, brand new Jewish believers in Jesus, but don't go away. Be right back.
Sid Roth: Hello, Sid Roth here with Dr. Robert Fischer from Israel, Israeli scholar, and those DVD's, that DVD that you did is so fabulous. I wish that every Christian and every Jew in the world could take that course. Let me find out just a little bit about you. Both parents are Jewish: that's what the rabbis ask me.
Dr. Bob Fischer: Yes.
Sid Roth: Okay, but from what I can understand Bob, you were not raised in a religious home at all. It was a totally secular type of home, but you had a belief in God and you became a believer in Jesus in the military. You went to churches, and so you pretty much assimilated but something changed. What caused that to change?
Dr. Bob Fischer: My darling wife Donna, who when I proposed to her, I was really hesitant to admit to her. I said, "Honey, there's one thing you need to know before you agree to marry me, and that's that, I'm a Jew". And her face lit up and she was so thrilled over our Judaism. Well, Donna has been the inspiration for me. And she through her persuasion convinced me that I needed to attend a Messianic Jewish congregation, and we did. In federal way Washington, we went for the first time, and I found my identity there. I understood that is was a believer in Jesus Christ, Yeshua ha Mashiach.
Sid Roth: But you went from totally gentile to this Messianic: what did you feel the minute you walked in there?
Dr. Bob Fischer: I knew my identity. I looked up at the altar, and I saw the altar cloth with a menorah and I looked, above it and I saw the cross. And I knew who I was. I knew that I was a born-again Jew who was saved by the shed blood of Messiah, and it was a wonderful thing to have found my identity.
Sid Roth: Okay, you found your identity, but you have a wonderful job. Who were you working for?
Dr. Bob Fischer: I was working for the Boeing company at the time.
Sid Roth: I tell you, a pretty top level job.
Dr. Bob Fischer: It was a great job, an international marketing, it was a fabulous job with good pay and opportunities.
Sid Roth: So why did you leave that to go to Israel?
Dr. Bob Fischer: Because God called us there. It was just a miraculous thing. He spoke to us, he spoke to us individually, and together. And we had no doubt whatsoever that we were supposed to literally walk out the door, put our house on the market, and go to Israel. So we did, and it was a wonderful decision. We've been greatly blessed, and I would encourage every Jewish listener to do the same thing. You belong in Israel.
Sid Roth: And I would encourage every gentile Christian to do the same thing. You belong visiting Israel. Bob, why did you do this course, this dvd?
Dr. Bob Fischer: I did this course because so many people in the church, so many Jews, don't understand that the Bible begins with Genesis, and it ends with revelation. That the faith, that the Christian faith is the fulfillment of Judaism. President bill Clinton once said, "That there were 3 great monotheistic religions which is": this is absolutely wrong. There's 'one' great monotheistic religion. And that religion is Judaism. Christianity is the fulfillment of Judaism. Well, I did this course to teach the pervasive roots of Christianity to teach that they were Jewish. To show this in the old testament, to show this in the dead sea scrolls, to show this in a manner of other historical routings that's indisputable. That Christianity is a very Jewish religion.
Sid Roth: Well, you know what's so exciting to me. Very few of our viewers and listeners have ever heard of: they've heard of pharisees, they've heard of Sadducees, but they've never heard of these Essenes and the revelations from the dead sea scrolls. When you saw some of those revelations of what the Essenes believed, just very quickly, from the dead sea scrolls, name 3 things the Essenes, which were a type of Judaism, what did they believe?
Dr. Bob Fischer: Well, first of all, they believed that the Messiah that would be forthcoming: he would be atoning, he would atone for their sins, he would be from the line of David, he would appear imminently, and then he would appear in the eschatological future at the end of days. They understood who the Messiah was, but Pauline theology is written all over the scrolls.
Sid Roth: Wanted a couple of examples quickly.
Dr. Bob Fischer: A couple of examples: "Grace" for instance. "Grace", and "Predestination"
Sid Roth: Listen, here's the thing that blew me out of the water. They believed in the "Triune" nature of God. The believed in the deity of the Messiah. I think it's time to get a question. Let's go to, is that Teresa in Naperville? Sid Roth, hi, you're on the air.
Teresa: Hi Sid, how are you?
Sid Roth: I'm doing wonderful, Teresa, quickly your question.
Teresa: Okay, I want to know which feast had tons of gushing water coming out, where they pour out water and it just gushes out: and what that symbolizes.
Sid Roth: Okay, I know what she's talking about Bob. What she's talking about is the feast of Succoth or tabernacles, and they would pour water. And Yeshua, that's Hebrew for Jesus walked by one day, and he said in the Gospel of John, that you will have "Rivers of living water" flowing continuously from your innermost being. And you know what those rivers were Teresa?
Teresa: The holy spirit?
Sid Roth: You got it, thank you for calling. Bob, what do you think about the feast of tabernacles?
Dr. Bob Fischer: I think the feast of tabernacles is an incredible time. There were giant menorah's that lit up the whole city of Jerusalem at the time. They were fired by the underwear of rabbinical students at the time. And they were olive oil lamps. The wick was actually the underwear of these students. And they lit up the whole city. This is when Yeshua came to town. And you know what he said? I am the "Light of the world".
Sid Roth: Listen, it gets better and better, but the most important thing that I can tell you, more important than anything else we have said, is there is something bigger. We were talking about if you will, the conspiracy, the Constantine conspiracy that occurred in Christianity. But you know, there is a rabbinical conspiracy that occurred in Judaism. We'll talk about that next week. However, what is more, important than the religion of Christianity, what is more, important than the religion of Judaism, is become a true Jew. Do you know what the word "Jew" means? A worshipper of God. How can you be a worshipper of someone you don't know? The first thing is to have intimacy with God. If you will tell God you're sorry for sins. Sins: that you're watching pornography, sex outside of marriage, abortion. Sins such as being involved in the new age. If you will tell God you're sorry, and believe the blood of the king of the Jews, Yeshua, Jesus, washed away your sins, then you'll be clean. Not because of anything you've done, but because of what he did. And once you're clean, ask Yeshua, Jesus to live inside of you, to become real. Start reading your Bible, start believing that he hears you. Get it. I'll tell you, I am so excited about knowing God. I wish everyone everywhere could know God the way I do. And I'll tell you what, God is so good that you can know him as well as I know him. You can know him as well as Dr. Robert Fischer knows him. Get excited! Know God. That's the deal. Know him.