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sufferer" (p. 52). Dunkerley also agrees with this deduction, when he states: "It is not until the
fourth century [after Christ] that the familiar bearded face appears" (p. 58). These are amazing
statements. It took about 400 years to evolve the "Christ" that we have been brought up to believe
in. And this "Christ" is not the one the early Christians thought of -- the Christ of the Bible. This is
the picture of a false Christ -- the one the whole world worships.

One should consider the source of these pictures. When one does, it's obvious they are not
true representations of Christ.

Pagan Gods Became Direct Representations of Christ

Yes, this statement is a shocking one to make, but it is fact! Here's how it happened: The
pagans, when they were brought into the "Christian" Church, instead of destroying their gods,
turned them into Christ or other Biblical characters. They kept right on worshipping them, but call-
ing them now by Christian names. "Of these types of Christ, borrowed from Pagan antiquity," says
Farrar, the favorite was Orpheus taming the wild beasts with his lyre" (Farrar, p. 30). When the
pagans were converted to Christianity, they quit calling the pagan god Orpheus by his name of an-
tiquity. Now, they called him "Christ." They reasoned that it was all right because Christ will tame
the wild beasts in the millennium as Orpheus does. So, the pagan god Orpheus became Christ.
They continued to paint the image of Orpheus but now it was Christ.

"No Pagan symbol, therefore, better accorded with their tone of mind than that which rep-
resented the youthful Orpheus bending the listening trees and charming the savage lions by his ce-
lestial harmonies. It indicated Christ as the King of Love and Peace, as the Law of life, and the
Harmony of the world" (Farrar, pp. 33, 34).

Another authoritative work, edited by J. A. Hammerton, also has some information on this
subject. He states: " For the Christians, even in the earliest days, observed the customs of their an-
cestors, though with a new intention." Continuing, "It [art] remains as it were transformed, seen
with new eyes, and drawn into the service of Christ." Now notice this statement from this work:
"Orpheus becomes a prophecy of Him [Christ]...and the Good Shepherd [Christ] bears the lamb on
His shoulders precisely as Hermes (a pagan god) had been wont to do, but with a new tenderness.
The portrait of Christ," Hammerton continues, "is but seldom found, but when we do find a presen-
tation of Him...He is represented as young and BEARDED, with a smile on His lips, splendid AS
APOLLO" (Wonders of the Past, p. 1119).

Notice this! Here we find Christ represented with a BEARD -- as you see Him portrayed
today -- and it is exactly as some ancient portrayals of the pagan god APOLLO. Need any more be
said? Here is where the "Christ" of today comes from! It is nothing more than a portrait of a hea-
then god.

Farrar goes on to say, "Other Pagan symbols adopted by Christianity were those of the
winged Psyche, the Sirens, and Hercules feeding the dragon with poppy seed. The story of Cupid
and Psyche, of which there are several instances, was chosen as the emblem of God's love for the
soul" (p. 34). Yes, there were many pagan gods of the heathens and they brought them right into the
"Christian" churches when they were "converted."

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