This appendix seeks to answer several important questions concerning Atheism, Islam and Spiritualism.

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Answer: Daniel and Revelation contain descriptions of 11 different "beasts".¹ We believe that neither atheism nor Islam is portrayed in the Bible as one of these beast powers. Neither are they represented by one of the heads on the seven-headed beasts mentioned in Revelation.² Why? Because they are not nations, but philosophies or religions. "Beast" powers, with one exception, always refer in apocalyptic prophecy to nations that oppress the people of God (c.f. Dan. 7:23). The only exception is the dragon of Revelation 12 which is clearly identified as Satan (Re. 12:9) but which, as discussed in Appendix Six, is closely associated with major persecuting nations. Likewise, heads on beasts always refer to nations, not individuals or philosophies. Atheism, like Islam, eastern mysticism, Buddhism, Hinduism, spiritualism and capitalism is a powerful worldwide philosophy. But it is not a nation. True, through communism, atheism has controlled certain nations. But this has only been a transient phenomenon. The nation of Russia, for example, is centuries old. It was only controlled by atheistic communism for about seventy years. Likewise capitalism is a philosophy that controls a lot of nations, but it is not itself a nation. Similarly Islam controls many nations today, but it is not a nation itself. This is different from the apocalyptic nations of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome.³ These are all definite nations. And they all had empires that extended for a time over the territory of Palestine.⁴

Answer: Atheism is associated with the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit of Re. 11:7. Revelation chapter 11 describes God's "two witnesses" who prophesy for 1260 days. This is the 1260-year period previously referred to in this book. If we are looking for two faithful witnesses of God who prophesied in adverse circumstances during this long period, and who were attacked at the end of the period (vs. 7), and then exalted (vs. 11, 12), we would have to choose the Old and New Testaments of the Bible (Compare Re. 11: 3 with Jn. 5: 39, and Re. 11: 4 with Ps. 119: 105). A common designation for the Bible of John's day was "the Law and the Prophets". The Law was symbolised by Moses (Ex. 7:14-17 cf. Re. 11:6b) and the Prophets by Elijah (1Ki. 17:1-7; 2Ki. 1:10 cf. Re. 11:5,6a). During the 1260-year period the Bible was suppressed and copies were often hard to obtain. In the 1790's during the French Revolution, the Bible was especially attacked by the new atheistic government that had arisen in France. This war against the Bible was especially fierce for a 3 1/2-year period. Then early in the 1800's the Bible began to be promoted and exalted as never before especially through the rise of Bible societies. The British and Foreign Bible Society was organised in 1804 and the American Bible Society was founded in 1816.

Re. 11: 7,8 says:

7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

What was the main characteristic of Sodom? Sexual immorality (see Genesis Chapter 19). What was the main characteristic of Egypt? The denial of the existence of the one true God, or atheism (See Ex. 5:2). The above two characteristics were prominent during the French Revolution.

This beast from Rev: 11:7 represents the nation of France during the time of its atheistic revolution. But it does not represent the philosophy of Atheism as a whole. As will be mentioned soon, the fifth trumpet of Revelation chapter nine may also refer to Atheism.

Bible commentators have seen the rise and progress of Islam portrayed in the fifth and six trumpets of Revelation chapter 9. The fifth trumpet has been associated with the initial conquests of the Islamic armies that came out of the "bottomless pit" of the Arabian wastes. The sixth trumpet has been considered to portray the conquests of the Islamic Turks who, after migrating from Turkmenistan to Persia, became converted to Islam and then engaged in devastating military conquests. The Turks overran the Byzantine Empire ruling in Asia Minor and established the nation of Turkey.⁵

Having said the above, we must acknowledge that the trumpets are one of the most difficult sections of Revelation. We have heard another quite plausible explanation of Revelation chapter nine that presents the fifth trumpet as the scourge of atheistic humanism that began around the time of the French Revolution and that in the 1900’s overran the many nations, both east and west. In this explanation the bottomless pit (abyss) represents the place where demons live (Lu. 8:31) and would also be associated with the bottomless pit of Revelation chapter 11 out of which came the atheistic beast of revolutionary France. The demons spread darkness, which spiritually is the absence of God (atheism). The demons cannot hurt God’s people, represented by the greenery (Lu. 23:31; Ps. 128:3). God’s servants are safe from the sting of scorpions (Lu 10:19). Since atheism means that life has no meaning any more, suicidal anguish results (Re. 9:6). The description of the locusts simply emphasizes the power and seductiveness of this humanistic scourge (Re. 9:7-10). In this explanation the sixth trumpet represents the false religions of spiritualism, the New Age, eastern mysticism and the occult that rush in to fill the void in peoples lives that has been left by humanistic, evolutionary atheism. Such a thing has been witnessed since especially the 1960’s.⁶

Answer: Revelation portrays the Papacy as gathering all under its wings through the civil penalties enforced by the image to the beast (Re. 13:15-17) and through the help of miracle working demons (Re. 13:13,14; 16:13, 14). Evolutionary Atheists who are trained to trust in their senses and to think especially of their self-preservation ("survival of the fittest") will easily be led, via undeniable miracles, or the fear of death to accept the rule of the image to the beast. Muslims have great veneration for Mary the mother of Jesus and are especially attracted to Mary in relation to the Fatima visions (Fatima was the name of Mohammed’s daughter). Miracles associated with Mary will thus have a great influence upon them and could easily result in their attraction to the end-time religious confederacy.

We will consider some of the evidence for the above shortly.⁷ But first some important notes about spiritualism. This appendix mentions statements made by spiritualistic beings claiming to be Mary, the mother of Jesus. It needs to be clearly understood that these "prophetic" statements are not really coming from Mary but from Satan who is impersonating her. Thus such "prophetic" statements can, in no way, be compared with the unerring revelations of Biblical prophecy. They cannot be relied upon or considered in any way infallible. We cannot and must not use them to set dates for the appearing of Christ our Lord. This is because they are statements coming from Satan, the great deceiver. Such "prophecies" as Pope John Paul II being the last Pope must be considered in the light of the above. What such spiritualistic predictions do indicate is that Satan knows that his time is very short and that he is very actively preparing for his last great deception. We need to realize that the Bible definitely tells us that Satan will attempt to deceive the whole world by counterfeiting the second coming of Jesus Christ. The apparitions of "Mary" (which are founded on the events of Fatima) are obviously very closely related to this planned deception. But remember Satan does not know when Christ is coming. He can only read the signs and make a guess. No doubt Satan will make sure that his "prophecies" are conditional so that, if they are not fulfilled, he can say that the people were not ready etc. One thing is certain though; Satan wants to make sure that his counterfeit occurs before Jesus comes -- and indeed the Bible indicates that it will.

We must be aware of Satan's devices in these last days. But we must also constantly remember that he is the great deceiver. We should never investigate his theories and devices simply from curiosity and never without earnestly praying. Our main spiritual interest should always be to focus on our relationship with Christ and to understand and obey the Holy Bible. We should also clearly understand what the Bible says about what happens at death (see Appendix Seven, What Happens When You Die?). The Bible does not tell us that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is in Heaven now. Rather, it reveals that she is asleep in her grave awaiting resurrection. In other words, these apparitions are NOT from Mary the mother of Jesus. They are from Satan or one of his demons that is impersonating Mary.

When Satan used the serpent in Eden to deceive Eve he laid the foundation of one of his greatest weapons, namely, spiritualism (or spiritism). Satan said to Eve "you will not surely die" (Genesis 3:4) in direct contradiction to God who said that if they ate of this particular tree they would surely die (Genesis 2:17). This first lie of Satan, that despite disobeying God, Eve was immortal, forms the basis of modern spiritualism. Spiritualism's claim is that the dead can be contacted by the living. Webster’s Dictionary defines spiritualism as, "A belief that spirits of the dead communicate with the living…" This false idea is based on the satanic lie that our "souls" or "spirits" are inherently immortal. If, as spiritualism alleges, the soul is immortal and goes into a new and higher existence at death,⁸ it is natural to expect to be able to communicate with these departed "souls". Satan and his devils can impersonate dead people or heavenly angels (1 Samuel 28:7-20; 2 Corinthians 11:14). So, if a "dead relative or friend" appears to us then, no matter how friendly they may seem, we can be sure that they are not from God. Likewise, if an angel, or "Mary" or even someone claiming to be Christ comes and tells us to do something contrary to the Bible then we can be certain that they are an enemy. We should resist them with scripture as Jesus did when He said to the devil, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve" (Matthew 4:10, c.f. James 4:7).

Let us now consider the modern apparitions of Mary and there impact on Catholics and Moslems. Malachi Martin in his book The Keys of This Blood wrote: "Like most Catholics the world over, Karol Wojtyla [the present Pope John Paul II] had been acquainted as long as he could remember with most of the facts about Fatima. The Virgin Mary had appeared several times to three peasant children; she had confided to them certain admonitions, including a detailed set of instructions and predictions that were intended for papal action at a certain time in the future; and she had ended her visits in October (1917) with a miracle that recalled for many the Bible verse that tells of a ‘Woman Clothed with the Sun, and giving birth to a Son who will rule the Nations with a scepter of iron.’"⁹

Malachi Martin continues: "Once elected Pope in 1978, John Paul II had become privy to the papal instructions and predictions Mary had entrusted in confidence to the children at Fatima."¹⁰ "Like his two predecessors, John XXIII and Paul VI, Pope John Paul had long since accepted the authenticity of the Fatima events of 1917. In fact, he had been rooted and reared in a certain special intimacy Poles have always cultivated with Mary as the mother of God; and his papal motto reflected his personal and public dedication to her. Still, as those same predecessors had done, John Paul had always taken the papal instructions and predictions of Fatima as a matter for the future. ‘This matter,’ John XXIII had written of Fatima in 1960, ‘does not concern Our time.’ This matter, Pope John Paul had concluded in 1978, does not concern my pontificate. Based on the facts available, it seemed a legitimate judgment call at the time."¹¹

But on May 13, 1981 things began to change. "At a certain moment on May 13, 1981, during an open-air papal audience in St. Peter’s Square, in the presence of some 75,000 people and before the eyes of an estimated 11 million television viewers, Pope John Paul spied a little girl wearing a small picture of Christ’s mother as Our Lady of Fatima. Just as he bent from the slow-moving ‘Popemobile’ in a spontaneous gesture toward the child, hired assassin Mehmet Ali Agca squeezed off two bullets, aimed precisely where his head had been. As two pilgrims fell wounded to the ground, two more shots rang out and this time John Paul’s blood stained his white papal cassock."¹² Malachi Martin continues in his book: "after what were arguably the very pointed events that had taken place in St. Peter’s Square, after exhaustive examination of the documents and living witnesses and participants connected with the Fatima events themselves, and after nothing less than a personal communication [a vision?] from Heaven during his long convalescence -- John Paul ... came face-to-face with the realization that, far from pointing to some distant future time, the contents of the now famous Fatima message - and, specifically the secret contents directed to papal attention - amounted to a geopolitical agenda attached to an immediate time-table."¹³

Imagine how powerful the effect of all this would have been on John Paul’s mind. First, his attempted assassination took place on the day of the feast of Fatima (May 13^th) 1981. Second, it was his act of leaning forward to look at the picture of Mary as "Our Lady of Fatima" that saved his life. Thirdly, he had a vision, "a personal communication from Heaven", emphasizing the importance of the Fatima visions.

What are the Fatima visions about? Catholics consider that they form the foundation of all modern Marian apparitions¹⁴ and that they have to do with "end-time" events including "apostasy" and "chastisement."¹⁵ What this means is that Pope John Paul II believes that great events to do with the beginning of a new era are about to envelop the world. Now, remember that these visions are not really from Mary, but from Satan. What this means is that Satan realises that the second coming of Christ is near and is getting his counterfeit ready. The co-authors of the book Thunder of Justice tell us that "Pope John Paul II has called our century ‘Marian times’."¹⁶ What does this mean? The Thunder of Justice explains, "In the Old Testament, God the Father spoke to us through the prophets. In the New Testament, God the Son spoke to us directly during His public life on earth. Today, God appears speaking to us through Mary, the Mother of God."¹⁷ As you can see, Satan is today deceiving the people of the world by the Marian apparitions and messages.

It even appears that Pope John Paul II may believe that he is the last Pope. A spirit entity claiming to be Mary in an apparition to Conchita (one of the visionaries of Garabandal, Spain) said: "After Pope John XXIII died, Our Lady told me, ‘after Pope John, there will be three more Popes, one will reign only a short time, and then it will be the end of times.’ When Pope Paul VI became Pope, Our Lady mentioned this to me again. She said, ‘Now there will be two more Popes and then it will be the end of times, but not the end of the world.’"¹⁸

It looks as if the Pope is waiting for some major supernatural event to take place. We quote from The Keys of This Blood:

He (the Pope) is waiting, rather, for an event that will fission human history, splitting the immediate past from the oncoming future. It will be an event on public view in the skies, in the oceans, and on the continental land masses of this planet. It will particularly involve our human sun, which every day lights up and shines upon the valleys, the mountains and the plains of this earth for our eyes. But on the day of this event, it will not appear merely as the master star of our so-called solar system. Rather, it will be seen as the circumambient glory of the woman, whom the apostle describes as ‘clothed with the sun’ and giving birth to ‘a child who will rule the nations with a scepter of iron’ (Rev 12:1,5).

Fissioning it will be as an event, in John Paul’s conviction of faith, for it will immediately nullify all the grand designs the nations are now forming and will introduce the grand design of man’s Maker. John Paul’s waiting and watching time will then be over. His ministry as the Servant of the Grand Design will then begin.¹⁹

If Satan decides to go ahead with this particular display, it would, no doubt be closely associated with his counterfeit of the second coming of Christ. Perhaps, just before Satan counterfeits the second coming of Jesus, an apparition of "Mary" will announce the day and hour of his coming. Thus "Mary" would be used to prepare the way for Satan to deceive the world into thinking that he is Christ. No doubt "she" would tell the people that the one who is coming is the one who can solve all problems and bring in the blessed millennium of peace and prosperity. Also this "Mary" would probably suit "her" message to fit all religious persuasions. For Jews, Satan would be introduced as their Messiah. For Christians he would be introduced as Jesus Christ. For Moslems he would be introduced as Imam Mahdi. For Buddhists he would be introduced as their Buddha in his fifth incarnation. For Hindus he would be introduced as Krishna. For New Age devotees he would be introduced as Maitreya, the cosmic Christ.

We will now consider the attraction that Mary has for Muslims. But first, can you remember how Pope John Paul II had a personal audience with his would-be assassin, Mehmet Ali Agca? Agca was from the Islamic country of Turkey, so the Pope’s gracious actions would have impressed the Moslem world. Remember too how the Pope has held religious meetings in the Omayyad Mosque of Damascus, 6 May 2001. Now regarding Moslems and Mary, consider the words of the prominent Roman Catholic writer Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen:²⁰

Muslimism... will eventually be converted to [Roman Catholic] Christianity—and in a way that even some of our missionaries never suspect. It is our belief that this will happen not through the direct teachings of Christianity, but through a summoning of the Muslims to a veneration of the Mother of God. This is the line of argument:

The Qu’ran, which is the Bible for the Muslims, has many passages concerning the Blessed Virgin. First of all, the Qu’ran believes in her Immaculate Conception, and also in her Virgin Birth...

The Qu’ran has also verses on the Annunciation, Visitation, and Nativity. Angels are pictured as accompanying the Blessed Mother and saying: "Oh, Mary, God has chosen you and purified you, and elected you above all the women of the earth." In the nineteenth chapter of the Qu’ran there are 41 verses on Jesus and Mary. There is such a strong defense of the virginity of Mary here that the Qu’ran, in the fourth book, attributed the condemnation of the Jews to their monstrous calumny against the Virgin Mary.

Mary, then, is for the Muslims the true Sayyida, or Lady. The only possible serious rival to her in their creed would be Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed himself. But after the death of Fatima, Mohammed wrote: "Thou shalt be the most blessed of all women in Paradise, after Mary." In a variation of the text, Fatima is made to say, "I surpass all the women, except Mary."

This brings us to our second point: namely, why the Blessed Mother, in the 20th century, should have revealed herself in the significant little village of Fatima, so that to all future generations she would be known as "Our Lady of Fatima."... I believe that the blessed Virgin chose to be known as "Our Lady of Fatima" as a pledge and a sign of hope to the Muslim people, and as an assurance that they, who show her so much respect, will one day accept her divine Son, too.

Evidence to support these views is found in the historical fact that the Muslims occupied Portugal for centuries. At the time when they were finally driven out, the last Muslim chief had a beautiful daughter by the name of Fatima. A Catholic boy fell in love with her, and for him she not only stayed behind when the Muslims left, but even embraced the faith. The young husband was so much in love with her that he changed the name of the town where he lived to Fatima. Thus, the very place where our lady appeared in 1917 bears a historical connection to Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed.

The final evidence of the relationship of Fatima to the Muslims is the enthusiastic reception which the Muslims in Africa, India, and elsewhere gave to the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima. Muslims attended the church services in honor of our Lady, they allowed religious processions and even prayers before their mosques; and in Mozambique, the Muslims who were unconverted, began to be Christian as soon as the statue of Our Lady of Fatima was erected.

Missionaries in the future will, more and more, see that their apostolate among the Muslims will be successful in the measure that they preach Our Lady of Fatima. Mary is the advent of Christ, bringing Christ to the people before Christ himself is born...

Notice these last words, "Mary is the advent of Christ, bringing Christ to the people..." Can you see the connection between this claim and the idea that a glorious apparition of "Mary" will prepare the way for Satan’s counterfeit second coming? Mary is portrayed as a sign of the one who is to come. And the Qu’ran does describe Mary as a sign: "And We made the son of Mary and his mother as a Sign: We gave them both shelter on high ground affording rest and security and furnished with springs" Qu’ran 23:50.

Now consider the words of the Roman Catholic priest Ladis J. Cizik who is the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima National Executive Director:

It is a fact that Moslems from various nations, especially from the Middle East, make so many pilgrimages to Our Lady of Fatima's Shrine in Portugal that Portuguese officials have expressed concern. The combination of an Islamic name and Islamic devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is a great attraction to Moslems...

Make no mistake about it, there is a very special relationship between the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Moslems!

The Holy Land has been a real battleground between the Islamic peoples and Christianity over the centuries... However, there is one remarkable exception: the Basilica of Saint Anne in Jerusalem.

The Crusaders built this church and named it in honor of the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary...Their great reverence for Our Lady precluded the Moslems from destroying her birthplace. The foundation for Heaven's Peace Plan at Fatima, Portugal, can be found in the Land of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

As the Moslems swept through Spain in the 8th century, a great religious treasure was buried for safe-keeping in the earth...It was a much venerated statue of Our Lady holding the Divine Child Jesus... After the overthrow of Moorish occupation, the image was uncovered in the year 1326...[and] was enshrined in a nearby Franciscan Monastery next to the "Wolf River."

The Moslems, during their Spanish occupation, had actually named the river. The Islamic term for Wolf River is "Guadalupe" (Guada = River; Lupe = Wolf). Hence, the famous Catholic image in Spain has been known, since the 14th century, by the Islamic name of "Our Lady of Guadalupe."

The Aztecs [in Mexico] worshipped an evil stone "serpent god" that demanded human sacrifice. It was extremely difficult to win souls for Christ from these bloodthirsty savages. However, with God all things are possible. Our Lady appeared to a humble Aztec Indian convert by the name of Juan Diego in 1531. When asked her name by Juan Diego, at the request of the local bishop, Our Lady's response, in the Aztec language, included the words "te coatlaxopeuh" (pronounced: "te quatlasupe") and meant "one who crushes the head of the stone serpent."

To Juan Diego and his fellow Aztecs, this revelation had great meaning, coupled with the miraculous image of Our Lady standing on top of a "crescent," the symbol of this evil serpent god. A tidal wave of conversions to Catholicism ensued. However, Bishop Zumarraga, who was from Spain, made what was no doubt a "heavenly mistake" that one day may lead to the mass conversion of Moslems. To the Bishop's Spanish ears, Our Lady's Aztec name of "Te Quatlasupe" sounded just like the name of the revered Madonna from Spain with the Islamic name, "Guadalupe." Hence, the bishop named the Mexican Madonna "Our Lady of Guadalupe."

And with that we are back to Fatima, Portugal where Our Lady, when asked her name, said: "I am the Lady of the Rosary." At Fatima, Our Lady taught us to pray the Rosary every day. Heaven presented its peace plan at Fatima and truly gave us hope for the world. Conversions were promised at Fatima: the conversion of sinners; the conversion of Russia; and what also appears to be the conversion of Islam.²¹

Now listen to the words of a Muslim:

Many people may be surprised that Muslims love Mary, the mother of Jesus. In the Quran, no woman is given more attention than Mary. Mary receives the most attention of any woman mentioned in the Quran even though all the Prophets with the exception of Adam had mothers. Of the Quran's 114 chapters, she is among the eight people who have a chapter named after them. The nineteenth chapter of the Quran is named after her, Mariam. Mariam means Mary in Arabic. The third chapter in the Quran is named after her father, Imran. Chapters Mariam and Imran are among the most beautiful chapters in the Quran. Mary (peace be upon her) is the only woman specifically named in the Quran. An authentic Haddith states that the Prophet said, ‘The superiority of ‘Aisha to other ladies is like the superiority of Tharid (i.e. meat and bread dish) to other meals. Many men reached the level of perfection, but no woman reached such a level except Mary, the daughter of Imran and Asia, the wife of Pharaoh.’ (Bukhari 4.643). Indeed, both Mary and Pharoah's wife are an example (Quran 66:11-12). The Virgin Mary plays a very significant role in Islam. She is an example and a sign for all people.²²

Since Muslims, like Catholics, believe that we have a soul or spirit that remains alive after the body is dead ²³ they have no shield against the deceptions of spiritualism. They, like Catholics, believe that Mary must be alive today (rather than resting in her grave, asleep until the resurrection). Thus apparitions of Mary can have great influence with them. Muslims also believe in the return of Jesus.²⁴ Furthermore, according to one source, they also believe that Mary is a mediator between Allah and man.²⁵ So this scenario of "Mary" announcing to Muslims the counterfeit second coming is very plausible. Remember how Revelation portrays the Papacy as gathering all under its wings? But there will be a remnant that resists the great satanic deception and who remain true to God and His Sabbath.

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1. Daniel: The four beasts of Daniel chapter 7 and the two beasts of Daniel chapter 8 (the description of King Nebuchadnezzar as a "beast" in Daniel chapter 4 has been omitted). Revelation: The dragon of chapter 12, the sea-beast and land-beast of chapter 13, the scarlet beast on which the woman sits in chapter 17, and the beast from the bottomless pit of Revelation 11:7.

2. See Appendix Six Identifying Other Characters of Revelation Chapter 17.