The snake temple and portal to the underworld [ The story of apostle saint Philip ]

The snake temple and portal to the underworld  

[ The  story of apostle saint Philip ]

The Greek Archeologist Strabo was wonderstruck with amazement on seeing the two stone statues which his assistant gave him by the end of the first century BC and there was a reason for this. Though the area where the excavation was being carried out was filled with many statues of snakes these two stone statues were very unique.  That statue looked like a snake with the head of a wolf, sharp long teeth, long wings, body of a snake and four legs. This kind of a statue was never seen before and was very unique. There was another statue. This too was totally very different. This statue was a three headed dog statue with sharp teeth which made it very fierce to look at.

As the archeologist held these two statues in his had he felt dizzy and at the same time he felt a chill feel run through his spine from top to bottom. A nerve from his palm blotted out and it hit his brain and he could not believe what he saw next.  The statue of the giant snake which was in his hands came alive and stood up gigantically in front of him. It breathed and spat fire from his mouth and flew high in the sky. Its voice was similar to that of a peacock. That voice echoed throughout this world. All those who heard the voice of this snake shook with fear and closed their eyes. They fell to the ground crying and started to shout out, “Eghithna do not harm us….. Eghithna we will give you whatever you ask…. Do not harm us please….. Eghithna please do not harm us.” That snake got its original form and reached a cave temple which was its home. The entrance of this cave was guarded by a dog with three heads. Then these two unique creatures sat on their throne. The priest of the temple will then come and offer cows and calves as a sacrifice to them.  When he is filled with unusual power of prophecy the village people would come to him to know their future. All the prophecy which the priest would tell would be very accurate.

  By chance if a husband of very beautiful women came to the priest to know his fortune, then the priest would try all possible ways to have that woman for his lust. If she refuses to obey him, then he would accuse her of adultery and offer her as a sacrifice to those gods. He will throw her into the mouth of the cave. All those who have crossed through the entrance of the cave have never come again to see this world. They are assumed to be dead or consumed by the gods of the cave. There are still more foolish people who have given all they own to this priest in order to get rid of their sins and have a good and bright future. 

  At one point of time the village people were fed up with this priest and the fierce snake and so they shouted out aloud praying that, “O Lord won’t you send any one to save us from the hands of this fierce snake and the cunning priest….” With this the vision was over.

    Now the archeologist Strabo understood all the details behind the statue he was having in his hands. He confirmed that it should be the Plutonium temple of the giant snake which is also known as the gates of hell. He then smelt the entrance of the old ruined cave entrance of the temple. There was a huge cloud of smoke covering the entrance. The smell of acid which emerged from the temple was unbearable. Still the archeologist wanted to confirm his finding and so he threw few of the birds which he had with him in front of the cave entrance. Immediately he saw that the birds which flew inside the entrance of the cave struggled to fly and then fell down to the ground dead. So now he confirmed that the great Plutonium snake temple which was considered as the portal to the underworld was the one he was standing in front of.

   Now we shall look at the beginning of this story. During 30 BC there was a huge crowd along the Sea of Galilee. All the miracles and signs and wonders which were done by a Jewish Rabbi Jesus Christ were greatly spoken among the people. At that time Jesus was in the sea selecting and calling Peter and his brother Andrew to follow him as His apostles. These two apostles belonged to the city of Bethsaida. A handsome young man, who belonged to a rich family, who also belonged to the city of Bethsaida had come to meet Jesus. His looks showed that he was thirty years of age and he had bright eyes. His appearance seemed that he had a clear thought and could not be easily deceived. But Jesus looked at him and said, “Philip…. Come follow me…” Philip did not say a word in reply. He was convinced by the looks and glory filled countenance of Jesus and accepted Jesus as his Master the very minute Jesus called him to follow Him.

Philip went to meet his friend Nathanael since he wanted to introduce him to Jesus. At that time Nathanael told Philip, “Can any good come from Nazareth?”  For this Philip replied, “Come and see and you will know”. 

  Then Philip and Nathanael discussed many interesting things about Jesus. Nathanael was the childhood friend of Jesus. When they finally came to meet Jesus, Jesus exclaimed, “Here is a true Israelite, there is no deceit in him.” Nathanael was surprised at this statement of Jesus and asked him, “My Lord how do you know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Then Jesus accepted Nathanael also as his disciple. Jesus, Nathanael and Philip became very close friends and they were of the same age group. Days passed by.

    Once, Jesus was preaching to a great multitude of people on a mountain. This is commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount. The people were struck with wonder on hearing all that Jesus taught them for no wise men on earth had given such great teachings. This went on for three days and people did not realize that three days had passed. At the end of the third day, Jesus finished his sermon and then when he saw the crowd, they were hungry. Jesus did not want to send them away in hunger. So he called his disciples and asked them, “Can you get something to eat for this crowd?” 

   Philip replied, “My Lord, the multitude is huge and this place is a desert. How can we fetch food for this whole crowd? We do not even have any shops nearby? Why don’t we send them off so that they can go to the nearby villages and get food for themselves?” Jesus looked at the disciples and asked them to make the people sit in groups ready to eat. Jesus asked the disciples to find out what they had in hand. In the crowd was a boy who had five loaves of bread and two fishes. They brought the boy and the food he had with him to Jesus. Jesus got the give loaves and two fishes and looked up to heaven and gave thanks to God the Father. Immediately the five loaves and two fishes multiplied and the crowd of five thousand people ate. They even collected the remaining food in twelve baskets. Of all the disciples Philip observed every movement of Jesus very keenly. He noticed that when Jesus was about to do a miracle, He raised his eyes and hands to his heavenly Father and prayed. Once the miracle had happened, Jesus thanked the heavenly Father.

   Once Jesus called his disciples and gave them authority and power and sent them out two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure all disease; and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. Jesus further said to them, ‘I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. I am sending you just like how the Father has sent me….’ Philip did not miss to listen carefully to these words of God and decided in his heart to ask him about his heavenly Father.

   Once a day he got the chance and he asked Jesus, “Lord forgive me for this doubt of mine. But I was so curious to know this and so I am asking it to you now. You do not stay with us at night….. You leave us and go to pray in solitude. You pray the whole night… you do not sleep during the day also. You just rest for a while and then you are back to your preaching. To whom are you praying?” 

   Jesus looked at Philip and said, “Dear Philip, I pray to my Father in heaven. When I pray the whole night, my Father in heaven will explain to me all that I have to preach the next day and all that I should do the following day. He gives me the blue print of all that I should do. He also tells me all that awaits me the next day and also in the future. Then I pray to him for these things and I do all that He tells me to do.” Philip was not fully satisfied with this answer and so he asked Jesus, “Lord, often you mention the words ‘My Father’ but you have never introduced Him to us. We have never seen Him. So I request you to show your heavenly Father to us.”

   Jesus turned to him and said, “Philip you have not understood what I am saying. My Father dwells in me and I dwell in my Father. Any one sees me and knows me sees and knows my Father. He who listens to me and obeys my words listens to my Father who sent me. Then how is it possible for me to show my Father to you. Why could you not understand this?”

  Still Philip was not convinced at this reply of Jesus. He confused himself asking this question, “How is it possible for Jesus to be within His Father and His Father to be within Him?” of course Philip was not able to understand this at that time. He did not get an answer to this question then. But when Jesus died and ascended to heaven, as Jesus had promised the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, was poured on mother Mary and all the apostles, including Philip.

    The Holy Spirit guided them in all the truth they should know. They received the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit namely, wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, fortitude, piety and fear of the Lord. After this all of them understood clearly the Trinity of our Lord. They also understood what is heaven, earth and hell, they understood the theory of creation, they understood the trinity of human life namely body, soul and spirit. They also understood that God created everything for mankind but he created mankind to praise him and worship him. They came to know that up to the day this world understands that there is only one creator, one true God, this world and all that is in it will exist in the way they were created to exist.

   God created this whole world and gave it to mankind. The rightful authority to this world was given to man. But man sinned and thus the authority was lost by him and Satan gained that authority. But God was gracious and merciful to man and so, He sent His only son, Jesus to save us from Satan and gave us back the authority we lost. So whoever believes in Jesus and in his precious blood gets back the authority from Satan. For this purpose the second person in the trinity, Jesus Christ, came to this world as human being. For this purpose he was immaculately conceived in the womb of Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. This was clearly understood by the apostles once they received the Holy Spirit. They now understood their work or mission on this earth that is to go and preach Jesus Christ to this whole world and make Jesus known to every mankind.

 One day Philip was preaching in Samaria when he was filled with the Holy Spirit who told him to go to the road, the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. So he started out and on the way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake. (Which means “queen of the Ethiopians”) this man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. He did not understand certain verses in the passage he was reading.   At this time, Philip ran close to the chariot and asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?” For this the man replied, “How can I unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come and sit with him. Philip got into the chariot and explained the Scripture verses in Isaiah chapter 53 to the minister. Philip explained all that he knew and saw of the sufferings of Jesus, how Jesus died and how the prophetic verses in Isaiah 53 were fulfilled. The minister was very much convinced with all that Philip said and as they travelled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of me being baptized?” and he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. Through this Ethiopian minister, Christianity spread all over Ethiopia. The place where this Ethiopian minister was baptized is still available for us to see. 

  During 724 AD. to 728 AD, a pilgrim named Willibald visited this place. In his book about his journey in Palestine, he mentions about this place and he states that there was a church which was recorded in the famous Madaba map. In present days this place is near Betzuri, which is called as “Ayn al-Dhirwah’. This Betzuri is the place is the last place where the three wise men who came to meet Jesus stayed. This place, which was once a high way, is now a small foot path.

   The apostles discussed among themselves and put lots to decide on the place where each one should go. Philip and Bartholomew (who is also known as Nathanael) had to go to Samaria. One it was decided, Peter looked at these two apostles and said, “My dear brethren in Jesus Christ, we separate to go ahead to do the ministry of God and I feel that we will not meet again in this world. Jesus will be within us and guide us and lead us. Just remember all that Jesus said to us, especially these words, ‘I am sending you like lambs among wolves, just like how my Father had sent me, so am I sending you.’ I say these very same words to you and I bless you both as a leader of this team as appointed by Christ Jesus. Dear Philip and Bartholomew do you know what kind of a place you are about to go? It is a place of deadly dangerous people who are very well known for idol worship. Just like how Jerusalem is the capital of Jews, Smyrna is the capital of Satan. So God has specially chosen you to go and meet Satan at the gates of hell which is in this city. But I assure you that you will defeat Satan and have victory, you will bear witness to our Lord Jesus Christ. All the best and may the grace of God be with you always.” So saying, Peter blessed them and kissed them and bid farewell to them. In the same way all the apostles wished and blessed each other and went their way to do the ministry of God.

The great city of Smyrna

133 years before Jesus Christ was born as a human being on this earth, the romans captured this city of Smyrna and brought it under their control. In order to exercise their control on them, the Romans brought in their gods and goddesses into the city and also spread a lot of stories about their religion and gods. They also built temples for their gods and built palaces and grand halls according to their culture. At present this city is located in the south western part of Turkey. The name Smyrna has changed along with time and now this province is called as Izmir. This place is now a main town in Turkey and a part of this big town is Ephesus.

  After the death of Jesus Christ, assassinations and martyrdoms took place in various parts of the world. At that time, the disciple, close friend, evangelist and the most beloved disciple of Jesus, Apostle John, took mother Mary along with him and came to this city of Ephesus. 

  History states that Mother Mary lived and spent the rest of her life until death in this city of Ephesus. She died and was buried in this city. Even now the house where Mother Mary lived and died is still available. Jesus Christ has done everything with a purpose and this too was done with a purpose. Since this city of Smyrna is the headquarters of Satan, the woman who is the deadly enemy of Satan, Mother Mary, was sent to this place by God and her grave is also in this place. As God mentioned in Genesis 3:15, “and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you swill strike his heel” God spoke these words to Satan, for deceiving Eve.” According to this verse as long as Mother Mary is in that place, Satan cannot win with all his evil tricks and power. Whenever Satan tries to rise up against mankind, Holy Mother will crush his head to the ground.

   So the headquarters of Satan is in Smyrna. Now let us find out where is this place the snake temple and the portal to the underworld. This place is located in the nearby territory of Ephesus namely Phrygia.  The Gates of hell and the portal to the underworld is located at a distance of 250 miles east of Phrygia. The apostles Nathanael and Philip came to this place to do their ministry.

The gates of hell and the portal to the underworld

‘Opiormye’ is the name of this city.  The Romans and the Greek have named their snake gods as Opiormye. Though there are numerous snake temples in this city, this temple at Opiormye is very special. The reason for the specialty of this temple is, in the center part of the temple lives the giant snake which would spit fire and cause destruction. It lives in the temple and rarely comes out. But when it comes out if breathes fire and the very look of it will be fierce and breathtaking. It will come out and kill all those who happen to fall in its sight. It would cause great damage to people and the entire place. Then when it goes back, it goes into the plutonian cave and disappears. People were scared of this giant snake up to the time our apostles Nathanael and Philip came to that city.

Philip had three girl children. Two of them did not marry but lived as virgins offering their lives to God. The last girl was married but she too offered up her life for the ministry of God and lived in Ephesus. Philip’s Sister Miriam also assisted Philip in his ministry and accompanied him wherever he went. All these relatives joined together and came to this city of Operimey and lived there. By their powerful teachings and sermons, and the great miracles, which were done by them, made many of the people of that city, to accept Christ as their savior. 

  One such person was Isthagis who accepted Christ based on the teachings of Philip. He accepted Christ along with his family members. He made the apostle Nathanael, Philip, Philips daughters and Philips sister to stay in his house and do their ministry. He took care of all the needs of their ministry. So God blessed Isthagis and his family abundantly. One of the greatest miracles which was done by Philip and Nathanael as recorded in history was, they brought a dead person alive.  This aggravated the anger of Satan and he waited for the right opportunity to take revenge on Philip and Nathanael.

   One day, the wife of the Governor of the city, Nagnora, listened to the teachings of Philip. After the sermon was over, she introduced herself to Philip and Nathanael. She said, “Sir, I am a Hebrew by birth. Since you speak the same Hebrew language which my father speaks, I treat you as my own father. I have a problem with my eye sight and few of the sickness which ladies have. So I request you to pray for me so that I will be healed.” 

   Philip and Nathanael prayed for her and she was healed that very moment. She was thrilled and overjoyed. But this happiness did not last long. When Nagnora’s husband came to know of the way his wife was healed, he did not like it. He could not bear to see his wife worship some foreign God Jesus Christ instead of worshiping his own dear snake God. He was also surprised to see a strange light fill the room in which she prayed regularly every night. His hatred for her grew strong day by day. He called her and warned her and commanded her saying, “You should not worship any foreign god like Jesus Christ. You should worship only the snake Gods which our ancestors worshiped.”

   Nagnora could not bear this torture of her husband. But still she spoke boldly to him saying, “I worshiped the so called snake god whom you asked me to worship all these days. But that god was not able to cure me of my disease. But the God whom you hate and say as a foreign god, Jesus Christ, cured me the very moment I asked Him. He is the true God and He is capable of anything. I believe in Him and will worship Him only. I don’t see anything wrong to worship the true and all powerful God. Alright, since you are so stubborn to make me worship your snake god, come on and accept this challenge of mine. I will give you the eye problem with which I was suffering all these years. If your snake God is capable of healing you, then I will deny Jesus and worship your snake God. Do you agree for this challenge?” her husband accepted this challenge.

  Very soon the governor’s eyes were infected with cataract. Day by day his eyesight became weaker and weaker. This aggravated the governor. In his anger, he caught hold of his wife and dragged her to the house of Isthagis. He stood at the door and shouted out, “Oh you Philip and Nathanael come out you cowards. You, who were able to show all your power to a lady, come out and face my challenge. Can you stand before my god, the great snake god of Operimey and perform your miracles? If you lose in this challenge, you will be killed. If you win in this battle, I and all my people will accept your God as our God. But I assure you that my great and mighty snake god will tear you to pieces and kill you. Are you ready for this challenge or are you ready to give up your lives?” immediately Philip and Nathanael accepted the challenge.

   The next day morning, Philip and Nathaneal were waiting outside the great snake temple to take up the challenge. The priests of the temple started chanting their holy verses, “come our dear snake god…… come … come… the great god of Operimey….. the god of all this world…. Egithna come come come …. Come to this place soon….” So saying they danced and sang calling their snake god to come and take up the challenge. All of a sudden the sky turned dark and dark smoke came out of the temple. The priest had the spirit upon him and started to speak on behalf of Satan, “The mighty god Egithna is coming, the great snake god is coming, come on all you who stand here, fall at his feet and worship him..” he was shivering all over his body and came dancing all over the place. 

   In the next few minutes all the snake statues in the temple got life and started to move. They fell to the ground and started to move swiftly. When the people saw this they were struck with fear and shouted out saying, “Egithna, forgive us…. We forgot your power and might and have done this great sin…. Forgive us and spare our lives… oh great god… we beg your mercy…. Forgive us for believing in this foreign false god Jesus…. Forgive us… please forgive us….” They shouted in great fear.

  All the snake statues in all the temples in that city came alive and started to move. All of them came swiftly and started to chase the people. All the people of the city, around 20000 of them, men and women and children ran in panic and surrendered themselves before the snake god shouting, “Oh powerful and mighty snake god, save us……” so saying they reached this big snake temple.

  On reaching the temple, they saw Philip and Nathanael standing at the entrance. These two apostles were not scared or tensed for anything or anyone. They stood calm and undisturbed. They did not even close their eyes, for if they did so, then the enemy will think that they are scared. But now they closed their eyes as a sign of prayer and said, “Oh Lord Jesus Christ, be merciful to us. Let your mercy surround us. This battle is not between us and Satan. But it is between you and Satan. We are just your representatives and now the battle is all yours. We leave it in your hands. Do all that you wish and let your name be glorified.” Once they said this prayer, the incidents that happened next were something that the people had never seen or expected.

  The great giant snake which stood as a statue in the midst of the temple came alive and came out of the temple. As the snake came out of the temple, many of the men and women were filled with the power of Satan and danced so fiercely that it all the onlookers were speechless and scared. Small children shouted loudly in fear.

   The giant snake shouted in anger asking, “Who are these two wanderers who are standing here?” 

 The high priest of the temple replied, “These two men have come from Palestine. They do not know your greatness, power and might and so they have called you for a challenge. They are preaching about a foreign god by the name Jesus Christ. Many of our people too have believed their false teachings and accepted Jesus as their God. Oh my great master, show your power and might to these two wanderers. Teach them a good lesson. Also show our people and these two men the consequences of accepting any other god other than you. Swallow all those who stand for Jesus Christ and kill them immediately. I humbly request you to do this my Lord.” 

 The snake stood up between the earth and the sky and replied, “I will do as per your request. I will kill these two men and all those who support him and follow the foreign god.”

It was a fearful sight to see that tall structure of the snake god. People were greatly scared of this appearance of the snake god. “You cheap human being….. How dare you call me for a challenge? I will now prove to you my greatness and power….. Your death should be a lesson for all those who doubt my power…..” roared the snake god Egithna in anger.

    So saying the snake opened its mouth wide open. As the snake’s mouth widened it appeared like a cave. The smell of acid which came out of the mouth of this snake was unbearable. Suddenly a great noise was heard in the sky. The sky was lit up with lightning and thunder roared from one end of the sky to the other.    Saint Michael the archangel appeared in the sky and said, “Dear Philip, Nathanael, do not be afraid of this snake creature. I will take care of him. In order to protect the people from the poison which comes out of this snake, and all the poisonous gases which comes from all the other snakes, draw the sign of the cross in the name of Jesus Christ on all the four directions.” 

   Philip’s Sister Miriam and his daughters went among the crowd and drew the sign of the cross in the name of Jesus Christ on all the four directions. The next moment all the snakes in the city could not move and could not harm the people. Saint Michael the archangel looked up at the snake and said, “Egithna….. You cursed Satan…. Come on and show your power to me….. I have marked the sign of the cross in the name of Jesus Christ all around you. You are completely immobilized. If you still have guts come and fight with me.”    Egithna, the giant snake stood up. So far the snake which used to crawl on its belly, now stood up with the help of his hind legs, ready to fight with Saint Michael. The fierce battle started.

  Philip and Nathanael prayed to Jesus Christ, “Sanctus….. Sanctus….. Sanctus… Dominae…. Deius…. Sabavoth….” This means, “Holy… Holy… Holy…Holy is the Lord of all the three worlds. The heaven and earth are full of your glory… Hosanna in the highest…..” they were singing this heavenly hymn. This echoed all around the place. The breath of the giant snake, Egithna became like a cloud of black smoke because of the fierce battle. It became poisonous and surrounded the place.

   But the light which emerged from the sword of  Saint Michael the archangel destroyed the poison on the air and purified it. Immediately the atmosphere turned to normal colour. It appeared like thunder and lightning to the people who saw this fierce battle. The colour of the sky kept on changing from black smoke to normal clear look. After some time, the sign of the defeat of this giant snake was seen when the wings of this snake were cut off and thrown to the ground. 

   The snake god roared in pain and many wounds could be seen all over his body. Blood gushed out from the wounds and it fell like huge balls of fire on all the snake temples in that place. As a result of this the snake temples in that area caught fire and were destroyed. A loud death cry was heard and the Saint archangel Michael struck his fiery sword piercing the heart of the giant snake saying, 

  “you coward Egithna…. You were deceiving these people with this name right? Now this is the end of your life.” The next moment the giant snake fell to the ground with a loud cry. All the people gathered around could not bear to hear that loud death cry of that snake. At last the giant snake fell dead on the ground. When the snake god fell to the ground it fell like any other ordinary snake. Within the next few seconds the snake disappeared slowly. Along with this giant snake all the other snakes found in the city also disappeared. The three headed dog at the entrance of the temple also died and dissolved in the air.

   The next moment all those gathered in that place shouted joyfully, “Victory in the name of Lord Jesus Christ!!!! Praise the Holy name of Lord Jesus.” They celebrated the victory of Jesus. All the people of that city, which was once under the control of snakes, now understood the power and might of the only true God Jesus. As the people were shouting praises to the Lord Jesus Christ, a volcano which was near the city burst and started to spit fire and lava. 

  The governor utilized this opportunity and shouted out, “my dear country men…. See what had happened. These two wanderers have done some magic and killed our all-powerful snake god. In order to take revenge on us, our snake god Egithna has now kindled the fires of this volcano, which is the home of our snake god. These two people have put us all under the perils of our snake god’s anger. So do not spare these two people. Come on stone them to death. These two people who have put our lives at stake should not live. Offer them as a sacrifice to our snake god to cool off his anger. Also kill all the Christians in this town. Kill the person who has given his home to these two preachers. Burn all these people immediately….”    Immediately the governor’s wife Nagnora stood up in terror and said, “No this is injustice…. You have lost in the battle…. You are a looser… that is the reason you are expressing this anger on these two holy men of God. So according to the challenge it is you who is to be killed….. But it is not too late…. Accept Christ as your savior and I will ask Philip to forgive you and save your life..”

  But the governor was not afraid, instead he looked at her and said, “you merciless woman! How dare you ask me to beg the pardon of these two wanderers? Are you sparing my life and showing me mercy? I am the one who is to spare the life of these two so called men of God. Oh my dear citizens, listen to me. These two men have come to you in the name of God and have deceived all of you. So catch hold of all these men who are responsible for this especially these two preachers and stone them to death.”

  The next moment, the people who were shouting glory to Jesus, turned against the apostles and looted the house of Isthagis, they set his house on fire. The house was burnt down. Many houses of the Christians were also burnt down and the Christians were beaten. Philip and Bartholomew were arrested and tied to the pillars near the snake temple. They  tried to rape  the sister of Philip. But God was so gracious that he sent a huge pillar of fire to protect her and cover up her nakedness. 

   The governor’s wife Nagnora was confused and deeply hurt by these heart breaking incidents which followed one after the other. By that time the governor’s eye sight became more and more weak. He was losing his eye sight completely. This aggravated the anger of the governor. He commanded the people saying, “Dear citizens, come on, stone these two preachers to death.” 

   The people who lost their senses and forgot the good things that these two apostles had done for them, started to stone them to death. They very soon forgot all the great things that these two men of god had done to win the snake god and defeat it. Nagnora could not bear to see this. 

   She immediately declared aloud, “let the almighty God avenge you for this notorious act of yours. Already you are a loser; you lost the challenge you had with me. That is the reason you are infected with the eye disease which I had. May you lose, your eyesight completely. For all this daring act of yours, you will surely receive the right punishment from God. You have taken the name of the Lord so lightly that you have done this great injustice to these men of God. The almighty God whom they serve will soon judge you for your acts. Be prepared for it.” 

   The governor replied with a sarcastic smile, “you fool, are you aware of what you say? You thought that I am an idiot to release these two preachers? Never, if I release them then it means they have won and I am a loser. I will never let it happen. I will never lose, they will be the losers. If I have to live then they have to die…. I will ensure they die.”

  The two apostles were very badly hurt by the stones. At that moment Philip looked at his friend Bartholomew and said in their Hebrew language, “My dear friend, I want to see apostle and my friend John.” at that time the governor looked at the crowd and said, “Dear people, stop stoning them. They say they are the followers of the great God Jesus Christ. So we will give them the same punishment which was given to their God. We will crucify them on the cross. They say they are followers of Jesus, let them follow Jesus in death also.” 

  Nagnora started to plead for the apostles. She said, “Oh no please do not do this. This is not right. All of you know that these two men are the Holy men of God. You have seen with your own eyes all the great miracles and signs and wonders done by them. All of you know deep within your heart that these men are innocent. So please do release them. Do not kill them.” So saying she pleaded the cause of the apostles and cried bitterly before the crowd. But the barbaric crowd did not pay head to listen to her cries. They were very much eager to kill the apostles and offer them as sacrifice to their snake god so that the wrath of the snake god on them will be put to an end.

  The crowd sprang on the apostles and caught hold of them. They made them naked and made them stand upside down on the stone to which they were tied. They used huge nails and nailed the feet of the apostles to the stone pillar. In order to balance their weight, they used iron hooks and fastened it to their thighs along with the stone. As these things were happening, Apostle John happened to come that way. 

  He was moved by the Holy Spirit and came there. When he came to the center of the city, he saw a great crowd and a lot of commotion and noise in that place. Curious to know what was going on there, he reached the place and asked the people who were the people tied to the stone pillar and what was going on. The apostles were so badly disfigured by the stones that Apostle John could not even recognize his own friends (disciples of Jesus Christ). 

  The people looked at John and said, “Sir you look new to this place. These people who are tied to this stone pillar are preachers of the gospel. One of them is Philip, the other is Bartholomew and the other lady is Miriam. They came here and preached false doctrine about a new god Jesus Christ. They also killed our snake god Egithna. That is why we have crucified them in this stone pillar.” 

  Immediately John replied, “If your snake god Egithna is all powerful then it should have killed these people who stood against it. Instead the snake god is now dead and these people are alive which means that the god whom these people believe and worship is the all-powerful and only true god. The person who has won is the true one. Then why have you punished the winners? Is this justice? Why don’t you think for yourself?”

   The people were startled at this reply of John and understood that he too was one of the disciples of Jesus Christ. So immediately they said, “Oh so you too belong to these preachers is it? Then you have arrived at the right time. Here is yet another soul to be sacrificed to our snake god. Come on catch hold of him and tie him to the stone pillar. We will crucify him also. Let this be a lesson to all those who believe in Christ and all those who wish to believe.” 

   At this Philip could not bear any more and opened his mouth and spoke, “You senseless people, you cowards….. Are you so ungrateful that you kill those who relieved you from this giant snake god who was torturing you all these days of your life? Have you forgotten the days when you used to cry out asking God to save you from the destruction caused by this snake god? We came to help you, not for any reward. Our almighty Lord was so gracious to you all and killed this snake so that you will live peacefully. In spite of all the wonders our Lord did through us, if front of your eyes, you still do not believe the truth and trust in the god who is already defeated and dead. Did you not see how your snake god died? Is your heart as hard as this stone that you refuse to accept the truth even now? Ungrateful people” 

  Nagnora also spoke up saying, “respected Philip, do not spare these ungrateful people. They should have been left to the plight of that giant snake. Go ahead and curse them. They are not worthy to trust or take part in the life which is given by Jesus Christ. Curse them that the earth will open wide and swallow them. Let these people be pushed into the fires of hell where their thirst will never be quenched. Let the God almighty punish my husband for all that he has done against God. Let my husband be pushed into the deep pits of hell and be buried there forever. Go ahead and curse all these people. Do not spare them anymore.”

  Hearing all these one of the men came quickly and caught hold of John and tied him with a rope. Philip could not bear to see this. His anger reached its heights. He forgot that he was a disciple of Jesus Christ. He tolerated the injustice done to his own sister and to his dear friend Bartholomew. But he could not tolerate to see John being tied to the rope. For, John was the dear brother of Jesus who took care of Mother Mary all her life. He could not bear to see that John was going to be killed. 

  So he cried aloud, “I could not tolerate this anymore my dear Lord, I will curse these people, let these people be cursed. Let the earth open its mouth wide open and let these people be pushed through the gates of hell into the unquenched ever burning fire.” 

  As soon as Philip had uttered the last word, there was great thunder and lightning in the sky. The sky lit up and the earth opened wide with large noise. All the temples in that city, along with plutonian temple of the snake god shattered to the ground with a huge noise. All the roman temples, snake god temples, starting from the snake god temple up to the portal of hell were broken down and the earth quaked and shook their foundations. All those who stood against Lord Jesus Christ and against the believers of Jesus Christ were pushed into the fires of hell. But god spared all those who were true and holy, including men and women, and their children. They stood where they were but the earth swallowed all the other people.

   Amidst the burning fire loud voices screamed, “Oh Philip…. Oh Bartholomew…. Please forgive us. We have done the greatest sin of our life. Though we saw all the great deeds of Jesus Christ, we knew that He is the almighty God; we spoke against Him and did the greatest sin of our life. We repent now with a true heart, please forgive us…..” they wept bitterly.

    Apostle John saw this and was deeply moved. He turned to Philip and said, “At 85 years of age, being a devoted apostle of Jesus Christ, it is not right or fair to curse these people. You should not have put them in fire. This is not the way a true apostle should be. Our dear Lord Jesus Christ did not teach us such things. Don’t you remember the words our Lord spoke on the cross…. Amidst so much of torture, so much of pain, He said, ‘Forgive them Father….for they do not know what they are doing’. He pleaded the cause of those who tortured Him to death. If the blameless, Holy and true God could tolerate and pardon the sins of those who harmed him and insulted him, we as his disciples should be like him. Being a Christian is to be like Christ. If we are going to do just like these people, evil for evil, then there is not difference between them and us. Where is the love and compassion of the Lord in us? We should be showing them at all times, am I right? It is not too late. Plead with Jesus Christ to save these people from this fire. Our compassionate and loving God will surely listen to your prayers and release them. No one else other than you can plead for them. Go ahead and do it. Please.”

  Philip realized his mistake and shed tears. He cried bitterly for what he had done.

   At this time Nagnora said, “Dear sir Philip, forgive and rescue any one you want. But do not show mercy on my husband. Please never do that.” The next moment Philip started to pray for the people to Jesus Christ. He cried to Jesus Christ and asked him to forgive him and all the other people for all that they had done. He pleaded for the mercy of Christ.

    Hearing his prayer Jesus Christ appeared to him and said, “Philip, since you have realized your mistake, I forgive you and all those for whom you are praying for. I release these people from the fires right now.” So saying Jesus lowered his cross into the burning fire and that cross turned into a ladder. The people caught hold of it, climbed on to it and escaped from fire. But there was one  man who refused the cross and remained in fire. He was none other than Nagnora’s husband. All those who came out of the fire and lava sang hymns of praise to Jesus Christ as they came out.

   Jesus Christ then turned to Philip and said, “Philip though your anger is just, still you are not to curse people. I will never accept that. Don’t you remember what I had told you? Forgive your brother seventy times seven in a day. This means forgive him always. Look at people with the God kind of love which is selfless and always waits for them to come back to the right track. You have forgotten this. As I had promised all the apostles, ‘that which you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and that which you loosen on earth will be loosened in heaven too..’ according to this promise I had to push these people to fire. But do remember I want you to build the kingdom of god on earth. That is the reason I sent all of you out into the world. Don’t you know that there will be great rejoicing in heaven on one sinner who repents than ninety nine righteous people? But in my grace I protected these people in fire. Their hair, or dress or their bodies were not burnt by fire. But I will have to punish you for this hasty decision of yours. You will die and your soul will not reach heaven for forty days. Once the forty days are over, I will take you to be with me forever in my home in heaven. A grape wine will grow in the place where you will be buried. Take those grapes and make wine out of it; offer it as a sacrifice and worship me. Bartholomew who is there crucified on the cross along with you, will go to Armenia and do the evangelic ministry there. He will die as my witness in that place. Your sister Miriam will go the Jordan and do the ministry there and die as my witness. Your daughters will be with you and appoint your disciple Isthagis as the next bishop.” So saying Jesus disappeared.

   As Jesus said, Bartholomew was taken down from the cross. Philips sister was also released. But Philip refused any men to come near him or touch him or release him. He said that it is the will of God that he should die in that way and did not allow anyone to come near him. He suffered on the cross for six days and on the seventh day he died. He was buried in that city. On the third after he was buried, a grape wine sprang up from the place where he was buried. It had fruits also and as instructed, the grape wine was taken from the grapes and offered as sacrifice and worship was done.

    For the next forty days people continued praying without sleeping on account of the love and respect they had for Philip. On the forty first day Philip appeared to Bartholomew and told him that he was there with Jesus in heaven and disappeared. The two daughters of Philip died of age and were buried along with Philip. His third daughter died in Ephesus. Apostle John died at a ripe old age in the city of Ephesus. His tomb is still there in Ephesus. But the grave of the daughters of Philip was not to be found. According to the words of Philip, Isthagis was anointed as the first bishop of the snake city. Since the romans has built many temples in that city along with the snake temple the city was called as sacred city, that is it was called as Hierapolis.   Many of the archeologist and bishops who lived in the second and third century have mentioned that the grave of Philip is in this city of Hierapolis.

   There are many interesting facts about the volcano’s which erupted and cooled off in this city. There were many hot springs during the Roman times. They were believed to have medicinal qualities in them. Even today there are hot water springs in few places in the city.

The hot water from the springs has flowed over the steps of white clay which is a beautiful sight. They are like natural swimming pools. They all have medicinal qualities in them. This has made it a great tourist spot for many of the tourists from the times of the Romans. In these modern days this place is called as Pamukkale.   There was large highway which was laid from central sear coast, from Ephesus city up to the city of Anatholia which is in the south eastern part of Turkey. This highway passes through this city of Hierapolis. Through this place only James started his second missionary work. Due to business requirements the city of Ephesus and the port city of Anatholia were linked by road transport and this was of great help in earnings for the Romans. But this was a great aid to spread Christianity in that region. 

  After the death of Philip the city of Hierapolis was named as sacred city. Many of the martyrs have been buried in this place. In 8 AD there was a great earthquake which completely disfigured the city. The entire city was demolished. After this incident the city never regained its lost glory. UNESCO took up this city under its control. Around 15 lakh people visit this city and the church which is built near the grave of Philip every year. Right from the first century up to this time, the devotion for Philip has not ceased among the Christians. The relics of Philip are kept in the Vatican City of Rome in the church of Apostles.

Dear Apostle Philip pray for us……… Amen

Saint Bartholomew Nathanael

Saint Bartholomew Nathanael

  The readers of the Bible will never forget the great wedding feast at Cana since the bridegroom was our dear saint Nathanael. Even today Nathanael’s house has been converted as a church by the name ‘the house of saint Bartholomew’ which is located behind the house where the wedding feast in Cana was held. The key for this house is available in the house where the wedding feast was held, and it will be given on request.

The apostle Philip told Nathanael about the great works of Jesus Christ for which Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Since Nathanael could not believe the greatness of Jesus Christ, Philip took Nathanael with him to meet Jesus so that Nathanael could know for himself all about Jesus Christ. When Jesus met Nathanael He said, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit. Nathanael said unto him, where knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.” In this way Jesus gave a good conduct certificate about Nathanael.

    This Nathanael, who was certified by Jesus Christ himself as an Israelite who has no deceit, was actually a childhood friend of Jesus Christ. In their childhood days Jesus and Nathanael used to share a lot of things. Once Nathanael asked Jesus, “it could have been a great challenge for god to change this huge Nile River into blood during the times of Moses.” For this Jesus replied, “Dear Nathanael this is an easy task for God. In fact there is nothing difficult for God. But if there is something difficult for God, then it is definitely to change the hearts of men towards him….. 

   For the lord god who created all the heaven and earth and all that is in it, could not change the hearts of men towards him and make them love him. For god has given man a free will and does not force the divine nature of love on man. God did not create any other creature in his own image and likeness, but he created only man in that way. Just like how there is a trinity in God the Father, Jesus Christ the son and Holy Spirit, so also there is a trinity in human being namely, Spirit, soul and body. The human soul dwells within his body and so also his Spirit. That is the reason God said, love your god with all you spirit, soul and body. If a person understands this then he will be wise. All those who do not understand this concept remain in the ordinary platform. If god is to dwell within a man, then that person should open up his heart to God and invite him to come and stay with him. Only then God will enter and dwell in his heart. If you do not invite me to your house, then how can I come there? Do you understand now Nathanael? I promise you today, I will be there at your wedding feast and on that day you will understand the power and might of God.” When Nathanael stood under the fig tree, he had recollected all this in his heart.

    As already foretold by Jesus, Jesus had come to the wedding feast of Nathanael. When they ran out of wine, Jesus turned water into wine according to the request of his dear mother. At that time Jesus told Nathanael, “Do you remember what I told you the other day while we were chatting along the Nile River? I will surely come for your wedding feast and on that day you will see the power and might of God. You wondered about how God turned the river water into blood, now did you see today God has turned water into wine. Now what do you say for this? You will still see the greater works and miracles of God.” As they were talking the master of the feast called Nathanael and said, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now. Where did you buy this wine? As far as my knowledge I don’t remember any one of our generation who have tasted such good wine. It was surely during the times of the great king Solomon, such wine was available. Since the king Solomon relished the taste of this wine so much he commanded his men not to prepare such good wine after his time. He did not want anyone else to enjoy this taste. So our ancestors also had hidden the method of preparing such wine and as days passed by they actually forgot it altogether. I believe the taste of that wine should have been like this.”

   Then Jesus Christ gave a fruit to the wedding bride and bridegroom, one each. The shape and appearance of the fruit was totally new and rare and no one had ever seen it. The taste too was very different. This fruit was none other than the forbidden fruit which the Lord forbade Adam and Eve from eating. So the two people who ever knew or tasted this fruit were Adam and Eve. After Adam and Eve tasted that fruit, then, the purpose of the fruit to be forbidden was lost. When Adam and Eve sinned they were driven out of the Garden of Eden and the garden was protected by two Cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life. God did not allow any other man to enter the garden from that day onwards. In this way god shut the gates of the garden once for all.

    But during the wedding feast, Jesus Christ, the almighty god, gave the wedding couple this fruit of knowledge and wisdom. All those who were gathered in the wedding feast including the bride and the bridegroom looked at the fruit in great surprise. This was because no one had seen that fruit up to that time anywhere in the country. Even the mandrake which was in use during the times of our forefather Jacob is no longer in use….. In which case what is this new fruit? They thought this could be the mandrake. Like this each one started to give various ideas about the fruit.

    At that time, the wedding couple ate the fruit and the next moment they became unconscious and fell down to the ground. Dark smoke came out of their nostrils, ears and mouth. They couples parents were terrified and all those gathered there were also greatly alarmed. The wedding feast turned out to be a funeral with the wailing and weeping of the people gathered there. Seeing this Jesus said, “Do not fear. The hand of the Lord is upon this couple and a great work of god is being fulfilled in them. So do not fear or worry about it. They will be alright soon.”

  In a few seconds the couple got up and bowed down at the feet of Jesus and said, “Lord we thank thee for having chosen us for your great ministry. We have now understood where we stand and what our spiritual status is. Do command us and we will come behind you to do your ministry.” But Jesus told them, “Wait for the time to come and then you will fulfill your destiny.” But Nathanael said, “My Lord we still insist that we will fast and pray for the next three years and only then we would start our family life. I am sure in this.”

   The gift which Jesus gave to this wedding couple at Cana was the best gift and Jesus had never given such a gift to anyone else, even to his dear apostles or brothers or friends. This was the love which Jesus had on his childhood friend Nathanael. Nathanael too had known Jesus from his childhood days and after the incident on his wedding, he came to know all about Jesus clearly. So he loved and believed in Jesus to a very great extent. That is the reason, Nathanael who had seen Jesus as one of his close friends, bowed to Jesus calling him as God after he had recovered from his unconscious state when he ate the fruit given by Jesus. From that day Nathanael was prepared to join hands with Jesus to do his ministry.

    True love is greater than one’s life itself. That is why Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” the death of Nathanael is an example of this kind of a love. The martyrdom of Nathanael was the worst kind of death which Nathanael underwent to express his deep love and faith for his dear friend, teacher and Lord Jesus Christ. No other apostle had undergone this kind of a cruel experience which Nathanael underwent.

   The great demon Astrate gave testimony that Nathanael was the most favored and loved disciple of Jesus Christ. Let us see how this incident took place. After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the apostles Nathanael, Judas Thaddaeus, and Philip started their missionary work having Asia Minor (the modern Turkey) as their center of operation. The reason for selecting Turkey as their center place of operation was because of the geographic location of the place. Turkey is  divided as one half in Asia and the other half in Europe. Asia and Europe are divided by a small strait called Bosphorus which forms a part of the boundary between these two continents. There was a person called Christopher who used to travel up and down this strait carrying people and cargo in his small boat. This was the reason he was called as the guardian saint of drivers (of all vehicles). 

The people, who lived during the times of Jesus, around two thousand years ago, had a very limited knowledge of geography or earth as such. In those days people used to believe that India was located between Ethiopia up to East Asian countries. This means the people thought that India was located at the far end of this earth. So Nathanael wanted to start his missionary and preaching work in this far off country India. So he started from Ethiopia and travelled around Arabia and reached India. There is a mention in history which states that Nathanael reached Mumbai and preached in the city of Kalyan. He gave a copy of the gospel of Mathew which was written in original Hebrew by Mathew, to the Hindu pundits and preached about Jesus Christ. 

  To know the validity of this data, let us look into the information provided by the historians of those days namely Eusebius and saint Pantaenus. Eusebius lived in Caesarea in the third century BC. He is believed to be the historian of the Christians. According to his statement, Eusebius states, Saint Pantaenus had come on missionary tour to India; he had landed in Mumbai and had met the Vedic pundits namely the Brahmins. When he told them about Jesus and the Bible, they had already known about Jesus from their forefathers who had in turn learnt it from Saint Bartholomew. As a proof for this, they had shown the handwritten copy of the gospel of Mathew. Pantaenus had written all this in his book and the historian Eusebius shows this as a proof that Bartholomew had been in India. 

  After his missionary tour to India, Bartholomew had gone up to Heliopolis in Turkey. There he met Philip and then he had gone to Lycaonia and Armenia. Saint Christhothome has confirmed this meeting of Philip and Bartholomew and their missionary work together.

  Bartholomew had travelled on foot to all the places where he had carried on his missionary works. If we have to take an account of all the countries and cities where he had travelled, it will clearly prove to us the love that this saint had for his friend, master and Lord Jesus Christ and also his thirst to carry on the work of God on this earth. The places cities where Bartholomew did not visit were very few but the sufferings which he endured in each place were enormous. Jesus Christ wanted to glorify Bartholomew and his works and for this purpose Jesus sent Bartholomew to Armenia.

   In those days the city of Armenia was under the bondage of Astrate and Baakir gods. These two gods are portrayed as brothers in history. Astrate was connected with fertility, sexuality and war. Her pictiroal representations often show her naked. This Astrate and Baakir controlled the people of the city. They made the people to offer human sacrifice by threatening them. They also caused great confusion, riots and agony among the people. They were the cause for the spread of many dreadful diseases which among the people, and through their power, they cured the people. The people who had very little idea of all the tricks of these two gods believed that these gods were really powerful enough to save them from the disease. So they believed in these two gods and did not dare to do anything against them and the two gods have the people in their control as their slaves. So people used to gather in large numbers in the temple which was built for Astrate which was located in Armenia.

  Our dear Saint Bartholomew came to this temple as a wanderer and stayed there. From the day our saint entered the temple, the goddess Astrate became dumb. The people were greatly confused about this and waited for a few days. Since nothing happened, they went to the nearby city to the temple of Baakir to know the reason why the goddess Astrate had become dumb.

  When they approached the god Baakir, it said, “An apostle of the true and living god Jesus Christ by the name Bartholomew has come and is staying in the temple of Astrate. This saint has chained Astrate using burning hot iron chains and has cast her into the deep pits of hell. Astrate is undergoing a lot of torture in hell where she is not even able to breathe. I could not bear to see that sight. This is the reason Astrate is dumb now.” Now these words of Baakir made the people think a little and they said, “What a surprise is there a god which can chain and send our powerful god Astrate to hell? Then how great that god and his disciple should be? So Baakir, do tell us more about this disciple Bartholomew.”

  The truth from the mouth of a demon Baakir said, “Do you actually know about this person Bartholomew? He is a supernatural person. He is the loving disciple and friend of the true and living god Jesus Christ, who came down as man in this world. Twenty six years have passed since Jesus Christ died and ascended into heaven. In all these twenty six years this disciple Bartholomew has not eaten, or slept, or had drank water, nor has he changed his clothes. He has not even washed his clothes or had a bath, but they have never become dirty or torn or even faded. A lot of angels always dwell around him. He knows many languages and is well renowned in all the places where he has been to. He can talk to anyone and in any language, because it is not he who talks, but it is God who speaks through him. It is his almighty god Jesus Christ who speaks through him. The Holy Spirit within him and the angels around him will reveal to him all our thoughts. His Lord Jesus Christ will instruct him as to where he should go, when he should go, whom he has to meet and what he has to talk. He worships his god seven times in the morning and seven times in the night. He has a holy countenance which glows with heavenly glory. He reflects the light of his master Jesus Christ. In all situations you will never be able to see even the slightest traces of pain or suffering on his face.”

   The crowd who were listening to elaborate introduction of our dear Saint Bartholomew were amazed and further questioned Baakir, “Baakir…. We are greatly surprised to know that the true living god dwells within him. All of us are eager to see this man of god. So can you please let us know where we can find him? Also tell us how he will look so that we can identify him correctly.” 

   Baakir replied, “can you find wind or tell in which direction it blows or where we can exactly find it? It is exactly the same with this Saint Bartholomew. He is like wind. No one knows where he goes or from he will come. He will go to the place where his master commands him to go and never fails to execute his master’s command. So even if you desire to see him, you actually can’t. It is he who has to decide to see you, only then it is possible. But since you are so much interested I will so you a favour. I can tell you how he will look like. He is neither tall nor short but of normal height. He is neither fat nor lean but of correct weight. He has long dark hair which would have grown up to his ears. Long nose and large eyes, fair face, broad forehead, short beard with few white lines of grey hair on it. He has a long cloak and a dull colored shawl. In a nutshell he looks like a righteous holy person from birth. But I have a request and I tell it to you right away. If you happen to see this person, please do not bring him to me at any cost. I don’t want to undergo any of those horrible sufferings which my sister Astrate is undergoing. Then you will no longer have any gods for you to offer sacrifice or to look up to ask for fortune telling.”

  As the people were talking to this god Baakir, Bartholomew was praying in the temple of Astrate. At that time a man who was possessed by an evil spirit for a long time screamed out, “Bartholomew…. Oh you…. Bartholomew….. Stop it immediately….. Stop that prayer of yours… I can’t bear it anymore…. My body burns as though it is set on fire. I beg you to stop tormenting me anymore…. Stop your prayer….i will leave this person and his body immediately… I can’t bear this torture anymore, please pardon me…. Have mercy on me and leave me.” 

   Bartholomew looked at that demon and commanded it to leave that man immediately. “Leave this man immediately and never comes back to him” said Bartholomew. The next moment the unclean spirit left that man with a loud scream. All those who were gathered there were greatly surprised and dumb folded on seeing this incident and identified who Bartholomew was.

  Among the people who witnessed this incident in the Astrate temple was the king of that city, Polymius. This king had a daughter who was possessed with a demon. It was a very dangerous demon and whenever the demon manifested itself from within her, her  face would turn fierce. She will pounce on anyone who dares to go near her and tear them to pieces. So they used to have her chained with huge iron chains even when she was normal, because they did not know when the demon manifests itself. But the demon was so powerful that when the demon would manifest itself, she would even break the iron chain into pieces. 

  On seeing this incident in the temple of Astrate, the king Polymius went up to Bartholomew and requested him to deliver his daughter too from the attack of that fierce demon. With great compassion Bartholomew agreed to accompany the king to the palace to see his daughter and deliver her. When he saw her, he commanded, “You unclean spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, leave this girl immediately.” The demon left her without making any noise. Bartholomew turned to the king and said, “Your majesty, your daughter is completely alright. Once she regains consciousness, give her good food and allow her to take good rest. I will come and meet you tomorrow.”

  When the king saw that his daughter was completely delivered from the attack of that evil spirit, he wanted to thank Bartholomew and so he set out to see him the next day. He loaded his camels with gold, silver and diamond and came in search of him to the temple of Astrate. But Bartholomew was not there. Polymius searched for three days and became tired of searching but could not find Bartholomew. 

  On the fourth day, Bartholomew came to the king’s palace to meet him early in the morning. He said to the king, “Dear king, why did you bring gold and silver and came in search of me? I am not interested in earthly riches, but I always long to be in heaven, where my Lord Jesus Christ lives. As the dear longs for the waters in the cool spring so my soul longs to be with my saviour Jesus Christ. All the riches of this earth will be destroyed one day and become nothing. But the life with my lord Jesus Christ is for eternity. It will never fade away nor will become extinct.” 

   The king was amazed at these words of Bartholomew and said, “Respected sir, the god Astrate whom I considered and believed to be the true god was not able to help me to deliver my daughter. I lost my confidence that it has any power at all. I also believe that your god is powerful than any other god on this earth. So I am interested to know more about your true living god. So tell me about your god, I am eager to know all about Him.” 

  This was the reason God has sent Bartholomew to that city. So Bartholomew did not delay in sharing all he knew about Jesus Christ. He told the king about Jesus Christ, the trinity namely God the Father, God the Son and Holy Spirit, how they work, about the only true god, how god created this world, how Adam and Eve were created, how they sinned and how Satan gained control on this world. He also told the king about how God planned to redeem man from sin and the slavery of Satan. He explained how Virgin Mary conceived Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Immaculate Conception, and the birth of Jesus, the ministry, life, preaching, miracles and wonders which Jesus performed. He also told about the passion and suffering of Jesus Christ in his journey to mount Calvary and how he died on the cross, the resurrection of Jesus on the third day, his ascension into heaven after forty days. He narrated this whole history to the king, his wife, his two sons and his daughter. 

   All of them listened to this history with great interest and caution. They did not want to miss anything. Even after listening to all this, King Polymius was not able to get himself detached from the love which he had for his former God Astrate. So he asked Bartholomew, “I do accept all what you have said, it is good to listen to. But I have a doubt. Is my God Astrate in hell right now? Can you prove this to me? I want to hear it from the mouth of Astrate itself, a true confession from Astrate. Also Astrate should confess in front of all gathered that your god is the only true god. Can you do this? If you do so then I along with all my people will accept your God Jesus Christ as our god and savior. I promise this to you.”

   Bartholomew was not disappointed to hear this request of the king; he rather pitied him for his weak faith in Jesus Christ. He looked at the king and said, “Your majesty, and come to the temple of Astrate along with all your people early in the morning tomorrow. See for yourself all that is going to take place tomorrow.” Saying this Bartholomew left the palace. 

   The next day, early in the morning, the king and his family members along with everyone in that city had gathered in the temple of Astrate. The priests of the temple were also present there. These priests started to offer sacrifice and chant all kinds of mantras to their god Astrate. But their god never opened its mouth and remained still as just an ordinary stone statue. When the priests were tired of calling, Bartholomew commanded Astrate to speak. 

   Immediately the god, which is actually a demon, spoke through the stone statue. It said in a loud voice, “stop it… do stop all your sacrifice and your chanting of mantras… stop offering sacrifices to me hear after. It is of no use. I have lost all my power and I am now in the burning fires of hell. All this is because of this disciple of Jesus, Bartholomew. He is the disciple of the true living God, Jesus Christ and as per his command I am now in hell. Since he commanded me to come here and speak I am now speaking through this statue. The God whom Bartholomew is worshiping is the only true god. This dear disciple Bartholomew is a true and dear person to the almighty God Jesus Christ. He is powerful as his master Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ speaks through him. I am speaking the truth.”

   Bartholomew further commanded the demon saying, “Now tell these people how you are deceiving them?” The statue further spoke saying, “I deceive their mind and bring them into my control. I induce lust and sexual appetite in their mind and there by push them into various sins. Because of this they will go far away from God and end up in various dreadful diseases. I will ask them or in-fact threatens them to offer sacrifices and force them to worship me. When they do these, I will enter into their soul and possess them and they will then never be able to get themselves free from our bondage. In order to make them believe in us, we will heal them in few diseases. Thus they will never doubt us.” 

  Now Bartholomew turned to the king and said, “I think you have heard enough from your god as to who is the true god. Is there anything else you want as proof to believe that Jesus Christ is the true god? I am ready for anything.” The king bowed down in fear and respect to Bartholomew and said, “I have heard enough and I doubt no more. My people, my family and I will accept your god as the only true living god.”

   Bartholomew turned to Astrate and said, “Now you nasty demon Astrate, tell confess and prove to these people that you have come from hell.” Once he had said this, there was an intolerable foul smell all over the temple. The people could not bear it. It was the smell of burning sulphur and acid along with other nasty smell. The people had never before smelt such a nasty smell. This was the smell of hell. Now Bartholomew looked at the statue and said, “Why don’t you show your sweet charming true face to these people? Let them know for themselves what kind of a god they were worshiping all these days of their life.” 

   On this command the statue of Astrate started to shake. The statue which was designed according to the Greek culture was a beautiful one made of pure marble. Now this statue rose to life and the people were anxious as well as scared to know that the statue had got life. But they were totally unprepared for the following horrors. The human head of the statue turned into the head of a dog, with fierce teeth. Its eyes were pouring out fire…. Huge cloud of smoke came out of its nose and the smell was unbearable. Its hands opened wide and turned into wings. Its whole body from head to foot was covered with thick hair which gave it an ugly look. On its back were sharp spikes like that of a porcupine. With this ugly and fierce look, the god Astrate gave a loud roar like a lion and it echoed all over the city. On hearing this all the other small gods and goddess in that city too shouted to the top of their voice. All the people of the city were terrified to hear this voice and many of them fainted in fear.

   At that moment there was a roar in the sky saying, “Enough and stop it right now.” When the people looked up they say four angels standing in the sky. The sky above them opened and a voice was heard. It said, “Dear citizens, the Lord was gracious to you and wanted to save you all from the bondage of this demon Astrate. I hope all of you now saw with your own eyes the true personality of this demon. Our Saint Bartholomew is the dear saint of Jesus Christ. Listen to him and repent right now. If you want a new life free from this demon Astrate, then turn to God with a true heart of repentance.  Confess that you have accepted Jesus Christ as your God and Saviour. Believe in his holy blood which has washed away your sins. Draw the sign of the cross on your foreheads.” 

   So saying the angel drew the sign of the cross for them to see and do the same. All the people did as they were directed to do. By that time Astrate had calmed down and there was no sound from it. All the people praised Jesus Christ. The angels disappeared in the sky. Bartholomew said, “Astrate I command you never to come to this city anymore. You better be in your place, hell. Or go to the place which is abandoned by mankind and any living creature and hide there. Don’t dare to come up once again. Let me not see you up to the day of judgment.” On hearing this command, Astrate left the temple with a loud noise and scream and disappeared.

  After this, according to the command of king Polymius, the statue of Astrate and all the other small statues of gods and goddess were broken down. They also demolished the temple of Astrate. The king was baptized along with his family. He commanded all his citizens to accept Christianity and Jesus Christ. He declared his province as a Christian Province. All the priests of Astrate cursed Bartholomew as much as they could. 

   As they cursed they left the city of Armenia and went to the nearby city which was ruled by Polymius brother, Astyages. They brought forward their petition to king Astyages. When the king came to know of all that happened in Armenia, his anger reached its heights. He said, “My goodness… I just can’t believe what you are saying…. Our god Astrate is chased out…. It is no longer there in the city…. Who is that person who dared to do such a thing? If he is capable of chasing the all-powerful god Astrate, then I need to know him. Who is he? From which country has he come? Go and arrest him and bring him to me immediately. I have to see him. Let me see what he could do to me….. Don’t delay go and bring him here to me right now…”

  But the priests calmed the anger of the king saying, “Do not be in a hurry and take wrong decisions in your anger, your majesty. First know all about your enemy and then jump into action. That Bartholomew who did this treacherous thing is a magician. He excels in his magic skills. No one can arrest him or even see him. It is the toughest thing on earth.” The king replied stating, “If that is the case, then take all the skillful magicians in our town and also take hundred soldiers with you and go and arrest him and bring him to me. I will not entertain any more excuses. I want him here immediately.”

   Our Lord Jesus Christ was gracious to his dear servant and friend Bartholomew and wanted to glorify him. As a result of the will of Christ, Bartholomew was arrested. He was nearing his death. But Bartholomew was excited to know that his life on earth has come to an end and soon he will be with his dear lord in heaven. Bartholomew was brought before king Astyages. The king looked at him and asked him, “Oh so you are the wanderer Bartholomew, are you? Are you the person behind the conversion of my brother into a Christian? You did not stop with converting my brother, but are you the reason for the banishment of all my dear gods from the city? Do you know the punishment for all these offences… or rather crime? Speak up… why you are silent…” 

   But Bartholomew gave a serene look and said, “Your majesty, your brother understood the truth about the true living god. It is not who has converted your brother into a Christian. It is the work of my lord and savior Jesus Christ. Salvation belongs to my God, who sits on the throne, and to the lamb. I am just his servant, an instrument through which my Lord does his work in this world.  Just because the flute produces sweet music doesn’t mean the flute is to be praised, it is the person who plays the flute who is to receive the honor. I just came to bear witness to the truth just like how my God came down from heaven to this earth. He came down from his glory to this earth to bear witness to truth and through his suffering and death he has established the truth that he is the only true and living god. If you still wish to carry the fake argument that your god is the true god, then why did your god run away like a coward? If your magicians are full of power then command them to go and search for your god and bring him here…. Come on and give it a try… you will never succeed, for your god is in a place where no one can save him.” 

  The king who never expected such mindboggling statements stood speechless. The priests who noticed this situation spoke up and said, “Dear king, do not listen to all what he says. He is a liar…. Do not allow him to speak at all. He will take control of our mind with his words. He is a cheat. This is exactly the way in which he converted your brother. So do not waste time listening to him, kill him immediately.” This speech of the priest added fuel to the burning heart of the king and the king shouted in a rage, “Bartholomew you can’t flatter me with your honey soaked words. For the crime of converting my brother into a Christian, and for banishing all my gods out of Armenia, do you know what the punishment is? Why don’t you tell it? Has your god not revealed it to you? What a pity? Listen carefully…. Ask for forgiveness to my god Astrate and bring it back to the city and worship it. Then I too will forgive you. What do you say?”

   Bartholomew said, “Your majesty, I know my destiny, but you are the one who is not aware of your destiny and also you are not aware of the destiny of your so called god. Your god will never return. It is ridiculous to even think of worshiping the god who has been defeated by me and is being kept in chains in hell. Are you so foolish enough to expect me to bring back the defeated enemy and ask for forgiveness? Come to my God, and first ask him to give you wisdom, for He grants wisdom to anyone who asks him for it. What do you say?” 

   The king could no longer bare this insult and so he cried out, “Enough of your teasing…. Don’t dare to do it anymore. You have still not understood where and in front of whom you are standing. I was patient with you all this time, but I will not be so anymore. Here is my judgment. Take this Christian beggar and whip him up to the time he dies and if he does not die by whipping then cutoff his head and kill him. Let me see whether his god will come to save him. He saved all the people in Armenia, now let me see whether he could save himself.” 

    But to his surprise, Bartholomew just laughed at this statement and said, “I am not afraid of all-this Lord. I will just remind you of what my Lord Jesus Christ said, ‘You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above’ so go ahead and proceed. I am a true follower of Christ in all that he did and now I am happy that I am his true follower in death also. I am ready, go on and do what you want.”

   Accordingly some historians state that Bartholomew was given the more number of whips and then was beheaded and killed. But some other historians state that Bartholomew was tied to a tree and was flayed alive from head to foot. Even after that he did not die and so the king commanded him to be crucified upside down on the cross. In this condition also, Bartholomew kept on preaching the good news about the kingdom of God up to the time of his last breath. This is the reason; Bartholomew is portrayed with a sword in the pictures.

    After his death, his disciples buried him and built a monastery in that place. The king Astyages became angry when he came to know of the monastery and so he took the skin and bones of this saint from the grave and tied it up in as a bundle and threw it in to sea. (These relics were washed ashore on the island of Lipari in Italy as per the will of God). In that place a church was built in his name. Then his relics were kept in a church in an island situated in Tiber, in Rome. The church was named as “Saint Bartholomew church”. 

   A statue which portrays the body of Bartholomew after his skin was flayed is kept in a church in the city of Milan, in Italy. The statue clearly depicts each and every nerve and flesh of the body of Bartholomew after his skin was removed. Anyone who has a look at the statue is sure to shed tears. The statue is made of bronze and is black in color which attracts the attention of any one who passes by. 

   In the picture painted by Michael Angelo about the last judgment, the picture of Bartholomew peeling off his skin by himself is clearly depicted. This picture is kept in the Vatican City, Rome. In this picture Michael Angelo has painted his face in the place of the face of Bartholomew.

   The king Astyages, started his activity of martyrdom in his brothers province. In this activity, the wife of king Polymius and his children were killed. After a few years peace returned to the province. King Polymius became captured his throne once again.  But the king was not at all happy in being a king and so he became a missionary of god. He became the bishop. For the sake of his people, he accepted his country and his people and ruled them.

     But the fate of his brother Astyages was very pitiable, for he went behind listening to the demon and was killed by the demon itself. But the Bartholomew monastery where our dear Saint Bartholomew was buried cannot be visited by anyone.

   

 Due to official reasons and caste and religious issues this monastery was broken down. Though the monastery has been broken down, this great saint will live forever in our memory.