Nothing Ever Really Changes

     As if we need more evidence that man's love of idolatry and false gods has always been present, news comes that a group of of European architects has proposed to build a 21st-century version of the Colossus of Rhodes, the ancient Greek statue erected on the island of Rhodes in the 3rd century B.C. The original ancient statue was of the Greek titan-god of the sun Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes, on the Greek island of the same name.
     One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it was constructed to celebrate Rhodes' victory over the ruler of Cyprus, Antigonus I Monophthalmus, whose son unsuccessfully besieged Rhodes in 305 BC. Before its destruction in the earthquake of 226 BC, the Colossus of Rhodes stood over 30 metres (98 feet) high, making it one of the tallest statues of the ancient world.

The new proposed statue of Helios, sun god

     But the new version would stand 500-feet tall (five times larger than the original) and serve as a cultural center, as a library, an exhibition hall and a lighthouse on Rhodes, the largest of Greece’s Dodecanese islands.  This island is known for its beach resorts, ancient ruins and structural remnants of its crusades-era occupation.  I find the estimated cost of the statue ($283 million) to not only be offensive in light of the decimated Greek economy, but just another monument to man's obsession with pagan gods and his rebellion against the One True God.
     The fact that the statue honors the god Helios is just a perpetuation of sun god worship that has existed since the beginning of civilizations.   The imagery of the sun as the ruler of both the upper and the lower worlds that he majestically visited on his daily round is prominent among all the ancient cultures.  Even The Encyclopedia Britannica gives credence to sun worship:  "The sun is the bestower of light and life to the totality of the cosmos; with his unblinking, all-seeing eye, he is the stern guarantor of justice; with the almost universal connection of light with enlightenment or illumination, the sun is the source of wisdom."  I found it extremely sad and disturbing to read this once venerated source of knowledge equating and venerating all the ancient religions as equal to Christianity.  Here are some of the points they made about sun worship:
•  These qualities—sovereignty, power of beneficence, justice, and wisdom—are central to any elite religious group, and it is within these contexts that a highly developed solar ideology is found. Kings ruled by the power of the sun and claimed descent from the sun. Solar deities, gods personifying the sun, are sovereign and all-seeing. The sun is often a prime attribute of or is identified with the Supreme Deity.
•  In ancient Egypt the sun god Re was the dominant figure among the high gods and retained this position from early in that civilization’s history ...  Surya is glorified in the Vedas of ancient India as an all-seeing god who observes both good and evil actions ... In medieval Iran, sun festivals were celebrated as a heritage from pre-Islamic times ...
•  During the later periods of Roman history, sun worship gained in importance and ultimately led to what has been called a “solar monotheism.” Nearly all the gods of the period were possessed of solar qualities, and both Christ and Mithra acquired the traits of solar deities. The feast of Sol Invictus (Unconquered Sun) on December 25 was celebrated with great joy, and eventually this date was taken over by the Christians as Christmas, the birthday of Christ.  (The obvious attempt to equalize our Savior with other gods, and with sun worship is unmistakable).

Ancient Colossus of Rhodes

     I will grant you that the Greek Mythology gives us a fascinating picture into man's attempts to create his own gods.  The island of Rhodes derives its name from the nymph Rhodos, who bore seven sons to the sun god Helios, the patron of the island. Three grandsons of these offspring were the heroes of the three principal cities on the island: Camirus, Ialysus, and Lindus, which were named after them. In honour of Helios, Panhellenic games, the Halieia, were held on the island every five years, and each year a chariot and four horses (quadriga) were thrown into the sea as an offering to the god (who was believed to ride such a chariot across the sky each day).  It is almost funny to discern that this was all the result of man's attempt to explain God's creation of the sun -- except that we know it is the result of the Enemy's lies; his never-ending attempt to blind us to the true knowledge of our Creator.
     Other mythological associations with the islands include the belief that the Telchines had a workshop on the island. They were believed to be an ancient semi-divine race that invented, and were particularly skilled at, metalwork. Hercules was also worshipped on the island as the founder of the first settlement. Other important cults were dedicated to Apollo, Zeus, Athena, and Dionysos, and during the Hellenistic period the island adopted several Egyptian cults such as those of Sarapis and Isis ... and it all leads back to Nimrod and rebellion towards God.
     But knowing that Helios was not only the Titan god (translate as part god (fallen angel)/part human) of the sun, but he was also the guardian of oaths and the god of gift of sight.  His description shows just how far the devil was trying to go to equate him with Jesus, the Son of God:  "[Helios the Sun] rides his chariot, he shines upon men and deathless gods, and piercingly he gazes with his eyes from his golden helmet. Bright rays beam dazzlingly from him, and his bright locks streaming from the temples of his head gracefully enclose his far-seen face: a rich, fine-spun garment glows upon his body and flutters in the wind, and stallions carry him. Then, when he has stayed his golden-yoked chariot and horses, he rests there upon the highest point of heaven, until he marvellously drives them down again through heaven...".
     So, nothing has really changed.  Man is still trying to bow down to an image of a god he has created.  The new statue of Helios will be bigger and grander and more shiny than the original; just a bigger false idol than the first, and a sign of how obsessed we are to worship anyone or anything other than the True Light of the World.  The Colossus of Rhodes was destroyed by an earthquake in 226 BC.  I shudder to think of the destruction that is coming upon the newest version of this pagan god.  Will we never learn?

Deuteronomy 12:30    "Be watchful that you are not ensnared into following them after they have been destroyed before you and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? We will do likewise."