The God Culture: Ancient Greek Armor Found In Mindanao

Timothy Jay Schwab of The God Culture bolsters his claims that the Philippines is the ancient source of Greek gold, as if there were no gold mines in ancient Greece, by claiming that ancient Greek armor has been found in Mindanao.

https://youtu.be/kWjFtcV_6Nc

Beginning at 5:27 Timothy Schwab says:

"When we visited Butuan, Philippines in May we were actually able to see this Greek armor which was found in 2018 in the Philippines. The thing is these are indisputably Greek from the symbols and the structure and they are dated all the way back to 800 B.C. up to about 480 B.C. "

Now that is indeed rather interesting don't you think? Ancient Greek armor was found in Mindanao and dated between 800 and 480 B.C.? That would be a huge archaeological discovery seeing as Alexander did not even reach India until 326 B.C.! It would mean Greek soldiers marched or sailed to the Philippines BEFORE the Peloponnesian War. What can one do in the face of such overwhelming evidence that the Greeks were in the Philippines possibly only 300 years after the Trojan War? Question it and tear it apart of course.

I don't doubt that Timothy saw this armor. It obviously exists. Just look at the pictures. But where did he see it? A museum? Somewhere else? A search for news about this discovery leads to one and only one source which is a Youtube video posted by Kasaysayan Hunters on April 30th 2019.

As to the provenance of this discovery I think you will not be shocked to hear that these artifacts appeared suddenly out of nowhere.  From the video:

"In 2018 locals in Mindanao were surprised to find armor of a type they have never seen before complete with helmets and weapons, soon sold in the Philippine antiquities market. We were fortunate enough to track down two sets of these amours which may give us important insight into our ancient past." 

That is some stunning documentation right there. Unnamed locals found armor of a kind they had never seen before at an undisclosed location and quickly sold it on the Philippine antiquities market. What is this Philippine antiquities market anyway? Sounds like there is a thriving trade in antiquities on the black market in the Philippines.

The video offers no clue as to the origin of the armor. Rather than question its authenticity the narrator assumes it as a fact and goes on to describe all the details like the lions heads and anemones and gorgon heads carved into the armor as being genuinely Greek. They even expect us to believe that ancient Greeks wore helmets decorated with tokay geckos which are native to the Philippines and not Greece! Did the Greeks manufacture these helmets while in the Philippines?

The axe decorated with a lion's head we are told is a battle axe. Because when you want to kill someone in battle you definitely don't want an gigantic axe with a huge smooth, sharp edged double head.  You want a short and stylish decorative piece.

Here is a picture of the set in full.

Lots of questions need answering.

Where and how was this armor found?

How many more sets were found and where are they now?

What other artifacts were found in the vicinity?

Did any archaeologists visit the site where this armor was found?

Why is the armor in relatively good condition?

Who dated the armor to between 800 - 400 B.C. and what method did they use?
Has Greece been notified of this discovery?

Have any experts in Greek antiquities examined these artifacts?
What kind of tests have been run on this armor?  Metallurgical?

Where are these artifacts now and why does it look they are sitting on a house porch?

Is this the "Philippine antiquities market?"

Safe at home on the porch?

As Indiana Jones would say:

Apparently Tim and the God Culture did not think to ask any of these questions but accept these pieces as genuine ancient Greek armor with zero proof except that they look like Greek armor. One thing to note is that the pieces lying on the table are of a darker color than in the photo showing the full set.  That brings up a few more questions.

Where these pieces cleaned?
What were they cleaned with?
Were any kind of tests run on this armor before they were cleaned?

An image search for "Greek muscle cuirass" and "ancient Greek battle axe" gives results that look nothing like the armor above. There is armor with fake abs but not with lion heads and celestial wheels for nipples. Maybe such did exist but they are not coming up in any search online. And believe it or not those Greek battle axes have more of a Tibetan design than Grecian.

It's obvious that Tim does not believe these artifacts are genuine ancient Greek armor because they have been rigorously and thoroughly tested by experts and found to be so. He believes because it confirms his thesis that the Philippines is the ancient land of Ophir. He ignores what is so obviously gives away the fraud which is the tokay gecko on the helmet! But this would not be the first fact that Tim ignores.

To prove that the Greeks visited the Philippines Time produces a map, made in 1898 mind you, and points to two little islands labelled Chryse and Argyre and says this is Luzon and Mindanao!  Pray tell what happened to the Visayas?  You know, Negros, Iloilo, Bohol, Cebu, Leyte, and all the rest which lie in between Luzon and Mindanao! His map and his assertions cannot account for them. Here is the map he shows.

What is the source of this map anyway? Well if you're not paying attention you will miss the reference which is in VERY TINY PRINT in the bottom left corner.  Let me show you.

Contrary to what the God Culture has claimed that is NOT 30 point font!

He even claims our sources are in very tiny print yet there are a 30 point font thus rather disingenuous as we have come to expect from this communist-style agitator. If you are viewing it on a cell phone screen perhaps it is small but plenty big when we create our slides and all right there to review which this writer has done with their confirmation bias.

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-god-culture-100-clues-philippines.html?showComment=1580698889368#c5406023618075777202

I am viewing this on a 13-inch Macbook Pro and it's barely legible!! You have to zoom in to read it properly. It also doesn't help that there is a God Culture watermark superimposed over the map which they took from another source!! The source is atlantisjavasea.com. Specifically it is this page: https://atlantisjavasea.com/2015/09/26/taprobana-is-not-sri-lanka-nor-sumatera-but-kalimantan/. This is a web page dedicated to proving that Atlantis was located in Southeast Asia. Goodness knows how Tim ended up on this page but it should be noted that the map is an 1898 reconstruction of Mela by Konrad Miller. Mela himself never drew a map!

It should also be noted that Tim ignores all the scholarship regarding the identification of Chryse, Argyre, and the Golden Chersonesus which he encounters. In the book by Thomas Suarez which he cites the islands are identified as Malaya and Burma while the Golden Chersonesus is identified as the Malaya Peninsula. Has he read this book by Paul Wheatley?

https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/v692t6367

While the book is not available online the table of contents are and there is no hint of the Philippines. The subtitle also gives the game away.  "Studies in the Historical Geography of the Malay Peninsula before A.D. 1500."

There is simply no credible evidence that the Philippines are the islands Tim says they are or that the Greeks were ever here. However there is an article that makes this assertion which Tim has likely come across.

The Visayan Islands had earlier encounter with the Greek traders in 21 A.D. 2  (Felix Regalado and Quentin  B. Franco, History of Panay  (Ilo-ilo City  Central Philippines University , 1973) ed.,  Eliza B. Grimo, p. 78.)

http://cebu-online.com/swum/html/exhibits.html

Over at a message board about history this question of Greek traders in the Philippines was raised and the book cited as the source of this information, History of Panay, was located and the appropriate section quoted.

Professor Austin Craig, eminent student of Philippine history, said that the ancient traders of the Philippines exported sinamay cloth to Greece in A.D. 21 and Strabo, a Roman geographer of the First Century, referred to the commodity as "Ta see sika", or 'flex combed from the trees'. Manila hemp was well known to the Caesars of Rome, and sinamay cloth was once sold to the museum of Dresden, Germany for its antiquity.

https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/46708/did-greek-traders-visit-the-philippines-in-the-1st-century-ad

If you cross check the reference from Professor Austin Craig which is found in "A Thousand Years of Philippine History Before the Arrival of the Spanish" you find this subject of ancient Greek contact with the Philippines on the very first page.

The Philippine History of which one is apt to think when that subject is mentioned covers hardly a fourth of the Islands' book-recorded history.  

These records are not the romantic dream of a Paterno that under the name Ophir the Philippines with their gold enriched Solomon (l0th century B. C). They are solider ground than any plausible explanations that Manila hemp (abaka) was Strabo's (A. D. 21) "ta seerika," the cloth made of "a kind of flax combed from certain barks of trees." The shadowy identification of the Manilas with Ptolemy's Maniolas (c. A. D. 130) is not in their class. Nor, to accept them, is recourse needed to farfetched deductions like Zuniga's that the American Continent received Israel's ten lost tribes, and thence, through Easter Island, Magellan's archipelago was peopled. Their existence saves us from having to accept such references as how Sinbad the sailorman (Burton: The Arabian Nights, Night 538 et seq.) evidently made some of his voyages in this region, though it would not be uninteresting to note that the great Roc is a bird used in Moro ornament, the “ghoul" of the Thousand and One Nights is the Filipino Asuang and that the palm-covered island which was believed to be a colossal tortoise because it shook might well have been located where the Philippine maps indicate that earthquakes are most frequent.  

The records herein after to be cited are for the most part of the prosaic kind, all the more reliable and valuable because they are inclined to be dry and matter-of-fact. They make no such demand upon imagination as Europe’s pioneer traveller's tales, for instance the- sixteenth century chart which depicted America as inhabited by headless people with eyes, nose and mouth located in the chest. 

https://archive.org/stream/thousandyearsofp00crairich#page/n7/mode/2up

Read that carefully and see that the authors of the "History of Panay" misrepresent what Austin Craig writes.

Professor Austin Craig rejects the "romantic dream" of the Philippines being Ophir and Greeks trading in these islands. Instead He focuses his scholarship on written records and calls them "more reliable and valuable."  On the other end of the spectrum Timothy Jay Schwab and the God Culture latch on to every kind of myth and legend and reject what scholars have to say in order to promulgate their doctrine. Men like Professor Austin Craig and Thomas Suarez do history while Tim and his bunch engage in pseudo-history.

Let's say these are real ancient Greek artifacts and not just fakes manufactured by locals in Mindanao. That would change so much of what we know about history. It would mean that the Greeks were either sailing around Africa long before Bartolomeu Dias did in 1488 or marching overland to the East hundreds of years before Alexander. In short it would be a groundbreaking archeological discovery and the area where the armor was found would certainly be excavated for more artifacts. But since the source of our knowledge of these antiques is only one Youtube video and there are no scholarly references to this find in reputable journals and no news reports either it is a safe bet that this ancient Greek armor is a modern-day fraud. The Philippines may be the ancient land of Gold according to The God Culture but today it is most certainly the land of frauds, cheats, and thieves.

The God Culture: 100 Clues the Philippines is the Ancient Land of Gold Known as Ophir

"Welcome to 100 Clues the Philippines is the Ancient Land of Gold known as Ophir!"  So begins the first video in The God Culture's video series, "100 Clues the Philippines is the Ancient Land of Gold known as Ophir."

Thankfully these videos are short and to the point. They can be watched while eating a breakfast of rice and eggs or a lunch of rice and lechon or a dinner of rice and lumpia. That's a lot of rice! Rice for every meal! Is the abundance of rice in the Philippines one of the "100 Clues the Philippines is the Ancient Land of Gold known as Ophir?" Read on dear readers. If you have not read my previous exposé of The God Culture be sure to check it out.

Before we get to the clues we must take into account what Timothy Jay Schwab, CEO of Ocean Life Agency and head researcher at the God Culture, has to say about the purpose of these videos. 

"Welcome to 100 Clues the Philippines is the Ancient Land of Gold known as Ophir in the Bible and history. No, it's no fable and this has already been proven in full in The God Culture's Solomon's Gold series in such a definitive way that no historian, scholar, theologian has been able to disprove their findings in over two years. The few that have tried to debate have failed. 

"We've pulled out 100 clues from this research in which we will highlight briefs of the most compelling points and yes there are over 100! These videos are for those who have not had the time to watch Solomon's Gold series and a five minute or so video cannot replace that entire 50 video in-depth series nor prove the way that it does. But this will still be very effective nonetheless. So go there for full evidence but now our series 100 Clues the Philippines is Ophir...one clue at a time."

https://youtu.be/7vDhLkHrrLc

These 100 videos, only 50 as of this writing, are distillations of the much longer series Solomon's Gold.  While these videos are not a substitute for that in-depth series they serve as an effective means of getting the main message, that the Philippines is the land of Ophir, across to an audience who does not have time to watch the longer series. It's the Cliff Notes version if you will.

If you want to watch this series here is the playlist which is thankfully not a total mess like the Solomon's Gold series playlist. Tim should clean up his Youtube channel and only have the relevant videos in each playlist. The Solomon's Gold playlist has videos which do not belong in it.

On with the clues which I hope to sum up in a sentence or two. 

Clue #1

The Philippines is the number one land of gold in all of history. There is a lot of gold which has been mined over thousands of years and much more remains to be mined. This video was published on August 15, 2019 which means Tim was not aware of the approval of golden rice!  That's right golden rice! 

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2228793-gm-golden-rice-gets-landmark-safety-approval-in-the-philippines/

The Philippines has become the first country with a serious vitamin A deficiency problem to approve golden rice – which is genetically modified to prevent the deficiency – as safe for humans and animals to eat. According to a government report, it is as safe as conventional rice varieties. 

“This is a victory for science, agriculture and all Filipinos,” member of congress Sharon Garin said in a statement. 

Golden rice has been altered produce the orange pigment beta-carotene, which the body can turn into vitamin A. Because rice is a major part of the diet in the Philippines, if children eat golden rice instead of normal rice, it should substantially reduce vitamin A deficiency.

Wow!! Truly the Philippines is the land of gold and rice and now golden rice!

Clue #2

The Philippines is the ancient source of Greek gold. The Greeks mention an island of gold known as Chryse and an island of silver known as Argyre. These islands are located east of the Ganges River. That means....the Philippines! Tim identifies Chryse as Luzon and Argyre as Mindanao. Who knew the Greeks circumnavigated Africa on a regular basis just to visit the Philippines!? Tim gets his information from a book titled "Early Mapping of Southeast Asia" by Thomas Suarez.

Mr. Suarez is an expert in interpreting early cartography. He knows all there is to know about maps and geography from ancient times.

Thomas Suarez is a well-known authority on early maps whose previous books include Early Mapping of Southeast Asia (Periplus, 2000), which has become a standard work in the field. He has served as curator and advisor for collections and exhibitions dealing with the history of cartography, and has been an important source for early maps for the past twenty-five years.

About the Author

The book Tim quotes "has become a standard work in the field." That means what it says has authority.  Let us quote at length from the section of Suarez's book to which Timothy jay Schwab refers.

Chryse and Argyre 

Gold and silver, in fact, characterize the earliest extant specific Western Reference to Southeast Asia. Pomponius Mela (37 - 43 A.D.), a Roman geographer and native os Southern Spain, largely carried on the Greek tradition about the East, perpetuating stories about Amazons, people without heads, griffins, and other such characters, but adds two lands which lay to the east of India. One was Chryse, said to boast soil of gold, the other, Argyre, said to have soil of silver: 

In the vicinity of Tamus is the island of Chryse, in the vicinity of the Ganges that of Argyre, According to olden writers, the soil of the former consists of gold, that of the latter is of silver and it seems very probable that either the name arises from this fact or the legend derives from the name.

Mela was quoting earlier, unknown sources and he goes on to vaguely mention the possibility of a Southeast Asian peninsula: 

Between Colis [southeastern tip of Asia] and Tamus [China?] the coast runs straight. It is inhabited by retiring peoples who garner rich harvests from the sea. 

Pliny also alludes to a Southeast Asian peninsula. Noting that the Seres [Chinese] wait for trade to come to them, he lists three rivers of China, which are followed by “the promontory of Chryse” and then a bay. Elsewhere in his Natural history, however, Pliny refers to Chryse as an island. This discrepancy probably results from his having compiled news of the “land of gold” from contact via land (peninsula) and sea (island). It was more often mapped as an island in medieval mappaemundi. 

Chryse most likely represented Malaya, while Argyre was probably Burma, perhaps Arakan. Both are seen as islands in the world map after Mela, Chryse being the island off to the east Asian coast, and Argyre the island at the Ganges delta next to Taprobana. On the twelfth-century “Turin” world map they appear as a single island in the easternmost ocean sea, the right-hand isle of the two immediately above Adam and Eve (the left-hand isle is simply designated isult and this may have been for either Chryse or Argyre). 

Mention of Chryse is also made in the Periplus of the Erythean Sea, which describes Chryse as “the last part of the inhabited world toward the east, under the rising sun itself,”a land from which comes “the best tortoise-shell of all the places on the Erythean Sea.” The work’s anonymous author then described the land of This (China)  and Thinae, from which raw silk, silk yarn, and silk cloth, acquired through silent barter, were brought overland to India. Isidorus Hispalensis (Isidore of Seville, ca. 560-636 A.D.), in his Etymologiae, one of the most popular cosmographies of the Middle Ages, also placed the lands of Chryse and Argyre in the southeastern extreme of the world, along with the Taprobana and Tyle (Tile, an island near India.) 

Interestingly, Chryse and Argyre are reminiscent of some aspects of Buddhist cosmology where the waters that pour forth from Sumeru flow into four canals separated by four mountains, of which one is gold, another silver, and the other two, precious stones and crystal. The image of four canals separating four landmasses, can also be compared with a view of the Arctic region found in a medieval European text and used in later world maps by Renaissance cartographers Ruysch, Fine, and Mercator.

The search for gold also promoted intra-Asian maritime trade in the Indian Ocean during the first century A.D. As a result of the disruption by internal disorders of the traditional route through the steps of Central Asia to Siberian gold reserves, new sources for the metal, a medium of exchange between various Asian peoples, were sought. Rome decreased the gold content of its coins and introduces measures to halt their exportation. At the same time, new ocean-going vessels and navigational techniques made it more feasible for Indian merchants to pursue the “Islands of Gold” to their east.

The association of Southeast Asia with gold was so strong that Josephus, in his Antiquities of the Jews (second half of the first century), wrote that Ophir, the land fro which King Solomon had fetched gold, is now known as Aurea Chersoneus (Golden Peninsula, i.e. Malaya.) Josephus thus began the recurring idea that the Ophir of the Bible was in Southeast Asia, a belief that can be found in earnest through the latter nineteenth century. Various places were believed to have been the site of Ophir, from Malaya to Indochina, Sumatra, and the Pacific Ocean.

Early Mapping of Southeast Asia: The Epic Story of Seafarers, Adventurers, and Cartographers Who First Mapped the Regions between China and India, Thomas Suarez, Pg 62-63

Mr. Schwab is fond of quoting Wikipedia. He even says in this video at 15:16:

"Greek history confirms exactly what Wikipedia had confirmed and so does Josephus. They don't speculate as to a possible location of Chryse/Ophir but they give exact directions and they map it. That map did not lead to Ethiopia did it? Nor Yemen, nor India. It leads to the Philippines." 

Actually Wikipedia says the opposite of what Timothy Jay Schwab is spouting and identifies the Aurea Chersoneus as the Malay peninsula.

The Golden Chersonese or Golden Khersonese (Ancient Greek: Χρυσῆ Χερσόνησος, Chrysḗ Chersónēsos; Latin: Chersonesus Aurea), meaning the Golden Peninsula, was the name used for the Malay Peninsula by Greek and Roman geographers in classical antiquity, most famously in Claudius Ptolemy's 2nd-century Geography.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Chersonese

The Wikipedia entry on Chryse and Argyre says nothing about the Philippines and relegates these two islands to legend.

Chryse and Argyre were a pair of legendary islands, located in the Indian Ocean and said to be made of gold (chrysos in Greek) and silver (argyros).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chryse_and_Argyre

What you have here is a classic case of confirmation bias. Rather than taking the source he quotes by Mr. Suarez in full and at face value, Tim picks and chooses what he will and then interprets that data in a manner that is totally opposite to the way it is presented in the book he references. At no time does Mr. Suarez hint that the islands of Chryse and Argyre could be the Philippines. Wikipedia also disagrees with Tim's conclusions as to the identity of the Aurea Chersonesus. Tim has messed up majorly by being dishonest with his sources. Cleary Tim has an agenda and the facts be damned! All the scholars are wrong and Tim, a man who studied business, marketing, and media and not languages or history, is right. The only real interesting thing in this video is that Tim tells us ancient Greek armor was found in Mindanao in 2018 but that deserves its own blog post. Let us press on.

Clue #3

Philippine gold has been found in first century Egypt. How did it get there? The Philippines ruled the seas and brought their gold all over the world in their junks and other large ships. The Philippines is the ancient land of gold exporters.  Allow me to point out that while he does list his sources they are all on the bottom of the screen in VERY TINY PRINT! He also does not show you the pages he is quoting from. That is bad form especially as many of these sources are not easily available. I wonder if he has actually read these sources or is quoting them secondhand. Let's find out.

This slide is the only time Philippine gold found in Egypt is mentioned. Tim neither shows us pictures of the gold nor tells us where the gold was found or anything else about the gold. In fact this video is about the ancient Philippine flotilla and not Philippine gold being found in first century Egypt. It's the ol' bait and switch! His sources are as follows:

1. Laszlo Legeza, "Tantric Elements in pre-Hispanic Philippines Gold Art," Arts of Asia, July-Aug, 1988, pp 129-136 

2. J.T. Peralta, "Prehistoric gold ornaments from the Central Bank of the Philippines," Arts of Asia 1981, no.4, p 54 

3. Ramon N. Villegas, "Ginto: History Wrought in Gold", Manila: Bangko Central ng Pilipinas", 2004

Tim tells his listeners to prove and test all things.

"This is from three very credible sources. You'll note the sources on every slide all the way through this series making it easier for you to confirm. So go ahead prove all things, confirm everything we say. We hope that you will."

How is one supposed to do that when these sources are unavailable to check so easily? Let's take the first source.  It's only available on backorder from Arts of Asia. For $15 they will airmail you a photocopy of the article.

https://www.artsofasianet.com/back_issues/back_issue.php?issue_code=1988_jul_aug

If you search the internet for this source you will come across many instances of this exact citation: 

"Legeza, Laszlo. "Tantric Elements in pre-Hispanic Philippines Gold Art," Arts of Asia, July-Aug. 1988, pp.129-136. (Mentions gold jewelry of Philippine origin in first century CE Egypt)" 

For example the book "Quests of the Dragon Clan and Bird Clan" has this citation. No publication with this citation actually quotes the relevant material but only asserts that this article mentions Philippine gold has been found in Egypt. Tim removes the part in parentheses but appeals to the article as being credible without telling us anything about what the article actually says about Philippine gold being found in Egypt.

Now let's look at the second source.  

J.T. Peralta, "Prehistoric gold ornaments from the Central Bank of the Philippines," Arts of Asia 1981, no. 4, p. 54 

A Google search will pull up many hits for that EXACT citation. Quests of the Dragon Clan and Bird Clan cites it. But every one of those citations is WRONG! This article does in fact exist but not in Arts of Asia 1981, no. 4, p. 54 but rather in Arts of Asia 1983, no. 4 p. 51! This article can also be ordered for $15.

https://www.artsofasianet.com/back_issues/back_issue.php?issue_code=1983_jul_aug

The fact that Timothy Jay Schwab  did not properly cite Peralta is a huge clue that he did not read the three sources he quotes. He doesn't even show us the sources themselves. That is because he is quoting them secondhand from people who are simply copy-pasting what everyone else has posted without checking the sources to read what they say. In fact these three sources in this same order are quoted on other pages discussing the Philippines as Ophir such as the following:

http://ancientphilippines.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-lost-tribe-of-israel-is-found.html 

https://mythworld.fandom.com/wiki/Chryse 

https://sightedmoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/The-Philippines-is-the-ancient-Ophir.pdf 

http://moments-salamera.blogspot.com/2013/02/philippines-old-name-is-it-ophir.html

Even Wikipedia has been bamboozled into accepting them, along with the erroneous citation of Peralta, as legitimate!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chryse_(placename)

Is it merely a coincidence that Tim and these other pages quote these same three sources in the same order including the erroneous citation of Peralta? A more likely explanation is that all these writers are copy-pasting from each other and ultimately have their origin in one corrupt source.

Tim tells us to confirm everything he says and I have just confirmed to you in Clues #2 and #3 that Timothy Jay Schwab is a liar who misrepresents his sources and sometimes does not even read them! He can prove me wrong by showing the relevant pages from each of the three sources he has cited about Philippine gold being found in first century Egypt.

Clue #4

The Boxer Codex. It is in the University of Indiana and is essentially buried because SOMEONE does not want us to know this history! The Philippines is the ancient land of gold and this fact began to "truly get suppressed on a massive scale" in 1891. The Boxer Codex shows Pinoys decked out in bling! Tim also quotes Guido de Lavezaris as saying:

"There are so many of these chiefs [decked out in gold] that they are innumerable."

Tim comments on this by saying:

"There are so many of these chiefs that they are innumerable!!  They cannot be numbered! Really? That's many thousands! So what is he describing here? The ancient form of government of the Philippines was the barangay system of many thousands of leaders which sound an awful lot like the very same system instituted by Moses in the Bible." 

Who knew that Moses set up the Philippine form of tribal government back at Mt. Sinai! Wow! But did Tim also realize that the manna which fell from heaven was white and rice, the staple of the Filipino diet, is also white? Coincidence!?

Clue #5

More of the Boxer Codex.  Pinoys wearing heavy gold chains.

Clue #6

The land of Ophir is critical to end time prophecy! King Solomon and Ophir are really real. This block with Hebrew writing proves it!

To his critics Timothy Jay Schwab says:

"For those of you who say "Why don't you focus on salvation!?" Well there's an entire Bible out there and we aim to know it especially early Genesis. That is our calling and that is what we will focus on and that is what the Holy Spirit has had us do. Don't tell us otherwise." 

The fact that Tim does not prioritize salvation but compartmentalizes it to a side issue makes me wonder if he is a heretic. And I mean a real actual heretic who denies certain doctrines about Jesus Christ and not just that we don't agree on some points. Just what does he believe and teach about Jesus Christ? Tim says "the bible teaches relationship not religion" which is a hallmark of modern day emergent church gobbledygook. Fact is it teaches both.

That he separates history and salvation is very troubling. All the lost tribes talk I have ever listened to has focused on God directing history in order to preserve and save His people. Though they may be lost to history they are not lost to Him. Even in the Old Testament the history of Israel is part of the drama of salvation. That is the point of all the festivals like Passover and Tabernacles. For Tim to separate history and salvation makes his message meaningless. What is the point of the Philippines being Ophir or Filipinos being members of the lost tribes apart from their salvation? There is none! It becomes merely a neat historical fact and nothing more.

This blog post is already very long so I will stop here. There really is no reason to continue anyway.  Timothy misrepresents his sources, has not read some of them, and he does not have any theological grounding for his assertions about history. He misuses the Bible and other texts to confirm what he already believes about the Philippines. While many Lost Tribes proponents will talk about God's sovereignty and how history is controlled by Him we are six videos into this series and Tim has not mentioned God or His plan of salvation for His people once and in fact discounts any such talk saying the Holy Spirit has not called him to do so! Maybe Tim does not realize that the Bible, while replete with history, is not a history book but a religious text which deals primarily with the salvation of man and the Holy Spirit testifies of Jesus not the location of the land of Ophir.

Sadly enough two filmmakers have been duped by this shoddy "research" to the point that Tim and his wife have both signed a deal with them to work on a film about the Philippines being the land of Ophir.

https://www.facebook.com/ophirthelosttribe/posts/breaking-newsthree-years-ago-two-dedicated-researchers-timothy-schwab-and-his-wi/1138587833015269/

Three years ago, two dedicated researchers, Timothy Schwab and his wife, Anna Rose Zamoranos, released a very successful series entitled "The God Culture". This series currently appears on YouTube with over approximately 40 videos of content regarding the accurate locations of Ophir, Sheba, Tarshish, the Garden of Eden, Rivers from Eden, Land of Creation, and the Lost Tribes of Israel - which The God Culture traces to the Philippines.  

On June 12, 2019 (Independence Day), they signed a deal to work with the Ophir and The Lost Tribe Movie creators, Virgilio Abes Bote and award-winning Director Will Harper to give accurate accounts stated in the Bible about Ophir.  

We are excited and honored to have them on our team in making the Philippines and its people proud. The movie will be released internationally, stay tuned!!!!!!

Dedicated researchers!? What a joke! Neither Tim nor his wife even picked up on the fact that they have erroneously cited Peralta! That is some real lazy research!

Since there are 100 Clues maybe I will pick this back up in the future. But for now I think this is enough to show how ridiculous The God Culture and Timothy Jay Schwab are. I can just hear Tim now excoriating me for watching only 6 videos in the 100 Clues series rather then the whole Solomon's Gold series and saying I am uninformed, a hack, and a fraud. Such would be pure deflection on Tim's part as I have already demonstrated his research is incredibly biased, faulty, and downright dishonest. If he cannot deal honestly with his sources here he won't be dealing honestly with them there either.

Filipino Cult Leaders: Apollo Quiboloy and the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name, Inc

Apollo Quiboloy is the founder of the the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name, Inc. He is also know as The Appointed Son of God and The New Owner of the World. Is it any wonder then that he was able to stop the earthquake which recently rocked Mindanao.

https://coconuts.co/manila/news/i-told-the-earthquake-stop-pastor-quiboloy-says-we-have-him-to-thank-for-mindanao-quake-ending/

In his regular two-hour religious TV program “Give Us This Day,” which aired Oct. 30, the Davao City-based Quiboloy recounted in Filipino, “When it quaked yesterday I was there. I said to the quake, stop! And it stopped.” 

“Another one came at around 11[pm], it quaked again, I said stop. And of course, it stopped. So you have to me thank [for that].” 

While it’s unclear if the poker-faced religious leader was joking or dead serious, he went on to repeat the claim, saying, “You should thank me. If I didn’t make [the earthquake] stop, a lot of you would have [suffered] a building collapse; you’d all be dead.” 

He also claimed that there were witnesses to his alleged earthquake-halting powers, although he failed to name them, and put a cherry on top of the earthquake-halting cake by also laying down the law to a shaky lighting fixture. 

“When the chandelier moved, I told it to stop! And it stopped immediately. I did the same for the second one. So you should all thank me for stopping the earthquake. But I won’t say this because I’m bragging.”

How could this man be possibly be bragging about such a thing when it is a matter of fact that he is the New Owner of the World? As the New Owner of the World it is his right to control earthquakes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXSp3Z04G2A

Important doctrinal manna from this long sermon include the following.


5:00: "Who am I?  I am the New Owner of the World." 

6:25: "The father told me now you will be the standard of my salvation and my judgement."

26:23: "When the Almighty Father created Adam and Eve His plan was for them to have dominion over all things. Adam was the first king. Of course through God who made them and he wants them to own everything just like me now. I am the replacement of the Adam that was fallen and this is the Adam that was restored. He will own this world through me again. Because it was made for me."

27:08:  "Now I am here; the new Adam who overcame, who won against him (the devil). That is why the ownership of the world is back in the hands of the Father through his Appointed Son. 


47:55:  "I am the manifestation of the Spirit. I am the Spiritual man. He that is spiritual judgeth all things but he himself is judged of no man. I judge all things and you judge me, the judgement will come back to you. 

48:15: "But the Father told my July 22, 2018 if they malign your name again they are maligning my name because your name is my new name. And if they malign my name they are in danger of the unpardonable sin. So you who are maligners of my name are after July 22 you have committed the unpardonable, unforgivable sin. So for those who have committed the unpardonable sin you have no more soul to be saved. Love your enemy is not applicable to you. What is applicable to you? Hebrews 10:26 and Romans chapter 2. That is what is applicable to you now. 

1:14:55: "Since Sonship is connected to the Kingship, the Appointed Son is taking over the dominion of this world, just like the original plan of the Almighty Father. On June 18, 2018 the Almighty Father revealed that He has reclaimed the ownership of the world through His Appointed Son. The time of Satan Lucifer's ownership is over.   

1:21:05: "I am the fulfilment of all of the Word of God. All of those words are mine." 

1:27:13: "The Appointed Son now owns the whole world that our Almighty Father has created because he has become like Him. The Greatest Spirit of the Almighty Father now dwells in his body. His body is no longer a member of the fallen Agamic race under the dominion of Satan Lucifer the Devil but has become a bona fide ownership of the Father who will implement His Spiritual laws here on earth. This signals the beginning of the Thousand-year Rule beginning on April 13, 2005.

1:27:55: "All seven billion humanity whether you knew me or not, all of you, whether you knew me or not, as long as you're human, you will go through me. Those who want to go to heaven will go through me.  "I don't like you." Then you will go to hell. You do not like me? Then you will go to hell. There will be no place for you. Those who want me will go to heaven. I am not forcing anyone here because all power over the flesh is mine."   


It's really not hard to understand. Apollo Quiboloy is the Appointed Son of God. He is filled with the Greatest Spirit of the Almighty Father. He is the new Adam who has overcome the devil. Because he has overcome the devil ownership of the world has now been transferred back to the Father and He has given that ownership to His Appointed Son Apollo Quiboloy. As such he can stop earthquakes.

Does Quiboloy think he is Jesus? Yes. From his FAQ.

If your ministry now was the ministry of Jesus Christ, why are you not nailed to the cross? 

The physical aspect of salvation is already finished. What I have fulfilled now is the spiritual component of salvation. I do not need to be crucified again. The physical and spiritual are now fulfilled and they are fused together in the Appointed Son. 

https://www.apolloquiboloy.com/faq/why-are-you-not-nailed-to-the-cross/

Actually it's a little more complicated than a yes and no. First you have to understand he came out of the United Pentecostal Church. This church denies the Trinity. There is no Father, Son, and Holy Spirit existing as three persons yet sharing one divine nature. Rather the Father, Son, and Holy Spirt are differing manifestation of the same being. This is also known as modalism or oneness. Jesus Christ was the human manifestation of God in his time. Quiboloy is the human manifestation of God in our time. But he remains the man Quiboloy and not the man who was Jesus Christ.

John 14:6 says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and Life, no man cometh unto the Father except through me.” These are the words of Jesus Christ. Why are you using it, Pastor? 

In the Gentile Setting, because I have been appointed as the Son, I have now inherited these Words and therefore, I own them as they are my Father’s. (Revelation 21:7)The Father and the Son are one, (John 10:30) so, when I speak these Words, I speak not of myself, but the Father that lives in me. (John 14:10)  

When I say, “I am the Way, the Truth, and Life, no man cometh to the Father, which is in me, except they go through me.” Now, you are able to understand that those Words that are coming from me are actually coming from the Father using my body. He has chosen a body to represent Him. I did not choose Him, He chose me. So, let us wait whom He will the Father choose.  

Now, that He has produced a Son where He can live and deposit His Words in that Son, that Son will inherit everything the Father has. The Father now can walk and can talk through the Appointed Son. Fortunately as I said, I am that Appointed Son. Without a true body representing Him, any Tom, Dick and Harry can stand up and say, “I know how to preach. I am a representative of Jesus Christ.” But, when you listen to them, they misrepresent Him by the way they live, by the way they talk, by the way they preach.  

Now, that body is here talking to all of His children that wants to join Him in Heaven. That is why I said, you do not have to die in order to go to Heaven, because the Kingdom of Heaven is already revealed here on this earth. He let His Kingdom come. If you pass through me, you pass through Him. You will know if you are going to Heaven or not. I am the standard for that.  

Now, that is speaking both of my Father and of me, as the Son. I can truly say, “I and my Father are one.” I, the Son is the body, and my Father is the Spirit within me speaking to you right now. We are one. I and my Father are one. 

From a sermon, "Knowing the True Jesus Christ."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ1fxoPT1PU

1:48:48:  "My ministry is to inherit all things. Appointed Son mission by the Father is to inherit all things. The Sonship and the Kingship over all the Father's New Creation. That is why I am the king of the New Creation.  I am the owner of the New World. 

Quiboloy is a vessel, a residence, of the Father Almighty.. 

Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy is not leading just any church organization, he is the residence of the Father Almighty, the bodily manifestation of the unseen God, as Adam should have been. The Father has come to rule His Kingdom here on Earth as promised for one thousand years through His Appointed Son.

https://www.apolloquiboloy.com/life-calling-apollo-quiboloy/

He is admittedly possessed by a Spirit calling itself the Father Almighty whose voice he heard audibly and who gave him visions and has led him to from dire poverty to fabulous riches. This same spirit has given him a promise that the Earth will be ruled for one thousand years by the Father through Quiboloy.

Because of Quiboloy's presence Davao is now the New Jerusalem.

Six million people around the world believe the doctrine laid out above. Why? Because Quiboloy is the Appointed Son of God of course. His word is truth. Also because like the Jesus of the Bible he feeds his flock. More importantly he loves his flock. Truly the Kingdom of God, Pastor Apollo's Kingdom Nation, is here on earth.

Restoration of the earth? Peace? Equality? Yes, all those will happen. In fact, it is already happening inside Pastor Apollo’s Kingdom Nation where His Will is already being implemented. 

If anybody from the outside would only bother to look inside the Kingdom, he would be surprised to see that all these are already taking place. While the world is tearing itself apart, each with their own personal agenda for power and dominance, the Kingdom Nation of the Father thru His Son is only getting bigger and stronger every day. 

Pastor Apollo’s Glory Mountain was a denuded mountain before. Now it is planted today with thousands of pine trees, the very epitome of nature restored. 

Girl power? In the Kingdom, women are leaders, respected and never degraded. Women here are never, ever exploited. 

In the Kingdom, you are merited by your faithfulness, never by your name or your money. Not even by your talent. 

There is no personal agenda in the Kingdom, everyone’s heart and mind are directed towards what is good for the Kingdom, truly one nation with one heart and one purpose. Everyone is each other’s brother or sister. 

Kingdom citizens don’t worry about how they will live from day to day, because everything is provided by the Father through His Son – food, clothes, houses, and yes, even cars and gadgets. Communal living at its very best. There is no squalor, no poverty. People live in prosperity. 

Happiness and contentment? Kingdom citizens have it in spades. There is no such thing as a rat race in the Kingdom culture. There is no such thing as dog eat dog. The words “downtrodden” “underdog” “oppressed” does not apply to anyone.  All the fruit of the spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23 – love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance – these are the laws written, not just on paper, but in the heart and mind of its citizens. Who then could be the oppressor? When you are one, you are considered a breaker of the law – a criminal.  

Now, can you imagine if this same thing is allowed to replicate all over the earth? It could and it would. And it is happening. If you want to be part of it, then open your heart and your mind to the preaching of the Appointed Son of God. Listen and pray. And you will understand. It will all become as clear to you as the noonday sun. And you will find joy. And you will laugh at yourself because it took you so long to get it. And you will fall on your knees and thank the Father that now you understand the true meaning of His grace and salvation. And finally, you will understand who Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy is, the Appointed Son of God, the New Owner of the World.

https://www.apolloquiboloy.com/blog/dont-we-all-want-a-new-world-to-live-in/

Don't you want to live in such a utopia with the Appointed Son of God smiling over you for a thousand years? Many Filipinos do even now. All you have to do to join them is believe. Repent and believe.

Happy Birthday Mary

I can't believe I forgot!  Did you remember? No you probably didn't.  September 8th is the birthday of Mary. That is Mary the Mother of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The Theotokos. Perhaps you have read the Gospels and the New Testament and you are asking, "How do we know that September 8th is the birthday of Mary?"

From apocryphal and spurious writings the church does not and has never considered to be part of the canon of scripture of course. The quick run down is that after much prayer childless Anna and Joachim gave birth to Mary, put her in the temple because she manifested great sanctity at the age of 3, and then at 12 she was betrothed to an old widower named Joseph.

Any sincere Orthodox believer will tell you that we do not know these thing from apocryphal books but from tradition. Well you know how I know that September 8th is Mary's birthday? Because at the store there is a huge statue of Mary where people can genuflect and it has been decked out with balloons and even a birthday card!

I don't know about you but I think this is pretty crass. A birthday card? Balloons? Look at those balloons surrounding the crucifix. It's so incongruous it makes you scoff, "Are you kidding?"

I do not believe I have ever seen anything comparable to this display. Not even at Christmas time have I ever seen "Happy Birthday Jesus" banners or cards or balloons. In fact most Christmas celebrations seem to not centre around Jesus at all. But with Mary everyone loses their mind and goes all out in their devotion to the Queen of Heaven.

Is Kapa Community Ministry Really Just a Scam?

Kapa Community Ministry is in a lot of hot water. Accused of being a ponzi scheme they have had their SEC registration revoked. In spite of that they are still operating and local politicians have refused to shut them down. Now Duterte has jumped into the fray ordering their immediate shut down. Both the PNP and SEC are preparing criminal cases. The NBI has even raided their offices despite not having a case! The raids were executed in hopes of finding evidence to build one!

What is this all about?  Let's take a brief look.

Kapa Community Ministry is the ministry of Pastor Joel Apolinario which he founded in 2016. According to the Kapa website Pastor Joel Apolinario is: 

...a Pastor, a Scientist and an Inventor for the system he is employing with where donor of any amount as member of the Kapa Commnunity Ministry International Inc. can continously recieve a love gift.

https://kapamilyonaryo.com

Here he is posing with his wife and an award for community service:

This award plays very prominently in the marketing of the ministry.

Nothing says "legit" like calling your ministry "100% Legit." The reason Kapa insists they are legit is because some are alleging that Kapa is running an investment scam where you will receive a 30% return for life.  As the bio for Pastor Joel says donors can continuously receive a love gift. Calling investors donors rather than investors is another part of their stab at legitimacy. Kapa is after all a religious organisation and not a business.

Here is how it works:

KAPA-COMMUNITY MINISTRY INTERNATIONAL INC, is a legitimate non-denominational ministry, a religious corporation organized under Philippine laws and registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission under Company Registration No. CN2017707724 represented by KAPA FOUNDER Joel A. Apolinario hereinafter referred to as the DONEE.  

The DONOR is a member of this organization that for and in consideration of the generosity which the DONOR has for the DONEE. The donated amount shall be used for the ministry to achieve its mission and vision for the propagation of religious faith, establishment of livelihood programs for the benefit of its members. The DONEE does accept this donation and does express his gratitude for the kindness and liberality of the DONOR.  

HOW TO JOIN AND BECOME A KAPA MEMBER?  

Voluntarily support the ministry by donating a certain amount of money with the minimum of five thousand pesos (5,000.00) and maximum of one million pesos (1,000,000.00) out of your willingness and generosity. 

The KAPA office will give you application forms to be filled upon membership registration in order for you to become a bona fide member of the organization. 

For those who are in abroad (ofw's) and far distant places, kindly send your donations to the trusted and honest person whom you are comfortable with as your sponsor to assist, manage and transact your money faithfully at the Kapa office. Be sure that your donation is in good hands.  

WHAT TO EXPECT AFTER MEMBERSHIP?  

Through your willingness and generosity to support the ministry, the founder itself will generously give you blessings monthly as reward in a form of LOVE GIFTS. More blessings will be given to you monthly as your love gifts based on the amount donated. The coverage of receiving this love gifts is lifetime depending upon the person's interest if he/she wants to quit for some reasons.  

The Biblical principle simply states: "The more you give, the more you receive." Luke 6:38. Thus, no wonder that when you donate (give) a certain amount wholeheartedly, you will surely receive the blessings heartily given from the founder. This is the prerogative of the founder to do so in order to answer all your needs and wants in life. Our common denominator here is only TRUST to the ministry.  

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

https://kapamilyonaryo.com

You, the donor, give to Pastor Joel, the donee, a minimum of P5,000 every month and you will receive a reward in the form of love gifts. The amount of the gifts is all based on how much you donate. Keep in mind Pastor Joel is the donee which means the money goes to him and not to Kapa as such. The money goes to him and he does with it as he sees fit. It is also important to note that the donor will receive love gifts and not money. There is nothing said about money and that is important for legal reasons on Pastor Joel's part. Of course as we shall see the implicit understanding is that money will be received.

Here is a little more about the blessings one can expect to receive from being a Kapa member.

Basically you do get a 30% return on your money every month and you get access to their vast network. But sill they don't say outright you get money. Donors receive blessings.  Just how blessed it is to have access to Kapa's vast network? Take a look at their website and you will see Kapa owns textile manufacturing centres, mines, mango plantations, rice fields, poultry farms, fishing boats, and has a medical mission. They also have a 100% legit community service award from Gawad Pilipino which means their community service is for real. Expect it's only for members. 

Kapa has been facing an uphill battle for a while having their SEC registration revoked and even though Duterte might finally smash them members at least did their best to vote for those who support them.  Here is a sample ballot.

https://www.facebook.com/kapateamgensan/posts/2248989398697521?comment_id=2249308395332288&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D

Do Bato, Go, and Marcos really support Kapa? Apparently. 

If Kapa is a scam then why are many people supporting it? Kapa was founded in 2016 but already boasts a large network of supporters, 10 million according to the video at this link, and is able to engage in community service on an enormous scale. How did they grow so fast? How does one obtain mines and farms in only a few years? Who the heck is Pastor Joel Apolinario and what does he teach exactly? What kind of religious organisation signs up with the SEC? I don't know because I cannot find any information about their teaching and beliefs or their history. What I want to answer is why people would support an organisation that some consider to be a scam.

The answer is the benefits. The tangible benefits of rice, fish, poultry, and whatever else is given to them no matter how small. While not a socialist state the Philippine government is tasked with many social duties. Read through the hefty and convoluted constitution for yourself to find out. Yet the government is so corrupt they don't provide anything. Social welfare agencies sometimes do not even spend their full budget which means programs do not get put into place. People go homeless and hungry. Universal healthcare is right around the corner but with PhilHealth skimming off the top who will trust them to run it? When a man like Pastor Joel comes along offering not only monetary benefits but also tangible goods why wouldn't the people trust him? He comes in the name of God. He says "To God be the glory," he gives them food and medical care, and in return they only have to give a minimum of P5,000 each month.

There are other elements too of course such as the sense of community which can be both good and toxic. The community INC offers is toxic and leads to families splitting up. I don't know that Kapa has split any families but LGU's have been hesitant to shut them down so there is the possibility of Kapa being a toxic community. Kapa seemingly wields political power by bloc voting not unlike the INC.

None of the articles I have read mention a single word about the farms, mines, clinics, and other community projects and services Kapa undertakes for its members.  The focus is solely on the 30% return. While hoping for a 30% monthly return on an investment is foolish I don't think that is the whole reason people are signing up. Without fully investigating Kapa's charitable work and community programs we will not be seeing the big picture.

Right now the government has a whole of nation approach to fighting terrorism wherein they seek to address the root causes of terrorism by providing more government support for citizens. If they wish to keep people from groups like Kapa, who are offering things the government is supposed to supply, then the government will have to step up and implement the programs it has promised and which are constitutionally mandated.