Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall

by David Ben-Ariel (Author)

9 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-1413750577

ISBN-10: 1413750575

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Mr. Ben-Ariel clearly has a God-given love for the Jews and the nation of Israel. His Israeli lawyer has stated that David's "future is linked with that of the Jews," and Gershon Salomon, chairman of the Temple Mount Faithful says, "God has some special task" for him. His sacred bond with the land and people of Israel has been strengthened over the years by his service as a volunteer on eight kibbutzim (collective farms) throughout the Holy Land, including during Operation Desert Storm. As a firm believer in the Israelite roots and responsibilities of the Anglo-Saxons and Northwestern European peoples, David works towards the ultimate reconciliation and restoration of Joseph with Judah. As a student of biblical prophecy, he is alarmed about Germany and the Vatican's increasing control of the European continent, remodeling it after the Holy Roman Empire. As the outspoken author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall, he is determined to do all he can to help wake up the world to the clear and present danger Germany poses to world peace, with a special emphasis on the Middle East.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ PublishAmerica (November 15, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 171 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1413750575
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1413750577
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.51 x 0.4 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #14,833,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #67,400 in Religious Studies (Books)
- #107,842 in Political Science (Books)

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John D. Carmack

Beyond Disappointment from a COG Perspective

Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2009

I reluctantly give Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall 2 stars. Why 2 stars? Well, I ended up justifying it with the fact that even a broken clock is correct twice per day. Even those on the extreme fringe Church of God (COG) movement are bound to get a few things right.

Instead of reading reviews from anti-COG, anti-Armstrong pundits, I hope to balance it out with a view from a regular Church of God Perspective.

All in all, it reads like a stream of consciousness instead of a scholarly piece of work. There are twists and turns that make it hard to follow, he doesn't address foundational COG theology at all until the last half of the book, it is filled with questionable and racist remarks, strange hyperbole and wild assertions. In spite of this, there are some positives to the book.

Where do I even begin? Reading it gave me a headache, esp. the 1st half of the book. Ben-Ariel flips through subjects at a dizzying rate and with little or no supporting evidence. In one paragraph, he will give numerous texts as support for a minor point, and then in the next he'll discuss something only tangentially related with no Scriptural support at all. It isn't until the second half he even tries to support many of his major points in a logical manner.

While some of his ideas are based upon traditional COG doctrines, if he truly wants to address those outside the COG, then he will need to go to great lengths to explain those doctrines. Otherwise, they will be foreign concepts to them, and the readers are much more likely than I to completely stop reading before he gets around to explaining them.

The Bible is balanced, but Ben-Ariel seems unbalanced towards the physical, even when you take into account that the nature of prophecy and identification of end-time nations.

* "Weakened by war, and in a state of shock, the WASPs began to stir when they caught wind of some good news coming from Jerusalem." So, I guess that that Catholics and non-whites will not be weakened by war?

* "Why will this madness end? It'll end for the "Elect's sake." Who are they? The literal descendants of Israel! We're the Chosen People! Because "the LORD has chosen you to be a people for Himself" (Deut. 14:2)." There's twisted interpretation if I've ever seen any! Jesus said except for the elect's sake. Who was He addressing? His Church!

* "The Gentile animals stalk our land, rob us of our children, and steal us blind..." If Gentiles are "animals", then all humans are, since we are all one blood (Ac 17:26).

In addition, Ben-Ariel needs to heed the admonishment of Col 3:8 to "But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth." I can be sympathetic that some will slip and utter words without thinking, but still some words are not appropriate in a "Christian" book.

He attempts to justify his political activities in the book, speaking of "our demonstrations" about the Temple Mount. However, the COG has always maintained that Christians need to be politically neutral.

This guy should be crowned "King of Audacious Hyperbole".

* I'm not sure I would tell the Church to "come out of the closet".

* To say America is dying of AIDS because its moral immune system is unable to fight off the progressive corruption is a bit sensationalistic, and the manner it was presented was abrupt enough to confuse the intent for quite a few seconds.

Not all of them are that bad, and one has to expect a certain amount of hyperbole (even Jesus' parables often were), but too many and too many sensationalistic ones can ruin the effect.

There are all sorts of wild assertions that I cannot find in my Bible and for which he offers no supporting evidence.

* "Those events will soon take place! DAVID'S THRONE WILL PREVAIL - the Roman UN forces will fail!" Indeed, he mentions the "UN" at least 3 times without clarification on how and why they are involved. What is the "UN" in the Bible?

* That God's plan was "top secret" until Jesus gave His commission.

* "God decrees the death penalty for treacherous pastor generals", as though "pastor general" is even mentioned in the Bible.

* He says to try the Scriptural slipper on our pastors, and then he references Ep 6:15 out of context.

In spite of all of that, there are some positives. Unfortunately, just about every one of them has a caveat.

* He points out the Holy Roman Empire as the end-time beast power that will control Europe. Unfortunately, again, the proof within the text is lacking.

* The book describes how Satan hates the physical descendants of Israel today, as they are a symbol of God's promise. The Jews particularly have been targeted for extinction many times, but God has spared a remnant every time.

* He states that Christians today keep "men's ideas" rather than follow the Bible, but offers no evidence until much later in the book of just how off-track mainstream Christianity is.

* I'm all for his assertion, "Don't compromise God's message to appease us - that's not love! Challenge our conventional thinking. Get us good and angry. You might save us!" However, I just don't see where the book really challenges anything except at an emotional level. Again, where is the supporting evidence?

* He admonishes us to follow God and not a man. I suspect that it was this that got him kicked out of PCG more than anything else. I will let the reader decide what that says about the PCG.

* He hits the nail on the head that in our pursuit of pleasure, we will bring about our own ruin by "drinking ourselves to death and dying for sex!"

This book just misses the mark all the way around. Even though there are some positives to the book, they are rather weak ones at best. They are overshadowed by attitude, literary and evidential problems. I cannot in good conscience recommend this book.

6 people found this helpful

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Erin J

Garbage is too kind of a word for this book!

Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2007

David A. Hoover changed his name to David Ben-Ariel because he thought Israeli's would like him better. It must have not worked very well for him, because he was arrested and deported from Israel for his alleged involvement in terrorist activity against the Muslim Mosque in Jerusalem. He calls himself a Christian-Zionist, but he in fact is a modern day Judaizer that disregards the message of the New Testament writers all together. He is a disciple of cult leader Herbert W. Armstrong and believes in the doctrine of British-Israelism and that he along with all Anglo-Saxons are part of the lost ten tribes of Israel. He is a racist in that he believes that Jews and the Anglo-Saxon's hold special significance in the eyes of God. He believes that Christians are to celebrate the Jewish feasts, Sabbath days, etc. He believes strongly that the Jews should rebuild their Temple and that Christians everywhere needs to be about the business of promoting and financing the rebuilding of the Temple. David, needs desperately to read and understand John 4, where Jesus says to the woman at the well that it is neither on Mt. Gerizim or down in Jerusalem is the correct place of worship, but the "time is coming and now is when true worshipers will worship" the Father in the Holy Spirit and in Truth (that is Jesus who is the Truth.) Somehow David has missed this message as had his cult leader Herbert W. Armstrong. If you find this book in the used bookstore for a dime, then you would still be getting ripped off.

Now to the book itself. It is difficult to find one verse which David uses in context. He claims divine inspiration but then makes the statement that America is dieing of AIDS and asks this question "You're usually dead within two years! Is that all America has left? The book was published November 15, 2004 above, but the online book says 2001. So one must ponder the question of divine inspiration and ask was America destroyed withing two years? No! Does this make David a false prophet.
Apparently David wrote this book before 2001, because he was questioned about its contents during the interrogation conducted by the Israeli government by in 1995 or early 1996. So this puts him even more off the mark.

Near the end of his book he calls Herbert W. Armstrong the true fulfillment of Elijah and that John the Baptist was just a partial fulfillment of that role. If you like reading a delusional man with apocalyptic fever then you will enjoy this book. If nothing else, it is good for laughs or a lesson on what cults like Herbert W Armstong's can do to people.

17 people found this helpful

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n0s4a2

Faintly Amusing Crackpot

Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2008

This book is styled after the bizarre religious "prophesies" of Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the notorious Worldwide Church of God cult which collapsed in the '80s. The author is one of many former members who is trying to gather the followers of the old "prophet" together and start a new movement around Armstrong's fantasies about white Anglo-Saxons being the "true" Israelites (and Jesus was educated in an England!), and how the Anti-Christ will come out of Germany. You could hear the same sort of ravings on any big-city street corner. Worth a laugh, but the author prints passages of the book all over the Internet, so you don't really have to buy it.

13 people found this helpful

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despinne

David Ben-Ariel

Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2006

Does David Ben-Ariel have something to hide? Why the "fake name"? Quite the opposite--he is showing his love of the Jews by identifying with them. Fake name? you can call yourself by any name, legally. And this IS his legal name, tho not his birth name. Bringing up the name is silly. It could be a PEN NAME, often used by authors instead of their "real" names. What's the point? You didn't like what he wrote. Or, how he wrote it. So? Why not offer thoughtful comments? David Ben-Ariel tells it like it will be, if America and Israel do not change their wicked ways. Even the prophet Jonah, who (after being swallowed by a whale) told the ancient city of Ninevah it would be destroyed after 30 days, had his prophecy fail, as God changed his mind because the people repented. Can you really prove that the things David Ben-Ariel talks about will not happen?

7 people found this helpful

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Handy Around The Home

Please don't waste you time on this one!

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2008

I'm not sure if this guy is delustional or what his problem is but don't waste so much as a cent on this racist bigoted garbage. Its a long winded fairy tale.

4 people found this helpful

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