Thursday, February 29, 2024

The God Culture: Exposing The Lies in Our Bibles

Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture has released a series of videos about the New Moon festival of the Bible. Let's see what Tim has to say about the matter. 

New MOON or New MONTH? Part 1. Exposing the Lies in Our Bibles!

The gist of these videos is that every time "New Moon" appears it is is a mistranslation.

6:39 The fact is all 21 of these verses these uses are mistranslated. All.
But it's more than a mere mistranslation. It is a deliberate and evil fraud.
3:07 This is one of the biggest frauds of our age. They change the Bible. Someone, and we all know who, inserted their Babylonian lunar calendar into the Bible in modern texts and it's not there in the Hebrew or Greek. It's just not
33:44 It's not an honest mistake. This is evil really. Because what they're doing is they're transposing false Doctrine into the Bible.
The fraud runs so deep that even Bible dictionaries and concordances have been compromised. 
35:00 What they're doing is, uh, changing the Bible through definitions, through concordances, and through, through Bible translation and that's what they've done. We are in a strong delusion but we can see through this and correct it.
If all Bible translations, dictionaries, and concordances are corrupt just how exactly are we supposed to see though this "strong delusion" and correct it? On what basis can we trust anything Tim says when he admits the very documents he uses, those same Bible translations, dictionaries, and concordances, are corrupt? Is he endowed with some kind of Holy X-ray vision to see through these alleged lies? Of course not.  According to Tim it's because he has done all the research! In the second part of this series he says:
45:21 These will Enlighten as they are well researched and no one can actually debate these things. They try but not successfully when they do
Research is Tim's key word. He says he was taught by the Messianic movement how to keep the sabbath but it turned out they were wrong. He found this out by doing research.
15:17 Again, we started our Sabbath series. We told people how we kept the Sabbath honestly and accurately to what we did and what we what we were taught. Problem is we were taught wrong. Uh, the Messianic, uh, movement, uh, is is lying to us telling us we're on a lunar calendar. So, we told everybody we start Sabbath, uh, at sundown Friday. Well guess what? Then we tested it and as we tested it the research leads where the research leads. That is how you get to the truth.
What Is the New MONTH Festival? Never Moon!
But how does he know the conclusions he draws from his research are correct? Surely every sectarian has done their research and it has led them to wherever they are. What Tim is asking, demanding in fact, from his audience is that they trust his OPINIONS. It is Tim by himself outside the Holy Spirit led Body of Christ, the Church, who has come to the REAL truth, the truth THEY are HIDING from everyone by corrupting the very texts Tim is using in his research to prove they are corrupt. 

For Tim all one has to do is read enough and one can come to the truth. Except he has admitted the very texts he is using are corrupt and we are in a strong delusion. If Tim is in a strong delusion how can he alone see through it? What is his epistemic basis for that claim? He gives none because he has none. 

All the scholars who have devoted themselves to reading and studying ancient texts and languages have come to different conclusions than Tim yet he calls them ignorant and illiterate. How can Tim and the scholars reach different conclusions when they have the same method?

That is a huge problem for which he offers no way out. Timothy Jay Schwab has no justified epistemic foundation for what he is teaching except for his own research, i.e. his own opinions which he derives from books he claims are corrupt. Upon closer inspection his opinions are always wrong as I have documented in every single article I have written about The God Culture. 

For example Psalm 81:3 mentions the New Moon.
Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.
According to Tim this is actually referring to the Feast of Trumpets. After all, the Feast of Trumpets is the ONLY feast on which a trumpet is blown on the first of the month.
38:29 So, what Feast do we blow Trumpets on the first of the month? Is this really hard? Why can't Scholars just get stuff like this straight? Well, the new month, hm, it's called Yom Teruah. It's the Feast of Trumpets which falls on Ethanim 1 the first day of the new month, duh. And what do? We do we blow trumpets, taada!!! This isn't really hard folks there you go new moon out. This is new month.
That is totally wrong because Numbers 10:10 says:
Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God.
Tim is wrong that the Feast of Trumpets is the only feast on which a trumpet is blown on the first of the month. The Mosaic Law says a trumpet must be blown at the beginning of every month. Here we see how Tim's research which no one can debate fails radically. Funny that Tim does not mention this verse at all in his entire series about the New Moon and the New Month festival. 

The very first video in this series shows that Tim cannot justify anything he is saying as he has admitted the very Bible translations, dictionaries, and concordances he uses are corrupt and he is in the midst of a strong delusion. On what basis can he say the texts he uses are corrupt but he can see through their corruptions? He cannot. It is pure hubris to say we are in a strong delusion yet he alone can see through it because he has studied corrupted texts. 

The second part of this series examines the other verses Tim neglected and tells us the exact purpose of the New Month festival. 


What Is the New MONTH Festival? Never Moon!

This video says we are to still keep the New Moon feast which is actually the New Month feast. It is not a feast day and is in fact a relaxed get together with no specifics give on how to keep it. Tim calls it an "additional tradition."

19:43 Now it's, uh, just a dinner as, uh, we can see in scripture, uh, not a lot of specifics and the reason is is they're not needed. It's just a gathering uh a time of worship that's all.

26:26 No it's, it's not a feast day, uh, it's not included as a one of the seven biblical feasts. It's not a Sabbath, it's not one of the 52 sabbaths. This is additional, uh, tradition in the Bible.
Additional tradition in the Bible?  No, it's part of the Mosaic Law which is binding on the nation of Israel. It is not a tradition Moses made up. Tim is also wrong about the lack of specifics because Numbers tells us how to keep it. It includes blowing a trumpet. 

Tim also claims the ascension of Jesus affirms the New Month feast so we must keep it. 

34:25 He resurrected on the weekly Sabbath and then he affirmed the new month Festival in his Ascension after 40 days on the first day of the new month the third month.

Except the Bible never says or hints at such a thing. 

But even if it did Tim says he does not have a true calendar. In fact the calendar in the very translation of Jubilees he published is filled with errors!

11:24 Now, this is an ancient tradition. This is the Bible tradition and Bible calendar and it matters. It matters because this is Torah. That's why Jubilees, when we published it, uh, we call it the Book of Jubilees the Torah Calendar because Jubilees keeps the Torah calendar. Is it perfect? Well, you know what, uh, it, it was preserved in the Ethiopic, translated then into English. Did R H Charles do a great job? Yes absolutely. Was he perfect? No, no of course not. There are mistakes in there, uh, in translation that if you looked at the original Hebrew, which we don't necessarily have in each passage that's part of the the challenge there, when you're looking at those things, and of course if we didn't have the the ancient Hebrew we didn't go back and change it because we didn't have the Precedence to overturn it even though we we know that it's not it but we'll teach that.

Tim also says he has no idea when or how to keep the New Month festival because he is not God!

1:40 So, hodesh is never New Moon. It is new month and this is a new month Festival which we see established here in the plural really. Um, the question will remain, and we do not have a complete answer for everything, sorry we're not God, okay? Um, we do our best. But here's what we're seeing. I mean there's a new month Festival in scripture it's there many times, you're going to see this video, uh, and the question is when do we observe it? Uh, it's not a Biblical feast in, in, on the par with this Seven Feasts, uh, it's not a Sabbath and in fact it's not a Sabbath in practice even, uh, in Scripture that we're seeing so far, uh, but it's simply you know a, a get together, a meal, a gathering of course which you focus on scripture. They would sacrifice but we don't do that anymore as far as animal sacrifices but you can still do your spice offering, your drink offering those kinds of things.

Despite admitting he does not know when or how to keep the New Month Festival Tim says he has begun keeping it anyway. 

39:45 Frankly we had not kept these until just recently. so, there you go folks. We, we were not keeping the new month Festival. We now are trying to restore this. We haven't taught it before because the research was pending. We don't mention it in our books because we hadn't researched it yet in detail. Now we have. Now we're just having a dinner with spice offerings, drink offerings, and of course we teach and spend time in fellowship and in the word.

How does Tim know he is right? Because scripture interprets scripture. 

4:30 Scripture defines scripture on this. Again precedent already established in the last video.

So, Tim admits he does not even know when to properly keep the new month festival yet says he is keeping it, calls the scripture corrupt and yet says scripture interprets Scripture! But that is all incoherent nonsense. If the scripture is corrupt and the tools available to a layman like Tim to interpret it are corrupt then it cannot interpret itself correctly on the matter nor can Tim interpret it correctly. 


According to Tim it is no big deal whether or not he has the right calendar because the intent of the heart is what matters. 
23:02 Heart intent, heart intent is always paramount.
Of course the Bible never says such a thing. The law is very clear that the feasts must be kept on the right day and in the right manner and to not do so is an offense to God. In fact the law is above one's "heart intent" as we we see in the story of Uzzah.
2 Samuel 6:6 And when they came to Nachon's threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it.

And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.

Uzzah's "heart intent" to save the Ark from falling was no match for God's law which says only the Levites were to handle the Ark. 

Tim claims there will be five videos in this series but it has been over a month since the second video was published and no more parts have been forthcoming. But no matter because these videos are enough to demonstrate that Timothy Jay Schwab is absolutely mad and his entire logical system is fallacious.

He says we are in a time of strong delusion as all Bible translations, dictionaries, and concordances are corrupt. Then he claims he can see past that corruption and give a correct interpretation concerning the New Moon Festival. But this is not possible if ALL THE TEXTS HE IS USING ARE CORRUPT! He has shot himself in the foot and given himself no justified epistemic ground on which to stand for anything that follows after that statement. 

Tim's doctrine of Bible Preservation should be noted here. He claims that translations, which he says are corrupt, do not actually matter because God has preserved His Word on the Heavenly Tablets in Heaven.

20:17 This is the best track possible because scripture was kept in Heaven first and that Heavenly Tablet was shared with Moses on Mount Sinai which keeps that in perfect condition even better than what we call the Bible passed downEverybody worries about how this or that is translated but understand, you know, Yahuah said he would preserve his word he meant in Heaven it's perfect.

Biblical Tithe Series: Part 7: The History of the Law of Tithing

According to Tim God has not preserved His word perfectly on earth but only in Heaven! What good is that for us who are not in Heaven but on Earth? It is a denial of God's sovereignty and an admission that no one, Tim included, can ever know what God's word says for sure because it is only perfectly kept in Heaven. 

Furthermore he admits he does not know when or how to keep the New Moon Festival because "we're not God" and then proceeds to speak for 50 minutes on how to keep the New Moon Festival! He also admits the calendar he published in Jubilees is corrupt and he does not have the right calendar but keeping the New Month festival on the correct date does not matter only "heart intent" matters. 

There is no longer any reason for anyone to ever again listen to Tim speak of Bible matters because he admits the texts and interpretive apparatuses he is using are corrupt. If they are corrupt then he will only be able to give corrupt teachings. Not only that but Tim claims God has preserved His Word not on Earth but only in Heaven which means no one on Earth can ever hope to know the Word of God. This is the fruit of leaving the Church and spitting on all the faithful Christian scholars who have devoted their lives to studying and explaining the Hebrew and Greek texts. The sum of it is Timothy Jay Schwab, by declaring Bible translations, dictionaries, and concordances to be corrupt, has admitted he has no idea what the Bible actually teaches nor will he ever know what it teaches.

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

The God Culture: The Philippines is the Center of the Center of Marine Biodiversity

The scientific fact that the Philippines is the "center of the center of marine biodiversity" plays a central role in Timothy Jay Schwab's claim that the Philippines is the land of creation and thus the location of the Garden of Eden, Ophir, Tarshish, etc. So central is this to his thesis that the second video The God Culture produced to promote their new book "The Search for King Solomon's Treasure" is focused on this claim.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCgbHXVJePo
Where did creation occur? Marine life survived the flood. The center of the center of marine biodiversity on the entire planet is the Philippines. Epicenter of the coral triangle. The Philippines land of creation.
That is a very truncated statement of Tim's doctrine concerning the Philippines' marine biodiversity as being proof that the Philippines is the "land of creation." That phrase is problematic in itself because God created an entire planet not just one land. This claim is also discussed elsewhere in his videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz2Bmcm05_A

4:23 So if we want to know the origin of man and animals the land of creation we know exactly where to look it's not difficult. We don't go looking for bones of man or land animals who rebooted during the flood as all but what was on the ark was wiped out but those creatures which were not wiped out by the flood, marine species. Find the most diverse population of marine life on earth and you have actually found the land of creation. Now, see that is science, observation, and even logic.


6:59 The Carpenter report on environmental biology of fishes reports "The Philippines is not only part of the center but is, in fact the epicentre of marine biodiversity, with the richest concentration of marine life on the entire planet." See not actually debatable is it. The Philippines is the land of creation

"Find the most diverse population of marine life on earth and you have actually found the land of creation. Now, see that is science, observation, and even logic."  That's actually called an assumption. Why would a diverse marine population tell us anything about the creation of man or land animals? Tim does not say. He simply asserts it as being true.

As I previously wrote Tim does not actually cite the Carpenter report's findings. Instead he cites a brief summary of the report. Let's look at the report and see what it actually says.

Carpenter Report


From the Synopsis:

Analysis of distribution data for 2983 species reveals a pattern of richness on a finer scale and identifies a peak of marine biodiversity in the central Philippine Islands and a secondary peak between peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra. This pattern is repeated in diverse habitat and higher taxa classes, most rigorously for marine shore fishes, supporting geohistorical hypotheses as the most general unifying explanations.

From the Methods section:

Related to the area of accumulation hypothesis is that the IMPA also serves as an area of refuge (Bellwood & Hughes 2001) because it encompasses the most extensive and diverse tropical shallow water marine habitat on earth.

pg. 5-6

Results:

Analysis of the 2983 combined ranges reveals the central Philippines as the area of highest diversity and endemism (Figure 5a, b). A secondary area of high diversity is located between the tip of Malaysia and Sumatra and extends along north- eastern Sumatra and northern Java (Figure 5a). Both diversity centers are repeated in subsets of data based on distribution, habitat, all inverte- brate taxa, and shore fishes.

pg. 6 
Discussions

Because of its greater area, Indonesia may eventually be shown to have a greater overall marine biodiversity than the Philippines. However, there is a higher concentration of species per unit area in the Philippines than anywhere in Indonesia, including Wallacea, according to our study.

pg.8 

The hypothesis that the IMPA is a center of origin is not falsified by the central Philippine epicenter of diversity. However, it is not readily apparent why geological events that promoted allopatric speciation may have been more prevalent in the Philippines than in Wallacea.

pg.10 

The overall conclusion from our study is that the diversity found in the IMPA is likely a combination of many processes, as evidenced by the secondary center of diversity we observed. However the higher number of species per unit area in the Philippines than elsewhere in the IMPA indicates that concentrated allopatric speciation and island integration across the Philippine archipelago appears to have played an important role in shaping the diversity of the IMPA. These hypotheses warrant further testing through refined vicariance biogeography methods and molecular phylogeographic approaches.

pg. 13
To sum up according to this paper, "multiple datasets show global maxima of marine biodiversity in the Indo–Malay–Philippines archipelago (IMPA)." However the epicenter of this diversity is the Philippines. This diversity consists in "the number of species per unit area" and not the number of unique species per se which only number 2,983. There is also a "secondary peak" of diversity "between peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra."   This map illustrates these findings.


The top 10% of species richness is in shades of red and yellow and the remaining decreasing increments of species richness are indicated by lighter shades of blue. The greatest diversity is red (1693 to 1736 species), followed by pink (1650 to 1692 species), yellow (1606 to 1649 species), and light yellow (1563 to 1605 species).

pg.7
The map in the bottom corner (f) shows how this diversity overlaps. The entire area is a global center of marine biodiversity "per unit area" not in the number of species per se which is only 2,983. The diversity in the IMPA stems from it being crowded and not because there is a high number of unique species in the area.

What does this mean for Tim's thesis that the Philippines has the most diverse marine life and is thus the land of creation? It means his claim is very misleading. It is readily apparent that he does not understand that the diversity consists in distribution of species "per unit area" and not in the number of unique species per se. In this study only the distribution of 2,983 species were studied. The region with the greatest number of those species "per unit area" is the Philippines. Those same species are distributed throughout the IMPA but in lower, but not by much, numbers. The entire area is a center of marine biodiversity with the Philippines being the epicenter.  Why is that? The author, Kent Carpenter, says more study is needed. 

There are far more then 2,983 marine species on the planet. Are there other areas with even more diverse populations of marine life? Of course.

We analyze the state of knowledge of marine biodiversity based on the geographic distribution of georeferenced species records and regional taxonomic lists. A total of 12,046 marine species are reported in this paper for the Caribbean region. 

The total number of endemic species for those taxa is 1,563, which represents 25.6% of the species for these groups.
This paper on Caribbean marine biodiversity analyses 12,046 species and 25.6% of them are endemic, native, to the region. Likewise the Mediterranean Sea is a hotspot of biodiversity and boasts of many endemic species.

Mediterranean Sea
A rough estimate of more than 8,500 species of macroscopic marine organisms should live in the Mediterranean Sea, corresponding to somewhat between 4% and 18% of the world marine species. This is a conspicuous figure if one considers that the Mediterranean Sea is only 0.82% in surface area and 0.32% in volume as compared to the world ocean. 
As a result, the Mediterranean Sea is considered as a true hotspot of biodiversity [1, 2, 10], even by virtue of the high rates of endeCism it supports (an estimated 20–30% of marine species in the Mediterranean are considered endemic to the Basin.)
How does Tim account for this diversity in the Carribrean and the Mediterranean? Why does the marine biodiversity of the Philippines indicate it is the land of creation when it does not have the most unique species? The diversity of the Philippines is "per unit area" not per species. There are 6x more species in the Caribbean and 25.6% of those are endemic to the Caribbean which means they are not found in the Philippines. Likewise in the Mediterranean there are 8,500 unique species and 20-30% are endemic to that body of water. Why isn't the Caribbean the land of creation when it has more species? Tim does not explain any of this. He has probably not even considered it as he has not bothered to conduct any meaningful research into marine biodiversity. Instead he has taken a study about the Philippines which, as indicated by his lack of reference to it, he has not read and distorted its findings out of all proportion.

Closely tied to his appeal that the Philippines is the center of marine biodiversity on the planet is Tim's claim that there was no ocean before the flood. This claim is not rooted in science but in faith. Specifically faith in the narrative of the apocryphal Jewish text 2 Esdras.

pg. 270
2 Esdras narrows this down to a percentage we can understand. Only one-seventh of the Earth before the Flood was water which is approximately 15%. This is extremely significant as there are many who lose sight that the ocean did not exist at that time but was formed by the flood. 

The reason this matters is Genesis 2 is depicting the only major aqua nerve system on the Earth at that time.
pg. 270-271
 Tim's faith in 2 Esdras leads him to claim that only 1/7th of the earth was water before the flood.
2 Esdras 6:42 Upon the third day thou didst command that the waters should be gathered in the seventh part of the earth: six parts hast thou dried up, and kept them, to the intent that of these some being planted of God and tilled might serve thee.
In 2 Esdras 14 Ezra tell us that the books of Moses were burned up and God gives him a revelation to write them down. In fact he writes down 204 books, 70 of which remain secret.
2 Esdras:14:21: For thy law is burnt, therefore no man knoweth the things that are done of thee, or the work that shall begin.

37: So I took the five men, as he commanded me, and we went into the field, and remained there. 
38: And the next day, behold, a voice called me, saying, Esdras, open thy mouth, and drink that I give thee to drink. 
42: The Highest gave understanding unto the five men, and they wrote the wonderful visions of the night that were told, which they knew not: and they sat forty days, and they wrote in the day, and at night they ate bread. 
43: As for me. I spake in the day, and I held not my tongue by night. 
44: In forty days they wrote two hundred and four books. 
45: And it came to pass, when the forty days were filled, that the Highest spake, saying, The first that thou hast written publish openly, that the worthy and unworthy may read it: 
46: But keep the seventy last, that thou mayest deliver them only to such as be wise among the people: 
47: For in them is the spring of understanding, the fountain of wisdom, and the stream of knowledge. 
48: And I did so.
From this passage we learn that Ezra, inspired by God, dictated the books of Moses plus a lot of other things he withheld. That means faith in this text requires a belief that our current text of Genesis originates from this event and that we are missing a lot of other texts. 

Now let's read Timothy Jay Schwab's interpretation of Genesis 1.
Genesis 1:10 KJV
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.  
Hebrew:yam: יָם:sea, mighty river (Nile), salt sea.
The Hebrew yam can mean sea but it is also used for mighty river and even the Salt Sea or Dead Sea who is not a sea but a lake. Yam is obviously a generic word referring to a large body of water not narrowing down the specifics nor does such requirement exist. The word is not a definitive word for ocean nor does Genesis 1-6 ever describe an ocean but five mega-rivers which we will locate with perhaps lakes we call basins today.
pg. 271
According to Tim 2 Esdras is history which means Ezra rewrote the writings of Moses at the dictation of God himself. How does Tim explain this nonspecific language in Genesis 1 when 2 Esdras 6 is very specific? How does he explain the differing creation stories between Genesis 1 and 2 Esdras 6? 2 Esdras 6:49-52 relates an interesting narrative about Enoch and Leviathan which is nowhere to be found in Genesis.

49: Then didst thou ordain two living creatures, the one thou calledst Enoch, and the other Leviathan; 

50: And didst separate the one from the other: for the seventh part, namely, where the water was gathered together, might not hold them both.


51: Unto Enoch thou gavest one part, which was dried up the third day, that he should dwell in the same part, wherein are a thousand hills:


52: But unto Leviathan thou gavest the seventh part, namely, the moist; and hast kept him to be devoured of whom thou wilt, and when.

Which Enoch is this? It can't be the "seventh from Adam." Neither Ezra nor Tim explains.

Timothy Jay Schwab's belief that there was no ocean before the flood results in two absurdities. 

The first absurdity, as I pointed out elsewhere, is that is if the Garden of Eden is under the Sulu Sea, as Tim teaches, then that means there was no marine biodiversity in the Sulu Sea before the flood because there was no Sulu Sea until after the flood. So why would marine biodiversity which appears after the flood and not at creation tell us anything about "the land of creation?" This fact alone destroys his ridiculous claim that the Philippines' marine biodiversity indicates the Philippines is "the land of creation."

The second absurdity is that Tim has no explanation for saline waters and the creatures who thrive in them. On this planet there are freshwater ecosystems and there are saltwater ecosystems. The fact is freshwater marine life cannot survive in saltwater and vice versa.

https://www.livescience.com/32167-can-saltwater-fish-live-in-fresh-water.html

Some fish species can live in both freshwater and saltwater. These species are called euryhaline fish. However, most fish species can only survive in one or the other based on their salinity tolerance, or how much salt their bodies can handle. 

Most fish that can only tolerate narrow ranges of salinity and are highly sensitive to any changes in the levels of salt to the water in which they dwell. These fish are known as stenohaline species and include goldfish, which can live only in a freshwater environment. 

Reversely, tuna can exist exclusively in saltwater, according to the NMFS. 

In fact, freshwater fish will often be unable to survive if the salinity levels of their surrounding water reaches more than .05 percent, according to the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII).

Tim's thesis that there was no antediluvian world ocean means there would have to be no life which requires the world ocean for its habitat. This includes whales, dolphins, corals, sharks, clownfish, tuna, octopi, squids, and mollusks just to name a few. As Genesis 1 says:
21: And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

22: And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
Were blue whales, dolphins, sharks, clownfish, tuna, and all the rest swimming around in large freshwater lakes which made up only 1/7 of the earth's surface? And after the flood did they adapt to the salinity of the ocean? Just what is the origin of the world ocean's saline content? For Tim to have a coherent thesis that there was no ocean before the flood he will have to take the above facts into consideration and offer an explanation instead of quickly jumping to mapping out a supposed ancient river system in the ocean trenches.

Most importantly Tim offers no explanation why the waters with the most diversity means that is the land of creation. Like many of his claims it's an unfalsifiable ad hoc hypothesis for which he offers zero explanation. There are 6x more marine species in the Caribbean than in the "center of the center of marine biodiversity." The Philippines may have more species "per unit area" but the Philippines is less diverse in terms of actual species. The waters of the IMPA and the Philippines are simply more crowded.

We also see his scriptural explanations from 2 Esdras do not pan out. Of course 2 Esdras is not scripture and has never been scripture. Nor is it science. It is apocryphal Jewish literature which is certainly not solid ground on which to build a case for anything scientific.

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

The God Culture: Stuff the God Culture Writes, "The Search For King Solomon's Treasure"

Timothy Jay Schwab's new book "The Search For King Solomon's Treasure" is such "farrago of nonsense that is contravened by a multitude of eyewitness accounts, inconvenient facts, and simple common sense," that I was not able to cover it all in my initial review. This time around I want to take a look at some of the outright absurdities in Tim's book. Things that simply do not belong but which make up "The Monumental Case For the Philippines No One Can Disprove." Each page is a head scratching, "Did he really write that?," moment. 

Let's start off with something that Tim did not write. From the Foreward by "Dr." Butch Belgica:

The accepted scientific way of determining the land of creation is biodiversity. Southeast Asia, as declared by science journals and hundreds of scientists, is the world center of biodiversity - marine, mammals, plants and animals - with the Philippines as the epicenter in all. 

p. 10

A word about The God Culture calling this a Foreward instead of a foreword. They claim that its a double entendre and the reason they use it can be found on page 9 of the book.

FYI - Someone asked why we chose the word Foreward with an A rather than the traditional Foreword with an O. Read Page 9 of Solomon's Treasure and we explain why Foreward is far more appropriate for our book as we employ a double entendre and it is intentional and on all our books that way. Yah Bless.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=698485840711436&id=376627072897316

There is nothing on page 9 to explain this word choice. As for it being a double entendre, I fail to see what is "socially awkward, sexually suggestive, or offensive" here. The correct word for this type of speech would be a pun.  (Note: TGC has altered both Solomon's Treasure and their version of the Book of Jubilees to explain what they mean by foreward. You can read that at this link on page 9.)

The claim Belgica makes about biodiversity determining the land of creation shows up later in the book on page 64 where Tim writes the following:

Mankind and animals rebooted during the Flood and are no firm scientific measure to determine the origin of species.  However, marine life was not wiped out by the deluge as such. Therefore, we have a credible measure by which to allocate the root of life in region. If we can locate the most bio-diverse population on earth, we would have actually found the Land of Creation scientifically. In the past twenty or so years, marine biologists have now determined that this center of life, without even actually realizing what they have found, is he measure of the origin of species. Sorry Charlie, Darwin that is.

p.64-65

I hope my readers are astute enough to see what is wrong with these claims. For one thing they contradict each other. Belgica says biodiversity in toto can determine the land of creation. Tim says only marine biodiversity can determine the land of creation because everything else was wiped out by the flood. Though Tim does write about mammal diversity further on page 66 where he quotes a press release from Chicago's Field Museum.

Where is the world's greatest concentration of unique species of mammals? A team of American and Filipino authors have concluded it is Luzon Island, in the Philippines.

This PRESS RELEASE goes on to reference a scientific study which Tim neglects to reference. Imagine writing a book that is supposed to be "The Monumental Case For the Philippines No One Can Disprove" and instead of analyzing a scientific paper you are satisfied with quoting from a press release as your source. "Though this be madness, yet there is method in't." The method is to be as shallow as possible and we shall see it crop up several times in this book as Tim prefers to quote newspaper articles about studies rather than analyze any of the scientific studies to which they refer.

Neither Belgica nor Tim explains how locating the center of biodiversity can scientifically lead us to the land of creation. They just assume it. They don't quote any scientists or offer any reasonable proof why the most biodiverse land is the land of creation. The Earth is a large planet and it could be that God created different animals in different lands and not all in one place. How does Tim explain the unique biodiversity of Australia or the Amazon rainforest?

Noah's flood actually destroys Tim's thesis about marine biodiversity. Tim correctly notes that the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were opened during the flood. But if that is the case then all life in the sea would have been dispersed. If underground geysers were spouting up then they would spread abroad all they touch. Post-Flood there would be no center of marine biodiversity. This is especially the case since Tim teaches there was no ocean before the flood. More on this below. 

First let's look a little closer at what Tim's three sources say this diversity consists. These are all found on page 65.

 Source one is from http://oneocean.org/flash/philippine_biodiversity.html.

The Philippines forms an ocean region that has long been recognized as the world’s center of marine biodiversity. With the Malay archipelago, Papua New Guinea and Australia, the country forms the ‘Coral Triangle,’ so-called because of the abundance of its coral reef life. Some 400-500 species in 90 genera of reef-forming corals are believed to exist in this region. Sulu-Sulawesi Sea, a 900,000-square-kilometer marine eco-region that lies at the apex of the Coral Triangle (70% in the Philippines, 20% Indonesia, 10% Malaysia), is home to some 2,500 species of fish.

A 2005 report (Carpenter 2005) suggests that the Philippines is not only part of the center but is, in fact, the epicenter of marine biodiversity, with the richest concentration of marine life on the entire planet.

That 2005 report is actually a little difficult to find but it can be read here: 

The center of the center of marine shore fish biodiversity: The Philippine Islands

Analysis of distribution data for 2983 species reveals a pattern of richness on a finer scale and identifies a peak of marine biodiversity in the central Philippine Islands and a secondary peak between peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra. This pattern is repeated in diverse habitat and higher taxa classes, most rigorously for marine shore fishes, supporting geohistorical hypotheses as the most general unifying explanations.

Why is this report not the source Timothy uses? Because it does not fit his thesis. The title of this report is: "The center of the center of marine shore fish biodiversity: The Philippine Islands." The focus of this study is not marine life in general but shore fish in particular! The other marine life which composes this diversity is mostly corals which form their habitat. But how exactly does this diversity prove that the Philippines is the land of creation? Tim does not say. He simply assumes it.

The next source is literally a Google search!!!

NOTE: This is an old search on Google from 4 years ago. CNN has since purged his report and link but we have it captured. Notice, it is also widely report by the Philippine Star, Manila Times, etc, Our route is taken from the CNN report but all are similar. We are keeping the one from our original video in which his was very widely circulated and quoted from CNN as you can see on this page.

If there is anything that can convict Timothy Jay Schwab of being a shameless fraud it has to be this. First of all this source is a Google search and not the actual article so he doesn't have it captured as he claims he has and if he does he should have used that instead of this malarkey. Second of all this CNN report is actually an ireport! The url is: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOCS-783629. CNN retired this feature in 2015. Ireports were akin to Wikipedia and thus unreliable. Anyone could report on anything. I do not have this article so I cannot read their sources but neither can Timothy. Third of all this is a GOOGLE SEARCH!!! It does not prove a thing. A fine source for Tim's "Monumental Case For The Philippines No One Can Disprove."

His third source is from a newspaper and is of no account.

Some 100 scientists have declared the Philippines as the world’s "center of marine biodiversity" — not the Great Reef Barrier off east Australia — because of its vast species of marine and coastal resources, according to the World Bank. 

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2006/06/08/340635/100-scientists-declare-rp-world146s-145center-marine-biodiversity146

That is sufficiently vague enough for Tim to prove his point and is not worth commenting on. Why not link to the World Bank study and explain exactly why the Philippines is the center of marine biodiversity? Why not tell us all more about this biodiversity and how it proves that the Philippines is the land of creation? Why is Tim content with newspapers and secondhand reports? Since Tim does not bother to link it I will not bother to search it out. 

Let's return to the first source. In that source the marine biodiversity is located in the Sulu Sea. But Tim does not believe there was a Sulu Sea when God created the Earth! He teaches that the oceans and seas were formed as a result of the flood. 

....after the Flood with the new World Ocean formed...

pg. 54

Prior to the Flood, the water system of the Earth was described as five mega-rivers with fountains of the great deep within. There is no mention of a world ocean....

pg. 269 

...no ocean and a lot more land.

pg. 271 

The implications of this teaching are obviously quite ridiculous. There would be no large bodies of water for the great whales to swim in. Imagine blue whales swimming in a river, even a mega-river. What is a mega-river anyway? Tim offers no precise explanation as to what they are or how they would function. 

By the way those mega-rivers are now known to us as ocean trenches according to Tim. How does Tim know this? He doesn't. He quotes again from an article about a study and jumps to the conclusion that these trenches must have been rivers before the Flood buried them.

“If you drained all the water away, it would look exactly like a river system with bends and meanders, except there are no trees along the banks...”

– Dan Parsons, PhD, Sedimentologist, University of Hull, UK to BBC News (studies undersea rivers)

pg. 254-255 of the Sourcebook

Tim's source for the above quote is an interesting article at the BBC from which Tim draws unwarranted conclusions and assumptions which he cannot prove. Has he studied these trenches with underwater excavations? Of course not. It also references a study Tim neglects. But that is par for the course.

If there was no Sulu Sea then that means God did not create all marine life or an abundance of marine life in those waters. Instead where the Sulu Sea is now was the Garden of Eden. According to Tim the Garden of Eden is actually at the very bottom of the Sulu Sea. Tim thinks this scientifically proves the Philippines is the center of marine biodiversity.

As we covered before, the Carpenter Report, CNN, World Bank, and many others now record the Sulu Sea specifically the Verde island passage from Mindoro to Batangas as "The Center of the Center of Marine Biodiversity on Earth" and as we established, that indicates the origin of life on Earth not old bones of humans nor animals. Therefore, this even proves out scientifically as that is just above the Garden of Eden which is enclosed within the Earth. Somewhere to the East is an entrance and we do not claim to have found the entrance nor do we wish to attempt to enter. We believe we even find support in the Hebrew name if a large underwater reef famous for diving in the center of the Sulu Sea in fact just above the Garden.

Tubbataha Reef

Hebrew: Tub: טוּב: good things

Hebrew: ba: בָּא: in the

Hebrew: ta: תָּא :chamber

Hebrew: ha: הא: The

Our interpretation: The Good Things in the Chamber


To what chamber might this be referring? Perhaps the enclosed Garden of Eden just below. If this is coincidence, calculate the odds of such impossibility.


pg. 310-312

What nerve to claim he has covered the Carpenter report when that is not the case at all as I showed above. He does not even cite it! 


If the Garden of Eden is BELOW the Sulu Sea then that means God did not create the Sulu Sea during the seven days of creation. Therefore there will have to be an alternate explanation as to why there is so much diversity in the region. It cannot be because God created it so because the Sulu Sea did not begin to exist until AFTER the flood according to Tim's cosmology. Has Tim not thought this through? 


According to Wikipedia Tubbataha means:

The word tubbataha is a combination of two Sama-Bajau words: tubba and taha, which together means "a long reef exposed at low tide". 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tubbataha_Reef#Etymology

This is a good point to segue into Tim's use of Wikipedia. Tim cites Wikipedia authoritatively in this book.  

This further affirms the claim that the Philippines was mining gold in 1000 B.C. as...Wikipedia and others stake.


pg. 43

But on page 99 he shows why Wikipedia is not a reliable source:

...someone has now changed that Wikipedia article...

Wikipedia even tells us that it is not reliable as a primary source because it can be changed at any time!

We advise special caution when using Wikipedia as a source for research projectsNormal academic usage of Wikipedia and other encyclopedias is for getting the general facts of a problem and to gather keywords, references and bibliographical pointers, but not as a source in itself. Remember that Wikipedia is a wikiAnyone in the world can edit an article, deleting accurate information or adding false information, which the reader may not recognize.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_Wikipedia

Tim would be wise to learn this lesson but as it stands Wikipedia is part of his "Monumental Case For the Philippines No One Can Disprove." All it takes is a few edits and his case is disproven.

The Garden of Eden is not the only thing the flood buried beneath the newly formed World Ocean. Lemuria and Atlantis were also buried in the deluge.

Many recall the fabled Lemuria. It is no sunken continent that disappeared into the sea. It was inundated and overcome by the new World Ocean as was Atlantis. If one desired to discover a treasure trove of prehistoric archaeology, they would need to penetrate into the Flood sediment there on the bottom and entire large societies would emerge. However, man has no such capabilities in this age. Is it not odd that the Flood buried this and Atlantis to such degrees that we cannot even locate them today?

pg. 277

It is quite fitting that Tim writes about the existence of those fictional places in a book that is full of fictions about the Philippines. Apparently Tim is unaware that Plato invented Atlantis to illustrate his philosophical ideas and Lemuria was postulated in the 19th century by a zoologist to explain why  lemur fossils appeared in disparate places. Hence the name Lemuria. Any embellished accounts of Lemuria that Tim has read have most likely come from Theosophists such as Helena Blavatsky who made Lemuria a central part of her occult teachings. This passage is tainted with occult, new-age quackery.

Speaking of occult, new-age quackery Zechariah Sitchin's work forms part of Tim's "Monumental Case For the Philippines No One Can Disprove." He is the author of the famous Earth Chronicles series of books where he writes about ancient aliens visiting the earth and creating man. 

However, in the Book of Enki, the Nephilim also built an ark which landed on Turkey on their Mount of Salvation now called Ararat or near there. That's not Noah.

pg. 319

Is this some kind of joke? Is Tim for real?  Is he actually interpreting the Bible narrative of the flood through the Book of Enki which is about aliens who came to earth to mine for gold and genetically engineered mankind to be their slaves!!?

Some 445,000 years ago, astronauts from another planet came to Earth in search of gold. Splashing down in one of Earth's seas, they waded ashore and established Eridu, "Home in the Faraway." In time the initial settlement expanded to a full-fledged Mission Earth-with a Mission Control Center, a spaceport, mining operations, and even a way station on Mars. Short of manpower, the astronauts employed genetic engineering to fashion Primitive Workers-Homo sapiens. The Deluge that catastrophically swept over the Earth required a fresh start; the astronauts became gods, granting Mankind civilization, teaching it to worship. Then, about four thousand years ago, all that had been achieved unraveled in a nuclear calamity, brought about by the visitors to Earth in the course of their own rivalries and wars.

What's next?  Will he discourse on Niburu and Planet X and how man was created by alien gods? All of that is in the Lost Book of Enki. This false and occult information makes it into the authoritative sourcebook on page 267 and is a solid part of his case.

Mt. Ararat in Turkey has the wrong name, in the wrong direction, 12,000' too short, is not mountains but is the site where the Nephilim claim to have landed when they survived.
At this point Tim has gone totally off the deep end into esoteric texts that have no basis as being true. It's no wonder he is not satisfied with using the Bible alone to prove his case because the Bible contradicts him on multiple points especially concerning the flood and the law. 

https://www.ophirinstitute.com/sources

Strangely the Book of Enki is not listed as an official extra-biblical source.

Guess what else forms part of Tim's "Monumental Case For The Philippines No One Can Disprove." A rant against Oprah Winfrey!

pg. 57

We know media mogul, Oprah, would like to disparage Yahuah because He supposedly told Adam where the gold was which is complete ignorance as He never had to tell Adam where the gold was because Adam was created in the Land of Gold. It is the marker resource in identifying this region which is preserved to this day. Let us not pretend Oprah, as a billionaire is not serving Mammon (god of money) herself thus this  was a very hypocritical statement from her.

What is he talking about? Why is this in the book? What does this have to do with anything!? I tried to look this up and I think it has to do with her review of John Steinbeck's book East of Eden but I just don't know and since Tim does not tell us I'm not going to bother to search further.

Parts of Tim's book are devoted to revealing the Philippines in prophecy. In fact revealing the Philippines' place in prophecy is actually the whole point of his book and videos. Did you know the fact that because no one in the Philippines trusts anyone else resulting in everyone's house being enclosed behind a wall to prevent thieves from barging in identifies the Philippines in the book of Ezekiel?
Ezekiel 38:13 KJV 
Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
Some focus on the young lions in this passage.  The word כְּפִיר: kephiyr is also defined "village (as covered by walls)" which the Philippines has walls or concrete especially fences everywhere. It is one of the first icons once notices when they visit there.
pg. 77
Commenting elsewhere on this verse Tim writes:
Again, this is where some attempt to force Britain into this when it is interpreted "young lions." However the word in Hebrew is also defined as "a village covered by walls." Anyone visiting the Philippines quickly notices the entire nation is a walled village. Most properties are fenced in with large concrete walls or the like.

This is a further fit to the rest of Isaiah's prophecies about the Philippines in context as Ezekiel knew as well the significance of this land.

pg. 251
Isaiah and Ezekiel were prophets to the nation of Israel. If we are to believe what Tim writes then these prophets were prophesying to the Israelites about a land and people they had no knowledge of and which would only figure in during the end times thousands of years in the future. It's not that the Israelites had no knowledge of Sheba, Dedan, and Tarshish. Of course they knew those lands. But the Philippines lay far out of sight on the other side of the world. 

Tim is adamant that the island of Cebu is actually Sheba.
Now that we know who is not the Queen of Sheba is there a way to pinpoint where she originated? We believe this can be accomplished by using the Hebrew language in her island for Sheba is in fact Cebu.
pg. 84
Following this paragraph is a long disputation using Hebrew words to ferret out the hidden meaning of Cebu. Tim says it is derived from the words "shebu" and "sebu." Take note that linguistics is Tim's method to uncover Bible mysteries. Not archaeology or exploration. Instead of going to Cebu to hunt for the remains of such a splendid kingdom as Sheba must have been he sits in his computer chair and constructs fake etymologies based on similarity of sounds. Cebu originates from a Cebuano word meaning trade.
The name "Cebu" came from the old Cebuano word sibu or sibo ("trade"), a shortened form of sinibuayng hingpit ("the place for trading"). It was originally applied to the harbors of the town of Sugbu, the ancient name for Cebu City. Sugbu or Sugbo, in turn, was derived from the Old Cebuano term for "scorched earth" or "great fire"
Identifying the island of Cebu as the kingdom of Sheba is very problematic for Tim because when he maps out the Greek's alleged knowledge of the Philippines he points to only two mythical islands, Chryse and Argyre, as being Luzon and Mindanao respectively. But here he is telling us that the Queen of Sheba lived on Cebu island and that the Israelites were aware of this.
Ophir had a brother named Sheba had a descended ruling his region in 970 B.C. who was visited by Solomon's navy in her land of Sheba...
pg. 78-79
If Solomon's navy actually landed in Cebu and the Greeks inherited the shipping routes of those Phoenician sailors as Tim claims they did then why is there no island corresponding to Cebu in any Greek description of the world? Are we to believe the Greeks knew about Luzon and Mindanao but forgot about Cebu? It makes no sense whatsoever. It is more evidence against Tim's erroneous postulations about the identity of the Philippines.

The identity of Cebu as Sheba plays a large part in Tim's interpretation of Matthew 12:42 and is key to understanding what he believes about the role of Filipinos in the end times.
Matthew 12:42 KJV (Parallel in Luke 11:30) 
The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
The Queen of the South still remains a designation of Cebu and Iloilo to this day and she will rise up. This means Messiah knew she would be put down for a season. She will judge this generation which is the final generation as in the passage, He defines this era where people will be seven more times demon possessed. Who came to hear the wisdom of Solomon? The Queen of Sheba. This is the Philippines which ascends to a position on the world amphitheater . It ill have a say in the judgement of the world and it's hierarchy. this is significant. We believe we are already beginning to witness the grass roots moment which will lead to this fulfillment. Ezekiel confirms the timing as Sheba, Tarshish and DDN, Philippines will rise up early in the narrative not at the end.
pg. 252
Tim interprets this passage to be a prophecy that the Philippines, personified as the Queen of the South, will rise up in the end times, reestablish God's law, and condemn the New World Order.
These isles in the East will judge the New World Order and the final generation not on Judgement Day but now. In order to become a judge one must have an adherence to the law or they have no measure by which to judge. Wait til you find out Yahuah will restore His law in the archipelago.

pg. 245
That is really all nonsense. The problem with all this is to be found in the preceding verse of Matthew. It seems Tim has completely overlooked Matthew 12:41.
Matthew 12:41 
The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
If Tim is going to be consistent then the nation of Iraq, which is where Nineveh is located, will also rise up and condemn the New World Order by restoring God's law. Of course that's not going to happen. Neither is the Philippines going to restore God's law for the law is a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ and Christ has come. The law is no more. That is the message of both Hebrews and Galatians. Tim's message that Filipinos will restore God's law is fundamentally anti-Christian.

The simple message of Matthew 12 is that those people who demanded a sign from Jesus are condemned for not believing the miracles and signs already given. It is Jesus who is greater than Jonah and Solomon yet those wicked men refused to believe on Him without a sign to their liking while Jonah and Solomon were believed on even without signs. Therefore at the judgement day the Queen of Sheba and the Ninevites will rise up and condemn those wicked people for their unbelief. Why would Jesus, in the midst of condemning those people, give a prophecy about the Philippines in the end times? He wouldn't and he doesn't.

In Tim's hand easy to understand Bible passages like that of Matthew 12 become complex and familiar stories like that of Jonah become strange and unfamiliar. We all know the Bible says God prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah but Tim thinks it was actually Leviathan.
Jonah 1:17 KJV
Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

We know in Sunday school we are told this was a whale. However, it says simply great fish. Whatever it was Jonah survived in it's belly for three days and nights. We have no hesitation in positing on a thought on this however. Science has proven a man could not likely survive in a whale's stomach and it leaves scholars with no answer.  So consider this as a theory on this side note. This would have to be a sea creature with the capacity for Jonah to breath while inside it's inners and large enough to support a man. This stumps the best of scholars if they are honest about it. Our theory is this may have been, and we cannot prove this, Leviathan, the great sea creature recorded in the Book of Job as living at the bottom of the sea but also breathing fire. This requires oxygen within his apparatus and he was massive in size thus it would make sense that Yahuah sent Leviathan to swallow Jonah. Again, we cannot prove that as we have yet to see Leviathan but it does make sense.

pg. 121
You got to give it to Timothy, that is some interesting out of the box thinking. Very creative. In one fell swoop he concocts a fantastical scenario he claims he cannot prove and he does away with the miraculous nature of the whole event by trying to get all scientific. When has science "proven a man could not likely survive in a whale's stomach" and why would it even matter? Apply that kind of thinking to the resurrection and you will soon become an atheist.

As we saw above in Matthew 12:41 Jonah is a type, a prefiguring, of Jesus Christ. As Jonah was in the belly of the whale so Christ was in the heart of the earth. Jonah entered the belly of the whale, and Christ does use the Greek word for whale or great fish, after God, in His wrath, sent a storm. Leave it to Tim to take the miracle out of that part of Jonah's story as well.

If Jonah was only headed to Spain or Britain, then he would have been swallowed in the Mediterranean Sea which is certainly not known for the severe tempests over the ocean like this.

pg. 123
It's hard to believe that Tim has missed the miraculous nature of the story of Jonah but there it is in his book. The fact is God sent a strong storm and as soon as Jonah was tossed overboard the storm immediately ceased. He was then swallowed, according to the Hebrew and Greek, by a great fish or whale and not the fire breathing serpent Leviathan. He survived in the belly of that fish for three days and then was vomited onto the shore. His survival was due solely to God's providence and direction of the entire event. There is nothing natural about the story of Jonah. It is all miraculous and it is all a prefiguring of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ according to Matthew 12.

Another familiar Bible story that Tim flips upside down is the story of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Remember Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat from that tree or else they would die. It seems Tim thinks this prohibition was because the fruit was actually poisonous. The fruit was not an apple or a fig but lanzones.

After quoting from the Book of Enoch which describes the fruit of the Tree of Wisdom Tim writes:
Lanzones appears to be the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in Enoch's description as it is a perfect fit in every way. Could there be such a history that Lanzones could be poison?

Lanzones originates in the Tagalog word Lason for "poison to morals or mind." This is perfectly fitting an very similar to the Hebrew "Lashon" which denotes essentially a poison tongue in some applications and even a golden wedge or bar in others tying to Ophir and Havilah. To the right, you will notice insets of the Carob and Lanzones Trees. Notice the leaves and branches revery similar as Enoch recorded. The Lanzones fruit certainly appears as grapes growing on a tree as described.

Can we really say this? Well, we were not there but in reading Enoch's very obvious reference this does match. However, we are not the first to say so as Philippines legend concurs. It was purged of such poison but one must ask how this can possibly end up matching the Book of Enoch
pg. 316
pg.317

He then quotes a Filipino legend about lanzones and writes the following conclusion:
According to this oral legend passed through generations in Laguna, Lanzones was once known to be poison. Where might a legend like that derive? The Book of Enoch yet again? An angel removed the poison and the tree was good to eat after that. Of course, this is a legend and there is no need to verify the story as much as we realize, legends like this usually have some sort of basis in ancient events many times. In this case, this happens to match what Enoch was describing in the Book of Enoch. Thus, we believe there is a connection.

pg. 318
The portion Tim quotes from Enoch says nothing about the fruit being poisonous. He pulls that assumption out of the air and then digs into a local Filipino legend about lanzones once being poisonous. They are only safe to eat now because an angel removed the poison. Just as he did with Jonah Tim excises the supernatural elements in the story of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The tree is no longer a unique tree but the humble lanzones tree. The reason God forbade Adam and Eve to eat from it was because it was poisonous. But somewhere down the line the poison was removed and now we can all partake of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil during the summer when the fruit is harvested and sold at the market.

There are many other absurdities in this book but let's look at one more that has to do with Tim personally.  Twice in this book he claims he is part Native American.
Though our leader who is of mixed Native American and European descent.......

pg. 18

Some of this author's ancestors were Native American Indians who were all but wiped from the face of the Earth when they rebranded them as "savages."

pg. 252
Why would information about Tim's genetic make-up be in a book which is "The Monumental Case For the Philippines No One Can Disprove?" It does not make any sense until you get to page 343.
In history, red skin is considered that of Native American Indian or the Filipino.
When have Filipinos ever been called Red Skins? Let's cut to the chase. Does Tim's face betray any Native American ancestry? How about his brother's face or his grandmother's face?


Those are all white people! If Tim has any Native American blood coursing through his veins it is an insignificant amount just like Senator Elizabeth Warren

The reason Tim stresses his Native American ancestry is because he wants his Filipino readers to think he is just like them. He has red skin, Filipinos have red skin, therefore they are the same. Except Tim is MORE EQUAL than Filipinos because Native Americans "were all but wiped from the face of the Earth!" Tim hails from a tribe of people who have been oppressed on a scale that outweighs anything that ever happened during the Spanish and American occupations of the Philippines.

What we have here is a guy who loathes the fact that he is a White American man and is latching on to anything that can transform him into a persecuted minority. It might be the ultimate case of going native as Tim is attempting to paint himself as being not only genetically identical to Filipinos with red skin but also being a member of a people group that has been more oppressed than them. But it has nothing to do with the Philippines being Ophir so who cares? Why is it in the book??

The God Culture: Understanding Pinto's Coordinates

Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture has finally responded to my articles about Fernando Pinto.  If you recall Fernando Pinto was shipw...