Current Events & Trends
Beyond Today Magazine
Good News Magazine: March - April 2015
Course Content
Belief in God is waning in most Western countries, along with a general increase in atheism.
The small North Atlantic island of Iceland, however, has a group of followers who are looking to the pagan gods of old in their worship.
Reuters news agency reports: “Worship of the gods in Scandinavia gave way to Christianity around 1,000 years ago but a modern version of Norse paganism has been gaining popularity in Iceland” (Daniel Dickson, “Iceland to Build First Temple to Norse Gods in 1,000 Years,” Feb. 3, 2015).
In the face of Scandinavia’s strongly secular society, the attendance at the Icelandic church of Thor, Odin and Frigg has tripled in the last 10 years. So now the Asatru Association is planning to build a temple to the old gods that overlooks Iceland’s capital city of Reykjavik.
Most of the patrons of this “new” church do not view the Norse gods in a literal sense, but embrace a spiritual focus on them as part of pagan earth worship.
Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson, the proclaimed high priest of the order said, “We see the stories as poetic metaphors and a manifestation of the forces of nature and human psychology” (ibid.).
Jesus warned of far greater religious deception in the end time. The world will see a resurgence of religious fervor, but not the true religion of the Bible. How will this happen? The book of Revelation tells of a future false prophet who goes out and deceives the whole world. He will have power and authority and will perform miracles. But his power will not come from God—it will come from Satan.
For most atheists and humanists, worship at the temple of the old gods probably seems like a silly relic of ancient times. But this is a true modern-day pagan religion. Religious deception will not always be so obvious. Satan’s deception is very subtle. (Source: Reuters.)
Rudy Rangel was born and raised in Granite City, Illinois. He attended Southern Illinois University to study mass communication, graduating in 2008 with a bachelor of science degree. He also trained as an electrician.
Rudy currently lives in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was hired by the United Church of God in 2009 and works as production supervisor at the home office.
Rudy loves music, reading, writing, film and volunteering at United Youth Camps. Out of all these things, his favorite thing to do is play with his daughter and son and spend time with his wife. He also loves pizza.
Tom is an elder in the United Church of God who works from his home near St. Louis, Missouri, as a senior writer and editor for the Beyond Today magazine and church booklets. He is also the editor of the UCG Bible Commentary. He also served as a copy editor for Vertical Thought and managing editor for World News and Prophecy.
Tom began attending God's Church at the age of 16 in 1985 and was baptized a year later. He attended Ambassador College in both Texas and California and served for a year as a history teacher at the college's overseas project in Sri Lanka. He graduated from the Texas campus in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in theology along with minors in English and mass communications. Since 1994, he has been employed as an editor and writer for church publications and has served in local congregations through the regular preaching of sermons.
Tom was ordained to the ministry in 2012 and attends with his wife Donna and their young children.
