DOMINANT-This word means most important, powerful, or influential. Today I am going to get right to the point, and that is to point out how post Nicene Christianity is the result of the most “dominant” forces in play at the time (325 AD and thereabouts). When one views the historical development of “religion ” and religious practices throughout the ages, we see one common theme, “astrology”. Historically, it began with the Egyptians, was instilled in the Jews through their captivity, and perpetuated through all known cultures until the time of Constantine and the 1st Council of Nicaea. Astrology was based on a scheme of ascribing godly names and attributes to various celestial bodies and constellations. Constellations were given names such as Aries, Aquarius, Scorpio, etc. These named constellations were arranged in circular pattern and sequence to represent various “ages” that the Sun (son) goes through from birth to death and eventual resurrection (rebirth). 12 named constellations were used to form the 12 ages of the  Zodiac. The complete cycle was calculated to take about 25,000 years. Currently, we are in or near the “age” of Aquarius. When converted to a yearly event, whereby each of the 12 constellations represent a different month, it became knows as the horoscope; hence we say, each of us was born under the sign of so and so (Scorpio etc. ). Supposedly then, each sign is a dominant factor in our personality development. At the time of Jesus birth, Mythraism was the official state religion of the Roman empire. Jesus recognizing the fallacious views of the world concerning God and our relationship with Him began preaching a culture of “love” (acceptance). He saw himself and everything in existence as a mirror image of it’s creator. This was the gospel (good news), he told his apostles to preach to the world; “tell everyone the good news that I have died for you; you are forgiven of all evil. All I suggest is you love your God with your all and love (accept) your neighbor as yourself”. It is impossible to know for sure what the early Christians understood and how they related to that message, but one thing seems certain; by the time of John’s death. the Power Position of hierarchy was already established, and that power transfer from one individual to another was executed through the formal process of “laying on of hands”. Fast-forward 200 years or so and what we have is a dying out of Mythraism, and the beginning domination of Christianity. Christianity, however, was not organized. The most influential person in each community became s “bishop”. As such, he was sole authority as to what was to be taught and believed. As might be expected, because of all the mythology instilled into the process (no decisions were made without consulting the stars), literally hundreds of different versions of so-called Christian belief and practices sprang up. Differences in beliefs and understandings led to constant bickering and even fighting among the various factions to the point that Constantine, the Emperor of Rome could not adequately govern. Consequently, he convened a council at Nicaea. Reportedly, of the 1800 “bishops” in existence, only 280-325 attended; only 5 from the Western (Rome) church. The pope did not attend, but sent his delegate. Essentially, Constantine told the assembly he cared not what they decided, but they must come to a consensus, and that consensus would be the “official” religion of the Roman Empire. Any dissenters had two choices, exile or beheading. What eventuated was what the most “DOMINANT” group demanded. So the religion we were presented with was a completely self-serving, power structure from top down with total “Dominance” of our spiritual existence. It had no resemblance to Jesus’ basic simple teaching of “love”. It was a structure of dominance all for “POWER, MONEY, CONTROL”. It is without doubt that the theology developed and accepted by that council was embedded in astrological mythology. One has only to review early paintings of Jesus and Mary and take note of how each painting depicts their heads encircled with the Zodiac Sadly, it still is. The Zodiac is planted in stone in St Peters Basilica court yard in Rome to this day.  Martin Luther, recognizing the innumerable abuses in and by the church, finally developed the courage to call the church’s hand and break away with his own set of principles. Regrettably, he did not recognize the basic flawed philosophy in Catholicism, only the power directed abuses. Consequently, he opened the door for every “TOM, DICK AND HARRY’ to formulate his own religion. As a result, as of 2014, there were 33,000 so-called christian religions in the world, and ,of course, each claiming authenticity. There are two basic Dominant forces in Christianity today, Biblical and Papal (and its’ mimickers). Not a single one of them, as far as I can ascertain, conform to the simple basic teaching of Jesus “love” Why? All for the original Domination of POWER, MONEY, CONTROL. I have published a philosophy book, Wilderness Cry-a Scientific and Philosophic Approach to Understanding God and the Universe. It explains all in simple, easy to understand terms. If you have ever had any doubt about your existence and/or your relationship with God, it is a must read. You will find total peace and comfort. No more will you be brow-beaten by preachers telling you how bad you are and that “hell” awaits. That blanket of guilt will be removed. You will see how and why Jesus absolved you of all guilt, and finally you will be able with a clean conscious to find “joy” in doing the simple things Jesus asked us to do; Love your God with your all, and Love (accept) your neighbor as yourself. Jesus resides in us all; we all are His children. His LOVE is the DOMINANT factor in our lives. He has guaranteed our salvation no matter how vile we may be. My book is available hard-copy $10.95 at Amazon and all on-line book retailers, and Kindle-$4.99. God has blessed us all. He is our “Dominant” through His Son, Jesus and their reflective common eternal Will (Holy Spirit).  Your comments welcomed.