Another mixture at Rome involved "keys." For almost a

thousand years, the people of Rome had believed in the mystic

keys of the pagan god Janus and the goddess Cybele. In Mithraism,

one of the main branches of the mysteries that came to Rome, the

sun-god carried two keys. When the emperor claimed to be sucessor

of the "gods" and the Supreme Pontiff of the mysteries, the keys

came to be symbols of his authority. Later when the bishop of

Rome became the Pontifex Maximus in about 378, he automatically

became the possessor of the mystic keys. This gained recognition

for the Pope from the pagans and, again, there was the

opportunity to mix Peter into the story. Had not Christ said to

Peter, "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven"

(Matt.16:19)? It was not until 431, however, that the pope

publically claimed that the keys he possessed were the keys of

authority given to the apostle Peter. This was over fifty years

after the pope had become the Pontifex Maximus, the possessor of

the keys. For an example of how the keys are shown as symbols of

the Pope's authority, see the large fan on page 89.

The key given to Peter (and to all the other disciples)

represented the message of the gospel whereby people could enter

the kingdom of God. Because some have not rightly understood

this, it is not uncommom for Peter to be pictured as the

gatekeeper of heaven, deciding who he will let in and who he

won't! This is very much like the ideas that were associated with

the pagan god Jan us, for he was the keeper of the doors and

gates in the pagan mythology of Rome, the opener. Janus, with key

in hand, is shown in the above drawing. He was represented with

two faces-one young, the other old (a later version of Nimrod

incarnated in Tammuz). It is interesting to notice that not only

was the key a symbol of Janus, the cock was also regarded as

being sacred to him.$ There was no problem to link the cock with

Peter, for had not a cock crowed on the night that he denied the

Lord? (John 18:27).

It is certain that the title "Supreme Pontiff" or "Pontifex

Maximus" which the Pope bears is not a Christian designation, for

it was the title used by Roman emperors before the Christian Era.

The word "pontiff" comes from the word "pons," - "bridge", and

"facio," - "make." It means "bridge-maker." The priest-king

emperors of pagan days were regarded as the makers and guardians

of the bridges of Rome. Each of them served as high priest and

claimed to be the bridge or connecting link between this life and

the next.