The Creator God and the Son

It is interesting that everywhere you go, almost every archaeologist and every anthropologist claims that ancient cultures worshipped the “sun,” meaning the orb in the sky. It is even more interesting that not one has ever drawn a parallel between the “Sun,” and the “Son,” in religious worship, meaning the Son of God. Take Peru, for example. Whether or not you use Pachacamac, or Viracocha, both were the names of the Creator God, the former of the pre-Inca Peruvians along the coast and throughout much of Peru, and the latter the name used by the Inca. But it is important to understand that both names applied to the God of Creation! In fact, the Creator God was a very old and fundamental deity in Peru, and according to Philip Ainsworth Means, American anthropologist and historian, long time Peruvian archaeologist and resident, and the author of the renowned Ancient Civilizations of the Andes, the Creator God was the God worshipped at Tiahuanao under some other Quechua name, and that he resembles the Mexican god Quetzalcoatl (Ancient Civilizations of the Andes, Guardian Press New York, 1964). 

Art work symbolizing the ancient God of Creation in the Peruvian world of Andean, South America. He was known by various names, but all cultures acknowledged Him as the Creator of all thing, who had a son, a God of the people, who interacted with mankind

    Another note of interest is that in the cults that honored the dead, in Peru there was an understanding that the dead were “in Heaven with the Sun (Son?),” where the good enjoyed life much as on earth with a plethora of food and drink, while evil-doers went to a subterranean hell where it was always cold. 
    It is important to know that names come and go, change, or are altered, passing through different languages, but their meaning generally remains the same. Take the name Iōannēs in Greek, which is Ioannes and Iohannes in Latin, or Yohanan in Hebrew, Johannes in Rome, and John in English. It is Juan in Spanish, João in Portuguese, Johan in Dutch, Jens in Scandinatian, Jannis in German, Hans in Danish, Jehan in French, Leuan in Welsh, Eoin or Seán in Irish, Ewan or Owen in Celtic, Jan in Devon, János, in Hungary, Ivan in Russian, Xhoni in Albanian, Yann in Breton, Yuēhàn in Chinese, Keoni in Hawaiian, Giovanni in Italian, Yohane in Japanese, Jonas in Lithuanian, Loane in Samoan, Jock in Scotland, and Sione in Tongan.
    While names change, for some reason no linguist has suggested that “the Son” became “the Sun” in ancient worship, turning erroneous attention to worshipping the sun by ancient cultures that originally worshipped “the Son.”

Sun Stone from the original Nauvoo Temple. To early Church members, the sun breaking through clouds symbolized the dawning of the Restoration and the coming of gospel light to illuminate a dark earth

    In fact, all the ancient legends of the Andes are haunted by a male character shrouded in mystery. He is distinguished from the Andeans by his tall size, his beard and his light skin. Known by many different names throughout the Cordilleras, it is always the same recognizable character. To the ancient Peruvian cultures which long pre-dated the Inca, he was Pacha Kamaq, known today as Pachacamac, the Earth-Maker, Creator God, and also known as the “Lord of the Earth,” and “God of the Earth.” He was the Creator of Mankind, and of all things,” and the “Supreme Being of all things,” and the most important God of all ancient Peruvians, and creator of the first man and woman. 
    Like almost all things pre-Inca, little is known of that period and of Pachacamac, other than he was the God of Gods, and pilgrimages were undertaken to the city of his name in the Lurin Valley, for many centuries before the Inca conquest. When the Inca came, they were informed that the altars to Pachacamac in the city of that name had been there since the arrival of the first Peruvians, and so great was the veneration of this God and place by the local cultures that the Inca, instead of attempting to abolish His worship, found it more prudent to allow it to continue, conjointly with that of their own supreme deity, Viracocha.

To the Inca, he was Apu Qun Tiqsi Wiraqutra, commonly known today as Con-Tici (Tiki) Viracocha or simply Viracocha, the master of science and magic and all things—the Inca claimed Viracocha created the human race, and all things on the earth, as well as the Earth, the sky and the stars and is considered the Creator God, the God of Creation, and the Supreme God, i.e., “the Great God without beginning or end,” who rules in heaven, and considered to have human form. In Inca mythology, Viracocha saved two people to bring civilization to the rest of the world.
    It might be of interest to note that the chronicler Garcilaso de la Vega identified Viracocha as Pachacamac, and that he was not only eternal, but the creator of all other gods. According to Spanish accounts, Viracocha was pale or white-skinned and bearded, unusual features among the Inca. The famous carved figure on the decorated archway in the ancient (pre-Incan) city of Tiahuanaco, known as the "Gateway of the Sun," represents Viracocha. The central figure is flanked by 48 winged effigies, 32 with human faces and 16 with condor's heads. This huge monument is hewn from a single block of stone, and some believe that it might represent a calendar; if true, this would be the oldest known calendar in the world.

As for “the Son,” the ancient Peruvian Inti was the son of Viracocha and called the “Sun God,” had human form, and taught the first man and woman the art of civilization. In fact, while he is of unknown mythological origin, according to William Fash and Mary E. Lyons, Inti was the son of Viracocha, the God of civilization (The Ancient American World—The World in Ancient Times, Oxford University Press, New York, 2005). In fact, Inti, as the Son, represented by the “Sun,” is shown prominently on all three national flags of Argentina (1818), Peru (1822), and Uruguay (1828). As a note of interest, Inti is the God that told in the old Peruvian legend Manco Capac (Nephi?) to build in Cuzco where the golden wedge or staff he carried sank into the ground—that is to say, it was Inti in legend who guided the youngest of the four brothers where to settle after escaping from his older brothers.

Christ has always been associated with the Sun and the sun’s rays in radiance, in glory, and in hope—that has always transcended into art in a very noticeable manner

    “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3).
    Where religious people make this transistion between reality and imagery within the gospel, it is generally lost on the non-religious, or on people of the sciences like archaeologists and anthropologists.
    As an example, anthropologist and linguist J. Alden Mason, of the University of Pennsylvania, in his very detailed depiction of life in pre-Columbian Peru states that ”The emperor, the royal family, and the High Priest confessed in secret to the Sun whose intercession they asked with Vircocha, the Creator” (The Ancient Civilization of Peru, Pelican, London, 1957, pp215-216). This is little different than one might say today, he confessed to Christ, whose intercession he asked with the Father.
    Thus, the Temple of the Sun at Pachacamac, is very likely the Temple of the Son, where not only Inti was worshipped, but originally in ancient Peru, when Pachacamac was built, it was dedicated to the Lord, who we call Jesus Christ.