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Hasten The Day!
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. [See Table of Contents for all End-Time Prophecies covered here, best viewed on a big screen]
Prophecies Happening NOW
APOSTASY - DECEPTION WITHIN THE CHURCH
ROMAN CATHOLICISM
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Roman%20Catholicism/cult_exposed.htm
Mark 7:6 ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.
7 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”
9 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.
What is the origin of the Roman Catholic Church?
Satan’s Counterfeit Christianity
Is the Catholic Church a separate religion or a division of Christianity?
Is Catholicism a False Religion?
Jesus called the Roman Catholic church corrupt
Thyatira translates to "Continual sacrifice"
Roman Catholicism is rooted in pagan Babylonianism
Square Passover Bread vs Round IHS Communion Wafers
What does the Bible say about communion?
Communion should be symbolic, not a 'continual sacrifice'
What does the Bible say about the pope / papacy?
Peter - Was Peter the first pope?
Indulgences – Works-Based Salvation
More Questions about Roman Catholicism
See also: Could Pope Francis be the False Prophet?
Pope Francis is a false prophet – and possible “the” False Prophet
Is Pope Francis a candidate for the False Prophet?
‘Pope Francis’ - A Wolf in Shepherd’s Clothing?
Pope Francis – An Apocalyptic Figure?
Pope Lays Out Global Marxist Agenda
Sanctioning Sodom
Catholic Archbishop Viganò calling out Pope Francis
Abp. Viganò: The Church needs an ‘official investigation’ of Benedict’s resignation
Archbishop Viganò Writes Stunning Letter on Vaccine Program
Videos
What is Roman Catholicism?
https://www.gotquestions.org/Roman-Catholicism.html
The Roman Catholic Church portrays itself as the one legitimate heir to New Testament Christianity, and the pope as the successor to Peter, the first bishop of Rome. While those details are debatable, there is no question that Roman church history reaches back to ancient times. The apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Romans about AD 55 and addressed a church body that existed prior to his first visit there (but he made no mention of Peter, though he greeted others by name). Despite repeated persecutions by the government, a vibrant Christian community existed in Rome after apostolic times. Those early Roman Christians were just like their brethren in other parts of the world—simple followers of Jesus Christ.
Things changed drastically when the Roman Emperor Constantine professed a conversion to Christianity in AD 312. He began to make changes that ultimately led to the formation of the Roman Catholic Church. He issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which granted freedom of worship throughout the empire. When doctrinal disputes arose, Constantine presided over the first ecumenical church council at Nicaea in AD 325, even though he held no official authority in the churches. By the time of Constantine’s death, Christianity was the favored, if not the official, religion of the Roman Empire. The term Roman Catholic was defined by Emperor Theodosius on February 27, 380, in the Theodosian Code. In that document, he refers to those who hold to the “religion which was delivered to the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter” as “Roman Catholic Christians” and gives them the official sanction of the empire.
The fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of the Catholic Church are really two branches of the same story, as the power was transferred from one entity to the other. From the time of Constantine (AD 312) until the fall of the Roman Empire in 476, the emperors of Rome claimed a certain amount of authority within the church, even though it was disputed by many church leaders. During those formative years, there were many disputes over authority, structure, and doctrine. The emperors sought to increase their authority by granting privileges to various bishops, resulting in disputes about primacy within the churches. At the same time, some of the bishops sought to increase their authority and prestige by accusing others of false doctrine and seeking state support of their positions. Many of those disputes resulted in very sinful behavior, which are a disgrace to the name of Christ.
Just like today, some of those who lived in the leading cities tended to exalt themselves above their contemporaries in the rural areas. The third century saw the rise of an ecclesiastical hierarchy patterned after the Roman government. The bishop of a city was over the presbyters, or priests, of the local congregations, controlling the ministry of the churches, and the Bishop of Rome began to establish himself as supreme over all. Though some historians tell these details as the history of “the church,” there were many church leaders in those days who neither stooped to those levels nor acknowledged any ecclesiastical hierarchy. The vast majority of churches in the first four centuries derived their authority and doctrine from the Bible and traced their lineage directly back to the apostles, not to the church of Rome. In the New Testament, the terms elder, pastor, and bishop are used interchangeably for the spiritual leaders of any church (see 1 Peter 5:1–3 where the Greek root words are translated “elders,” “feed,” and “oversight”). By the time Gregory became pope in AD 590, the empire was in shambles, and he assumed imperial powers along with his ecclesiastical authority. From that time on, the church and state were fully intertwined as the Holy Roman Empire, with the pope exercising authority over kings and emperors.
What are the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church that distinguish it from other Christian churches? Whole books have been written on this subject, but a sampling of the doctrines will be outlined here.
Roman Catholicism teaches:
Bible teaches:
The bishops, with the pope as their head, rule the universal Church.
Christ, the head of the body, rules the universal church (Colossians 1:18).
God has entrusted revelation to the bishops.
God has entrusted revelation to the saints (Jude 3).
The pope is infallible in his teaching.
God alone is infallible (Numbers 23:19; Acts 17:11).
Scripture and Tradition together are the Word of God.
Scripture alone is the Word of God (John 10:35; 2 Timothy 3:16,17; 2 Peter 1:20,21; Mark 7:1-13).
Mary is the co-redeemer, for she participated with Christ in the painful act of redemption.
Christ alone is the Redeemer, for He alone suffered and died for sin (1 Peter 1:18,19).
Mary is the co-mediator, to whom we can entrust all our cares and petitions.
Christ Jesus is the one mediator to whom we can entrust all our cares and petitions (1 Timothy 2:5; John 14:13,14; 1 Peter 5:7).
Initial justification is by means of baptism.
Justification is by faith alone (Romans 3:28).
Adults must prepare for justification through faith and good works.
God justifies ungodly sinners who believe (Romans 4:5). Good works are the result of salvation, not the cause (Ephesians 2:8-10).
Grace is merited by good works.
Grace is a free gift (Romans 11:6).
Salvation is attained by cooperating with grace through faith, good works, and participation in the sacraments.
Salvation is attained by grace through faith apart from works (Ephesians 2:10).
No one can know if he will attain eternal life.
The believer can know that he has eternal life by the Word of God and the testimony of the Holy Spirit who indwells believers (1 John 5:13; Romans 8:16).
The Roman Catholic Church is necessary for salvation.
There is salvation in no one but the Lord Jesus Christ, “for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Christ’s body and blood exist wholly and entirely in every fragment of consecrated bread and wine in every Roman Catholic church around the world.
The bread and wine are symbols of the body and blood of Christ, and He is bodily present in heaven (1 Corinthians 11:23-25; Hebrews 10:12,13).
The sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated in the sacrifice of the Mass.
The sacrifice of the cross is finished (John 19:30).
Each sacrifice of the Mass appeases God’s wrath against sin.
The once-for-all sacrifice of the cross fully appeased God’s wrath against sin (Hebrews 10:12-18).
The sacrificial work of redemption is continually carried out through the sacrifice of the Mass.
The sacrificial work of redemption was finished when Christ gave His life for us on the cross (Ephesians 1:7; Hebrews 1:3).
These doctrines don’t date back all the way to Constantine, except for perhaps in seed form, but were slowly adopted over many years as various popes issued decrees. In many cases, the doctrines are not even based on Scripture but on a document of the church. Most Roman Catholics consider themselves to be Christians and are unaware of the differences between their beliefs and the Bible. Sadly, the Roman Catholic Church has fostered that ignorance by discouraging the personal study of the Bible and making the people reliant on the priests for their understanding of the Bible.
What is the origin of the Roman Catholic Church?
https://www.gotquestions.org/origin-Catholic-church.html
The Roman Catholic Church contends that its origin is the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ in approximately AD 30. The Catholic Church proclaims itself to be the church that Jesus Christ died for, the church that was established and built by the apostles. Is that the true origin of the Catholic Church?
On the contrary. Even a cursory reading of the New Testament will reveal that the Catholic Church does not have its origin in the teachings of Jesus or His apostles. In the New Testament, there is no mention of the papacy, worship/adoration of Mary (or the immaculate conception of Mary, the perpetual virginity of Mary, the assumption of Mary, or Mary as co-redemptrix and mediatrix), petitioning saints in heaven for their prayers, apostolic succession, the ordinances of the church functioning as sacraments, infant baptism, confession of sin to a priest, purgatory, indulgences, or the equal authority of church tradition and Scripture. So, if the origin of the Catholic Church is not in the teachings of Jesus and His apostles, as recorded in the New Testament, what is the true origin of the Catholic Church?
For the first 280 years of Christian history, Christianity was banned by the Roman Empire, and Christians were terribly persecuted. This changed after the “conversion” of the Roman Emperor Constantine. Constantine provided religious toleration with the Edict of Milan in AD 313, effectively lifting the ban on Christianity. Later, in AD 325, Constantine called the Council of Nicea in an attempt to unify Christianity. Constantine envisioned Christianity as a religion that could unite the Roman Empire, which at that time was beginning to fragment and divide. While this may have seemed to be a positive development for the Christian church, the results were anything but positive. Just as Constantine refused to fully embrace the Christian faith but continued many of his pagan beliefs and practices, so the Christian church that Constantine and his successors promoted progressively became a mixture of true Christianity and Roman paganism.
Following are a few examples:
Most Roman Catholic beliefs and practices regarding Mary are completely absent from the Bible. Where did those beliefs come from? The Roman Catholic view of Mary has far more in common with the Isis mother-goddess religion of Egypt than it does with anything taught in the New Testament. Interestingly, the first hints of Catholic Mariology occur in the writings of Origen, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, which happened to be the focal point of Isis worship.
The Lord’s Supper being a consumption of the literal body and blood of Jesus is not taught in the Bible. The idea that bread and wine are miraculously transformed into the literal body and blood of Jesus (transubstantiation) is not biblical. However, several ancient pagan religions, including Mithraism, which was very popular in the Roman Empire, had some form of “theophagy” (the eating of one’s god) as a ritualistic practice.
Roman Catholicism has “saints” one can pray to in order to gain a particular blessing. For example, Saint Gianna Beretta Molla is the patron saint of fertility. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals. There are multiple patron saints of healing and comfort. Nowhere is even a hint of this taught in Scripture. Just as the Roman pantheon of gods had a god of love, a god of peace, a god of war, a god of strength, a god of wisdom, etc., so the Catholic Church has a saint who is “in charge” over each of these and many other categories. Many Roman cities had a god specific to the city, and the Catholic Church provided “patron saints” for cities as well.
The idea that the Roman bishop is the vicar of Christ, the supreme leader of the Christian Church, is utterly foreign to the Word of God. The supremacy of the Roman bishop (the papacy) was created with the support of the Roman emperors. While most other bishops (and Christians) resisted the idea of the Roman bishop being supreme, the Roman bishop eventually rose to supremacy, again, due to the power and influence of the Roman emperors. After the western half of the Roman Empire collapsed, the popes took on the title that had previously belonged to the Roman emperors—Pontifex Maximus.
Many more examples could be given. These four should suffice in demonstrating the origin of the Catholic Church. Of course, the Roman Catholic Church denies the pagan origin of its beliefs and practices. The Catholic Church disguises its pagan beliefs under layers of complicated theology and church tradition. Recognizing that many of its beliefs and practices are utterly foreign to Scripture, the Catholic Church is forced to deny the authority and sufficiency of Scripture.
The origin of the Catholic Church is the tragic compromise of Christianity with the pagan religions that surrounded it. Instead of proclaiming the gospel and converting the pagans, the Catholic Church “Christianized” the pagan religions and “paganized” Christianity. By blurring the differences and erasing the distinctions, the Catholic Church made itself attractive to the idolatrous people of the Roman Empire. One result was the Catholic Church becoming the supreme religion in the Roman world for centuries. However, another result was the most dominant form of Christianity apostatizing from the true gospel of Jesus Christ and the true proclamation of God’s Word.
Second Timothy 4:3–4 declares, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
Satan’s Counterfeit Christianity :: By Stephen Meehan
https://www.raptureready.com/2022/10/22/satans-counterfeit-christianity-by-stephen-meehan/
Roman Catholicism – The One True Church?
This article was first written and published on the Rapture Ready website back in 2015, but due to the lateness of the hour and the nearness of the world being plunged into the dark seven-year time frame of the Tribulation, I wanted to re-package it in an effort to get a certain people group to come out of a devilishly-inspired stupor and to take measures to preclude them from having to endure the hard realities of the soon onset of God’s wrath being unleashed upon the world.
Trusting in a false religious system for salvation should never be substituted for embracing Jesus Christ alone as the only means for getting right with God and to enjoy an eternity with Him in His Kingdom. Satan continues to throw up a gauntlet in every way possible, by any means available, to prevent that from happening. It shouldn’t surprise anyone then that he also employs a false “Christian” church to deceive and lure millions into a false sense of security and salvation.
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For years, growing up as a Roman Catholic, we were taught that we were members of the “One True Church.” It was impressed upon us regularly by the parish priest during Mass, while giving his homily, and by the nuns all throughout my Catholic parochial school years of second through seventh grade. All adherents of Roman Catholicism believe this doctrine, and the veracity of this belief was never questioned.
That doctrine was reinforced upon us during our preparation to receive for the first time the sacraments of Penance, Communion, and Confirmation. All throughout the Catholic education system by attendance in CCD classes – CCD is the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, an association established at Rome in 1562 for the purpose of giving religious education, normally designed for children – we were comforted by the fact that we belonged to the only true Church.
So, it was received proudly as an established fact, and we never felt the need to check the validity of this doctrine that we embraced. It was a matter of pride that we were privileged enough to be members of the correct church, while all others had belonged to something else that didn’t quite measure up to the status of the Roman Catholic Church.
After all, how could it be possible that Roman Catholicism is not the One True Church?
Look at what Rome has to offer: It has the priests; the nuns; the bishops; the cardinals; and, of course, the pope. They have the Sacraments; the statues; the holy water; the incense; the Stations of the Cross; the Eucharist – in which Christ supposedly physically manifests Himself into the wafer after the consecration by the priest during the Mass; the “Mother of God”; and the Marian apparitions, which appear mainly to Roman Catholics. How could it be wrong?
And they have the Vatican, where the Vicar of Christ – the pope – (who they believe is Christ’s representative on earth and is a stand-in for Christ) governs the faithful and makes infallible proclamations and doctrine. How can this not be the One True Church? No other organization on the face of the earth comes close to offering to its flock what Rome provides for its faithful.
But, of course, to be true, one must adhere to what has been established as truth and not teach or practice what is contrary to the truth. We read in Scripture a few passages that declare what is truth and what is not. Jesus proclaimed in John 14:6:
“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.”
He also professed in John 8:31-32:
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, ‘If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.'”
It is clear then, by just these two verses, that Jesus Christ has described Himself as Truth, and that those who adhere to His Word and practice what He taught will be living and worshipping truthfully. And that only His truth will set us free, not in anything else that detracts or subtracts from His truth.
In fact, the verse is worded in a way (“you shall know the truth”) that suggests that it is imperative to know His Word, to know His Truth, by studying the Scriptures in order to avoid any false doctrine being taught by some other source that may later try to establish itself as the bearer of truth – but is actually offering a false truth. No one wants to worship in a false church.
Jesus also proclaimed that it is only possible to worship Him correctly in spirit and in truth:
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24).
So, for a person or an organization to call themselves true, they must teach his Word correctly and abide by His Word. Unless one is doing that, the above verse says that they are not true worshippers.
Another purveyor of Truth is the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised His disciples that when He would depart from them and return to Heaven, He would send in His stead the Comforter—the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s role in the world – and who indwells those who have accepted Christ’s free gift of salvation – is to point us to Jesus Christ and not to anything or anyone else as the sole means of salvation. The Holy Spirit, then, is the true representative of Christ in the world.
“Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but you know him; for he dwells within you and shall be in you” (John 14:17).
It takes the indwelling of the Holy Spirit into the believer to be able to discern what is written in God’s Word, and to be able to understand and apply His truth in our Christian walk. Without His assistance, it is too easy to be led astray and to accept false doctrine. The Holy Spirit, after all, inspired the Jewish scribes and later the Apostles to write the books of the Holy Bible, and it takes His discernment in our lives for us to properly comprehend the Word and understand it correctly.
It also stands to reason that if one is not aware of what is contained in the Scriptures, they are then in a position to be easily deceived and accept doctrines of men that may be inspired by another source other than the Holy Spirit. Our adversary, Satan, is all about deception and uses many varied agencies to keep people from knowing the Truth.
Growing up as a Roman Catholic, I was completely ignorant of what was contained in the Bible regarding Jesus, salvation, and His gospel of grace. Like most Catholics, the Holy Bible was in the home but just collected dust and was never read. We accepted all that was taught to us by the priests, the nuns, the lay teachers in the CCD classes, and in their catechism.
Whatever they told us had to be correct, as they assured us that we were members of the One True Church. Why would they ever steer us wrong? This was the mindset of my siblings, my parents, grandparents, and going back generations of all past family members who trusted in and were raised in the Roman Catholic system. We were ignorant of anything else but their plan of salvation. Who needs self-study of the Bible when we have them to guide us?
The Roman Catholic Church tells their members that only they, through their Magisterium – the teaching authority of the Catholic Church, as exercised by the bishops or the pope – can properly interpret Scripture for their faithful. So, while they say they encourage the reading of the Holy Writ, it is only by their guidance and authority that one can fully understand what the verses are meant to convey. Everything that we may read in God’s Word has to be filtered through their leadership so that we don’t get tripped up.
Why bother reading then? Just leave our destiny in their hands, as they would prefer it. The Scriptures are not open to private interpretations anyway, so Roman Catholicism and its hierarchy are needed to understand their version of the truth, as they would lead us to believe.
It wasn’t until my early 20s that the Lord led me to start reading His Word – the Bible. At that point in my life, I wasn’t even a marginal Catholic. I stopped going to Mass, stopped going to the normally required weekly confessions to a priest, and had pretty much given up on their version of the faith. Plus, I got tired of the repetitiveness of the Mass.
The rote prayers; genuflecting before the figure on the cross; the lighting of votive candles before a statue – usually of “Mary,” or their version of her; dipping my hand in the “Holy Water” and making the “sign of the cross”; receiving the Eucharist wafer and giving my assent when the priest said, “The body of Christ” that I was consuming the physical body of Jesus; and the whole bit. It was all very ritualistic, legalistic, lacking any real passion, and completely devoid of the presence of Christ.
But, in reading the Word for the first time, I began to see that what God has revealed to us through the Scriptures doesn’t completely mirror the teachings of Rome. In fact, most of it doesn’t. You would think that the One True Church would certainly follow what Christ and the Apostles taught.
Why would they teach something different if they are, in fact, the One True Church? Wouldn’t they follow and teach all that Scripture reveals to us and that they shouldn’t deviate from the Truth? Have they got the ultimate authority to change God’s Word or trump His commandments?
For instance, Exodus 20:4, the second commandment, forbids us from worshipping graven images, and yet Rome has deleted this commandment and subdivided the last one, which tells us not to covet our neighbor’s belongings. How can they delete a commandment? Christ said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments,” not delete them (John 14:15).
Is it that important for Rome to disregard a commandment so that the parishioners can dress up, light candles before, and parade behind statues or graven images, as the Bible calls them? Was the prohibition of worshipping before a graven image only meant for the Jews, but Christians are free to do so? Over and over throughout the Word, we are told that God detests that kind of activity. He abhors praying before statues or to anyone or anything other than God.
Rome calls the pope the Vicar of Christ (Christ’s representative on earth), but that title is more befitting the Holy Spirit: He is the Comforter that Christ promised; He is the one who indwells each believer; and He is the one who seals us, points us to Jesus Christ, and gives us discernment in reading the Word. Why would we call a mere man Christ’s representative in the world? The Holy Spirit is God – the third member of the Trinity – and who is better qualified to be the “Vicar of Christ”? God, who indwells all believers, or a man sitting in Rome or riding around in a popemobile?
Rome calls the pope the Holy Father, but Jesus used this term only once in Scripture, referring to God the Father as the Holy Father:
“And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through your own name those whom thou has given me, that they may be one, as we are” (John 17:14).
Neither Jesus nor the Apostles would ever use that term in addressing a man; only God the Father is the Holy Father. In fact, Christ even told His followers not to refer to any man as our father (spiritual father):
“And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven” (Matthew 23:9).
If Christ told us not to do it, why does Rome give that title to their priests? Is this something that a One True Church should be doing—flaunting God’s Word? Are they exempt from this restriction and can override Christ’s teachings? It doesn’t add up. Are they really true, or false?
If we are truly Christians, we should be following Christ’s examples and His admonitions. If they are truly the one true church, shouldn’t they be abiding by His Word instead of disregarding it? If their priests are true Christians, wouldn’t they be our brothers and not supposed fathers? If we are indeed Christians and following after Christ, do we have a license to ignore His teachings and instead are free to worship after the dictates of one governing from Rome instead of Heaven?
There are countless other examples of where the teachings of Rome fly in direct contrast to the teachings of Jesus and His disciples. Perhaps the biggest is the question of our salvation.
Repeatedly in the gospels and in the other books of the New Testament are verses telling us that Christ’s Gospel is a gospel of grace and is freely given to all those who would accept it. It is not by works, and it cannot be earned.
Grace is God’s unmerited favor; it is impossible to work for it, neither can one ever be good enough to attain it:
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5).
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
“Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved…” (Acts 16:31-32).
Why would Rome insist that we have to work along with God’s grace – what they refer to as “cooperating grace” – in order to be saved? The very expression of cooperating grace or cooperating with grace is a contradiction in terms. Grace is free; works are not.
If grace is unmerited favor and is freely given by God, how can one then cooperate or work alongside it to receive it? Cooperating with grace would nullify grace; it wouldn’t be freely received.
Their works for attaining salvation include: Going to weekly Mass; partaking of the sacraments; paying a penalty or penance for one’s sins – which denies the sufficiency of Christ’s death on the cross to cover all sins; and then finally spending time in a fictitious place called Purgatory, to purge away any leftover sins that Christ’s blood couldn’t cover, or not enough penance was performed.
Purgatory is just another means of denying the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement for our sins; it is the ultimate declaration that His agonizing crucifixion on a wooden cross – the plan of salvation that was established before the foundation of the world was laid – was not enough to pay the cost of all of our sins. These teachings do not come from God but instead have Satan’s fingerprints all over them.
In other words, when Christ uttered those final words, “It is finished,” it signified that He had satisfied the wrath of God against us for the sins we have committed and that all our sins were “paid in full.” Rome declares that, no, it is not finished, and the paying of penances and time spent in Purgatory is required. It is a rejection of what Christ accomplished and what the Holy inspired Word of God confirms to us about Jesus paying the penalty for ALL our sins. A true Church does not deny the sufficiency of what Jesus suffered for us. It is blasphemous and heretical.
Their gospel is a complete distortion of the gospel of grace and is, in fact, another gospel—as the Apostle Paul warned against:
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:6-9).
Why would Rome teach another gospel? They are leading their followers astray, and the gospel they teach can’t possibly save anyone. A gospel of works nullifies God’s free gift of grace:
“And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise, work is no more work” (Romans 11:6).
“Who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Timothy 1:9).
It should be clear that a true church would never teach a false gospel. Along with the aforementioned false teachings – and there are many others – Rome has taken upon itself to invent new teachings over the centuries that neither Jesus nor the Apostles ever taught. Here is a brief list of some of their “infallible” doctrines that they have implemented:
* Prayers for the Dead and the Sign of the Cross – 300 AD. (True Christians don’t pray to or for the dead.)
* Veneration of Angels and Dead Saints – 375 AD. (True Christians don’t worship angels.)
* The Mass, as a daily celebration adopted – 394 AD. (The Mass is a false continuation of Christ’s one-time sacrifice – it was finished on the cross.)
* The worship of Mary and the use of the term “Mother of God” – 431 AD. (We are told to worship God only. God had no mother or father.)
* Priests begin to dress differently from the laity – 500 AD.
* Extreme Unction or Last Rites as a sacrament – 526 AD.
* Doctrine of Purgatory established – 593 AD. (This denies Christ’s sufficiency.)
* Latin language used in prayer and worship in churches – 600 AD. (Not all Catholics understood Latin, rendering the words meaningless.)
* Prayers directed to Mary – 600 AD. (Jesus taught His followers to pray to the Father only – Matthew 6:9. Mary is not God and cannot hear or answer prayers.)
* Title of Pope bestowed upon the Bishop of Rome – 610 AD. (The word “pope” means papa or father. Jesus tells us not to call any man father – speaking of spiritual leaders – Matthew 23:9.)
* Kissing of the pope’s feet – 709 AD.
* Temporal power of the popes – 750 AD.
* Worship of the Cross, Images, and Relics – 788 AD. (idolatry)
* Holy Water instituted – 850 AD.
* Veneration of St. Joseph begins – 890 AD.
* Baptism of Bells – 965 AD.
* Canonization of Dead Saints – 995 AD. (ALL true Christians are saints.)
* Fasting on Fridays and during Lent – 998 AD.
* The Mass is an ongoing sacrifice of Jesus, and attendance is mandatory – 1079 AD.
* Celibacy of Priesthood – 1079 AD. (The Apostle Paul labeled forbidding to marry a “doctrine of devils” in 1 Timothy 4:1.)
* Praying the Rosary introduced – 1090 AD. (vain repetitions; Christ warns against doing this for Christians – Matthew 6:7.)
* Inquisition of Heretics – 1184 AD. (The papacy killed millions of true Christians who didn’t bend the knee to Rome.)
* Selling of Indulgences to lessen time spent in Purgatory – 1190 AD. (no such place; denies Christ’s full atonement.)
* Transubstantiation: priest can transform a wafer into Jesus Christ – 1215 AD. (The Eucharist does not become Jesus Christ, nor should we worship it = idolatrous and blasphemous.)
* Confession of sin to a priest – 1215 AD. (Only God can forgive sin – Mark 2:7.)
* Adoration of the wafer – 1220 AD. (blasphemy, idolatry)
* Bible forbidden to be read or owned by laymen – 1229 AD. (The Bible denies Rome’s teachings.)
* Scapular of Mary worn frees a person from Purgatory – 1287 AD. (No such place, but apparently “Mary” can do what Jesus Christ cannot – lessen one’s time in a fictitious place.)
* Cup of Blood of Christ forbidden to be touched by laymen – 1414 AD.
* Doctrine of Purgatory proclaimed to be Dogma of the Faith – 1439 AD.
* Doctrine of 7 Sacraments affirmed – 1439 AD. (Works do not save us; God’s grace does.)
* Ava Maria instituted – 1508 AD. (false prayer/hymn to “Mary”)
* Tradition of Rome equal with Scripture – 1545 AD. (free license for popes to make false declarations)
* Apocryphal books added to Rome’s Bible – 1546 AD.
* Immaculate Conception of Mary – 1834 AD. (They declare she was born without sin, yet ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Mary included – Romans 3:23.)
* Papal Infallibility – 1870 AD. (pope can declare anything, and their faithful must believe)
* Modern Science “Modernism” condemned by pope – 1907 AD.
* Condemnation of public schools – 1930 AD. (Rome couldn’t teach kids their doctrines, so public schools must be condemned.)
* “Mother of God” title to Mary reaffirmed – 1931 AD.
* Assumption of the Virgin Mary -1950 AD. (Mary bodily arose to Heaven – not in the Bible.)
Along with these doctrines that Rome has established over the years for their faithful to adhere to and further one’s bondage to their system, they have also leveled condemnations or “anathemas’ on all Bible-believing Christians who would not submit to the papacy or their system. Here is a sampling of 100 or so anathemas that the papacy has declared over the years:
– If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone, meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification… let him be anathema.
– If anyone says that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in divine mercy which remits sins for Christ’s sake, or that it is this confidence alone that justifies us, let him be anathema.
– If anyone says that he will for certain, with an absolute and infallible certainty, have that great gift of perseverance even to the end, unless he shall have learned this by special revelation, let him be anathema. (1 John 5:13 tells us that we can be assured of our salvation. Either John, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is lying to us, or Rome is.)
– If anyone says that the Catholic doctrine of justification, as set forth by the holy council in the present decree, derogates in some respect from the glory of God or the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, and does not rather illustrate the truth of our faith and no less the glory of God and of Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. (The Bible declares that Rome’s doctrine is in error.)
– If anyone says that the sacraments of the New Law were not all instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, or that there are more or less than seven, or that any one of these seven is not truly and intrinsically a sacrament, let him be anathema. (The sacraments are works and nullify grace.)
– If anyone… denies that wonderful and singular change of the whole substance of the bread into the body and the whole substance of the wine into the blood – which change the Catholic Church most aptly calls transubstantiation, let him be anathema. (Worshipping a wafer is both idolatrous and blasphemous.)
Whether they realize it or not, they have not only bestowed these condemnations on all Bible-believing Christians, but on Christ and His Apostles as well – including Peter, who they claim was the first pope. Neither Jesus nor the Apostles would ever teach the things that Rome claims, nor would they have any part in their false religious system.
Is Roman Catholicism, as they contend, the One True Church? Not hardly, if they teach doctrines of men – and most likely Satan – instead of the Word of God:
“Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?” (Matthew 15:3).
“Thus have you made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition” (Matthew 15:6).
“But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9).
“And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition” (Mark 7:9).
Dear Roman Catholic, there is no way that the church of Rome can be the One True Church. They offer a false gospel, and there is no truth in it. The true church of Christ is the Body of all believers who have put their complete faith and trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross – it is not just a particular denomination or any other manmade religious system.
Works are not a part of His salvation; neither is paying a penance for your own sins, or going to a purging place called Purgatory, or any of the other means of attaining salvation that Rome concocts.
As a matter of fact, after a lifetime of being active in their system, being baptized as an infant, and attending mandatory weekly Mass (and should you miss one Sunday purposely), they claim you have committed a “mortal sin” and would go to hell if the mortal sin is not confessed to a priest. So, you confessed your sins to a priest and paid a penalty or Penance for those sins; you received Jesus Christ physically (instead of spiritually as the Bible attests) through their Eucharistic service, yet salvation is still not guaranteed.
After performing the other sacraments and then, ultimately, after death, spending an undetermined amount of time suffering in Purgatory to purge away any remaining sins that Christ couldn’t cover because His plan of redemption obviously came up short, one can still never claim that they have any assurance of salvation.
According to Rome, one commits the “sin of Presumption” if they believe they can claim to know for sure that they have secured salvation through Christ; an anathema will be directed your way if you claim that you know that you are saved. Even though the Apostle John—the one whom Christ entrusted with the care of His earthly mother after His death on the cross, assured us regarding salvation:
“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:13).
All of the so-called works that the Catholic must do to try to attain salvation only furthers one’s commitment to their religion to try to appease God and ends up increasing their bondage to this false system: that only the “Holy Mother Church” can save us; the priests are needed for absolving our sins; their Mass has to be attended; the sacraments are needed; and on and on it goes.
Even the erroneous doctrine of Purgatory is presented with the caveat that one’s time can be lessened, thereby buying Mass cards, donating money to the Roman Catholic Church, etc. It is all about their system and not Christ. It is clearly a system of bondage.
The Roman Catholic Church is not the One True Church.
Their system offers really no hope. It is a counterfeit Christianity, and they present a corrupted version of the truth. On the surface, they appeal to the flesh in all their displays of piety, ritualism, relics, images, incense, candles, acts of contrition, shrines usually dedicated to Mary mainly, as well as other dead saints. And for the most part, Christ is left out in all of their regalia, unless, of course, He is depicted as a baby or still hanging on the cross.
All of that is a bad substitute for the real thing but is attractive to those who have no clue as to what God’s Word says about sin, atonement, salvation, or a gospel of grace.
They don’t waste an opportunity to diminish what Christ has performed for us on the cross, or who Christ really is. Instead of rightly pointing to the Creator for salvation, they point to the created: the priests; the popes; the statues; the wafer; “Mary” (or their version of Mary); the dead saints; the “Holy Mother Church” as they refer to the Catholic Church; and anything else other than Jesus Christ.
They really do teach another gospel and have another Jesus—who is received via “Transubstantiation” but is powerless to cover all of our sins; and another Mary. The Mary of the Bible doesn’t reflect any of the attributes that Rome has ascribed to her. She wasn’t sinless, didn’t remain a virgin after the birth of Christ, she had other children, she is not a co-redeemer or co-mediator, and doesn’t hear or answer prayer. She is not a deity or a stand-in for God. By placing Mary before Jesus or God in our worship, one is, in fact, breaking the first commandment, which commands us not to have any gods before the real God. And yes, they do worship her like a god.
They emphatically are not the true church, despite their proclamations otherwise. One day, we will all stand before Christ at His judgment. If you die as a Roman Catholic, Rome will not be there to defend you.
If they can’t even be entrusted with the safeguarding of its members’ children (speaking of the decades, maybe centuries-long molestation and raping of children by their clergy, and the cover-up and relocation of these criminals to other parishes by their bishops, cardinals and popes), how can you possibly trust them with your eternal security and salvation? The bottom line is this: You can’t… and you must not. They are not what they try to portray. They are false and evil.
Instead, accept the One who WILL be there in front of you at His judgment. Don’t be beguiled by the enemy and accept a false substitute plan of salvation. Accept His free gift of salvation, believe in Him and His Word, and His Truth will indeed set you free!
“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8).
“There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12).
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Dear Roman Catholics,
It should be readily apparent that Roman Catholicism is not of God. Jesus Christ began His one true church with Jewish believers, who then spread Christ’s true gospel of grace throughout the world. Peter was not a pope. He is never called that by his fellow Apostles nor by Jesus. There is no apostolic succession that continued on with the papacy. It was a made-up invention by the Catholic clergy. Popes are not infallible. Only God is. Mary is not the “Queen of Heaven”; nor the “Mother of God”; nor remained sinless; and did not remain a virgin: she had other children.
All of these are fabrications made up by the popes. God does not lie to us in His Word, but without any problem, Rome does lie about what is contained in God’s Word. Or, to be more accurate, Satan lies through the Catholic Church. He is the father of lies, and there is no truth in him. Is it really that important to you to be trusting in a false religious system that continually defies Christ and His teachings? Do you really want to be a part of that? Forfeit the truth and embrace falsehoods?
There is coming a One-World Religion that will be fully manifested and operating in league with the Antichrist once the Tribulation Hour begins. We are almost there. There shouldn’t be any doubt that Roman Catholicism will be that organization. They are already a false Christian church but may further morph into a Religion that will also comprise Islamic people, as well as members of other religions. A worldwide religious conglomeration but headed up by the pope of Rome. And the Catholic Church is now very active in bringing about the antichrist system.
Read Revelation 17. Look at all the characteristics that make up the “Whore of Babylon” – a pseudo-Christian church that has nothing to do with Jesus Christ. The true Bride of Christ is made up of all believers trusting in Christ alone for salvation. This religious phony, though, operates in a manner that opposes Christ and defies Him with all of her false teachings. Here is a list of her attributes, and look how closely the Roman Catholic church mirrors these qualifiers:
>She sits on seven hills or mountains, just as the Vatican does in the city of Rome.
>She is adorned with the colors of scarlet and purple, just as the RCC’s cardinals and bishops are.
>She is drunk with the blood of the saints and martyrs. Read the book “Foxes Book of Martyrs” to get an idea of the atrocities committed by the papacy against true Bible-believing Christians during the 600 years of the Roman Inquisitions and the popes’ Crusades into the Holy Land. The papacy has the blood of millions on their hands.
>She is in league with the kings of the earth. The popes set up and deposed many European leaders throughout her history and even had a concordant with Adolph Hitler during World War II. She cares more for things of this world than for the world to come.
>She is shown to be living richly and as a queen. Her coffers include untold billions of dollars of artwork, gold, and precious commodities under St. Peter’s Basilica and throughout the globe in her many cathedrals.
These are just a few of the attributes of this false church. There is no other entity on the face of the planet that comes even close to mirroring these qualities of her make-up that is describing her in Revelation 17. Don’t be a participant of her sins.
Christ is soon coming back for his true Church in the Rapture. Don’t be left out by being a member of Satan’s counterfeit church!
“Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4).
Is the Catholic Church a separate religion or a division of Christianity?
https://www.gotquestions.org/Catholic-Church.html
The Roman Catholic Church considers itself the only “true” church and traces its beginnings to Jesus and the apostles. It maintains that all other denominations or branches of Christianity are aberrant and have fallen away from the true teachings of the “mother church” and therefore from Christianity. But is this true? Our website contains many articles related to Catholicism, its origins, and practices. So this article will deal specifically with whether or not the Catholic Church is, in fact, Christian or a separate religion altogether.
Christianity, considered as a major world religion, has several branches: Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Protestantism. Defined this way, Catholicism is one division of Christianity. But true biblical Christianity is not a religion in the sense that one “joins” it by becoming a member of an organization. Jesus simplified what it means to be a Christian when He told Nicodemus that one must be “born again” (John 3:3). That new birth is an individual experience between God and a repentant heart and is not dependent in any way upon a priest’s blessing, baptism, or any other outward action we take. Ephesians 2:8–9 is clear that salvation is by grace through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as full payment for our sin. When we enter into that saving relationship with God, we become “new creatures” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our new nature is not a slave to sin as we once were (John 8:34; Romans 6:16). This new nature produces righteous living, not in order to become saved, but because we have been saved (1 John 3:7–10).
In the Catholic Church, many extra-biblical practices have been added that create a different religion out of Christianity. While those who consider themselves Catholic can also be truly born again, one does not inherit eternal life by being a good Catholic (Titus 3:5–7). One can be a Christian in spite of being Catholic, just as one can be a Christian in spite of church attendance of any kind. However, Catholic teaching has gone far awry from strict adherence to the Bible, adding human ideas and “teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7). The Pharisees of Jesus’ day had done the same thing with God’s Law, and it appears that Catholic tradition follows more closely in the footsteps of the Pharisees than those of the apostles.
One of the most blatant examples of the Catholic Church becoming a separate religion is in their extreme overemphasis on the importance of Mary, practically treating her a fourth member of the Trinity. Scripture tells us very little about the woman chosen to bear the Son of God (see Luke 1: 26–56; 2:16–52), yet Catholic doctrine has recreated Mary and given her an exalted place that the Bible never implies. Pope Leo XIII wrote, “By the will of God, Mary is the intermediary through whom is distributed unto us this immense treasure of mercies gathered by God, for mercy and truth were created by Jesus Christ. Thus as no man goeth to the Father but by the Son, so no man goeth to Christ but by His Mother” (Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII, On the Rosary, Octobri mense, September 22, 1891).
Jesus never said any such thing about coming to Him through Mary. Instead, Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Jesus declared that no one comes to the heavenly Father except through Him (John 14:6). Every bit of Jesus’ communication was related to His oneness with the heavenly Father, not His earthly mother (Matthew 11:27; Luke 10:22; John 7:28–29). His only references to His mother actually relegated her to the level of everyone else (Mark 3:32–34) and also assured that she would be taken care of after His ascension to His Father (John 19:27). That’s it. Nothing about venerating Mary or praying through her. If Pope Leo’s words were accurate, wouldn’t Jesus have told us so?
Pope John Paul II added to the heretical deification of Mary. Quoting Pope Pius XII, he said, “Preserved free from all guilt of original sin, the Immaculate Virgin was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory upon the completion of her earthly sojourn. She was exalted by the Lord as Queen of the Universe” (Encyclical of Pope John Paul II, On the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Life of the Pilgrim Church, Redemptoris Mater, March 25, 1987; cf. Pope Pius XII, Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus, November 1, 1950). The Bible does, in fact, refer to the “queen of the heavens,” but it is in rebuke of the idolatrous Israelites for offering sacrifices to other gods (Jeremiah 7:18). The teaching that Mary is the Queen of the Universe is idolatry, although the Roman Catholic Church does not want to see it that way. At the very least, the statement of Pope Pius and Pope John Paul is complete fabrication and a departure from true biblical Christianity.
Another strong departure from orthodox Christianity is the Catholic insistence that an earthly priest is necessary as an intermediary between us and God. According to the The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent: Canons Concerning the Most Holy Sacrament of Penance, “If anyone denies that sacramental confession was instituted by divine law or is necessary to salvation; or says that the manner of confessing secretly to a priest alone . . . is at variance with the institution and command of Christ and is a human contrivance, let him be anathema” (Canon VI). The official Catholic teaching, then, is that people who do not confess their sins to a human priest cannot be saved and are, in fact, cursed for eternity. This doctrine contradicts 1 Timothy 2:5, which could not be clearer in renouncing the Catholic doctrines of Mary and the priesthood: “There is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.”
While there are sincere Catholics who love the Lord and do not worship Mary or the pope, the doctrines themselves suggest a separate, works-based religion rather than a simple denomination within Christianity. This departure from truth is nothing new. When Paul and Barnabas were in Antioch, “certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: ‘Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved’” (Acts 15:1). These false teachers had mixed grace with works and were creating an aberrant faith that was leading many astray. The Catholic Church has done the same by creating a religion filled with laws, sacraments, and the undue adulation of other human beings—things God never sanctioned. None of us have the right to add to or take away from the revealed Word of God or the sacrifice of Christ Jesus on our behalf, and to do so creates a false religion.
Is Catholicism a false religion?
https://www.gotquestions.org/catholicism.html
The most crucial problem with the Roman Catholic Church is its belief that faith alone in Christ is not sufficient for salvation. The Bible clearly and consistently states that receiving Jesus Christ as Savior, by grace through faith, grants salvation (John 1:12; 3:16,18,36; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9-10,13; Ephesians 2:8-9). The Roman Catholic Church rejects this. The official position of the Roman Catholic Church is that a person must believe in Jesus Christ AND be baptized AND receive the Eucharist along with the other sacraments AND obey the decrees of the Roman Catholic Church AND perform meritorious works AND not die with any mortal sins AND etc., etc., etc. Catholic divergence from the Bible on this most crucial of issues, salvation, means that yes, Catholicism is a false religion. If a person believes what the Catholic Church officially teaches, he/she will not be saved. Any claim that works or rituals must be added to faith in order for salvation to be achieved is a claim that Jesus’ death was not sufficient to fully purchase our salvation.
While salvation by faith is the most crucial issue, in comparing Roman Catholicism with the Word of God, there are many other differences and contradictions as well. The Roman Catholic Church teaches many doctrines that are in disagreement with what the Bible declares. These include apostolic succession, worship of saints or Mary, prayer to saints or Mary, the pope / papacy, infant baptism, transubstantiation, plenary indulgences, the sacramental system, and purgatory. While Catholics claim Scriptural support for these concepts, none of these teachings have any solid foundation in the clear teaching of Scripture. These concepts are based on Catholic tradition, not the Word of God. In fact, they all clearly contradict Biblical principles.
In regards to the question “Are Catholics saved?”, this is a more difficult question to answer. It is impossible to give a universal statement on the salvation of all members of any denomination of Christianity. Not ALL Baptists are saved. Not ALL Presbyterians are saved. Not ALL Lutherans are saved. Salvation is determined by personal faith in Jesus alone for salvation, not by titles or denominational identification. Despite the unbiblical beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church, there are genuine believers who attend Roman Catholic churches. There are many Roman Catholics who have genuinely placed their faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. However, these Catholic Christians are believers despite what the Catholic Church teaches, not because of what it teaches. To varying degrees, the Catholic Church teaches from the Bible and points people to Jesus Christ as the Savior. As a result, people are sometimes saved in Catholic churches. The Bible has an impact whenever it is proclaimed (Isaiah 55:11). Catholic Christians remain in the Catholic Church out of ignorance of what the Catholic Church truly stands for, out of family tradition and peer pressure, or out of a desire to reach other Catholics for Christ.
At the same time, the Catholic Church also leads many people away from a genuine faith relationship with Christ. The unbiblical beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church have often given the enemies of Christ opportunity to blaspheme. The Roman Catholic Church is not the church that Jesus Christ established. It is not a church that is based on the teachings of the Apostles (as described in the Book of Acts and the New Testament epistles). While Jesus’ words in Mark 7:9 were directed towards the Pharisees, they accurately describe the Roman Catholic Church, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!”
What Jesus has to say about the Roman Catholic church
Revelation 2:18-29 - The Corrupt Church
Rev 2:18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write,
‘These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass: 19 “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. 20 Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. 21 And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. 22 Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. 23 I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.
24 “Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. 25 But hold fast what you have till I come. 26 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—
27 ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron;
They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’—
as I also have received from My Father; 28 and I will give him the morning star.
29 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’
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The name Thyatira means "sacrifice"
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A Greek word meaning "the castle of Thya."
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An alternative meaning of "sacrifice offering" was suggested by "Hitchcock’s New and Complete Analysis of the Holy Bible" and by Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum in his book "Footsteps of the Messiah."
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The first part of the word means continual, unwary, never tiring.
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The second part means sacrifice.
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Put them together and this is a place where they never tire of sacrificing something over & over again.
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This represents the Mass of a Catholic church service.
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Jezebel taught people to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
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What do Christians eat as an act of worship? Bread and wine.
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If the Lord instituted the eating of the bread and drinking of the wine in church, how can they become things sacrificed unto idols?
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If the bread is not alive it cannot be sacrificed. In order for something to be sacrificed it must be put to death. How was bread made living? Sin in the spirit and the mind.
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The moment someone believes the bread to be the actual living flesh of Christ they begin to worship an idol (the bread).
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If the bread is then eaten it becomes a living sacrifice. The person believes they are sacrificing Christ again.
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This mass goes on thousands of times a day. Instead of having faith in a living savior, people choose to believe in a repetitive piece of bread.
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Roman Catholic Church is Rooted in Pagan Practices
The Roman Catholic Church has the largest number of members with over 1 billion, and yet the Bible reveals this church to be apostate. And we now also have many of the Protestant churches heading back to Rome, back to the "mother" (Mother of harlots). So while the world is preaching ecumenism, driven by the Catholic Church, we remain steadfast upon the truth, upon the Rock which is Christ Jesus, and we say, come out of her and stay separate, because God is going to pour out His wrath upon her and anyone who continues to commit fornication with her. Please study the truth for yourself and find out about God's end time remnant church. Follow Jesus, not Jezebel! To those who overcome, God will grant them to rule over the nations with Jesus.
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Rome claims that she is the only true church – she is the spokesman and the Pope is infallible
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But when you begin to study Rome, you will find that the heart of Catholicism is none other than Babylonian worship
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In the Pergamos age, we saw how paganism got into Rome through the Pergamos church
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Julius Caesar asked to be Maximus Pontifex in 33 BC – which made him the God king of the Babylonian worship system, which was passed from Caesar to Caesar
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In 376 AD, because of Christian influence, Emperor Gratin refused to wear the pagan crown
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It lay for 2 years until Damascus (the Bishop of Bishops in Rome) decided to wear the crown.
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In 378 AD, the head of the Christian church in Rome became the worldwide head of the pagan mysteries
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Those mysteries became mixed and commingled with Christian doctrine until you can hardly tell them apart
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So once again we see the introduction of idols in worship relics to be worshiped and idols to be kissed or prayed to
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EUCHARIST (Holy Communion)
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Catholic church's roots in Eucharist are in heathen religions and not in teaching of the Bible.
Passover Bread
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At Passover unleavened, rectangular bread with holes and baking stripes was used.
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The entire Passover meal is a description of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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The bread is unleavened. Leaven represents sin. The bread or Christ is without sin.
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The baking stripes represent the stripes inflicted upon Jesus during His beating before the crucifixion – the stripes by which the Bible says we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).
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The holes represent the piercing Jesus received in His hands and feet from the nails, the thorns on His brow, and the spear in His side.
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The wine represents the blood shed as the covering for all sin.
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Round IHS communion wafer
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On the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, there are priests. One holds the wine and one holds a plate with three round cross buns.
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So why do they use Roman Catholics use round wafers?
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They mixed pagan mass with Christian communion and the wafers took the place of the bread.
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They are images of the sun god, Baal.
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A Catholic communion wafer – See the sun god surrounding the wafer?
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The Babylonians worshipped Baal using the small, thin, round wafers as a symbol of the sun god.
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People in Egypt worshipped sun. On the altars of Egypt were circular sun shaped wafers made from unleavened bread.
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This bread represented the body of sun god and in middle were initialing IHS (Isis, Horus, Seb – Egyptian trinity).
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IHS
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Catholic church of Rome says these letters is for the Latin: "Iesus Hominum Salvatore", meaning Jesus Saviour of the people.
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The letters I H S originally stood for the Egyptian unholy trinity of 'Isis, Horus and Seb'.
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Pope Francis Coat of Arms
Note the sun and IHS designation
Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
Transubstantiation
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Transubstantiation is the conversion of the substance of the Eucharistic elements into the body and blood of Christ at consecration, with only the appearances of bread and wine still remaining.
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Egyptians priests prayed above their round wafers, to make them as holy. Then they told to the people, that miracle had taken place. They said that wafers have changed for the flesh of sun god Osiris. And after the change, the nation ate its god.
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This Egyptian bread god ritual points out perfectly Roman Catholic Church Eucharist, in which catholic priests pray over the bread and changes the wafer to Jesus Christ.
What is transubstantiation?
https://www.gotquestions.org/transubstantiation.html
Transubstantiation is a doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines this doctrine in section 1376:
"The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: ‘Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation.’"
In other words, the Roman Catholic Church teaches that once an ordained priest blesses the bread of the Lord’s Supper, it is transformed into the actual flesh of Christ (though it retains the appearance, odor, and taste of bread); and when he blesses the wine, it is transformed into the actual blood of Christ (though it retains the appearance, odor, and taste of wine). Is such a concept biblical? There are some Scriptures that, if interpreted strictly literally, would lead to the “real presence” of Christ in the bread and wine. Examples are John 6:32-58; Matthew 26:26; Luke 22:17-23; and 1 Corinthians 11:24-25. The passage pointed to most frequently is John 6:32-58 and especially verses 53-57, “Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life … For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him … so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.’”
Roman Catholics interpret this passage literally and apply its message to the Lord’s Supper, which they title the “Eucharist” or “Mass.” Those who reject the idea of transubstantiation interpret Jesus’ words in John 6:53-57 figuratively or symbolically. How can we know which interpretation is correct? Thankfully, Jesus made it exceedingly obvious what He meant. John 6:63 declares, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” Jesus specifically stated that His words are “spirit.” Jesus was using physical concepts, eating and drinking, to teach spiritual truth. Just as consuming physical food and drink sustains our physical bodies, so are our spiritual lives saved and built up by spiritually receiving Him, by grace through faith. Eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking His blood are symbols of fully and completely receiving Him in our lives.
The Scriptures declare that the Lord’s Supper is a memorial to the body and blood of Christ (Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24-25), not the actual consumption of His physical body and blood. When Jesus was speaking in John chapter 6, Jesus had not yet had the Last Supper with His disciples, in which He instituted the Lord’s Supper. To read the Lord’s Supper / Christian Communion back into John chapter 6 is unwarranted. For a more complete discussion of these issues, please read our article on the Holy Eucharist.
The most serious reason transubstantiation should be rejected is that it is viewed by the Roman Catholic Church as a "re-sacrifice" of Jesus Christ for our sins, or as a “re-offering / re-presentation” of His sacrifice. This is directly in contradiction to what Scripture says, that Jesus died "once for all" and does not need to be sacrificed again (Hebrews 10:10; 1 Peter 3:18). Hebrews 7:27 declares, "Unlike the other high priests, He (Jesus) does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins ONCE for all when He offered Himself."
What does the Bible say about communion?
https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-communion.html
What Christians commonly call “communion” is an ordinance started by Jesus during the Last Supper with His disciples. Communion is a way for believers to outwardly show their love for and fellowship with Christ, to remember the atoning sacrifice that Jesus made for them, and to look forward to the time when He will partake with us in the kingdom. Communion is also known as the Lord’s supper or the Lord’s table.
The Last Supper
Just prior to Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus gathered His disciples in an upper room of a house to celebrate the Passover. It didn’t take long for the disciples to learn that there was another reason for their gathering. Matthew 26:26–29 says, “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.’” What the disciples thought was going to be a celebration turned into a somber prediction of the death of their master and leader.
Earlier Clues
If the disciples were listening closely, these words should have seemed familiar to them. Earlier in Jesus’ ministry, Jesus had told a crowd, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me” (John 6:53–57). This prediction of the death of Jesus and the need to accept His sacrifice for redemption proved to be too difficult for some: “On hearing it, many of his disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’” (John 6:60). In fact, after hearing this, “many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him” (John 6:66). The symbolism that Jesus used shouldn’t have been a surprise to His hearers; after all, He had been speaking in parables almost since the beginning of His ministry. However, the thought of consuming Jesus’ body was too much for many of them.
Early Church Communion
After the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, the early church obeyed the words of Jesus and practiced the ordinance of communion, the eating of bread (symbolizing His body) and the drinking of wine (symbolizing His blood). Paul the apostle brought out the idea of fellowship during communion: “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf” (1 Corinthians 10:16–17). Communion in the church not only meets Jesus’ commandment, but it also contributes to the unity of believers.
Paul also gave a warning to those who might approach communion flippantly or dishonorably: “Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves” (1 Corinthians 11:26–29).
Conclusion
The practice of communion is one of two ordinances in the church. The Bible does not specify how often communion should be observed. Communion is a time for reflection, not only on an individual’s sin and need of forgiveness but on the grace and love that Christ exhibited on the cross (John 3:16). As Christians take communion together, they demonstrate their union with each other and with Christ. Christians are reminded of Christ’s sacrifice and remind each other that He is coming again as they partake of communion together. Communion is a “common sharing in the Spirit” (Philippians 2:1) and an answer to Jesus’ prayer “that they may be one as We are one—I in them and You in Me—that they may be perfectly united” (John 17:22–23).
Communion should be symbolic
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Lk 22:19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
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If you are remembering someone he is not there - he is gone.
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1Co 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
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This implies He is not here because He will come later.
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Scripture tells us the bread is symbolic.
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Some may argue saying, "But He said it is His body."
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Jesus also said He is the door. When you see Him do you expect Him to have a knob for a nose?
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He said He is the way. Do you think He is made of bricks and people are walking around on Him?
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He said He was a Shepherd though He did not take care of the animals we know as sheep. He was a spiritual Shepherd.
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He said He is the vine, but that does not mean His skin had a green tint to it.
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He used these words as ways of helping people understand.
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People take the terminology of the bread and abuse it’s meaning.
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He said I am the bread as He was physically sitting there holding it.
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He said this is my body. If it were His body then it would have sufficed as the final sacrifice and Jesus never would have had to go to the cross - sin would have been covered by the bread.
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From the first Passover, the Jewish people have held pieces of bread up saying this is the Messiah.
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Jesus proclaimed I am the Messiah – I am the bread.
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That is what the bread symbolizes.
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You say I shouldn’t judge Catholic mass that way. I’m not, the scripture is.
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Let us see what Catholics say about us.
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Canon 1 from the Council of Trent 1563 says, "If anybody shall deny that the blood and the body together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ and therefore entire Christ are truly and really and substantially contained in the sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist and say He is only in it as a figure let him be accursed that is damned."
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This was ratified by Vatican 2 council 1963 and is still in effect as the official position of the Pope.
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The True Meaning of Communion
https://getalifemedia.com/video/cl/communion.shtml
Even though you’d think we Christians would know better, when it comes to the Church ordinance of Communion, many Christians not only take it for granted, but they also act like it’s some dry, stale, boring ritualistic activity. You know, where we periodically for some reason pass a plate here and hold a cup there and stand up sit down and we’re good to go until next time, whenever that might be. Yet, little do people know, even Christians, that this kind of attitude towards Communion is not only displeasing to God, it may very well be leading to the judgment of God. Therefore, this study, The True Meaning of Communion reminds us what the Bible teaches us about the importance of Communion so as to avoid this harsh reality. The Bible is says Communion is a Time of Worship, a Time of Unity, and a Time of Urgency. Why is it so many Christians are in a weakened state? Why are so many believers sick on a constant basis? And is there any reason why some Christians die for seemingly no reason at all? Believe it or not, it may have to do with their attitude and behavior while taking Communion. Discover the True Meaning of Communion now so as to avoid being disciplined by the Hand of God today!
ROMAN CATHOLIC PAPACY (POPES)
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Rome is a deceiver and a liar. She will try to tell people the first Pope was Peter and the church was once under his leadership.
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The first leader of the church after the death of Christ was not Peter. It was in fact, James, Jesus’ half brother.
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Peter was not even available to run the church. He was traveling all over the known world doing missionary work.
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There has never been a time in the history of the Christian church when the bishop of Rome ruled the entire church.
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He never ruled the east, he never ruled all of Africa, he never ruled the Coptic church, and even in the west where his power reigned supreme, he never ruled all of the people there.
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The Waldencians and the Albiganees had their own Bible and their own evangelical faith, but the Catholic church had armies that hunted these people down and slaughtered them.
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When I was in Rome I attended a local Methodist service. I met a man there who was attending the Waldencian Bible College. He told me that it was only within the last 100 years that they had the freedom to be known in public. In Italy the Waldencians have never been under the authority of Rome.
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The Sovereign Pontiff
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Catholicism view the Pope as the sovereign pontiff, the representative of divinity on earth, the infallible, who's laws cannot be revoked, as was the case with Esther during the times of the Medes and the Persians.
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The pope is addressed as "Your Holiness"
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His slipper is often kissed.
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He holds the keys of Janus and Cybele (on his robe), Peter's keys to heaven, although Peter was probably never in Rome.
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History has confused the Pagan statue of Jupiter with Peter.
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It is curious that the title of the high priest of Babylon was pronounced "Peter."
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He was the grand interpreter, Roma.
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What does the Bible say about the pope / papacy?
https://www.gotquestions.org/pope-papacy.html
The Roman Catholic Church’s teaching about the pope (“pope” means “father”) is built upon and involves the following Roman Catholic teachings:
1) Christ made Peter the leader of the apostles and of the church (Matthew 16:18-19). In giving Peter the “keys of the kingdom,” Christ not only made him leader, but also made him infallible when he acted or spoke as Christ’s representative on earth (speaking from the seat of authority, or “ex cathedra”). This ability to act on behalf of the church in an infallible way when speaking “ex cathedra” was passed on to Peter’s successors, thus giving the church an infallible guide on earth. The purpose of the papacy is to lead the church unerringly.
2) Peter later became the first bishop of Rome. As bishop of Rome, he exercised authority over all other bishops and church leaders. The teaching that the bishop of Rome is above all other bishops in authority is referred to as the “primacy” of the Roman bishop.
3) Peter passed on his apostolic authority to the next bishop of Rome, along with the other apostles who passed on their apostolic authority to the bishops that they ordained. These new bishops, in turn, passed on that apostolic authority to those bishops that they later ordained, and so on. This “passing on of apostolic authority” is referred to as “apostolic succession.”
4) Based upon the claim of an unbroken chain of Roman bishops, Roman Catholics teach that the Roman Catholic Church is the true church, and that all churches that do not accept the primacy of the pope have broken away from them, the original and one true church.
Having briefly reviewed some of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church concerning the papacy, the question is whether those teachings are in agreement with Scripture. The Roman Catholic Church sees the papacy and the infallible teaching authority of “Mother Church” as being necessary to guide the church, and uses that as logical reasoning for God’s provision of it. But in examining Scripture, we find the following:
1) While Peter was central in the early spread of the gospel (part of the meaning behind Matthew 16:18-19), the teaching of Scripture, taken in context, nowhere declares that he was in authority over the other apostles or over the church (see Acts 15:1-23; Galatians 2:1-14; 1 Peter 5:1-5). Nor is it ever taught that the bishop of Rome was to have primacy over the church. Rather, there is only one reference in Scripture of Peter writing from “Babylon,” a name sometimes applied to Rome, found in 1 Peter 5:13. Primarily from this, and the historical rise of the influence of the bishop of Rome (due to the support of Constantine and the Roman emperors who followed him), come the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching of the primacy of the bishop of Rome. However, Scripture shows that Peter’s authority was shared by the other apostles (Ephesians 2:19-20) and that the “loosing and binding” authority attributed to him was likewise shared by the local churches, not just their church leaders (see Matthew 18:15-19; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 2 Corinthians 13:10; Titus 2:15; 3:10-11).
2) Nowhere does Scripture state that in order to keep the church from error, the authority of the apostles was passed on to those they ordained (the idea behind apostolic succession). Apostolic succession is “read into” those verses that the Roman Catholic Church uses to support this doctrine (2 Timothy 2:2; 4:2-5; Titus 1:5; 2:1; 2:15; 1 Timothy 5:19-22). What Scripture DOES teach is that false teachings would arise even from among church leaders and that Christians were to compare the teachings of these later church leaders with Scripture, which alone is cited in the Bible as infallible. The Bible does not teach that the apostles were infallible, apart from what was written by them and incorporated into Scripture. Paul, in talking to the church leaders in the large city of Ephesus, makes note of coming false teachers. Paul does NOT commend them to “the apostles and those who would carry on their authority,” but rather to “God and to the word of His grace” (Acts 20:28-32).
Again, the Bible teaches that it is Scripture that is to be used as measuring stick to determine truth from error. In Galatians 1:8-9, Paul states that it is not WHO teaches but WHAT is being taught that is to be used to determine truth from error. While the Roman Catholic Church continues to pronounce a curse to hell, or “anathema,” upon those who would reject the authority of the pope, Scripture reserves that curse for those who would teach a different gospel (Galatians 1:8-9).
3) While the Roman Catholic Church sees apostolic succession as logically necessary in order for God to unerringly guide the church, Scripture states that God has provided for His church through the following:
(a) Infallible Scripture, (Acts 20:32; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Matthew 5:18; John 10:35; Acts 17:10-12; Isaiah 8:20; 40:8; etc.) Note: Peter speaks of Paul’s writings in the same category as other Scripture (2 Peter 3:16),
(b) Christ’s unending high-priesthood in heaven (Hebrews 7:22-28),
(c) The provision of the Holy Spirit who guided the apostles into truth after Christ’s death (John 16:12-14), who gifts believers for the work of the ministry, including teaching (Romans 12:3-8; Ephesians 4:11-16), and who uses the written Word as His chief tool (Hebrews 4:12; Ephesians 6:17).
While there have seemingly been good (humanly speaking) and moral men who have served as pope of the Roman Catholic Church—some point to Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis I as examples—the Roman Catholic teaching about the office of the pope should be rejected because it is not “in continuity” with the teachings of the New Testament. This comparison of any church’s teaching is essential, lest we miss the New Testament’s teaching concerning the gospel and not only miss eternal life in heaven ourselves but unwittingly lead others down the wrong path (Galatians 1:8-9).
Peter
Was Peter the first pope?
The answer, according to Scripture, is a clear and emphatic “no.”
https://www.gotquestions.org/Peter-first-pope.html
The Roman Catholic Church sees Peter as the first pope upon whom God had chosen to build His church (Matthew 16:18). It holds that he had authority (primacy) over the other apostles. The Roman Catholic Church maintains that sometime after the recorded events of the book of Acts, the Apostle Peter became the first bishop of Rome, and that the Roman bishop was accepted by the early church as the central authority among all of the churches. It teaches that God passed Peter’s apostolic authority to those who later filled his seat as bishop of Rome. This teaching that God passed on Peter’s apostolic authority to the subsequent bishops is referred to as “apostolic succession.”
The Roman Catholic Church also holds that Peter and the subsequent popes were and are infallible when addressing issues “ex cathedra,” from their position and authority as pope. It teaches that this infallibility gives the pope the ability to guide the church without error. The Roman Catholic Church claims that it can trace an unbroken line of popes back to St. Peter, citing this as evidence that it is the true church, since, according to their interpretation of Matthew 16:18, Christ built His church upon Peter.
But while Peter was central in the early spread of the gospel (part of the meaning behind Matthew 16:18-19), the teaching of Scripture, taken in context, nowhere declares that he was in authority over the other apostles, or over the church (having primacy). See Acts 15:1-23; Galatians 2:1-14; and 1 Peter 5:1-5. Nor is it ever taught in Scripture that the bishop of Rome, or any other bishop, was to have primacy over the church. Scripture does not even explicitly record Peter ever being in Rome. Rather there is only one reference in Scripture of Peter writing from “Babylon,” a name sometimes applied to Rome (1 Peter 5:13). Primarily upon this and the historical rise of the influence of the Bishop of Rome come the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching of the primacy of the bishop of Rome. However, Scripture shows that Peter’s authority was shared by the other apostles (Ephesians 2:19-20), and the “loosing and binding” authority attributed to him was likewise shared by the local churches, not just their church leaders (see Matthew 18:15-19; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 2 Corinthians 13:10; Titus 2:15; 3:10-11).
Also, nowhere does Scripture state that, in order to keep the church from error, the authority of the apostles was passed on to those they ordained (the idea behind apostolic succession). Apostolic succession is “read into” those verses that the Roman Catholic Church uses to support this doctrine (2 Timothy 2:2; 4:2-5; Titus 1:5; 2:1; 2:15; 1 Timothy 5:19-22). Paul does NOT call on believers in various churches to receive Titus, Timothy, and other church leaders based on their authority as bishops or their having apostolic authority, but rather based upon their being fellow laborers with him (1 Corinthians 16:10; 16:16; 2 Corinthians 8:23).
What Scripture DOES teach is that false teachings would arise even from among church leaders, and that Christians were to compare the teachings of these later church leaders with Scripture, which alone is infallible (Matthew 5:18; Psalm 19:7-8; 119:160; Proverbs 30:5; John 17:17; 2 Peter 1:19-21). The Bible does not teach that the apostles were infallible, apart from what was written by them and incorporated into Scripture. Paul, in talking to the church leaders in the large city of Ephesus, makes note of coming false teachers. To fight against their error does NOT commend them to “the apostles and those who would carry on their authority”; rather, Paul commends them to “God and to the word of His grace” (Acts 20:28-32). It is Scripture that was to be the infallible measuring stick for teaching and practice (2 Timothy 3:16-17), not apostolic successors. It is by examining the Scriptures that teachings are shown to be true or false (Acts 17:10-12).
Was Peter the first pope? The answer, according to Scripture, is a clear and emphatic “no.” Peter nowhere claims supremacy over the other apostles. Nowhere in his writings (1 and 2 Peter) did the Apostle Peter claim any special role, authority, or power over the church. Nowhere in Scripture does Peter, or any other apostle, state that their apostolic authority would be passed on to successors. Yes, the Apostle Peter had a leadership role among the disciples. Yes, Peter played a crucial role in the early spread of the gospel (Acts chapters 1-10). Yes, Peter was the “rock” that Christ predicted he would be (Matthew 16:18). However, these truths about Peter in no way give support to the concept that Peter was the first pope, or that he was the “supreme leader” over the apostles, or that his authority would be passed on to the bishops of Rome. Peter himself points us all to the true Shepherd and Overseer of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:25).
Bronze statue of St. Peter holding the keys of heaven in his Basilica in Rome
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It shows Peter with a halo that looks more like a wagon wheel.
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The Roman god Janis rides the chariot across the sky.
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The keys in the hand of the "keeper of the keys".
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This is he who knew the mysteries before and after the flood.
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This statue was modeled after Janis not Peter.
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Notice how shiny his toes are.
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This is because Catholics get on their knees and kiss the foot of that statue. It’s foot has been replaced once, and the current ones toes are so smooth you cannot see any separation in them.
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Bending down to kiss a statue is idolatry.
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I watched these people kiss statues of popes gone by.
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I witnessed them kissing the dead popes’ coffins and crypts.
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I saw them go into a special room where there was a communion wafer they would spend hours praying to because they were told it was the Lord Jesus Christ and He would die for their sins that day.
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Spiritual fornication
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When a person is married he or she belongs to their companion.
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Any sexual relationship outside of this union is fornication and adultery.
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While a man belongs to his wife, he also belongs to God. God alone can receive worship.
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Anytime honor, praise, or worship is given to a person, place, or thing spiritual fornication is committed.
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God will not share any glory or honor with a statue, a place, a thing or person.
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Titles belonging to God are only given to God.
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Behavior patterns of divinity are only His.
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Examples of spiritual fornication
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Calling the Pope "His Holiness"
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Kissing the Pope’s ring
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Bowing down before statues.
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Places with many statues will find many demons hanging around. I went to the shrine of the Immaculate Conception outside of Washington D.C. and saw 50+ statues of the Virgin Mary.
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That night as I lay sleeping I had nightmares. I was in 53 places where demons were waiting for people to bow down and worship.
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You do not want to spend your time praying around statues. You may excite some demon enough to come home with you. You will get your prayer answered, but it will not be from God.
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There is only one you can bow down to and worship – the one true God.
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Have you ever wondered why the Pilgrims wore such big black hats?
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The King of England was also the head of the church. He demanded everyone to remove their hats and bow down in homage to him. The Pilgrims made the biggest, and blackest hats they could. When the King passed by they would not remove them. They wanted him to know they would not give to man that which belonged to God.
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MARY
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Mary is a person who should be honored for obeying God and doing His will, but she is a person just like the rest of us. Jesus said several things in the Bible to deflect goddess worship from her. God will not tolerate you putting a human before Him.
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The Roman Catholic church is still putting the emphasis on Mary.
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The Catholic Charismatic and other groups are pressuring the Pope to declare Mary as the Co-Redemptrix with Jesus. This means they believe Mary could redeem you as well as Jesus. What blasphemy!
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Heb 9:13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
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This would also mean that all prayers must go through Mary to be heard and answered.
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Do you know if you prayer through Mary instead of Christ your prayers are going to the dead letter box? Mary cannot receive, answer or respond to prayer. She is a spirit in heaven and her body is buried somewhere in the world.
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It is a lie she has ascended up to heaven. There is no provision in the Bible for her ascension. She is waiting for the Rapture just as we are.
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1Ti 2:5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all,
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Necromancy (communicating with the dead)
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Do you know God outlawed this?
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Lev 19:31 “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God. (ESV)
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1Ch 10:13 So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the Lord, because he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance. 14 But he did not inquire of the Lord; therefore He killed him, and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.
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Dt 18:9-14 – Avoid Wicked Customs – 9 “When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. 14 For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you.
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Mic 5:12 and I will cut off sorceries from your hand, and you shall have no more tellers of fortunes;
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You are not permitted to talk to the dead or try to get them to talk back to you.
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Christians are not mediums for the dead to flow through.
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Anytime you have a dead person talking through a live person there is demonic activity.
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Once a Christian is dead they cannot contact the world.
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Their body is dead and their soul is in the presence of the Lord.
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Mary cannot hear or answer prayer and she cannot leave heaven to walk the earth.
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What does the Bible say about necromancy?
https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-necromancy.html
Necromancy is defined as the conjuring of the spirits of the dead for purposes of magically revealing the future or influencing the course of events. In the Bible, necromancy is also called “divination,” “sorcery” and “spiritism” and is forbidden many times in Scripture (Leviticus 19:26; Deuteronomy 18:10; Galatians 5:19-20; Acts 19:19) as an abomination to God. It is something that the Lord speaks very strongly against and is to be avoided as much as any evil. The reason for this is twofold.
First, necromancy is going to involve demons and opens the one who practices it to demonic attack. Satan and his demons seek to destroy us, not to impart to us truth or wisdom. We are told that our “enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Second, necromancy does not rely on the Lord for information, the Lord who promises to freely give wisdom to all who ask for it (James 1:5). This is especially telling because the Lord always wants to lead us to truth and life, but demons always want to lead us to lies and serious damage.
The idea that dead people’s spirits can be contacted for information is false. Those who attempt such contact inevitably contact demonic spirits, not the spirits of dead loved ones. Those who die go immediately to heaven or hell—heaven if they believed in Jesus as Savior, and hell if they did not. There is no contact between the dead and the living. Therefore, seeking the dead is unnecessary and very dangerous.
Queen of Heaven
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Mary is not the Queen of Heaven – The Queen of Heaven is Semiramis
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Nimrod, Semiramis and Tammuz (Tower of Babel)
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Semiramis – Nimrod’s wife
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Tammuz – Son of Nimrod and Semiramis
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In this legend, Nimrod was torn to pieces. Although they found most of his body and cremated it, only his reproductive organ was preserved. Following his death, Semiramis found she was pregnant. The child she bore was named Tammuz. Semiramis said Nimrod was the sun god and Tammuz was actually Nimrod reborn. Semiramis herself became known as Queen of Heaven and both she and Tammuz became the originators of the mother and child cult.
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The legend of Nimrod and Semiramis and their son Tammuz moved across the Middle East and came to Egypt where they became the Egyptian sun god Osiris and his wife Isis; their son was named Horus. (IHS on the Eucharist)
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The legends of Nimrod, Semiramis and Tammuz are almost identical to Osiris, Isis and Horus. Both husbands died and the wife had a son following the husband’s death, which they said was the husband Nimrod in Babylon and Osiris in Egypt. Both gods and both reborn in their son.
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Hence, the obelisks we see in Egypt and elsewhere are representations of Nimrod's/Osiris; the god's phallus.
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Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
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The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III is a black limestone Assyrian sculpture with many scenes in bas-relief and inscriptions. It comes from Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), in northern Iraq, and commemorates the deeds of King Shalmaneser III (reigned 858–824 BC). It is on display at the British Museum in London, and several other museums have cast replicas.
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It is the most complete Assyrian obelisk yet discovered, and is historically significant because it is thought to display the earliest ancient depiction of a biblical figure – Jehu, King of Israel. The traditional identification of "Yaw" as Jehu has been questioned by some scholars, who proposed that the inscription refers to another king, Jehoram of Israel. Its reference to Parsua is also the first known reference to the Persians.
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Tribute offerings are shown being brought from identifiable regions and peoples.
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Engraved in this obelisk is a picture of Jeru, the last king of Israel before the Assyrian god king. There is a wagon wheel in the sky representing the chariot of fire or Nimrod. There are a few representations of Baal. There is a cup in his hand. The next side shows priests. One holds the wine and one holds a plate with three round cross buns.
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Who is the Queen of Heaven?
https://www.gotquestions.org/Queen-of-Heaven.html
The phrase queen of heaven appears in two passages of the Bible, both in the book of Jeremiah. The first passage deals with the things the Israelites were doing that provoked the Lord to anger. Entire families were involved in idolatry. The children gathered wood, and the men used it to build altars to worship false gods. The women were engaged in kneading dough and baking cakes of bread for the “Queen of Heaven” (Jeremiah 7:18). This title referred to Ishtar, an Assyrian and Babylonian goddess also called Ashtoreth and Astarte by various other groups. She was thought to be the wife of the false god Baal, also known as Molech. The motivation of women to worship Ashtoreth stemmed from her reputation as a fertility goddess, and, as the bearing of children was greatly desired among women of that era, worship of this “queen of heaven” was rampant among pagan civilizations. Sadly, it became popular among the Israelites as well.
The second passage that refers to the queen of heaven is Jeremiah 44:17-25, where Jeremiah is giving the people the word of the Lord which God has spoken to him. He reminds the people that their disobedience and idolatry has caused the Lord to be very angry with them and to punish them with calamity. Jeremiah warns them that greater punishments await if they do not repent. They reply that they have no intentions of giving up their worship of idols, promising to continue pouring out drink offerings to the queen of heaven, Ashtoreth, and even going so far as to credit her with the peace and prosperity they once enjoyed because of God’s grace and mercy.
It is unclear where the idea that Ashtoreth was a “consort” of Yahweh originated, but it’s easy to see how the blending of paganism that exalts a goddess with the worship of the true King of heaven, Yahweh, can lead to the combining of God and Ashtoreth. And since Ashtoreth worship involved sexuality (fertility rites and temple prostitution), the resulting relationship, to the depraved mind, would naturally be one of a sexual nature. Clearly, the idea of the “queen of heaven” as the consort or paramour of the King of heaven is idolatrous and unbiblical.
There is no queen of heaven. There has never been a queen of heaven. There is most certainly a King of Heaven, the Lord of hosts. He alone rules in heaven. He does not share His rule or His throne or His authority with anyone. The idea that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the queen of heaven has no scriptural basis whatsoever. Instead, the idea of Mary as the queen of heaven stems from proclamations of priests and popes of the Roman Catholic Church. While Mary was certainly a godly young woman greatly blessed in that she was chosen to bear the Savior of the world, she was not in any way divine, nor was she sinless, nor is she to be worshiped, revered, venerated, or prayed to. All followers of the Lord God refuse worship. Peter and the apostles refused to be worshiped (Acts 10:25–26; 14:13–14). The holy angels refuse to be worshiped (Revelation 19:10; 22:9). The response is always the same: “Worship God!” To offer worship, reverence, or veneration to anyone but God is nothing short of idolatry. Mary’s own words in her “Magnificat” (Luke 1:46–55) reveal that she never thought of herself as “immaculate” or deserving of veneration; on the contrary, she was relying on the grace of God for salvation: “And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Only sinners need a savior, and Mary recognized that need in herself.
Furthermore, Jesus Himself issued a mild rebuke to a woman who cried out to Him, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you" (Luke 11:27), replying to her, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it." By doing so, He curtailed any tendency to elevate Mary as an object of worship. He could certainly have said, “Yes, blessed be the Queen of Heaven!” But He did not. He was affirming the same truth that the Bible affirms—there is no queen of heaven, and the only biblical references to the “queen of heaven” refer to the goddess of an idolatrous, false religion.
Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
Immaculate Conception
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The Immaculate Conception is a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church which states that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception.
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It does not mean Christ was immaculately conceived. The Catholics say it was Mary who was conceived that way. She was born without sin. If that were so, she would have been the savior, but she needed salvation just like you and I.
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It proved highly controversial in the Middle Ages, but revived in the 19th century and was adopted as church dogma when Pope Pius IX promulgated Ineffabilis Deus in 1854. The move had the overwhelming support of the church's hierarchy, although a few, including the Archbishop of Paris, warned that it is not stated in the New Testament and could not be deduced from it.
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Protestants overwhelmingly rejected Ineffabilis Deus as an exercise in papal power and the doctrine itself as without foundation in Scripture,
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Orthodox Christianity, although it reveres Mary in its liturgy, called on the Roman church to return to the faith of the early centuries.
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The iconography of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception shows her standing, with arms outspread or hands clasped in prayer, and her feast day is 8 December.
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Immaculate Conception is a title worn by the fertility goddesses.
What is the Immaculate Conception?
https://www.gotquestions.org/immaculate-conception.html
Many people mistakenly believe that the Immaculate Conception refers to the conception of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ conception was most assuredly immaculate—that is, without the stain of sin—but the Immaculate Conception does not refer to Jesus at all. The Immaculate Conception is a doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church in regards to Mary, Jesus’ mother. The official statement of the doctrine reads, “The blessed Virgin Mary to have been, from the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Christ Jesus the Savior of Mankind, preserved free from all stain of original sin” (Pope Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, December 1854). Essentially, the Immaculate Conception is the belief that Mary was protected from original sin, that Mary did not have a sin nature and was, in fact, sinless.
Catholics celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary on December 8. Within Eastern Orthodoxy, December 9 is the date of the Feast of the Conception by St. Anne of the Most Holy Theotokos. (Anne is Mary’s mother, according to tradition.) The Eastern Church does not hold to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, although they do consider Mary “all-holy,” that is, she never committed a sin.
The Immaculate Conception is not a virgin birth. Catholics believe Mary was conceived the normal way, but God made her immune from imputed or inherited sin. For as long as she’s been in existence, Mary has been free of sin. This allowed her to be the “second Eve” to give birth to the “second Adam” (see 1 Corinthians 15:45). Overshadowed by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35), Mary was a pure and holy “ark,” fit to carry the Son of God. As the ark of the Lord in Moses’ day carried the elements of the Old Covenant within it, so Mary carried the Author of the New Covenant within her.
The Roman Catholic Church bases its teaching of the Immaculate Conception on tradition along with a couple passages of Scripture. One is Genesis 3:15, the protoevangelium. There, God speaks to the serpent: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers.” Catholics point to the fact that the conflict between the serpent and the woman is equal to the conflict between the serpent and the woman’s Offspring, and they explain this by saying the woman (Mary) must be as equally sinless as her Offspring (Christ). The other passage cited by Catholics in support of the Immaculate Conception is Luke 1:28, “The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.’” The Greek word translated “highly favored” can be rendered “favored with grace”; thus, according to Catholic dogma, Mary had a superabundance of grace, rendering her sinless, and that’s why God chose her to bear His Son.
The Roman Catholic Church argues that the Immaculate Conception is necessary because, without it, Jesus would have received His flesh from one who was herself a slave to the devil, whose works Jesus came to destroy (1 John 3:8). Mary, as the mother of the Redeemer, needed for her flesh to be free from the power of sin, and God gave her that privilege. From her time in the womb, Mary was sanctified because of her special role in bringing the Son of God incarnate into the world.
One problem with the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is that it is not taught in the Bible. Even Catholics admit that Scripture does not directly teach the Immaculate Conception. The Bible nowhere describes Mary as anything but an ordinary human female whom God chose to be the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mary was undoubtedly a godly woman (Luke 1:28). Mary was surely a wonderful wife and mother. Jesus definitely loved and cherished His mother (John 19:27). But the Bible gives us no reason to believe that Mary was sinless. In fact, the Bible gives us every reason to believe that Jesus Christ is the only Person who was not “infected” by sin and never committed a sin (see Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5).
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is neither biblical nor necessary. Jesus was miraculously conceived inside Mary, who was a virgin at the time. That is the biblical doctrine of the virgin birth. The Bible never hints that there was anything significant about Mary’s conception. Mary is not an exception to the Bible’s statement that “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). Mary needed a Savior just like the rest of us (Luke 1:47).
Lady Day
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In Pagan Rome, March 25th was a holiday celebrating the annunciation of the virgin, in honor of Cybele, the mother of the Babylonian messiah.
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Consequently, on the Pope's calendar, March 25th is Lady Day, the day to observe the miraculous conception and annunciation of the Virgin Mary.
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Since the birthdays of the two respective messiahs is the same, one might expect that the day of their conception might be celebrated exactly nine months before their birth.
CATHOLIC HOLY DAYS
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The Feast of the Nativity of St. John
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The next point of interest on the Papal Calendar is June 24th, midsummer day, The Feast of the Nativity of St. John.
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In ancient Babylon, June 24th had commemorated the Festival of Tammuz – son of Nimrod and Semiramis – which celebrated his death and resurrection (during June, the month of Tammuz).
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Hislop writes, "When the papacy sent its emissaries over Europe, towards the end of the sixth century, to gather in the pagans into its fold, this festival was found in high favor in many countries... the famous advice of Pope Gregory I, that by all means they should meet the Pagans half-way, and so bring them into the Roman Church."
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So, to appease the Pagans, this festival was adopted by the church, but they did not want to use the name Tammuz, and there was no event of Christ's life to commemorate in June. Therefore, they contrived the scheme to celebrate this holiday as the birth of John the Baptist, since it conveniently coincided with a date six months prior to the celebration of the birth of Christ.
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Also, the name that the Babylonians used for Tammuz after he had been slain was Oannes. Conveniently, the name John, or Joannes, therefore satisfied both the Christians and the Pagans.
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In France and Ireland, this festival was celebrated with huge bonfires of purifying fire, across which children were thrown. This coincided with the Babylonian ritual in Jeremiah 32:35 which tells of the children being passed through the fire to the god Moloch.
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Jer 32:35 And they built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.’
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Festival of St. Dionysius
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October 9th is the festival of St. Dionysius (and St. Eleuther and St. Rustic).
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Dionysius was also known as St. Denys, the patron saint of Paris who was beheaded and is said to have carried his head in his hands to his grave.
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This festival was abolished in 1789, but somewhat revived in the 20th century.
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The origin of this Christian myth was also from Nimrod, who was said to have been beheaded and worshipped.
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This led to the famous statues in Rome of the man holding his head in his hands.
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Feast of the Assumption
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The Feast of the Assumption is observed by the Catholic Church on August 15th to honor the Virgin Mary as the omnipotent goddess who was perfect on earth and now resides in heaven.
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In Babylon, Bacchus rescued his mother in hell and took her to heaven. The Chinese also celebrate a feast in August, in honor of a mother.
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The Holy Virgin in ancient times was the wife of Pluto, the god of hell. She experienced the Immaculate Conception and was absolutely immaculate.
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In Rome, Madonna and her child are honored in the form of graven image statues.
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The date of October 7th on the Papal calendar is set apart to be observed in honor of St. Bacchus the Martyr, the martyr of the fire worshippers
INDULGENCES – Works-Based Salvation
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Another common doctrine shared by ancient Babylonians and Catholicism is the doctrine of justification by works.
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“fear of the scales” – Merits and demerits are measured in the balance of God's justice
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by Anubis, the god of the scales, in ancient Babylon
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by St. Michael, the Archangel, in Catholicism
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The priests were the judges, and the people had to pay to compensate for their demerits.
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This led to the "fear of the scales" in the Catholic Church, as well as to the practice of absolution by paying indulgences
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Practice of absolution by paying indulgences
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Moloch, the god of barbaric blood, in ancient Babylon, Greece, Rome, Egypt, Assyria, and Phonecia, claimed that he was not satisfied without groans and sighs, lacerations of the flesh, tortures of the body, and penances including whippings and scourges.
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From the first to the third centuries, Christianity recognized this practice as purely Pagan.
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After that, Catholicism claimed that God was not satisfied without groans and sighs, lacerations of the flesh, tortures of the body, and penances including whippings and scourges.
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It was common practice for Catholics to crawl on their bare knees over sharp rocks in order to pay for their displeasing of God. The Flagellants would even publicly scourge themselves.
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This is one of the things that Martin Luther found so revolting about the Catholic Church.
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Indulgences were, from the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, a target of attacks by Martin Luther and other Protestant theologians.
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What are indulgences and plenary indulgences, and are the concepts biblical?
https://www.gotquestions.org/plenary-indulgences.html
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, an indulgence is “the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sin whose guilt has already been forgiven. A properly disposed member of the Christian faithful can obtain an indulgence under prescribed conditions through the help of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints. An indulgence is partial if it removes part of the temporal punishment due to sin, or plenary if it removes all punishment.”
Understanding Catholic definitions is very important in understanding this issue:
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Eternal Punishment: “the penalty for unrepented mortal sin, separating the sinner from communion with God for all eternity; the condemnation of the unrepentant sinner to hell.”
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Temporal Punishment: “purification of the unhealthy attachment to creatures, which is a consequence of sin that perdures even after death. We must be purified either during our earthly life through prayer and a conversion which comes from fervent charity, or after death in purgatory.”
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Purgatory: “a state of final purification after death and before entrance into heaven for those who died in God’s friendship, but were only imperfectly purified; a final cleansing of human imperfection before one is able to enter the joy of heaven.”
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that sin has a double consequence. For a member of the Catholic Church, committing a mortal sin causes “eternal punishment,” involving eternal separation from God and suffering in hell. (The Catholic Church also teaches that under normal circumstances those who have not been baptized by either the Roman Catholic Church or another church teaching baptismal regeneration are also condemned to hell because the stain of original sin remains upon their souls.) Venial (minor) sin, in contrast, does not cause “eternal punishment” but does cause “temporal punishment.” Roman Catholic teachings sometimes refer to these “temporal punishments” given by God as a means of purifying His children (either in this life or in Purgatory). But the Roman Catholic Church also sees venial sins as creating a debt to God’s justice that must be atoned for in a way that is distinct from Christ’s atonement for eternal punishment. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that because of the unity of the Body of Christ (the Communion of the Saints, including living believers, believers in heaven, Roman Catholic saints in heaven, Christ, Mary, and the imperfect believers in Purgatory), it is possible for the merit generated by the good works, prayers, almsgiving, sufferings, etc., of one or more of these members of the Body to be applied to the temporal debt of another. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the combined merit of Christ, the saints, and godly believers is stored in a place referred to as the Treasury of Merit (it is also sometimes called the Treasury of Satisfaction, the Church’s Treasury, or the Thesaurus Ecclesiae). And through apostolic succession from Peter, it is the Roman Catholic Church alone that has the authority to withdraw merit from this treasury and dispense it to believers in this life or in Purgatory to atone for some or all of their venial sin. This it does through the granting of Catholic indulgences.
Again, indulgences pertain only to temporal, not eternal, punishment and can only be distributed through a Roman Catholic Church leader to someone who is either in Purgatory or is still living and whose soul is in the state of sanctifying grace (i.e., he/she would go to Purgatory, not hell, if he/she were to die at that moment). An indulgence can be obtained through a good deed done, a Mass being offered on behalf of someone, prayer, abstinence, giving to the poor, or some other meritorious act performed in accordance with requirements set by a Pope or bishop having jurisdiction over that individual. The offering of a Mass for someone is seen as one of the most effective means of reducing the temporal punishment of that person in Purgatory. A partial indulgence will reduce the temporal punishment a person has. A plenary indulgence will remove all temporal punishment.
Is the concept of Catholic indulgences biblical?
Various Roman Catholic Church doctrines are derived from tradition rather than from Scripture. And as the Roman Catholic Church sees their tradition as consistent with Scripture and equal to Scripture in authority, this is not an issue with them. But to most other Christian groups, the Bible alone is the source of authority and is more than sufficient in supplying Christians with all the resources they need to know and serve Christ as God intended (2 Timothy 3:15-17; Acts 20:32). But because the Roman Catholic Church states that its doctrines are not contradictory to Scripture and accepts Scripture as part of its authority, it is appropriate for both groups to ask, “Are indulgences biblical?”
An examination of the passages the Roman Catholic Church uses to support such doctrines as temporal punishment, vicarious atonement by fellow believers and saints, and Purgatory illustrates the Catholic reliance on tradition above and beyond Scripture. Other doctrines, such as the Treasury of Merit, the “pristine and unfathomable merit of Mary,” the “superabundant merit of the saints,” and the existence of indulgences, are foreign to Scripture altogether! Is the doctrine of indulgences scriptural? A consistent and contextual interpretation of Scripture will neither support the teaching of indulgences nor the doctrines it is built upon.
Indulgences and Purgatory
The Roman Catholic Church cites a few passages for their scriptural support of Purgatory. In addition to a passage from the apocryphal 2 Maccabees, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15; Matthew 5:26; and Matthew 12:32 are also given as scriptural support. Matthew 5:26 is part of a parable on the issue of forgiveness. Matthew 12:32 is addressing the issue of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Neither passage focuses upon what happens after death nor gives a clear teaching of what takes place after death. It is a principle of hermeneutics (the study of how to rightly interpret Scripture) that one should interpret “unclear” passages that merely touch on an issue by passages that focus on that issue or are clear about that issue. To interpret these verses as teaching that there is a place of further atoning and purifying in Purgatory after death flies in the face of many clear statements in the Bible that there are only two places that one will end up in after death: either in heaven with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:21-23; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) or in hell in torment (Luke 16:23-24; Revelation. 20:10-15). The Bible does not say that after death comes "further purification"; it says, "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:28). See the GotQuestions.org article on purgatory for a further discussion on this issue.
Indulgences and Penance
Catholics speak of “doing penance” for their sins. At the end of confession to a priest, the confessor is given certain things to do (such as certain prayers to pray) that are a part of “doing penance.” Part of the purpose of this penance is to bring about a returning of one’s disposition away from sin and back toward God. But another purpose mentioned repeatedly in Roman Catholic literature is that of paying or atoning for one’s sins. This is not the same as making restitution to those hurt by one’s sin, but rather involves making a payment toward the temporal punishment to satisfy God’s justice. This latter purpose is closely tied to the idea of indulgences and is not mentioned in Scripture. The Bible does speak of repentance, referring to a “change of mind about one’s sin that results in a change in behavior.” John the Baptist’s ministry and teaching is summarized in Luke 3:3-18. He told those that were baptized by him (their baptism being a sign of their repentance) to show by their deeds that their repentance was real. But never is there the message of “you must pay or atone for your sins by doing some good deed or by abstinence,” or by anything else. By this call to good works, John was essentially saying, “Show me your repentance is genuine by your works” (cf. James 2:18). But again, the idea of “doing penance” as an atoning for our sins or a repaying of a temporal debt to God’s justice is never mentioned in Scripture!
Catholic Indulgences and the Treasury of Merit
The doctrine of the “Treasury of the Church” was first officially expressed in 1343 by Pope Clement VI. He describes this treasury as not only consisting of the merits of Christ’s atonement but also “the merits (atonements) of Mary, the Mother of God, and of all the chosen, from the greatest to the least of the just, contribute to the increase of the treasure from which the Church draws in order to secure remission of temporal punishment.”
The Bible never once refers to anything like the “Treasury of Merit,” and never is there the thought that atonement can be made by one believer for the sake of another’s sin. Paul expresses that, if it were possible, he would sincerely be willing to be accursed, if that would mean the redemption of his fellow Israelites in Romans 9 and 10. But that is not possible because Paul and the other writers of Scripture state that, for a believer, the just Judge was satisfied when Jesus Christ became the atonement (propitiation) for our sins and that apart from Him there is no atonement (Isaiah 53:6; Romans 5:10-11; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 2:2; Hebrews 10:1-18). Never is there any hint of the idea of vicarious atonement by believers, either alive or dead, for the sake of their fellow believers. The Roman Catholic Church may make a distinction between atoning for people’s eternal punishment and their temporal punishment, but the idea of anyone other than Christ atoning for anyone’s sin and its corresponding punishment is never found in Scripture. Never is there any teaching about the “superabundant satisfactions of the Saints” or that the prayers and good works of Mary “are truly immense, unfathomable, and even pristine in their value before God.” In Scripture, there is only the unfathomable and infinite value of Christ’s atonement…period.
Catholic Indulgences and Temporal punishment
The Catholic Catechism speaks of temporal punishment as being a purification process. But elsewhere, throughout Roman Catholic official teachings, it speaks of it as a spiritual debt that needs to be atoned for, either by the individual who sinned or by someone else vicariously. Again, the Roman Catholic Church distinguishes between eternal punishment for “major” sin and temporal punishment for “minor” sin.
It is clear that the Roman Catholic Church teaches that there is a forensic or “legal” nature to temporal punishment; i.e., that it involves the need to satisfy the justice of a just Judge and that if that justice is not satisfied by atonement in this life, it must be atoned for in the next in Purgatory. It is that forensic or “payment to satisfy justice” aspect that is unscriptural. Scripture does teach that indeed one’s sins can be forgiven in the eternal sense (with the sinner no longer being condemned to hell) or even in an earthly sense (in not having the penalty laid down by the Mosaic Law inflicted upon the sinner, 2 Samuel 12:13). Sin changes things in this life and how God interacts with us in this life. It has to for a number of reasons given in Scripture:
1) This is a real world where real actions have real consequences. If we plant barley in the spring, we don’t harvest wheat in the fall. If we plant sin, we eventually reap turmoil, hardship, destruction, and death (Galatians 6:7; Romans 3:16; James 1:15).
2) Our sin and God’s response to it affect how we and other people view our God. If we sinned and there were no obvious effects to it, we would see sin as something that is “no big deal” to God, and thus His holy character would be blasphemed. This is one of the reasons God cited for the death of the child conceived by David in adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:13-14)—if there were no earthly consequences to David’s murder of Uriah and his adultery, then God would be viewed as One who condoned such sinful actions.
3) Others “looking on” would be encouraged to sin. First Corinthians 10:1-12 states that all of the punishments imposed by God upon the Israelites for their disbelief, idolatry, lust, etc., were recorded for our admonition so that we could learn from their mistakes. Proverbs says that others are encouraged to sin when punishment upon sin is delayed (i.e., if we see someone else “get away with it,” we are also encouraged to repeat their sin). So, an earthly punishment is either imposed by God or the natural consequences of sin are allowed to come to maturity so that others may learn not to sin.
4) God disciplines us for our benefit so that we may enjoy the fruit of righteousness that He intended for us. When a person places his faith in Christ, God ceases to be his Judge and becomes his Father (John 1:12). We will stand before Him as a Judge of our works done after salvation (2 Corinthians 5:10-11; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15), but now we have peace with God (Romans 5:1-10). There is no more condemnation (Romans 8:1). But as a loving father disciplines his children for their good, so God disciplines us for ours (Hebrews 12:3-11). But when you look at the description of this heavenly discipline given in Hebrews 12, you find no thought of punishment as in the sense of one being required to pay or atone for a crime!
So, one does find that God either imposes earthly consequences or allows the natural consequences as a result of sin, but in no passage does it say that these consequences are imposed so that His temporal justice may be satisfied!
In conclusion, having discussed the lack of scriptural support for some of the foundational doctrines necessary for the existence of indulgences, it must also be stated that there is not a single scriptural example of, or teaching about, an apostle or church leader doling out an “indulgence” to a fellow believer. Not one! From its foundation to its summit, the whole structure of the doctrine of indulgences is unfounded biblically.
It is our prayer that as the apostle Paul saw many converted to Christ because they compared his teachings to Scripture (Acts 17:10-12), so those who read this summary would read the inerrant and infallible Word of God for themselves and simply ask, “Are the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church found in what I have read? Do they ‘fit’ both the immediate context of any given passage and the context of the New Testament as a whole? Is the ‘system’ of the Roman Catholic Church found in the New Testament?” It is our prayer that all those who claim the name of Christ would turn to the simplicity of trusting Christ alone and desire to live for Him out of gratitude for all He has done for them (Romans 3-12).
PURGATORY
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Purgatory is an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification.
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The word "purgatory" has come to refer also to a wide range of historical and modern conceptions of postmortem suffering short of everlasting damnation and is used, in a non-specific sense, to mean any place or condition of suffering or torment, especially one that is temporary.
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The Catholic Church holds that "all who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified" undergo the process of purification which the Church calls purgatory, "so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven".
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It has formulated this doctrine by reference to biblical verses that speak of purifying fire (1 Corinthians 3:1, 1 Corinthians 3:15 and 1 Peter 1:7) and to the mention by Jesus of forgiveness in the age to come (Matthew 12:32).
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It bases its teaching also on the practice of praying for the dead, in use within the Church ever since the Church began, and mentioned in 2 Macc 12:46
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Purgatory does not exist.
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2Co 5:6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
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It is a part of Celtic and Greek mythology. It does not belong in Christianity.
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People say the rosary in front of a statue in Mexico of a man in flames. A loose translation of the inscription says, "while you are sitting there your loved ones are in Purgatory - help get them out by putting money in the box."
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Your loved ones are in Purgatory. This is the message you get from the Catholic church. No one knows how long they will be there.
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It is said by one of the Reformers in Germany, if a person did everything the Catholic church has to offer to reduce time spent in Purgatory, five million years would be taken away. So just how long does a person have to stay in Purgatory?
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There is a group of nuns called cloistered nuns who spend their whole life praying to the Virgin Mary for the men in Purgatory.
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Pilate's Judgment Hall
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These are the steps to Pilate’s judgment hall. The statuary tells the story of Pilate finding no fault in Jesus and Judas’ betrayal kiss on the cheek.
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The church moved these steps from Israel to Rome and built a great Cathedral around them.
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Catholics working years off of Purgatory – When you climb the steps on your knees you are said to have earned 28 years off of your stay in Purgatory.
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When you get to the top there is a room with the bones of dead saints. Everyone knows the bones of dead saints have a lot of power in them right?
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These are the steps Martin Luther was standing on when he read:
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Romans 1:17 KJV, "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as not save you but you are saved by faith."
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That changed Luther there and then. He realized works do not save you, but you are saved by faith in Jesus Christ.
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So started the battle cry of the reformation movement, "solo faith, solo scripture".
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On Reformation Day, October 31, 1999 Pope John Paul II traveled to Germany and forgave Luther for what he did.
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The Catholics and Lutherans are beginning a process to merge into one. One world religion is coming under one leadership and it is not that of God.
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History of purgatory
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At the Second Council of Lyon in 1274, the Catholic Church defined, for the first time, its teaching on purgatory, in two points:
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some souls are purified after death;
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such souls benefit from the prayers and pious duties that the living do for them.
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The council declared:
If they die truly repentant in charity before they have made satisfaction by worthy fruits of penance for (sins) committed and omitted, their souls are cleansed after death by purgatorical or purifying punishments, as Brother John has explained to us. And to relieve punishments of this kind, the offerings of the living faithful are of advantage to these, namely, the sacrifices of Masses, prayers, alms, and other duties of piety, which have customarily been performed by the faithful for the other faithful according to the regulations of the Church.
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A century and a half later, the Council of Florence repeated the same two points in practically the same words, again excluding certain elements of the purgatory of popular imagination, in particular fire and place, against which representatives of the Orthodox Church spoke at the council:
[The Council] has likewise defined that if those truly penitent have departed in the love of God, before they have made satisfaction by the worthy fruits of penance for sins of commission and omission, the souls of these are cleansed after death by purgatorial punishments; and so that they may be released from punishments of this kind, the suffrages of the living faithful are of advantage to them, namely, the sacrifices of Masses, prayers, and almsgiving, and other works of piety, which are customarily performed by the faithful for other faithful according to the institutions of the Church.
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The Council of Trent repeated the same two points and moreover in its 4 December 1563 Decree Concerning Purgatory recommended avoidance of speculations and non-essential questions:
Since the Catholic Church, instructed by the Holy Spirit, in conformity with the sacred writings and the ancient tradition of the Fathers in sacred councils, and very recently in this ecumenical Synod, has taught that there is a purgatory, and that the souls detained there are assisted by the suffrages of the faithful, and especially by the acceptable sacrifice of the altar, the holy Synod commands the bishops that they insist that the sound doctrine of purgatory, which has been transmitted by the holy Fathers and holy Councils, be believed by the faithful of Christ, be maintained, taught, and everywhere preached.
Let the more difficult and subtle "questions", however, and those which do not make for "edification" (cf. 1Tm 1,4), and from which there is very often no increase in piety, be excluded from popular discourses to uneducated people. Likewise, let them not permit uncertain matters, or those that have the appearance of falsehood, to be brought out and discussed publicly. Those matters on the contrary, which tend to a certain curiosity or superstition, or that savor of filthy lucre, let them prohibit as scandals and stumbling blocks to the faithful.
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Catholic doctrine on purgatory is presented as composed of the same two points in the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, first published in 2005, which is a summary in dialogue form of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It deals with purgatory in the following exchange:
210. What is purgatory?
Purgatory is the state of those who die in God's friendship, assured of their eternal salvation, but who still have need of purification to enter into the happiness of heaven.
211. How can we help the souls being purified in purgatory?
Because of the communion of saints, the faithful who are still pilgrims on earth are able to help the souls in purgatory by offering prayers in suffrage for them, especially the Eucharistic sacrifice. They also help them by almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance.
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These two questions and answers summarize information in sections 1030–1032 and 1054 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, published in 1992, which also speaks of purgatory in sections 1472−1473.
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In Theological Studies, John E. Thiel argued that "purgatory virtually disappeared from Catholic belief and practice since Vatican II" because it has been based on "a competitive spirituality, gravitating around the religious vocation of ascetics from the late Middle Ages". "The birth of purgatory negotiated the eschatological anxiety of the laity. [...] In a manner similar to the ascetic’s lifelong lengthening of the temporal field of competition with the martyr, belief in purgatory lengthened the layperson’s temporal field of competition with the ascetic."
What does the Bible say about Purgatory?
https://www.gotquestions.org/purgatory.html
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Purgatory is “a place or condition of temporal punishment for those who, departing this life in God’s grace, are not entirely free from venial faults, or have not fully paid the satisfaction due to their transgressions.” To summarize, in Catholic theology Purgatory is a place that a Christian’s soul goes to after death to be cleansed of the sins that had not been fully satisfied during life. Is this doctrine of Purgatory in agreement with the Bible? Absolutely not!
Jesus died to pay the penalty for all of our sins (Romans 5:8). Isaiah 53:5 declares, “But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.” Jesus suffered for our sins so that we could be delivered from suffering. To say that we must also suffer for our sins is to say that Jesus’ suffering was insufficient. To say that we must atone for our sins by cleansing in Purgatory is to deny the sufficiency of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus (1 John 2:2). The idea that those who are saved by grace through faith have to suffer for their sins after death is contrary to everything the Bible says about salvation.
The primary Scriptural passage Catholics point to for evidence of Purgatory is 1 Corinthians 3:15, which says, “If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.” The passage (1 Corinthians 3:12-15) is using an illustration of things going through fire as a description of believers’ works being judged. If our works are of good quality “gold, silver, costly stones,” they will pass through the fire unharmed, and we will be rewarded for them. If our works are of poor quality “wood, hay, and straw,” they will be consumed by the fire, and there will be no reward. The passage does not say that believers pass through the fire, but rather that a believer’s works pass through the fire. 1 Corinthians 3:15 refers to the believer “escaping through the flames,” not “being cleansed by the flames.”
Purgatory, like many other Catholic dogmas, is based on a misunderstanding of the nature of Christ’s sacrifice. Catholics view the Mass / Eucharist as a re-presentation of Christ’s sacrifice because they fail to understand that Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice was absolutely and perfectly sufficient (Hebrews 7:27). Catholics view meritorious works as contributing to salvation due to a failure to recognize that Jesus’ sacrificial payment has no need of additional “contribution” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Similarly, Purgatory is understood by Catholics as a place of cleansing in preparation for heaven because they do not recognize that because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we are already cleansed, declared righteous, forgiven, redeemed, reconciled, and sanctified.
The very idea of Purgatory and the doctrines that are often attached to it (prayer for the dead, indulgences, meritorious works on behalf of the dead, etc.) fail to recognize that Jesus’ death was sufficient to pay the penalty for ALL of our sins. Jesus, who was God incarnate (John 1:1, 14), paid an infinite price for our sin. Jesus died for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:3). Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 2:2). To limit Jesus’ sacrifice to atoning for original sin or sins committed before salvation is an attack on the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. If we must, in order to be saved, pay for, atone for, or suffer because of our sins, then Jesus’ death was not a perfect, complete, and sufficient sacrifice.
For believers, after death is to be "away from the body and at home with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:23). Notice that this does not say "away from the body, in Purgatory with the cleansing fire." No, because of the perfection, completion, and sufficiency of Jesus’ sacrifice, we are immediately in the Lord’s presence after death, fully cleansed, free from sin, glorified, perfected, and ultimately sanctified.
What does the Bible say about Purgatory?
What does the Bible say about Purgatory? Is Catholic Purgatory true? Is it true that there is a temporal consequence for sin? Is the doctrine of purgatory anywhere in the Bible? In this video, Pastor Nelson with Bible Munch, answers the question, “What does the Bible say about Purgatory?”.
STATUES / IDOLS
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2nd Commandment
Ex 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
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Idol processions
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Rome is famous for its long idol processions in which images are carried on men's shoulders, priests are adorned in gorgeous dresses, monks and nuns wear various habits, flying banners are displayed, and instrumental music is played.
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The same was true for Babylon. Also, the clothing and crowning of images in Rome originated with ancient Egypt, Nimrod, and the Queen of Troy.
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Rome uses rags or bones of saints to commemorate their deified heroes, as did Babylon. Both also artificially multiplied many fake relics for profit.
Do Catholics worship idols / practice idolatry?
https://www.gotquestions.org/Catholic-idolatry.html
Sadly, our Catholic friends and family members have been indoctrinated to believe that the use of statues, relics, and other articles is acceptable and even necessary for worship. They have been taught by the Roman Catholic Church that the images and icons used in the church are not actually “worshiped” but are simply “visual aids” to worship.
The Catholic Church long ago began making allowances for the idolatrous use of images by the way they reference the Ten Commandments. In the Catholic catechism and in most official Catholic documents, the first and second commandments are combined and then summarized with “I am the Lord your God. You shall not have other gods beside Me.” Suspiciously absent is what comprises the second commandment in the Protestant numbering of the Ten Commandments: “You shall not make any graven images.”
While it is understandable for “you shall not make any graven images” to be considered an aspect of “you shall not have other gods beside me,” based on the history of idolatry involving graven images throughout biblical and extra-biblical history, it seems unwise to not include “you shall not make any graven images” in every listing of the Ten Commandments. The omission seems especially suspicious in light of the fact that the Roman Catholic Church has long been accused of the idolatrous use of graven images.
There are good reasons for not using images in worship. First of all, the use of physical images to “aid” worship violates the command to worship God “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). Also, no one knows what God looks like, and John 1:18 is clear concerning this truth: “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” And, because God is Spirit (John 4:24a), it is irreverent to delineate Him as an iconic representation. No one alive knows what Jesus Christ looked like in the flesh, and, since there were no cameras when He walked the earth, the only description of His appearance is found in Isaiah 53:2-3, which says that He had “no stately form or majesty.”
The lack of a physical description of Christ has not stopped the Catholic Church from depicting Him. Throughout Catholic churches, institutions, convents, monasteries, and every other Catholic-affiliated building and shrine, there are paintings of God the Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Mary, Joseph, and a myriad of canonized saints. There are statues in abundance; there are relics, such as bone fragments, said to have belonged to certain saints. Some shrines even contain pieces of wood purported to be part of Jesus’ cross. All of these things are held to be sacred objects worthy of high regard. The idolatry is rampant and fairly obvious to non-Catholics, yet Catholics do not believe they are committing idolatry. They have been cleverly taught to believe that they do not worship these idols; they simply “venerate” them. The problem is that “veneration” still gives honor and reverence to something and/or someone other than God; therefore, veneration is idolatry.
Yes, Catholics do practice a form of idolatry, in violation of God’s command. The best way to reach our Catholic friends with the gospel of grace is to pray that the Holy Spirit will draw them and that they will respond to the Spirit’s leading. Their eyes and hearts are blinded by the false teaching they are continually hearing, and, until they begin to seek the truth, we must leave it in God’s capable hands. As we pray, we must keep loving them and trust that God will prepare the soil of their hearts (Luke 8:11-15). Never give up hope; the Holy Spirit does miracles every day.
THE ROSARY
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The rosary and prayer beads of Catholicism are pagan practices used in Mexico, Tibet, China, and Greece, as well as by Hindus and Pagan Rome.
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The rosary resembles a human heart.
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Thus, the god of the heart, or the god of love, was worshipped.
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This began as the Rosary of the Sacred Heart in Babylon and Egypt
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The heart was a sacred symbol of Osiris when he was reborn and appeared as Harpocrates, or the infant divinity, born in the arms of his mother Isis.
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Also, Cupid originated in Pompeii as a boyish divinity. He was a fair, full, fleshy boy in fine and sportive action, usually portrayed tossing back a heart.
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The bow and arrows were used to identify him with his father, the mighty hunter Nimrod.
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Taking aim with his gold-tipped arrows at the hearts of mankind, he was immortalized.
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The ancients deified Venus and Cupid.
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The Catholics deified Madonna and child.
Is praying the rosary scriptural?
https://www.gotquestions.org/praying-rosary.html
Praying the rosary is promoted within the Catholic Church as a means of strengthening one’s faith, resisting evil, growing spiritually, and generally benefiting society. While some of the prayer of the rosary is scriptural, the whole second half of the “Hail Mary” and portions of the “Hail, Holy Queen” are blatantly unbiblical. While the first part of the Hail Mary is almost a direct quotation from Luke 1:28, there is no scriptural basis for (1) praying to Mary, (2) addressing her as “holy,” or (3) calling her “our life” and “our hope.”
Praying the rosary involves giving attributes to Mary that the Bible never gives her. To call Mary “holy”—the Catholic Church teaches that Mary never sinned or had any taint of original sin—is not biblical. The Bible calls all believers “saints,” which can be interpreted as “holy ones,” but Scripture says that the righteousness believers have is the imputed righteousness from Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). In this life, no one is yet sanctified from sin in practice (1 John 1:9—2:1). Jesus is called our Savior repeatedly in Scripture because He saved us from our sin. In Luke 1:47, Mary calls God her “Savior.” Savior from what? A sinless person does not need a Savior. Sinners need a Savior. Mary acknowledged that God was her Savior. Therefore, Mary acknowledged that she was a sinner.
Jesus came to save us from our sins (Matthew 1:21). The Roman Catholic Church claims that Mary was saved from sin differently from everyone else—that she was saved from sin through the immaculate conception (her being conceived free of sin). But is this teaching scriptural? The Roman Catholic Church openly admits that this doctrine is not found in Scripture. When a young man addressed Jesus as “good Master” (Matthew 19:16–17), Jesus asked why he called Him “good” since there is none good but one, God. Jesus was trying to make the young man aware that he was using the term good too loosely. In praying the rosary, Catholics use the term holy too loosely. No one, including Mary, is holy but God. This ties in with Romans 3:10–23, Romans 5:12, and countless other passages that stress the fact that in God’s eyes no one measures up. Never is Mary excluded from such all-encompassing statements.
But praying the rosary has an even more basic problem, namely, that much of the prayer is directed to Mary, not to God. We are never told in the Bible whether anyone else in heaven can even hear us. God alone is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-present. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He taught them to address their prayers to God the Father. Every example of prayer in the Bible is addressed to God alone. There is never a single example of someone praying to any “saint” or angel or anyone else (besides prayers to false gods). Further, any time that a pious person prostrates himself (in a religious setting) to honor someone else besides God (chiefly to the apostles or angels), he is told to get up, to stop it (Acts 10:25–26; 14:13–16; Matthew 4:10; Revelation 19:10; 22:8–9). The Roman Catholic Church states that it worships God alone but “venerates” Mary and the saints. What is the difference? A person praying the rosary spends more time calling out to Mary than to God. For every one praise of God in the rosary, there are ten praises of Mary!
Praying the rosary also assigns a task to Mary that the Bible never assigns her. Jesus is our Redeemer (Galatians 3:13; 4:4–5; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 1:18–19; Revelation 5:9), our heavenly Advocate (1 John 2:1), and our one and only Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). The “Hail, Holy Queen” portion of the rosary prayer calls Mary our “most gracious advocate.” This is a direct contradiction of the clear biblical teaching that only Jesus is our go-between.
Praying the rosary requires Catholics to call upon Mary as the “holy Queen.” The only time in Scripture that the title “Queen of Heaven” is found, the term is used in a negative way (Jeremiah 7:17–19; 44:16–27). The Bible never pictures Mary as a queen; rather, she calls herself “the Lord’s servant” (Luke 1:38). She is never given a crown or authority over heaven and earth. Likewise, is it appropriate, while praying the rosary, to call Mary our “life” and “hope”? Again, these are terms that are used of God alone in Scripture (John 1:1–14; Colossians 3:4; 1 Timothy 1:1; Ephesians 2:12; Titus 2:13).
The practice of saying the rosary runs contrary to Scripture in a number of ways. Only God can hear our prayers. Only God can answer our prayers. We have one intermediary (Jesus), and it is in His name we pray, not Mary’s.
CONFESSIONAL
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The confessional had its roots in Babylon.
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All the people were required to make secret confessions to the priest in a prescribed form, if they were to be admitted, or initiated, into the "mysteries" of their religion. They were commanded to keep secret about these mysteries.
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Later, the Church of Rome began requiring the same type of confession for admission to the sacraments.
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Even the symbol of the Halo of Madonna was originated in Babylon as a disk symbol of the sun god.
What does the Bible say about confession of sin to a priest?
https://www.gotquestions.org/confession-sin-priest.html
The concept of confession of sin to a priest is nowhere taught in Scripture. First, the New Testament does not teach that there are to be priests in the New Covenant. Instead, the New Testament teaches that all believers are priests. First Peter 2:5-9 describes believers as a “holy priesthood” and a “royal priesthood.” Revelation 1:6 and 5:10 both describe believers as “a kingdom of priests.” In the Old Covenant, the faithful had to approach God through the priests. The priests were mediators between the people and God. The priests offered sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. That is no longer necessary. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we can now approach God’s throne with boldness (Hebrews 4:16). The temple veil tearing in two at Jesus’ death was symbolic of the dividing wall between God and humanity being destroyed. We can approach God directly, ourselves, without the use of a human mediator. Why? Because Jesus Christ is our great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-15; 10:21) and the only mediator between us and God (1 Timothy 2:5). The New Testament teaches that there are to be elders (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:6-9), deacons (1 Timothy 3:8-13), and pastors (Ephesians 4:11) – but not priests.
When it comes to confession of sin, believers are told in 1 John 1:9 to confess their sins to God. God is faithful and just to forgive our sins as we confess them to Him. James 5:16 speaks of confessing our trespasses “to one another,” but this is not the same as confessing sins to a priest as the Roman Catholic Church teaches. Priests / church leaders are nowhere mentioned in the context of James 5:16. Further, James 5:16 does not link forgiveness of sins with the confession of sins “to one another.”
The Roman Catholic Church bases their practice of confession to a priest primarily on Catholic tradition. Catholics do point to John 20:23, “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” From this verse, Catholics claim that God gave the apostles the authority to forgive sins and that authority was passed on to the successors of the apostles, i.e., the bishops and priests of the Roman Catholic Church. There are several problems with this interpretation. (1) John 20:23 nowhere mentions confession of sin. (2) John 20:23 nowhere promises or even hints that apostolic authority of any kind would be passed on to the successors of the apostles. (3) The apostles never once in the New Testament acted as if they had the authority to forgive a person’s sin. Similarly, Catholics point to Matthew 16:19 and 18:18 (binding and loosing) as evidence for the Catholic Church’s authority to forgive sins. The same three above points apply equally to these Scriptures.
The ability to forgive sins is God’s and His alone (Isaiah 43:25). The better understanding of John 20:23 is that the apostles were given the responsibility of declaring with utmost certainty the terms on which God would forgive sins. As the church was being founded, the apostles declared that those who believed the gospel were forgiven (Acts 16:31) and those who did not obey the gospel faced judgment (2 Thessalonians 1:8; 1 Peter 4:17). As the apostles proclaimed salvation in Christ (Acts 10:43) and exercised church discipline (1 Corinthians 5:4–5), they were wielding the authority Christ had given them.
Again, the concept of confession of sin to a priest is nowhere taught in Scripture. We are to confess our sins to God (1 John 1:9). As New Covenant believers, we do not need mediators between us and God. We can go to God directly because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. First Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
EXTREME UNCTION
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(in the Roman Catholic Church) a former name for the sacrament of anointing of the sick, especially when administered to the dying.
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The practice of extreme unction, when death is visibly at the very door, originated in Babylon as an anointing for the last journey into the mysteries.