Post by JEM on Sept 22, 2013 2:46:02 GMT
TRUE FACTS ABOUT ROMAN CATHOLICISM
The present Pope Francis has warned that the Roman Catholic Church could collapse like a house of cards because of all the things wrong with it and because hundreds of thousands of Catholics are leaving it.
THE TRUTH IS THAT THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH was not founded by Jesus Christ. Nor was Peter ever the first Pope, or Bishop of Rome
It has many doctrines [ teaching ] and dogmas [ rules ]
This makes it one of the first Anti-Christ Heresies to survive to this day. Islam that arrived on the world scene in the 7th century is another great Heresy sent by Satan to confuse humans.
Two other early heresies Gnosticism in the 2nd century, and Arianism in the 4th century were largely eradicated by the Roman Catholics both by persecuting their followers and absorbing some of their ideas.
Many Christians other the Roman Catholics accept the term, HOLY CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC CHURCH but they don't mean Roman Catholic Church for that represents one denomination or branch of the Church.
They mean the complete body or company of all real Christians alive on Earth and in Heaven, who trust in the shed blood of Jesus Christ for the remission of their sins. The cancelling out and forgiveness, of sin.
We cannot do that by our own merit, or good deeds, or good behaviour, or keeping rules and commandments, or following merelychurch doctrine or any dogma not upheld by the Bible, the WORD OF GOD.
We are saved and forgiven only by what Jesus Christ [ meaning Saviour King] has done for us and God has given to us.
Good deeds, good behaviour , grateful thanks and worship should follow from that and from the Holy Spirit of God working in and in and through us, individually and collectively
HOLY means special, sacred, chosen, set apart
CATHOLIC means worldwide universal
APOSTOLIC means based on the teaching of the Apostles chosen and commissioned by Jesus Christ who follow and teach his teaching
CHURCH means the gathering of all Christians and all Christian Churches
The First Christian Church based on the 12 disciples Jesus first chose and created Apostles, “Sent Ones” , the first missionaries, included over 100 other disciples men and women and at least one teenager probably more, and met in the Upper Room of a house in Jerusalem Within a few days of Jesus departure into Heaven after he rose from the Dead 6 weeks earlier, the Holy Spirit arrived from Heaven at the Upper Room and anointed the Christians there with power and authority as Jesus had promised he would.
Within the first days of that some 3000 men had joined the Jerusalem Church and many women.
From there the Christian Church spread partly fanned by Jewish and then Roman persecution and became established in Antioch in Syria , Alexandria in Egypt and in Ethiopia, Armenia, along the North African coast as far as Carthage and beyond, and in Mesopotamia, and along the European coast of the Med Sea. In Ephesus, Athens Corinth. Thessalonica, Philippi, Rome, Marsailles, Cordoba, Southern Britain even as far as India in the first couple of centuries
When the Apostle Paul arrived in Rome the people there had not been visited by a missionary, and Peter had not been there and was not there. After being acquitted Paul visited Gaul, Spain, and southern Britain before returning to Rome where he was executed on orders of the Emperor.
Peter was also in Western Europe before returning to Rome where js was executed on the way back. Ne never was Bishop of Rome.
The Roman Church started throwing it's weight about in the 3rd century when with the Bishop of Alexandria the then Bishop of Rome tried in 251AD to enforce on all churches and Christians and particularly in the areas they were responsible for , the new doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration, and Infant Baptism that went with it. The Church at Antioch that included many families whose ancestors had gone there from persecution in Jerusalem when the city was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70 and the Christians had left in 66AD being forewarned. The Romans then put down a Jewish rebellion around 170AD and cleared the Jews out of their homeland Judea The Antioch Church led the opposition to Rome for decades.
In the Fourth Century Emperor Constantine decreed that Christianity would be one of the Religions recognised by the Roman Empire and some few years later it was decreed as the only Religion of the Roman Empire.
Constantine moved the seat of authority from Rome to Constantinople with which the Church at Antioch was associated. The Greek Church of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire established there, preserved the original copies of the Greek New Testament books. The Roman Catholic Church split from the Byzantine Church and organised its affairs from Rome until the city fell in the 6th century to the Northern tribes. Later from exile in North East Italy they returned to the Vatican lands.
The Byzantine Church including the original churches of the Middle East survived in Constantinople until it fell to the Muslim Turks in the 15th century when Constantinople became Istanbul.
By the 7th century Roman Catholicism had overrun like a fast spreading weed the whole of Western Europe even in Britain which had had an independent Celtic Church for 7 centuries from the first century which was then absorbed into Roman Catholicism until the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century apart from the work of John Wycliffe who translated the RC Latin Bible into English and sent preachers out to read the translation in the fields, woods and meadows where ever they gathered in crowds to hear the Bible, as only the well educated understood Latin.
There were other English men who stood up against the tyranny of the Roman Catholic leaders of England.
Now today in the 21st century, with the Church of England down to barely 1 million members Roman Catholicism threatens our land again, but worse than them are the Moslems who have double the members of the Church of England
Britain is in great mortal spiritual danger and most people do not understand how serious and dangerous it is.
As people believe so they will live and rule and coerce
Roman Catholics often say that it was their church that gave us the Bible. They sometimes claim this when defending their "Sacred Tradition" so that they might support extra-biblical teachings such as purgatory, penance, indulgences, and Mary worship. They often say the only way the Christian church knew what books are to be included in the Canon of Scripture was because it was revealed by word-of-mouth in the early church; that is, by the tradition of the Catholic Church.
Unfortunately, this argument implies that tradition is superior to Scripture.
Of course, we are not saying that the Roman Catholic church teaches that tradition is above Scripture. But when Sacred Tradition is claimed to be the thing by which Scripture is given, then tradition is inadvertently the thing that gives blessing and approval to the Bible. Hebrews. 7:7 says, "But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater."
The unfortunate psychological effect of saying that Roman Catholic tradition is what gave us the Bible, is that it elevates their tradition to a level far greater than what is permitted in Scripture. In fact, it is contradicted by scripture:
"Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written, in order that no one of you might become arrogant in behalf of one against the other," (1 Cor. 4:6).
The Bible tells us to obey the Word of God, to not go beyond the written Word (1 Cor. 4:6). Unfortunately, the problem with an elevated status of Roman Catholic church tradition is that it results in various justifications of it's non-biblical teachings such as prayer to Mary, purgatory, indulgences, penance, works of righteousness, etc.
Because it has deviated from trusting God's Word alone, it has ventured into unscriptural areas. Nevertheless, did the Roman Catholic Church give us the Bible? No, it did not.
First of all, the Roman Catholic Church was not really around as an organization in the first couple hundred years of the Christian Church.
The Christian church was under persecution and official church gatherings were very risky in the Roman Empire due to the persecution. Catholicism, as an organization with a central figure located in Rome, did not occur for quite some time, in spite of its claim they can trace the papacy back to Peter.
Second, the Christian Church recognized what was Scripture. It did not establish it. This is a very important point. The Christian Church recognizes what God has inspired and pronounces that recognition. In other words, it discovers what is already authentic. Jesus said "my sheep hear my voice and they follow me..." (John 10:27). The church hears the voice of Christ; that is, it recognizes what is inspired and it follows the word. It does not add to it as the Roman Catholic Church has done. Therefore, it is not following the voice of Christ.
Third, the Roman Catholic Church did not give us the Old Testament which is the Scripture to which Christ and the apostles appealed. If the Roman Catholic Church wants to state that it gave us the Bible, then how can they rightfully claim to have given us the Old Testament which is part of the Bible? It didn't, so it cannot make that claim. The fact is that the followers of God, the true followers of God, recognize what is and is not inspired.
Fourth, when the apostles wrote the New Testament documents they were inspired by the power of the Holy Spirit. There wasn't any real issue of whether or not they were authentic. Their writings did not need to be deemed worthy of inclusion in the Canon of Scripture by a later group of men in the so-called Roman Catholic Church. To make such a claim is, in effect, to usurp the natural power and authority of God himself that worked through the Apostles.
Fifth, the Scripture says, "But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God," (2 Pet. 1:20-21). The Bible tells us that the Scriptures are inspired by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the very nature of the inspired documents is that they carry power and authenticity in themselves. They are not given the power or the authenticity of ecclesiastical declaration.
Conclusion
The Christian Church, as an earthly organization, recognized the Word of God (John 10:27). It didn't give us the Word of God. Also, it was the Jews who gave us the Old Testament.
The authenticity of the New Testament documents rests in the inspiration of God through the apostles, not the Catholic Church.
Furthermore, the Roman Catholic Church did not give us the Old Testament. The Jews did. How can the RCC claim it gave us the Bible when it did not give us the Old Testament? Finally, when the Catholic Church claims that it is the source of the sacred Scriptures, it is, in effect, placing itself above the word of God by claiming that through it's authority we received the word of God.
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The present Pope Francis has warned that the Roman Catholic Church could collapse like a house of cards because of all the things wrong with it and because hundreds of thousands of Catholics are leaving it.
THE TRUTH IS THAT THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH was not founded by Jesus Christ. Nor was Peter ever the first Pope, or Bishop of Rome
It has many doctrines [ teaching ] and dogmas [ rules ]
This makes it one of the first Anti-Christ Heresies to survive to this day. Islam that arrived on the world scene in the 7th century is another great Heresy sent by Satan to confuse humans.
Two other early heresies Gnosticism in the 2nd century, and Arianism in the 4th century were largely eradicated by the Roman Catholics both by persecuting their followers and absorbing some of their ideas.
Many Christians other the Roman Catholics accept the term, HOLY CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC CHURCH but they don't mean Roman Catholic Church for that represents one denomination or branch of the Church.
They mean the complete body or company of all real Christians alive on Earth and in Heaven, who trust in the shed blood of Jesus Christ for the remission of their sins. The cancelling out and forgiveness, of sin.
We cannot do that by our own merit, or good deeds, or good behaviour, or keeping rules and commandments, or following merelychurch doctrine or any dogma not upheld by the Bible, the WORD OF GOD.
We are saved and forgiven only by what Jesus Christ [ meaning Saviour King] has done for us and God has given to us.
Good deeds, good behaviour , grateful thanks and worship should follow from that and from the Holy Spirit of God working in and in and through us, individually and collectively
HOLY means special, sacred, chosen, set apart
CATHOLIC means worldwide universal
APOSTOLIC means based on the teaching of the Apostles chosen and commissioned by Jesus Christ who follow and teach his teaching
CHURCH means the gathering of all Christians and all Christian Churches
The First Christian Church based on the 12 disciples Jesus first chose and created Apostles, “Sent Ones” , the first missionaries, included over 100 other disciples men and women and at least one teenager probably more, and met in the Upper Room of a house in Jerusalem Within a few days of Jesus departure into Heaven after he rose from the Dead 6 weeks earlier, the Holy Spirit arrived from Heaven at the Upper Room and anointed the Christians there with power and authority as Jesus had promised he would.
Within the first days of that some 3000 men had joined the Jerusalem Church and many women.
From there the Christian Church spread partly fanned by Jewish and then Roman persecution and became established in Antioch in Syria , Alexandria in Egypt and in Ethiopia, Armenia, along the North African coast as far as Carthage and beyond, and in Mesopotamia, and along the European coast of the Med Sea. In Ephesus, Athens Corinth. Thessalonica, Philippi, Rome, Marsailles, Cordoba, Southern Britain even as far as India in the first couple of centuries
When the Apostle Paul arrived in Rome the people there had not been visited by a missionary, and Peter had not been there and was not there. After being acquitted Paul visited Gaul, Spain, and southern Britain before returning to Rome where he was executed on orders of the Emperor.
Peter was also in Western Europe before returning to Rome where js was executed on the way back. Ne never was Bishop of Rome.
The Roman Church started throwing it's weight about in the 3rd century when with the Bishop of Alexandria the then Bishop of Rome tried in 251AD to enforce on all churches and Christians and particularly in the areas they were responsible for , the new doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration, and Infant Baptism that went with it. The Church at Antioch that included many families whose ancestors had gone there from persecution in Jerusalem when the city was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70 and the Christians had left in 66AD being forewarned. The Romans then put down a Jewish rebellion around 170AD and cleared the Jews out of their homeland Judea The Antioch Church led the opposition to Rome for decades.
In the Fourth Century Emperor Constantine decreed that Christianity would be one of the Religions recognised by the Roman Empire and some few years later it was decreed as the only Religion of the Roman Empire.
Constantine moved the seat of authority from Rome to Constantinople with which the Church at Antioch was associated. The Greek Church of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire established there, preserved the original copies of the Greek New Testament books. The Roman Catholic Church split from the Byzantine Church and organised its affairs from Rome until the city fell in the 6th century to the Northern tribes. Later from exile in North East Italy they returned to the Vatican lands.
The Byzantine Church including the original churches of the Middle East survived in Constantinople until it fell to the Muslim Turks in the 15th century when Constantinople became Istanbul.
By the 7th century Roman Catholicism had overrun like a fast spreading weed the whole of Western Europe even in Britain which had had an independent Celtic Church for 7 centuries from the first century which was then absorbed into Roman Catholicism until the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century apart from the work of John Wycliffe who translated the RC Latin Bible into English and sent preachers out to read the translation in the fields, woods and meadows where ever they gathered in crowds to hear the Bible, as only the well educated understood Latin.
There were other English men who stood up against the tyranny of the Roman Catholic leaders of England.
Now today in the 21st century, with the Church of England down to barely 1 million members Roman Catholicism threatens our land again, but worse than them are the Moslems who have double the members of the Church of England
Britain is in great mortal spiritual danger and most people do not understand how serious and dangerous it is.
As people believe so they will live and rule and coerce
Roman Catholics often say that it was their church that gave us the Bible. They sometimes claim this when defending their "Sacred Tradition" so that they might support extra-biblical teachings such as purgatory, penance, indulgences, and Mary worship. They often say the only way the Christian church knew what books are to be included in the Canon of Scripture was because it was revealed by word-of-mouth in the early church; that is, by the tradition of the Catholic Church.
Unfortunately, this argument implies that tradition is superior to Scripture.
Of course, we are not saying that the Roman Catholic church teaches that tradition is above Scripture. But when Sacred Tradition is claimed to be the thing by which Scripture is given, then tradition is inadvertently the thing that gives blessing and approval to the Bible. Hebrews. 7:7 says, "But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater."
The unfortunate psychological effect of saying that Roman Catholic tradition is what gave us the Bible, is that it elevates their tradition to a level far greater than what is permitted in Scripture. In fact, it is contradicted by scripture:
"Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written, in order that no one of you might become arrogant in behalf of one against the other," (1 Cor. 4:6).
The Bible tells us to obey the Word of God, to not go beyond the written Word (1 Cor. 4:6). Unfortunately, the problem with an elevated status of Roman Catholic church tradition is that it results in various justifications of it's non-biblical teachings such as prayer to Mary, purgatory, indulgences, penance, works of righteousness, etc.
Because it has deviated from trusting God's Word alone, it has ventured into unscriptural areas. Nevertheless, did the Roman Catholic Church give us the Bible? No, it did not.
First of all, the Roman Catholic Church was not really around as an organization in the first couple hundred years of the Christian Church.
The Christian church was under persecution and official church gatherings were very risky in the Roman Empire due to the persecution. Catholicism, as an organization with a central figure located in Rome, did not occur for quite some time, in spite of its claim they can trace the papacy back to Peter.
Second, the Christian Church recognized what was Scripture. It did not establish it. This is a very important point. The Christian Church recognizes what God has inspired and pronounces that recognition. In other words, it discovers what is already authentic. Jesus said "my sheep hear my voice and they follow me..." (John 10:27). The church hears the voice of Christ; that is, it recognizes what is inspired and it follows the word. It does not add to it as the Roman Catholic Church has done. Therefore, it is not following the voice of Christ.
Third, the Roman Catholic Church did not give us the Old Testament which is the Scripture to which Christ and the apostles appealed. If the Roman Catholic Church wants to state that it gave us the Bible, then how can they rightfully claim to have given us the Old Testament which is part of the Bible? It didn't, so it cannot make that claim. The fact is that the followers of God, the true followers of God, recognize what is and is not inspired.
Fourth, when the apostles wrote the New Testament documents they were inspired by the power of the Holy Spirit. There wasn't any real issue of whether or not they were authentic. Their writings did not need to be deemed worthy of inclusion in the Canon of Scripture by a later group of men in the so-called Roman Catholic Church. To make such a claim is, in effect, to usurp the natural power and authority of God himself that worked through the Apostles.
Fifth, the Scripture says, "But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God," (2 Pet. 1:20-21). The Bible tells us that the Scriptures are inspired by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the very nature of the inspired documents is that they carry power and authenticity in themselves. They are not given the power or the authenticity of ecclesiastical declaration.
Conclusion
The Christian Church, as an earthly organization, recognized the Word of God (John 10:27). It didn't give us the Word of God. Also, it was the Jews who gave us the Old Testament.
The authenticity of the New Testament documents rests in the inspiration of God through the apostles, not the Catholic Church.
Furthermore, the Roman Catholic Church did not give us the Old Testament. The Jews did. How can the RCC claim it gave us the Bible when it did not give us the Old Testament? Finally, when the Catholic Church claims that it is the source of the sacred Scriptures, it is, in effect, placing itself above the word of God by claiming that through it's authority we received the word of God.
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