It is very disturbing to me how so many people subscribe to a system they really know nothing about, especially when that system has set itself up as a moral authority and mediator between you and God, and especially when that system clearly and repeatedly contradicts the very pillars of its foundation.
As you might know I am referring to Catholicism, and it is with the hopes of helping others that I dedicate this page towards exposing the deceptions and lies of the Catholic Church. Now no church is perfect, but I propose to show you that this church is actually leading its members away from God. I have also included some facts and history for your interest. So let's get started.
The Catholic Church is the largest and most powerful organization in the world retaining approximately 17% of the worlds population as followers, making their leader, the pope, the most powerful man alive. The Vatican city, the heart of the church, became its own kingdom in 1929 and is not only the wealthiest, smallest city, but the most powerful kingdom in the world. The Vatican City has its own currency and answers not to Rome nor the government of Italy but only to the pope. The fact that the early Roman Catholic Church was responsible for the most blood shed by any person or institution in history is a dark chapter they would love to be buried. Over the span of six centuries, easily over ten million were killed, if you include the various 'inquisitions,' wars against the rising Protestants, the crusades, and witch-hunts, including millions of innocent men, woman, and children who were murdered, tortured, and even burned alive simply for standing up, speaking out, or even thinking differently from the Catholic Church and its leaders. There was the "Medieval Inquisition," the "Episcopal Inquisition," the Papal Inquisition," the "Roman Inquisition," the "Spanish Inquisition," and the "Portuguese Inquisition." It is both interesting yet disturbing to find that if you 'Google' "inquisition" only the 'Spanish Inquisition" pops up from Wikipedia, and only once, on the first page. Not until the fourth page will you see any other related title! In four pages, and only on the fourth page there is only one related link entitled, "inquisition (Roman Catholicism)." Now considering the Catholic Church started what is also known as the 'Catholic Inquisition' which would be the main inquisition, categorically, under which the other inquisitions fall under, you would expect to find something related to these key words I have highlighted in yellow at least several times on the first page but definitely within the first three! As a tech and research savvy webpage manager familiar with SEO (search engine optimization) when I see key links not coming up linked to key words relating to one of history's biggest genocides, I KNOW somebody has gone to some trouble to hide this information. And on the fourth page, only one paragraph via one link from Britannica is used to describe the bloodiest purge in history as follows per copy and paste:
"a judicial procedure and later an institution that was established by the papacy and, sometimes, by secular governments to combat heresy. Derived from the Latin verb inquiro (“inquire into”), the name was applied to commissions in the 13th century and subsequently to similar structures in early modern Europe..."
Most other related searches yield similar results as related articles are either completely lacking, completely vague providing only general details, or seemingly written by a catholic sympathizer.
But to continue...
The birth of Christianity not only started the greatest, most powerful revolution in history, but paved the way for the second greatest revolution in history as well, the Protestant Reformation, which is still ongoing today through various denominations. It was the invention of the printing press in 1461 coinciding with the Bible's translation into the languages of the common man that finally allowed men to see the corruption and lies of the Catholic Church which eventually culminated into the Protestant Reformation. Up until that time, the only copies of the Bible were rare and primarily in Latin which only the Church leaders had and could interpret. As power corrupts, it is no surprise corrupt leaders used their position as the voice of God to further their own ends. One of the main protests of Martin Luther, one of the primary men responsible for the reformation, was the Roman Catholic Church's sale of 'indulgences,' from which profits were being used in the building of the St. Peter's Basilica. Since the pope at this time was extremely wealthy, Martin Luther wondered why the pope took money from the poor to finance his construction. This Catholic 'indulgence' represented a remission of temporary punishment in a fictional place called 'purgatory,' which no man would have any control over even if it did exist. Considering the dwindling number of Catholics, it is interesting that the sale of indulgences has recently been revived. But know that there is no mention or reference in God's Word of a place called 'purgatory' and this belief is mostly based on the practice of an ancient tradition, the 'prayer for the dead.' Catholic theology gives several verses from the Bible as 'support' for their belief, but a quick study of these verses reveal absolutely no substance and a ridiculous leap in logic. For your amusement, I present all six of these verses given below followed by my own commentary:
18—may the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! And you know very well how much service he rendered in Ephesus. (so the use of "that day" means there is a place between heaven and hell? This is a joke right? Let's see what else they got...)
32Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. (so I'm supposed to believe in purgatory because of the phrase "in the age to come?" If there is a heaven or hell, wouldn't this be a reference to one of those?)
43He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’ (I am astounded that this verse is listed as a verse supporting the existence of purgatory; they must really think people are stupid....this is clearly a reference to heaven....)
11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. 12Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. 14If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15If the work is burned, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire. (Peter mentions in I Pt. 4:12 that we will be tried with fire, but he is clearly referring to life's trials. "the Day" is a clear reference to Judgement day, not some other place that is no where in the Bible...)
29for indeed our God is a consuming fire. (ya...and how does this prove an imaginary place?)
19 ‘There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. 22The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham.* The rich man also died and was buried. 23In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.* 24He called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.” 25But Abraham said, “Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. 26Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.” (It's funny because if you actually read the story, you will notice that the poor man is immediately taken to be with Abraham, and you will notice Abraham is not in any place of torment, which means he is in Heaven. And if you study the story, you will find that the rich man was not a good person and had not truly repented and turned to God before he died because he was hoping that his 5 brothers would believe and repent if Lazarus would rise from the dead and go tell them, so what makes anyone think that this guy is in any place other than hell....)
It is an insult to our intelligence that the Catholic Church would have us believe in an imaginary place that THEY control and point to these verses which in NO WAY even support their deception. Pure and simple, the sale of indulgences was and is a way to raise money. And what better way to control people, then to invent something you control... And like I said, even if this place did exist, no man would have any control or influence over any time served there. This is just one example of many doctrines I will show you that have either been invented or corrupted by the Catholic Church either for control, or money, or your very soul. To be fair, many other non-catholic churches have started for these very reasons of power and money as well, but these leaders are just individuals and do not represent the whole religion. In Catholicism, however, you cannot be Catholic and not support and obey the Pope. It would be completely contradictory and even considered blasphemous to be Catholic and not follow the Pope. It is a fundamental doctrine inherent in Catholicism that the Pope is God's leader on Earth to the Church, and that to disobey the pope is to rebel against God. If you refused to obey the pope you would be excommunicated from the Catholic Church. In Protestantism, if a leader became corrupt, you could simply join another Protestant church.
A quick, overall look at the big picture of religion today:
The largest movement in the world today, Pentecostalism, began on January 1st, 1901 in California, and it is no exaggeration to say that this movement has witnessed the greatest number of conversions and church plants in the entire history of the worldwide church. In 2005 it was estimated that over the last decade Protestants in Vietnam grew by 600%, while in 2010 Christians grew in Nigeria from 21.4% in 1953 to 50.8%, in South Korea Christians grew from 20.7% in 1985 to 29.3%, and in Brazil Christians grew from 16.2% in 2000 to 22.2%, while in China a recent boom in Christian population has been called one of the 'greatest revivals in Christian history,' as Mainland China now has approximately 67 million Christians, or about 5% of the total population, despite considerable persecution under Chairman Mao. Revival is also exploding today in the Middle East, in countries like Iran, Iraq, Egypt, and others, as literally millions of Muslims have been converting to Christianity over the past decade. In December of 2001, Sheikh Ahmed al Qataani, a leading Saudi cleric, appeared in a live interview on Aljazeera satellite television to confirm that Muslims were turning to Jesus in alarming numbers, "in every hour, 667 Muslims convert to Christianity." He warned, "Every day 16,000 Muslims convert to Christianity. Every year 6 million Muslims convert to Christianity." Every year," the cleric confirmed, "a tragedy has happened."
Meanwhile in America, over the past decade the Catholic Church has witnessed a 5% decline while mainline Christian denominations noted a 12.8% drop. Since the beginning of this century, the two largest growing religious groups in America are Muslims and Mormons. A high birthrate along with a high retention of those born into the religion both play a significant factor in the swelling of Mormonism. Considering the fact that the European and American economies have effectively stalled over the last several decades, while many Muslim dominated countries continue to grow significantly, particularly the oil-rich countries of the Middle East, it is no wonder why Islam is now the fastest growing religion in the world. In America, however, the rise of Islam is primarily due to immigration and the high birth rate of Muslims. Catholics, like Muslims, are primarily expanding in population through procreation. Most of those converting to Islam are doing so at the point of a weapons, while the Catholic Church is actually losing four members for everyone that joins. It has been reported that in New England there are more funerals than baptisms. It is little wonder that as the influence, power, and coffers of the Catholic Church wane, recent popes have stepped up calls for 'Christian unity,' also known as 'ecumenism,' an initiative started by the Roman Catholic Church to bring all Christians back under the Pope and effectively creating one church, ruled by the pope. Under the guise of 'unity' Catholic leaders hope to consolidate power and increase falling revenues while completely ignoring the irreconcilable differences that led to the split in the first place. The current pope Francis has been holding 'ecumenical meetings' with Jewish, Muslims, and Protestant leaders from all over the world, including Joel Osteen who is head of the largest Protestant church in the United States with an average weekly attendance of almost 44,000 and whose broadcast has over 7 million weekly viewers and over 20 million monthly viewers around the globe.
So what are these other differences irreconcilable differences between the Protestants and Catholics that make ecumenism such a bad thing? How is the Catholic Church leading people away from God, and what other lies and deceptions are they teaching? I'm glad you asked, because I will cover that now.
" In later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons." 1 Timothy 4:1
The first critical doctrine I will discuss that the Catholic Church has perverted is baptism. Many may wonder if baptism is really important, so let me point out that Jesus commanded us to be "born of water" in John 3:5. Considering Jesus Himself set the example by making sure He was baptized, and the true meaning of 'Christian' means follower of Christ, a true Christian will follow the example of Jesus. All Christians know the importance of being baptized, but the Catholic Church has led Christians from a real baptism into a fake one. Here's how: 1.) The Greek word 'baptize' literally means to be 'fully submerged,' and every recorded baptism in the Bible involved full submersion. 2.) Peter teaches us in 1 Peter 3:21 that baptism is the answer of a good conscience towards God, which means a representation of dedication and commitment to God. 3.) No where in the Bible is 'infant baptism' recorded, and a new-born baby whose brain is not even developed is simply not capable of making any decisions, let alone 'answering God.' "Sprinkling' or 'infant baptisms' started because parents wanted to dedicate their child to God, but this ritual is pretty meaningless without the child's consent because the child must dedicate him/herself. We cannot save anyone, only God. And Jesus says in John 6:47 "he that believeth will be saved." So a real baptism can only take place when a child is old enough to mentally make that decision. Because the Catholic Church has corrupted this doctrine most Catholics have never made a public confession or dedication and they have never truly been baptized. Some may say that God is not so petty as to deny someone from Heaven over such a seemingly trivial technicality, but I challenge that thought by saying that all the true Christians split from the Catholic Church and KNOW the truth about baptism and have been fully baptized. Or hopefully they are reading this right now and can take that step in the right direction. I believe the Catholic Church is mostly only filled with those who believe in the idea of God, but have never really sought to find the truth for themselves, as is evidenced by the masses of Catholics who really know nothing about the Bible, God's instructional manual. God gave us His Word for a reason, we have no one to blame but ourselves if we fail to read and obey His instructions.
19"Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Matthew 7:19-23
Which brings me to the other, bigger, and irreconcilable difference with the Catholic Church, idolatry, or to put it in laymen's terms, worshiping anything or anyone other than God. We see over and over in the Bible that God hates the worship of 'idols,' often depicted as man-made objects like a golden calf. In the ten commandments given first in Exodus 20:1-17, the first two are very clear,
"thou shalt have no other gods before me; though shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them..."
Yet not only has the Catholic Church set itself up between man and God, as a god, but the pope, Mary, and the saints have been turned into idols. This may sound ridiculous to Catholics, but think about it. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" means just that, NOTHING BEFORE GOD, not your country, not your tribe, not the pope, not a woman, not yourself! Demanding complete allegiance and obedience as a man clearly violates the first commandment, and has led mankind into 'idolizing' the pope, a violation of the second commandment. Now, there is nothing wrong with a church having leaders; the early church had bishops. However, if we study the example of Christ these leadership positions are better interpreted as shepherds guiding a flock, not the authoritarian, obey me or die attitude of the Catholic Church. In Acts 5:29, Peter and the Apostles confirm, "we ought to obey God rather than man." Now Paul did teach in Romans 13:1 "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers..." but the pope is a higher power that you choose to be under. You don't have to be Catholic. In Protestantism, if a leader turns corrupt, there are plenty of other churches around. God gave us all the instructions we need, which we can barely follow. We do not need a dictator imposing more and new restrictions and regulations, especially anything without any scriptural basis, and especially anything that is contradictory. The fact that early leaders murdered, tortured, beheaded, and even burned millions and millions of dissenters and 'unbelievers' is a huge, huge, huge, huge, huge, huge, huge, huge red flag that not only has evil completely taken over but that these leaders actually view themselves as gods. When one of the commandments clearly states, "THOU SHALT NOT KILL," you cannot believe for one moment that the Catholic Church had not become an evil tool for power and control rather than an instrument of God's will. Now while the Catholic Church may not be destroying bodies anymore, they are destroying souls, which is by far the worst of the two and extremely more subtle. The devil is a genius. In Clearwater Florida a stained image of Mary has 'mysteriously' shown up on the side of a big building and Catholics have turned the site into a shrine with candles and chairs where numerous people gather daily to bow and pray to and 'idolize' Mary Many Catholic Churches have erected statues of Mary, usually by herself with her hands folded in prayer, under which they continually and ritualistically bow and pray. Now prayer is another way Catholicism is turning men away from God and into 'idolatry' because prayer is a form of worship! We pray to God because He is God and the ONLY ONE with the power to answer our prayers. Praying to someone else is putting that someone BEFORE God. Yet many Catholics spend more time thinking and praying to the pope, Mary, and the saints more than to God, if at all. The fact that priests tell Catholics to say "hail Mary's' after confession is just so absolutely ridiculous and actually contradictory to scripture. According to 1 John 1:9, GOD is the one that forgives us. NO PRIEST HAS THAT POWER! Also, a study of the Bible reveals that the role of the 'priests' in the Old Testament was only to offer sacrifice for the people until the 'perfect' sacrifice came, the Son of God. Paul clarifies in 1 Timothy 2:5 that Jesus became the mediator between God and men, and Peter taught us in 1 Pt. 2:9 that WE are a royal priesthood. These two reasons are why we do not sacrifice anymore, and the need for priests have passed. Jesus paid the price, past, present, and future! In John 14:14, Jesus says "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it." This means we should pray to Jesus! Not Mary, not the saints. It doesn't even make sense to pray to anyone else. God is the ONE with the power, and the ONLY ONE!!! Encouraging prayer to anyone other than God is a straight up devil's doctrine in order to lead us away from God. What better way to render our prayers ineffective than to get us praying to dead people who likely can't even hear us! If Catholics have ever only prayed and confessed to a priest or Mary, and have never truly been baptized, then you can see how their very souls are being destroyed.
A few years back, the cover of Time magazine headlined the popes decision to elevate Mary to a position of "co-redemptress" which means she has the 'power' to forgive sins. Not only is this completely ridiculous, but this is another straight up devil's doctrine turning many away from God. It blows my mind that people actually believe Mary can forgive sins like she is some god with powers. And this is in clear violation of the teachings of Jesus who said in John 14:6 "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Light, no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." Not the pope, not no priest, and not Mary. Turning people away from God towards Mary, the pope, and the priests, is straight up idolatry, and clearly violates the first two commandments.
Now Revelation 17 is an interesting chapter for several reasons. Not only is the prophet John describing the city from which the last, main anti-Christ emerges, but a quick study reveals that this city is the Vatican City. This makes sense when you realize that the "beast' which gives birth to the anti-Christ is the Roman Catholic Church. We know for certain the identity of the beast and city because the descriptions given are unique and obvious. For example, the beast is a 'great whore." Since a woman in the Bible is commonly symbolic of a church, a whore would be a corrupt church. The most obvious description given is that this woman is 'drunk with the blood of saints." Also this woman 'sits on seven mountains,' and as everyone knows Rome is the historically famous 'city of 7 hills.' For a study of this chapter, check out my very first blog using the 'Blog Archive' list on the right-hand side of the 'Home Page."
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for reading!
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