I doubt if many today in any church organization do much study on
"church history." I doubt very many who are members in the Roman
Catholic Church study much of their history as a church
organization. And I doubt even more, that the priests and bishops
of that religion are giving studies to their congregations on the
history of the RC church.
For the record then, I reproduce selected chapters in the book
"A Woman Rides the Beast" by Dave Hunt (no immediate relation to
me) - Keith Hunt (December 2007).
A WOMAN RIDES THE BEAST
The woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth
over the kings of the earth....
Here is the mind which hath wisdom: The seven heads are seven
mountains [or hills] on which the woman sitteth.
-Revelation 17:18,9
A City on Seven Hills
A woman rides the beast, and that woman is a city built on
seven hills that reigns over the kings of the earth! Was ever in
all of history such a statement made? John immediately equates
the readers' acceptance of this revelation with "wisdom." We dare
not pass over such a disclosure casually. It merits our careful
and prayerful attention.
Here is no mystical or allegorical language but an
unambiguous statement in plain words: "The woman... is that great
city." There is no justification for seeking some other hidden
meaning. Yet books have been written and sermons preached
insisting that "Mystery Babylon" is the United States. That is
clearly not the case, for the United States is a country, not a
city. One might justifiably refer to the United States as Sodom,
considering the honor now given to homosexuals, but it is
definitely not the Babylon that John sees in this vision. The
woman is a city.
Furthermore, she is a city built on seven hills. That
specification eliminates ancient Babylon. Only one city has for
more than 2000 years been known as the city on seven hills. That
city is Rome. The Catholic Encyclopedia states: "It is within the
city of Rome, called the city of seven hills, that the entire
area of Vatican State proper is now confined."
There are, of course, other cities, such as Rio de Janeiro,
that were also built on seven hills. Therefore, John provides at
least seven more characteristics to limit the identification to
Rome alone. We will examine each one in detail in subsequent
chapters. However, as a preview of where we are going, we will
list them now and discuss each one briefly. As we shall see,
there is only one city on the earth which, in both historical and
contemporary perspectives, passes every test John gives,
including its identification as Mystery Babylon. That city is
Rome, and more specifically, Vatican City.
Even Catholic apologist Karl Keating admits that Rome has
long been known as Babylon. Keating claims that Peter's statement
"The church here in Babylon... sends you her greeting" (from I
Peter 5:13) proves that Peter was writing from Rome. He explains
further:
"Babylon is a code word for Rome. It is used that way six times
in the last book of the Bible [four of the six are in chapters 17
and 18 and in extrabiblical works such as Sibylling Oracles
(5,159f.), the Apocalypse of Baruch (ii, D, and 4 Esdras (3:1).
Eusebius Pamphilius, writing about 303, noted that "it is said
that Peter's first epistle... was composed at Rome itself; and
that he himself indicates this, referring to the city
figuratively as Babylon."
(No, Peter did not write from Rome, but indeed from Babylon, the
ancient city; yet it is also true "Babylon" in Revelation is
symbolic of the city that would reign over nations and peoples -
Rome - Keith Hunt)
As for "Mystery," that name imprinted on the woman's
forehead is the perfect designation for Vatican City. Mystery is
at the very heart of Roman Catholicism, from the words "Mysterium
fide" pronounced at the alleged transformation of the bread and
wine into the literal body and blood of Christ to the enigmatic
apparitions of Mary around the world. Every sacrament, from
baptism to extreme unction, manifests the mysterious power which
the faithful must believe the priests wield, but for which there
is no visible evidence. Rome's new Catechism explains that
liturgy "aims to initiate souls into the mystery of Christ (It is
'mystagogy')" and that all of the Church's liturgy is "mystery."
Who Is the Whore?
The first thing we are told about the woman is that she is a
"whore" (Revelation 17:1), that earthly kings "have committed
fornication" with her (verse 2), and that "all the inhabitants of
the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication"
(verse 3). Why would a city be called a whore and be accused of
having committed fornication with kings? Such an indictment would
never be made of London or Moscow or Paris - or any other
ordinary city. It wouldn't make sense.
Fornication and adultery are used in the Bible in both the
physical and the spiritual sense. Of Jerusalem God said, "How is
the faithful city become a harlot!" (Isaiah 1:21). Israel, whom
God had set apart from all other peoples to be holy for His
purposes, had entered into unholy, adulterous alliances with the
idol-worshiping nations about her. She had "committed adultery
with stones and with stocks [idols]" (Jeremiah 3:9); "and with
their idols have they committed adultery" (Ezekiel 23:37). The
entire chapter of Ezekiel 16 explains Israel's spiritual adultery
in detail, both with heathen nations and with their false gods,
as do many other passages.
There is no way that a city could engage in literal, fleshly
fornication. Thus we can only conclude that John, like the
prophets in the Old Testament, is using the term in its spiritual
sense. The city, therefore, must claim a spiritual relationship
with God. Otherwise such an allegation would be meaningless.
Though it is built on seven hills, there would be no reason
to accuse Rio de Janeiro of spiritual fornication. It makes no
claim of having a special relationship with God. And though
Jerusalem has that relationship, it cannot be the woman riding on
the beast, for it is not built on seven hills. Nor does it meet
the other criteria by which this woman is to be identified.
Against only one other city in history could a charge of
fornication be leveled. That city is Rome, and more specifically
Vatican City. She claims to have been the worldwide headquarters
of Christianity since its beginning and maintains that claim to
this day. Her pope enthroned in Rome claims to be the exclusive
representative of God, the vicar of Christ. Rome is the
headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, and in that too she is
unique.
Numerous churches, of course, are headquartered in cities,
but only one city is the headquarters of a church. The Mormon
Church, for example, is headquartered in Salt Lake City, but
there is much more to Salt Lake City than the Mormon Church. Not
so with Vatican City. It is the heartbeat of the Roman Catholic
Church and nothing else. She is a spiritual entity that could
very well be accused of spiritual fornication if she did not
remain true to Christ.
In Bed with the Rulers
Not only does Rome's pope call himself the vicar of Christ,
but the Church he heads claims to be the one true Church and the
bride of Christ. Christ's bride, whose hope is to join her
Bridegroom in heaven, is to have no earthly ambitions. Yet the
Vatican is obsessed with earthly enterprise, as history proves;
and in furtherance of these goals it has been, exactly as John
foresaw in his vision, engaged in adulterous relationships with
the kings of the earth. That fact is acknowledged even by
Catholic historians.
Christ said to His disciples, "If ye were of the world, the
world would love his own; but becauseye are not of the world, but
I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth
you" (John 15:19). The Catholic Church, however, is very much of
this world. Her popes have built an unrivaled worldwide empire of
property, wealth, and influence. Nor is empire-building an
abandoned feature of the past. We have already seen that Vatican
11 clearly states that the Roman Catholic Church today still
ceaselessly seeks to bring under its control all mankind and all
their goods.
Popes have long claimed dominion over the world and its
peoples. Rope Gregory XI's papal bull of 1372 (In Coena Domini)
claimed papal dominion over the entire Christian world, secular
and religious, and excommunicated all who failed to obey the
popes and to pay them taxes. In Coena was confirmed by subsequent
popes and in 1568 Pope Pius V swore that it was to remain an
eternal law.
Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503) claimed that all undiscovered
lands belonged to the Roman Pontiff, for him to dispose of as he
pleased in the name of Christ as His vicar. King John 11 of
Portugal was convinced that in his Bull Romanus Pontifex the pope
had granted all that Columbus discovered exclusively to him and
his country. Ferdinand and Isabel of Spain, however, thought the
pope had given the same lands to them. In May 1493 the
Spanish-born Alexander VI issued three bulls to settle the
dispute.
In the name of Christ, who had no place on this earth that
He called his own, this incredibly evil Borgia pope, claiming to
own the world, drew a north-south line down the global map of
that day, giving everything on the east to Portugal and on the
west to Spain. Thus by papal grant, "out of the plenitude of
apostolic power," Africa went to Portugal and the Americas to
Spain. When Portugal "succeeded in reaching India and Malaya,
they secured the confirmation of these discoveries from the
Papacy...." There was a condition, of course: "to the intent to
bring the inhabitants ... to profess the Catholic Faith." It was
largely Central and South America which, as a consequence of this
unholy alliance between church and state, had Roman Catholicism
forced upon them by the sword and remain Catholic to this day.
North America (with the exception of Quebec and Louisiana)
was spared the dominance of Roman Catholicism because it was
settled largely by Protestants.
Nor have the descendants of Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas
forgotten that Roman Catholic priests, backed by the secular
sword, gave their ancestors the choice of conversion (which often
meant slavery) or death. They made such an out cry when John Paul
II in a recent visit to Latin America proposed elevating Junipero
Serra (a major eighteenth-century enforcer of Catholicism among
the Indians) to sainthood that the pope was forced to hold the
ceremony in secret.
Christ said, "My kingdom is not of this world; otherwise my
servants would fight." The popes, however, have fought with
armies and navies in the name of Christ to build a huge kingdom
which is very much of this world. And to amass their earthly
empire they have repeatedly engaged in spiritual fornication with
emperors, kings, and princes. Claiming to be the bride of Christ,
the Roman Catholic Church has been in bed with godless rulers
down through history, and these adulterous relationships continue
to this day. This spiritual fornication will be documented in
detail later.
Rome Equals Vatican
Some may object that it is Rome, and not that small part of
it known as Vatican City, which is built on seven hills, and that
the Vatican can hardly be called a "great city." Though both
objections are true, the words "Vatican" and "Rome" are
universally used interchangeably, Just as one would refer to
Washington and mean the government that runs the United States,
so one refers to Rome and means the hierarchy that rules the
Roman Catholic Church.
Take for example a placard carried by a demonstrator outside
the November 15-18, 1993, meeting in Washington D.C, of the
National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Protesting any deviation
from the pope's wishes, it read: "ROME'S WAY OR THE HIGHWAY."
Obviously by "Rome" it meant the Vatican. Such is the common
usage. So closely are Catholicism and Rome linked that the
Catholic Church is known as the Roman Catholic Church, or simply
the Roman Church.
Moreover, for more than a thousand years the Roman Catholic
Church exercised both religious and civil control over the entire
city of Rome and its surroundings. Pope Innocent III (1198-1216)
abolished the secular Roman Senate and placed the administration
of Rome directly under his command. The Roman Senate that had
governed the city under the Caesars had been known as the Curia
Romana (Roman Curia). That name, according to the Pocket Catholic
Dictionary, is now the designation of "the whole ensemble of
administrative and judicial offices through which the Pope
directs the operations of the Catholic Church."
The popes' authority even extended to large territories
outside Rome acquired in the eighth century. At that time, with
the help of a deliberately fraudulent document manufactured for
the popes known as The Donation of Constantine, Pope Stephen III
convinced Pepin, king of the Franks and father of Charlemagne,
that territories recently taken by the Lombards from the
Byzantines actually had been given to the papacy by the Emperor
Constantine. Pepin routed the Lombards and handed to the pope the
keys to some 20 cities (Ravenna, Ancona, Bologna, Ferrara, Iesi,
Gubbio, etc.) and the huge chunk of land joining them along the
Adriatic coast.
Dated 30 March 315, "The Donation" declared that Constantine
had given these lands, along with Rome and the Lateran Palace, to
the popes in perpetuity. In 1440 this document was proven to be a
forgery by Lorenzo Valla, a papal aide, and is so recognized by
historians today. Yet allegedly infallible popes continued for
centuries to assert that The Donation was genuine and on that
basis to justify their pomp, power, and possessions. That fraud
is still perpetuated by an inscription in the baptistry of Rome's
St.John Lateran, which has never been corrected.
Thus the Papal States were literally stolen by the popes
from their rightful owners. The papacy controlled and taxed these
territories and derived great wealth from them until 1848. At
that time the pope, along with the rulers of most of the other
divided territories of Italy, was forced to grant his rebellious
subjects a constitution. In September 1860, over his raging
protests, Pius IX lost all of the papal states to the new,
finally united Kingdom of Italy, which left him, at the time of
the First Vatican Council in 1870, still in control of Rome and
its surroundings.
The point is that, exactly as John foresaw in his vision, a
spiritual entity that claimed a special relationship with Christ
and with God became identified with a city that was built on
seven hills. That "woman" committed spiritual fornication with
earthly rulers and eventually reigned over them. The Roman
Catholic Church has been continuously identified with that city.
As "The most definitive Catholic encyclopedia since Vatican 11"
declares:
".. hence, one understands the central place of Rome in the life
of the Church today and the significance of the title, Roman
Catholic Church, the Church that is universal, yet focused upon
the ministry of the Bishop of Rome. Since the founding of the
Church there by St.Peter, Rome has been the center of all
Christendom."
Wealth from III-Gotten Gain
The incredible wealth of this woman caught John's attention
next. She was dressed "in purple and scarlet color, and decked
with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in
her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication"
(Revelation 17:4). The colors of purple and scarlet once again
identify the woman with both pagan and Christian Rome. These were
the colors of the Roman caesars with which the soldiers mockingly
robed Christ as "King" (see Matthew 27:28 and John 19:2,5), which
the Vatican took to itself. The woman's colors are literally
still the colors o£ the Catholic clergy! The same Catholic
Encyclopedia quoted above states:
"Cappa Magna
A cloak with a long train and a hooded shoulder cape
...[it]was purple wool for bishops; for cardinals, it was scarlet
watered silk (for Advent, Lent, Good Friday, and the conclave,
purple wool); and rose watered silk for Gaudete and Lactate
Sundays; and for the pope, it was red velvet for Christmas
Matins, red serge at other times.
Cassock (also Soutane)
The close-fitting, ankle-length robe worn by the Catholic
clergy as their official garb.. .. The color for bishops and
other prelates is purple, for cardinals scarlet..."
The "golden cup [chalice] in her hand" again identifies the
woman with the Roman Catholic Church. Broderick's edition of The
Catholic Encyclopedia declares of the chalice: "[It is] the most
important of the sacred vessels.... [It] may be of gold or
silver, and if the latter, then the inside must be surfaced with
gold." The Roman Catholic Church possesses many thousands of
solid gold chalices kept in its churches around the world. Even
the bloodstained cross of Christ has been turned to gold and
studded with gems in reflection of Rome's great wealth. The
Catholic Encyclopedia says: "The pectoral cross [suspended by a
chain around the neck and worn over the breast by abbots,
bishops, archbishops, cardinals, and the pope] should be made of
gold and... decorated with gems..."
Rome has practiced evil to gather her wealth, for the
"golden cup" is filled with "abominations and filthiness." Much
of the wealth of the Roman Catholic Church was acquired through
the confiscation of the property of the pitiful victims of the
Inquisitions. Even the dead were exhumed to face trial and
property was taken from their heirs by the Church. One
historian writes:
"The punishments of the Inquisition did not cease when the victim
was burned to ashes, or immured for life in the Inquisition
dungeons. His relatives were reduced to beggary by the law that
all his possessions were forfeited. The system offered unlimited
opportunities for loot....
This source of gain largely accounts for the revolting practice
of what has been called "corpse-trials." That the practice of
confiscating the property of condemned heretics was productive of
many acts of extortion, rapacity and corruption will be doubted
by no one who has any knowledge either of human nature or of the
historical documents.... no man was safe whose wealth might
arouse cupidity, or whose independence might provoke revenge."
Most of Rome's wealth has been acquired through the sale of
salvation. Untold billions of dollars have been paid to her by
those who thought they were purchasing heaven on the installment
plan for themselves or loved ones. The practice continues to this
day - blatantly where Catholicism is in control, less obviously
here in the United States. No greater deception or abomination
could be perpetrated. When Cardinal Cajetan, sixteenth-century
Dominican scholar, complained about the sale of dispensations and
indulgences, the Church hierarchy was indignant and accused him
of wanting "to turn Rome into an uninhabited desert, to reduce
the Papacy to impotence, to deprive the pope ... of the pecuniary
resources indispensable for the discharge of his office."
In addition to such perversions of the gospel which have led
hundreds of millions astray, there are the further abominations
of corrupt banking practices, laundering of drug money, trading
in counterfeit securities, and dealings with the Mafia (fully
documented in police and court records), which the Vatican and
her representatives around the world have long employed. Nino Lo
Bello, former Business Week correspondent in Rome and Rome bureau
chief for New York Journal of Commerce, writes that the Vatican
is so closely allied with the Mafia in Italy that "many people...
believe that Sicily ... is nothing more than a Vatican holding."
The Roman Catholic Church is by far the wealthiest
institution on earth. Yes, one hears from Rome periodic pleas for
money - persuasive appeals claiming that the Vatican cannot
maintain itself on its limited budget and needs monetary
assistance. Such pleas are unconscionable ploys. The value of
innumerable sculptures by such masters as Michelangelo, paintings
by the world's greatest artists, and countless other art
treasures and ancient documents which Rome possesses (not only at
the Vatican but in cathedrals around the world) is beyond
calculation. At the World Synod of Bishops in Rome, England's
Cardinal Heenan proposed that the Church sell some of these
superfluous treasures and give the proceeds to the poor. His
suggestion was not well-received.
Christ and His disciples lived in poverty. He told His
followers not to lay up treasure on this earth but in heaven. The
Roman Catholic Church has disobeyed that command and has
accumulated a plethora of riches without equal, of which "the
Roman Pontiff is the supreme administrator and steward ......
There is no church, no city which is a spiritual entity, no
religious institution past or present which even comes close to
possessing the wealth of the Roman Catholic Church. A recent
newspaper article described only a fraction of that treasure at
one location:
"The fabulous treasure of Lourdes [France], whose existence was
kept secret by the Catholic Church for 120 years, has been
unveiled.... Rumours have been circulating for decades about a
priceless collection of gold chalices, diamond-studded crucifixes
[a far cry from the bloodstained cross on which Christ died],
silver and precious stones donated by grateful pilgrims.
After an indiscreet remark by their press spokesman this week,
church authorities agreed to reveal part of the collection...
[some] floor-to-ceiling cases were opened to reveal 59 solid gold
chalices alongside rings, crucifixes, statues and heavy gold
brooches, many encrusted with precious stones.
Almost hidden by the other treasures is the 'Crown' of Notre,
Dame de Lourdes, made by a Paris goldsmith in 1876 and studded
with diamonds.
Church authorities say they cannot put a value on the collection.
'I have no idea,' says Father Pierre-Marie Charriez, director of
Patrimony and Sanctuaries. 'It is of inestimable value.'...
Across the road is a building housing hundreds of (antique]
ecclesiastical garments, robes, mitres and sashes - many in heavy
gold thread....
'The Church itself is poor,' insists Father Charriez. 'The
Vatican itself is poor.'" [The treasure described here is only
part of that which is kept in one location, the small town of
Lourdes, France!]
The Mother of Harlots and Abominations
The more deeply one probes into the history of the Roman
Catholic Church and its current practices, the more impressed one
becomes with the amazing accuracy of the vision John received
centuries before it would all be lamentable reality. John's
attention is drawn to the inscription boldly emblazoned upon the
woman's forehead: "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF
HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (Revelation 17:5). Sadly
enough, the Roman Catholic Church fits the description "mother of
harlots and abominations" as precisely as she fits the others.
Much of the cause can be traced to the unbiblical demand that her
priests be celibates.
The great apostle Paul was a celibate and recommended that
life to others who wanted to devote themselves fully to serving
Christ. He did not, however, make it a condition for church
leadership as the Catholic Church has done, thereby imposing an
unnatural burden upon all clergy that very few could bear. On the
contrary, he wrote that a bishop should be "the husband of one
wife" (1 Timothy 3:2) and set the same requirement for elders
(Titus 1:5,6).
Peter, whom the Catholics erroneously claim was the first
pope, was married. So were at least some of the other apostles.
This fact was not the chance result of their having been married
before Christ called them, but it was accepted as an ongoing
norm. Paul himself argued that he had the right to marry like the
rest: "Have we not power [Greek 'exousia,' the right or privilege
or authority] to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other
apostles and as the brethren [half-brothers, sons of Mary and
Joseph] of the Lord, and as Cephas [Peter]?" (1 Corinthians 9:5).
The Roman Catholic Church, however, has insisted upon
celibacy even though many popes, among them Sergius III (904-11),
John X (914-28), John XII (955-63), Benedict V (964), Innocent
VIII (1484-92), Urban VIII (1623-44), and Innocent X (1644-55),
as well as millions of cardinals, bishops, archbishops, monks,
and priests throughout history, have repeatedly violated such
vows. Not only has celibacy made sinners of the clergy who engage
in fornication, but it makes harlots out of those with whom they
secretly cohabit. Rome is indeed "the mother of harlots"! Her
identification as such is unmistakable. No other city, church, or
institution in the history of the world is her rival in this
particular evil.
History is replete with sayings that mocked the church's
false claim to celibacy and revealed the truth: "The holiest
hermit has his whore" and "Rome has more prostitutes than any
other city because she has the most celibates" are examples. Pius
II declared that Rome was "the only city run by bastards" [sons
of popes and cardinals]. Catholic historian and former Jesuit
Peter de Rosa writes:
"Popes had mistresses of fifteen years of age, were guilty of
incest and sexual perversions of every sort, had innumerable
children, were murdered in the very act of adultery [by jealous
husbands who found them in bed with their wives].... In the
old Catholic phrase, why be holier than the pope?"
As for abominations, even Catholic historians admit that
among the popes were some of the most degenerate and
unconscionable ogres in all of history. Their numerous outrageous
crimes, many of which are almost beyond belief, have been recited
by many historians from preserved documents that reveal the
depths of papal depravity, some of which we will cover
in later chapters. To call any of these men "His Holiness, Vicar
of Christ" makes a mockery of holiness and of Christ. Yet the
name of each one of these unbelievably wicked popes, mass
murderers, fornicators, robbers, warmongers, some guilty of the
massacre of thousands - is emblazoned in honor on the Church's
official list of popes. These abominations that John foresaw not
only occurred in the past but continue to this very day, as we
shall see.
Drunk with the Martyrs' Blood
John next notices that the woman is drunk - and not with an
alcoholic beverage. She is drunk with "the blood of the saints,
and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus..." (Revelation 17:6).
The picture is a horrible one. It is not merely her hands that
are red with this blood, but she is drunk with it! The slaughter
of innocents who, for conscience' sake, would not yield to her
totalitarian demands has so refreshed and exhilarated her that
she reels in ecstasy.
One thinks immediately of the Inquisitions (Roman, Medieval,
and Spanish) which for centuries held Europe in their terrible
grip.
In his History of the Inquisition, Canon Llorente, who was
the Secretary to the Inquisition in Madrid from 1790-92 and had
access to the archives of all the tribunals, estimated that in
Spain alone the number of condemned exceeded 3 million, with
about 300,000 burned at the stake. A Catholic historian
comments upon events leading up to the suppression of the Spanish
Inquisition in 1809:
When Napoleon conquered Spain in 1808, a Polish officer in
his army, Colonel Lemanouski, reported that the Dominicans [in
charge of the Inquisition] blockaded themselves in their
monastery in Madrid. When Lemanouski's troops forced an entry,
the inquisitors denied the existence of any torture chambers.
The soldiers searched the monastery and discovered them under the
floors. The chambers were full of prisoners, all naked, many
insane. The French troops, used to cruelty and blood, could not
stomach the sight. They emptied the torture-chambers, laid
gunpowder to the monastery and blew the place up.
To wring out confessions from these poor creatures, the
Roman Catholic Church devised ingenious tortures so excru-
ciating and barbarous that one is sickened by their recital.
Church historian Bishop William Shaw Kerr writes:
"The most ghastly abomination of all was the system of torture.
The accounts of its cold-blooded operations make one shudder at
the capacity of human beings for cruelty. And it was decreed and
regulated by the popes who claim to represent Christ on earth ...
Careful notes were taken not only of all that was confessed by
the victim, but of his shrieks, cries, lamentations, broken
interjections and appeals for mercy. The most moving things in
the literature of the Inquisition are not the accounts of their
sufferings leftby the victims but the sober memoranda kept by the
officers of the tribunals. We are distressed and horrified just
because there is no intention to shock us."
The remnants of some of the chambers of horror remain in
Europe and may be visited today. They stand as memorials to the
zealous outworking of Roman Catholic dogmas which remain in force
today, and to a Church which claims to be infallible and to this
day justifies such barbarism. They are also memorials to the
astonishing accuracy of John's vision in Revelation 17. In a book
published in Spain in 1909, Emelio Martinez writes:
"To these three million victims [documented by Llorente] should
be added the thousands upon thousands of Jews and Moors deported
from their homeland.... In just one year, 1481, and just in
Seville, the Holy Office [of the Inquisition] burned 2000
persons; the bones and effigies of another 2000 ... and another
16,000 were condemned to varying sentences."
Peter de Rosa acknowledges that his own Catholic Church "was
responsible for persecuting Jews, for the Inquisition, for
slaughtering heretics by the thousand, for reintroducing torture
into Europe as part of the judicial process."
Yet the Roman Catholic Church has never officially admitted
that these practices were evil, nor has she apologized to the
world or to any of the victims or their descendants. Nor could
Pope John Paul 11 apologize today because "the doctrines
responsible for those terrible things still underpin his
position." Rome has not changed at heart no matter what sweet
words she speaks when it serves her purpose.
More Blood Than the Pagans
Pagan Rome made sport of throwing to the lions, burning and
otherwise killing thousands of Christians and not a few Jews. Yet
"Christian" Rome slaughtered many times that number of both
Christians and Jews. Beside those victims of the Inquisition,
there were Huguenots, Albigenses, Waldenses, and other Christians
who were massacred, tortured, and burned at the stake by the
hundreds of thousands simply because they refused to align
themselves with the Roman Catholic Church and its corruption and
heretical dogmas and practices. Out of conscience they tried to
follow the teachings of Christ and the apostles independent of
Rome, and for that crime they were maligned, hunted, imprisoned,
tortured, and slain.
Why would Rome ever apologize for or even admit this
holocaust?
No one calls her to account today. Protestants have now
forgotten the hundreds of thousands of people burned at the stake
for embracing the simple gospel of Christ and refusing to bow to
papal authority. Amazingly, Protestants are now embracing Rome as
Christian while she insists that the "separated brethren" be
reconciled to her on her unchangeable terms!
Many evangelical leaders are intent upon working with Roman
Catholics to evangelize the world by the year 2000. They don't
want to hear any "negative" reminders of the millions of people
tortured and slain by the Church to which they now pay homage, or
the fact that Rome has a false gospel of sacramental works.
"Christian" Rome slaughtered Jews by the thousands - far more
than pagan Rome ever did. The land of Israel was seen as
belonging to the Roman Catholic Church, not to the Jews. In 1096
Pope Urban II inspired the first crusade to retake Jerusalem from
the Muslims. With the cross on their shields and armor, the
Crusaders massacred Jews across Europe on their way to the Holy
Land. Almost their first act upon taking Jerusalem "for Holy
Mother Church" was to herd all of the Jews into the synagogue and
set it ablaze. These facts of history cannot be swept under the
carpet of ecumenical togetherness as though they never happened.
Nor can the Vatican escape considerable responsibility for
the Nazi Holocaust, which was thoroughly known to Pius XII in
spiteof his complete silence throughout the war on thatmost
important of subjects. The involvement of Catholicism in the
Holocaust will be examined later. Had the pope protested, as
representatives of Jewish organizations and the Allied Powers
begged him to do, he would have condemned his own church. The
facts are inescapable:
"In 1936, Bishop Berning of Osnabruch had talked with the Fuehrer
for over an hour. Hitler assured his lordship there was no
fundamental difference between National Socialism and the
Catholic Church. Had not the church, he argued, looked on Jews as
parasites and shut them in ghettos?
'I am only doing,' he boasted, 'what the church has done for
fifteen hundred years, only more effectively.' Being a Catholic
himself, he told Berning, he 'admired and wanted to promote
Christianity.'" (De Rosa, op.cit., p.5; Lewy, op.cit., p.111)
There is, of course, another reason why the Roman Catholic
Church has neither apologized for nor repented of these crimes.
How could she? The execution of heretics (including Jews) was
decreed by "infallible" popes. The Catholic Church herself claims
to be infallible, and thus her doctrines could not be wrong.
Reigning over the Kings of the Earth
Finally, the angel reveals to John that the woman "is that
great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth"
(Revelation 17:18). Is there such a city? Yes, and again only
one: Vatican City. Popes crowned and deposed kings and emperors,
exacting obedience by threatening them with excommunication. At
the time of the First Vatican Council in 1869, J.H. Ignaz von
Dollinger, Professor of Church History in Munich, warned that
Pope Pius IX would force the Council to make an infallible dogma
out of "that pet theory of the popes - that they could force
kings and magistrates, by excommunication and its consequences,
to carry out their sentences of confiscation, imprisonment, and
death......" He reminded his fellow Roman Catholics of some of
the evil consequences of papal political authority:
When, for instance, [Pope] Martin IV placed King Pedro of Aragon
under excommunication and interdict ...then promised indulgences
for all their sins to those who fought with him and [tyrant]
Charles [I of Naples] against Pedro, and finally declared his
kingdom forfeit... which cost the two kings of France and Aragon
their life, and the French the loss of an army....
Pope Clement IV, in 1265, after selling millions of South
Italians to Charles of Anjou for a yearly tribute of eight
hundred ounces of gold, declared that he would be excommunicated
if the first payment was deferred beyond the appointed term, and
that for the second neglect the whole nation would incur
interdict...."
Though John Paul II lacks the power to enforce such brutal
claims today, his Church still retains the dogmas which authorize
him to do so. And the practical effects of his power are no less
than those of his predecessors, though exercised quietly behind
the scenes. The Vatican is the only city which exchanges
ambassadors with nations, and she does so with every major
country on earth.
Ambassadors come to the Vatican from every major country,
including the United States, not out of mere courtesy but because
the pope is the most powerful ruler on earth today. Even
President Clinton journeyed to Denver in August 1993 to greet the
pope. He addressed him as "Holy Father" and "Your Holiness."
Yes, ambassadors of nations come to Washington D.C, to Paris, or
to London, but only because the national govermnent has its
capital there. Nor does Washington, Paris, London, or any
other city send ambassadors to other countries. Only Vatican City
does so. Unlike any other city on earth, the Vatican is
acknowledged as a sovereign state in its own right, separate and
distinct from the nation of Italy surrounding it. There is no
other city in history of which this has been true, and such is
still the case today.
Only of the Vatican could it be said that a city reigns over
the kings of the earth. The phrase "the worldwide influence of
Washington" means the influence not of that city but of the
United States, which has its capital there. When one speaks,
however, of the influence of the Vatican around the world, that
is exactly what is meant - the city and the worldwide power of
Roman Catholicism and its leader the pope. Vatican City is
absolutely unique.
Forget a Rebuilt Babylon
Some suggest that the Vatican will move to Babylon in Iraq
when
it is rebuilt. But why should it? The Vatican has been fulfilling
John's vision from its location in Rome for the past 15
centuries. Moreover, we have shown the connection to ancient
Babylon which the Vatican has maintained down through history in
the paganized Christianity it has promulgated. As for ancient
Babylon itself, it wasn't even in existence during the past 2300
years to "reign over the kings of the earth." Babylon, lay in
ruins while pagan Rome and later Catholic Rome, the new Babylon,
was indeed reigning over kings.
One eighteenth-century historian counted 95 popes who
claimed to have divine power to depose kings and emperors.
Historian Walter James wrote that pope Innocent 111(1198-1216)
"held all Europe in his net." Gregory IX (1227-41) thundered that
the pope was lord and master of everyone and everything.
Historian R. W. Southern declared: "During the whole medieval
period there was in Rome a single spiritual and temporal
authority [the papacy] exercising powers which in the end
exceeded those that had ever lain within the grasp of a Roman
emperor."
That the popes reigned over kings is an undisputed fact of
history that we will more fully document later. That in so
doing horrible abominations were committed, as John foresaw, is
also indisputable. Pope Nicholas 1 (858-67) declared: "We [popes]
alone have the power to bind and to loose, to absolve Nero and to
condemn him; and Christians cannot, under penalty of
excommunication, execute other judgment than ours, which alone is
infallible." In commanding one king to destroy another, Nicholas
wrote:
"We order you, in the name of religion, to invade his states,
burn his cities, and massacre his people ...."
The qualifying information which John gives us under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit for identifying this woman, who is
a city, is specific, conclusive, and irrefutable. There is no
city upon earth, past or present, which meets all of these
criteria except Catholic Rome and now Vatican City. That
inescapable conclusion will become increasingly clear as we
proceed to uncover the facts.
............
Note:
Dave Hunt has of course under his NOTES at the end of the book,
given the REFERENCES from which he takes all his quotations, for
each chapter of his book. The ammount of references is large
indeed, which just makes his comment that, The Babylon Mystery
Religion Woman Whore, that rides the Beast, of Revelation, is the
Roman Catholic church and the city of Rome, that much more
evident - Keith Hunt
A Woman Rides the Beast An Incredible Metamorphosis!A WOMAN RIDES THE BEAST
by Dave Hunt
I saw the woman... and when I saw her, I wondered with great
admiration.
Revelation 17:6
The man who enters (a fourth-Century church] is bound to see
drunkards, misers, tricksters, gamblers, adulterers, fornicators,
people wearing amulets, assiduous clients of sorcerers.
astrologers....
He must be warned that the same crowds that press into the
churches on Christian festivals, also fill the theatres on pagan
holidays.
St. Augustine
AN INCREDIBLE METAMORPHOSIS
That a gorgeously clad woman should be holding the reins
astride such a terrifying, world-devouring beast was just cause
for astonishment. John appears, however, to have been dumbfounded
by more than that fact-indeed, by the woman herself ("when I saw
her, I wondered with great admiration [amazement]"). Why? Was it
because the woman was a religious figure? Hardly.
That religion should wield great authority was a universal
fact of John's day. Church and state were one, with religion
playing the dominant role. If the woman merely represented pagan
world religion, John would hardly have been surprised. What could
there have been about this woman that astonished him? Had he
known her before and was shocked by the unbelievable
transformation?
Beneath the luxurious attire, the priceless jewelry, the
heavy cosmetics, and the shamelessly impudent stare there was a
haunting familiarity. It couldn't be possible! How had Christ's
chaste bride become this brazen whore? What diabolical mutation
had transformed that small, despised flock of humble followers of
the Lamb into this notorious prostitute toasting Satan with the
blood of the martyrs in a golden chalice! How could the church,
hated and persecuted by the world, as Christ had said she would
be-how could she have become this powerful worldwide institution
that reigned over the kings of the earth?
John was staggered. What he was being shown seemed
impossible: that those who belonged to Christ would find
themselves in a false church, a whore. There would be no
possibility of reforming her from within. The cry would come from
the Lord Himself in heaven, "Come out of her, my people, that ye
be not partakers of her sins" (Revelation 18:4). History
authenticates John's vision. It has become quite clear that the
world religion under Antichrist will not be atheism, Hinduism,
Islam, Buddhism, or even New Age. It will be Christianity, but in
a paganized form - exactly what it became under the leadership of
Constantine and his successors, the popes. The coming world
religion will have its headquarters in Rome.
The Persecuted Early Church
For more than two centuries, as Tertullian said, the blood
of the martyrs was the seed of a heavenly-minded church without
earthly ambition, a church whose members had increased to about
10 percent of the Roman Empire. The church that Christ had
established seemed to thrive under persecution. Mistreatment by
the world kept her pure, detached from earthly desires, and
longing to be with Christ in heaven. Christians were radically
different from pagans; they were misfits, despised and blamed for
every disaster because their refusal to worship the idols had
presumably brought down the wrath of the gods. Early in the third
century Tertullian wrote:
"If the Tiber reaches the walls, if the Nile does not rise to the
fields, if the sky doesn't move or the earth does, if there is
famine, if there is plague, the cry is at once: 'The Christians
to the lions!'"
A successful Roman lawyer and convert to Christianity from
Stoicism, Tertullian was one of the church's first and most
prominent theologians and apologists. He openly attacked every
facet of pagan culture and religion. Needling the pagans who
debated him, Tertullian declared: "Day by day you groan
over the ever-increasing number of Christians. Your constant cry
is that your state is beset by us, that Christians are every-
where." An early church leader described Christians with these
words:
"But while they dwell in Greek or barbarian cities according as
each man's lot has been cast, and follow the customs of the land
in clothing and food, and other matters of daily life,. yet the
condition of citizenship which they exhibit is wonderful, and
admittedly strange.
They live in countries of their own, but simply as sojourners. ..
endur[ing] the lot of foreigners.... They exist in the flesh, but
they live not after the flesh. They spend their existence upon
earth, but their citizenship is in heaven. They obey the
established laws, and in their own lives they surpass the laws.
They love all men, and are persecuted by all."
The persecutions of the third century were far more severe
than the earlier ones. Clement reported "roastings, impalings and
beheadings" of Christians in Alexandria before he fled that city
around 203. Persecutions came in waves, punctuated by periods of
relative tolerance and tranquility. The totalitarian system of
the Caesars made the pagan view of the emperor as deity (he had
absolute control over life and death) seem all the more credible.
Loyalty to the traditional pagan cults, headed by the emperor as
Pontifex Maximus, was a form of patriotism. The Christian
rejection of the pagan gods and emperor worship was seen as
treason and fuelled popular hatred against this "unpatriotic"
minority.
Aroused by the fact that "the heathen temples began to be
forsaken and the Christian churches thronged," the Emperor
Decius, around A.D.250, martyred thousands of people, including
the bishops of Rome, Antioch, and Jerusalem as well as a number
of the emperor's own soldiers who refused to sacrifice to idols.
"Not a town, not a village of the Empire escaped," historian
Philip Hughes informs us, then adds significantly, "but the
emperor's intention was not so much the massacre of Christians as
their conversion to the old religion ...[through] long drawn-out
trials ... repeated interrogations and the extensive use of
torture in the hope of gradually breaking down the resistance."
Chadwick further explains:
"[Dedus required] that everyone should possess a certificate
(libellus) that he had sacrificed to the gods before special
commissioners.... They [the certificates] were a deliberate
attempt to catch people, and were the gravest attack hitherto
suffered by the Church.
Especially among property-owners the number of apostates [those
denying their faith to save their lives and possessions] was
immense...?"
It sounds like a foretaste of what it will be like when the
Roman Empire is revived under Antichrist. Following a brief
respite, the persecution directed by Emperor Valerian (253-60)
forbade all Christian worship and specifically focused on the
execution of church leaders. Among ordinary Christians as well,
the martyrs were innumerable. The worst, however, was yet to
come.
The "GREAT Persecution," as it came to be called, began in 303
under the Emperor Diocletian and his coemperor, Galerius. All
Bibles had to be surrendered to the authorities, all churches
were to be destroyed, all Christian worship was forbidden, all
clergy were to be imprisoned, and all citizens of the empire were
to sacrifice to the pagan gods on pain of death. In many places
it was a bloodbath. For example, in Phrygia, "where the whole
population was Christian, a whole town was wiped out."
Setting the Stage for Apostasy
At the height of the most devastating persecution,
deliverance came from an astonishing direction in the form of a
new emperor, Constantine. A brilliant military commander, he took
control of the empire in the West, while his ally, Licinius,
conquered the East. Together they signed the Edict of Milan in
313, restoring to Christians full rights as citizens.
Freedom at last from persecution seemed like a gift from
God. Unfortunately, it set the stage for an apostasy that would
envelop Christendom for more than a millennium. Christ's bride
had been wedded to paganism. No wonder John was shocked!
The only Christianity John knew was the "little flock" (Luke
12:32) of those who, hated by the world, were following in
Christ's path of rejection and suffering. The Lord had promised:
"If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but
because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the
world, therefore the world hateth you.... If they have persecuted
me, they will also persecute you..." (John 15:19,20). And so it
happened.
That this despised little band, persecuted by the world for
its holiness and fidelity to Christ, could ever metamorphose into
an evil institution sitting astride the very seat of worldly
power and ruling over earthly kings and kingdoms seemed
impossible to John, but there she was in that vision of the
future.
With the at-first-reluctant but increasingly enthusiastic
consent and participation of the bishops, the church entered upon
an apostasy which led to Roman Catholicism and has lasted until
the present time. In fact, it is now gaining momentum for God's
final judgment upon the great whore. Will Durant, a purely
secular historian with no religious axe to grind, comments upon
the marriage of Christianity and paganism that came about through
Constantine's pretended "conversion" and assumption of church
leadership:
"Paganism survived... in the form of ancient rites and customs
condoned, or accepted and transformed, by an often indulgent
Church. An intimate and trustful worship of saints replaced the
cult of pagan gods.... Statues of Isis and Horus were renamed
Mary and Jesus; the Roman Lupercalia and the feast of
purification of Isis became the Feast of the Nativity; the
Saturnalia were replaced by Christmas celebration... an ancient
festival of the dead by All Souls Day, rededicated to Christian
heroes; incense, lights, flowers, processions, vestments, hymns
which had pleased the people in older cults were domesticated and
cleansed in the ritual of the Church ... soon people and priests
would use the sign of the cross as a magic incantation to expel
or drive away demons...
[Paganism] passed like maternal blood into the new religion, and
captive Rome captured her conqueror. ...the world converted
Christianity. ... "
From Persecuted to Persecutor
Referring to developments after Constantine, Peter Brown
writes: "Far from being a source of improvement, this alliance
[with the state] was a source of 'greater danger and temptation'
[than persecution had been] .... The spread of Christianity in
Africa, by indiscriminately filling the churches, had simply
washed away the clear moral landmarks that separated the 'church'
from the 'world.'"
Political considerations began to subtly influence Christian
life and doctrine (just as today), because what was best for the
state loomed large in ecclesiastical affairs and the emperor was
now in charge of both. With the fall of the Roman Empire, the
popes would assume the emperor's role and the marriage with the
world would be complete.
In its new role as the favored (and eventually official)
religion of the empire, "Christianity" became polluted by its
avid pursuit of secular power. The purity and spiritual power of
the early church had been so awesome that unbelievers dared not
join it (Acts 5:13). In contrast, what the Church would become
after Constantine has been described eloquently by Peter de Rosa:
"The time is not far off [after Constantine] when Peter's
[alleged] successors will be not the servants but the masters of
the world. They will dress in purple like Nero and call
themselves Pontifex Maximus. They will refer to the Fisherman as
"the first pope" and appeal not to the authority of love but to
the power invested in him to act as Nero acted.
In defiance of Jesus, Christians will do unto others what was
done unto them, and worse will they do. The religion that prided
itself for triumphing over persecution by suffering will become
the most persecuting faith the world has ever seen....
They will order in Christ's name all those who disagree with them
to be tortured, and sometimes crucified over fire. They will make
an alliance between throne and altar; they will insist that the
throne is the guardian of the altar and the guarantor of faith.
Their idea will be for the throne (the state) to impose the
Christian religion on all its subjects. It will not trouble them
that Peter fought against such an alliance and died because of
it."
From being persecuted, the Church became the chief
persecutor, not only of religious faith but, as we have seen, of
any form of freedom of conscience. Hasler explains how the
metamorphosis occurred: "Once Christianity became the state
religion, deviations from orthodoxy threatened both the unity of
the empire and of the Church. And it was the emperor who had the
greatest interest in settling doctrinal disputes. He convened
ecumenical councils and largely dictated their results." The
popes, however, had the trump card - the keys to heaven - and
used it to intimidate kings and emperors into becoming the
secular arm which did their bidding, especially the executions
during the Inquisitions.
In 1864, Pius IX's "Syllabus of Errors" condemned "the whole
existing view of the rights of conscience and religious faith and
profession." The Syllabus said it was "a wicked error to admit
Protestants to equal political rights with Catholics, or to allow
Protestant immigrants the free use of their worship; on the
contrary, to coerce and suppress them is a sacred duty, when it
has become possible ... the Church will, of course, act with the
greatest prudence in the use of her temporal and physical power,
according to altered circumstances...."
The Bible was the most dangerous Book in the world and had
to be kept from the common people. The clergy would give them
selected readings and tell them what it meant. The Protestant
view that anyone could read and understand the Bible would
destroy Catholicism. Pope Clement XI's Constitution "Unigenitus"
(1713) denounced the following Jansenist propositions presented
by Pasquier Quesnel:
"Christians are to sanctify the Lord's Day with reading godly
books. more particularly the Holy Scriptures:" Clement's
judgment: "CONDEMNED!"
"To pull the New Testament out of the hands of Christians is to
shut the mouth of Christ against them." ..CONDEMNED!"
"To forbid Christians the reading of the Holy Scriptures and
especially of the Gospel is to forbid the use of the light by the
children of light and to punish them with a kind of
excommunication." "CONDEMNED!"
Freedom-Roman Style
The Vatican can't enforce its edicts today in the
totalitarian manner it once employed. So it professes to stand
for freedom of religion and conscience because it wants such
rights for its own people where Catholics are in the minority.
Vatican 11 has an entire section titled "Declaration on Religious
Liberty" which contains such statements as "the human person has
a right to religious freedom." What it promotes, however, is
freedom from government interference or discrimination in
religion. The dishonest impression is given that Rome advocates
full freedom of religion. There is no mention of, much less
repentance for, the millions of people who were martyred and
massacred century after century simply because they would not
accept the Roman Catholic interpretation of the Bible.
Nor does Vatican 11 concede genuine freedom of conscience.
Yes, it says everyone is free to pursue truth. But it declares
that truth exists only within the Roman Catholic Church. Nor does
the Council point to the Bible, God's Word, as the source of
truth, to be read and understood by all. As in the Middle Ages,
the Church alone can interpret the Bible. She alone has the
sacraments and is the means of salvation. The Church possesses
the truth and is its guardian and sole dispenser for all time.
Therefore, for all the talk about freedom of religion and
conscience in this section of Vatican 11, there is no true
freedom because this same document makes it clear that the truth
can only be known and the soul saved by complete and blind
submission to Rome. Consider the following from this section on
"Religious Liberty":
"We believe that this one true religion continues to exist in the
Catholic Church, to which the Lord Jesus entrusted the task of
spreading it among all men....
So while the religious freedom which men demand in fulfilling
their obligation to worship God has to do with freedom from
coercion in civil society, it leaves intact the traditional
Catholic teaching on the moral duty of individuals and societies
towards the true religion and the one Church of Christ....
Throughout the ages she [the Roman Catholic Church] has preserved
and handed on the doctrine which she has received from her Master
and the apostles.... in forming their consciences the faithful
must pay careful attention to the sacred and certain teaching of
the Church. For the Catholic Church is by the will of Christ the
teacher of truth. It is her duty to proclaim and teach with
authority the truth which is Christ and, at the same time, to
declare and confirm by her authority the principles of the moral
order which spring from human nature itself."
So while in theory there is freedom of conscience, in fact
there is not. One is free to pursue truth, but truth exists not
in the Bible in a form which the conscience can recognize and is
available to all mankind, but resides only within the Roman
Catholic Church, and her prelates alone can recognize it and
dispense it. No one may judge her "truth" by conscience or God's
Word, but her dogmas must be accepted blindly because she is the
one true Church founded by Christ upon Peter, and her popes are
Peter's successors.
Antichrist will himself acknowledge this fantastic claim
(the woman will ride the beast), but with no more sincerity than
did Constantine. It will be a ploy to use the Church to his own
ends until finally he puts his image in the temple and demands
that all people worship him as god. At that point the beast will
turn upon the woman and devour her (Revelation 17:16).
Shepherds Deceiving the Sheep
Remember, it was the totalitarian papal system which, first
of all, destroyed those men who became part of it, and then
through them destroyed the Church. The shepherds became corrupted
with the lust for power and then corrupted all of the clergy, who
in turn corrupted the people. Cardinal Sadolet said of Clement
VII, whom he knew intimately, that before his election he studied
the Bible constantly, but afterward his character deteriorated
and his pontificate was "a series of mistakes, a perpetual
dodging to evade the Council which he hated and feared." Before
he became pope, Paul IV favored Church reformation, but afterward
he avidly pursued his own selfish interests and the advancement
and enrichment of his nephews. A contemporary described Pius IV
before his pontificate as "humane, tolerant, beneficent, gentle
and unselfish," but just the reverse as pope. He "abandoned
himself to vulgar sensuality and lusts, ate and drank
immoderately, became imperious and crafty," and even stopped
attending "Divine service in the chapel." So it was with Innocent
X, Alexander VII, and a host of others.
With his usual clarity, de Rosa provides further insight.
"In the tenth century, for all its adolescent, adulterous and
murderous popes, the papacy was a local phenomenon. The head of a
powerful Roman family put his cherished teenaged son on the
throne; the lad made hay for a few frantic months or years and
was ambushed by members of a rival family whose hour had come.
But since the eleventh century Gregory VII had put his stamp upon
the papacy. It had grown in stature and prestige; it was able to
control the entire church, from the simplest country curate to
the most powerful archbishop. What emerged was the most appalling
corruption that Christianity has ever seen or is likely to see.
It began at the top. The papacy was auctioned off in conclave to
the highest bidder, irrespective of a candidate's worth."
Von Dollinger extended the blame to the entire Curia:
"When the Cardinals said, in the letter they addressed to their
Pope, Gregory XII, in 1408, that there was no soundness in the
Church from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head, they
should have added, if they wished to tell the whole truth, 'It is
we and our colleagues, and your predecessors, it is the Curia,
who have gone on saturating the body of the Church with moral
poison, and therefore is it now so sorely diseased.'"
St.Bonaventure declared that in Rome "Church dignities were
bought and sold, there did the princes and rulers of the Church
assemble, dishonoring God by their incontinence, adherents of
Satan, and plunderers of the flock of Christ.... the prelates,
corrupted by Rome, infect the clergy with their vices; and the
clergy, by their evil example of avarice and profligacy, poison
and lead to perdition the whole Christian people." Others "called
the Curia the utterly corrupt 'carnal Church.'. . ." Those who
still had some hope for a reformation of the Church, writes von
Dollinger, "predicted a great renewal and purification through a
holy Pope, the 'Papa Angelicus,' long looked for, but never
willing to appear."
Petrarch, close observer for many years of the Roman Curia,
came to the conclusion that Rome was the fulfilment of John's
vision in Revelation 17. She was "the Apocalyptic woman drunken
with blood, the seducer of Christians, and plague of the human
race." Von Dollinger says that Petrarch's descriptions of the
papacy and the Curia "are so frightful that one would suppose
them the exaggerations of hatred, were they not confirmed by all
his contemporaries.... Augustinian monk of Florence, Luigi
Marsigh, [said] the Papal Court no longer ruled through hypocrisy
- so openly did it flaunt its vices - but only through the dread
inspired by its interdicts and excommunications."
The popes had loaded St.Bonaventure with honors. As a
cardinal and General of his Order, he was bound by the closest
ties to Rome. Yet in his "Commentary on the Apocalypse" he
declares that Rome was "the harlot who makes kings and nations
drunk with the wine of her whoredoms." Dante, too; applied to the
popes the apocalyptic prophecy of the harlot on the seven hills
who is drunk with the blood of men and seduces princes and
peoples. It was a metamorphosis that John found hard to believe
could ever occur - but it has been fulfilled exactly as Christ
revealed it.
Some Contrasts to Ponder
The Church holds a position for the average Catholic that is
entirely different from the relationship between an evangelical
and whatever denomination to which he or she may belong. For
the evangelical, Christianity involves a personal relationship
between the believer and God and Jesus Christ. Many Protestants
lack that personal relationship and thus are not real Christians.
The lack of that personal relationship, however, is not because
they have been taught to look to a Baptist or Methodist or
Presbyterian or some other denominational church for salvation;
at least that is not generally the teaching of any Protestant
church.
In contrast, a Mormon is taught that salvation comes by
belonging to and remaining in good standing with the "Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." The same is true of a
Jehovah's Witness, a Christian Scientist, or a member of most
other cults, whether "Christian" or Hindu or Buddhist. Rome, too,
decrees that the individual can only receive "the merits and
graces of Christ" through the Church. The essential personal
relationship with Christ apart from any institution, and the
accompanying assurance of being with Him the moment one dies, is
denied to individual Catholics. Their hope is in the Church: They
hope that its continued efforts even after their death will
eventually bring them to heaven.
While the Bible teaches submission to Church leaders, it
also insists that this submission go only as far as the leaders
are following Christ Himself. Paul wrote, "Follow me as I follow
Christ" (from 1 Corinthians 11:1). He didn't suggest that all
Christians must follow him because of his high office, but only
as he was true to Christ and His Word. Obviously, to make that
judgment the individual must know Christ and His Word for
himself.
Paul says that each believer, and not just a special clergy
class, is free to present God's truth to the church, and that
when leaders speak to the church those who hear them are to judge
for themselves the validity of what is said (1 Corinthians
14:29-32). In contrast, Catholicism's "Code of Canon Law" says,
"The First See (papacy) is judged by no one." Vatican 11 declares
that pronouncements by the pope on faith or morals are
infallible, irreformable, "in no way in need of the approval of
others, and do not admit of appeal to any other tribunal." The
same is said of "the body of bishops when, together with Peter's
successor [the pope], they exercise the supreme teaching office."
John says that all true believers have the anointing of the
Holy Spirit and thus must not follow anyone blindly (1 John
2:20-27), but must discern whether a doctrine is biblical by
following the leading of God through His Word and the Holy
Spirit. How else could each of us judge whether those who preach
and teach are presenting God's truth, as Paul says we must? In
Catholicism, however, it is explicitly declared that no one may
come to his or her own personal opinion concerning biblical truth
but must accept whatever the Church hierarchy teaches.
Great Responsibility, Great Privilege
As we have already seen from the language of Matthew
28:19,20 ("teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you"), several conclusions are inescapable: 1) An
unbroken chain of command flows from our Lord through successive
generations of disciples down through history to Christians
today; 2) every ordinary Christian is to obey every applicable
command that Christ gave His original disciples and to do what He
trained and commanded them to do, including preaching the gospel
in all the world and making disciples; 3) each Christian has been
given by the Lord the same privileges, responsibilities,
authority, and power which the original twelve received. How else
could each generation of new disciples obey every command Christ
had given the original twelve?
The early Christians followed these instructions. Not even
the knowledge that they would be killed deterred them. After the
death of Stephen the Christians were scattered, and we are told
that everywhere they went they preached the gospel (Acts 8:4). We
must do the same. Each individual Christian is a full-fledged
successor of the apostles, called and empowered by the Holy
Spirit to carry on the task of representing Christ and bringing
His gospel to the world. Charged with the Great Commission to
preach the gospel to "every creature," each disciple at every
moment in history is a soldier of the cross and an ambassador of
the King of kings. What an awesome responsibility - but what a
great privilege!
Unfortunately, many Christians are unwilling to take this
responsibility. They want to leave it to a special class of
professionals, many of whom are only too eager to lord it over
the flock. Every Christian has the authority to resist the devil
and see him flee, to "bind and loose" as Christ empowered His
first disciples, and to be His ambassador to mankind. In the
metamorphosis in the centuries following Constantine, the Roman
hierarchy claimed for itself the exclusive right to do what
Christ had intended to be the task of all His disciples.
Vital Distinctions
Christ made a clear distinction between Caesar and God:
"Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the
things that are God's" (Mark 12:17). This is foundational. The
Catholic Church wedded God to Caesar. Church and state became
one, with the Church in control and the state doing its bidding.
That situation is still much the same in Catholic countries
today.
Christ made a clear distinction between His kingdom, which
is not of this world, and the kingdoms of this world (John
18:36). In disobedience to the Christ whom they claim to
represent, the popes have built a kingdom which is very much of
this world, yet they claim it is God's kingdom. And they have
done it in unholy alliance with secular rulers.
Christ made a clear distinction between His Church, which He
has called out of the world, and the world itself (John
17:18-20). John declared, "Love not the world, neither the things
that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the
Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15).
The distinctions that Christ made must be adhered to by
those who belong to Him: "If a man love me, he will keep my words
.... He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings" (John
14:23,24); "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things
which I say?" (Luke 6:46).
....................
Again Dave Hunt gives 25 "references" at the back of his book for
quotations in this chapter.
NOTE:
It is very true indeed as Dave Hunt presents, that there was a
great transformation in the "church at Rome" with Constantine in
power. It would now become the "state" religion, married to the
"secular" government. and it would start on the path of being the
one that WOULD PERSECUTE, and not one to RECEIVE persecution!
The true Church of God started to divide in half so to speak,
with those coming in and going out (taking many with them), with
false doctrines and practices, during the very lives of the first
apostles. The apostle Paul warned about this in Acts 20, and
Peter and John wrote about it in their epistles. I have covered
the matter in some depth, as I came to those section of
Scripture, going through the New Testament Bible Story.
By the beginning of the second century A.D. and as it moved on
into the third century A.D. the observance of Sunday, the first
day of the week, as the weekly Sabbath, was more and more being
accepted and practiced. The Passover, in commemoration of the
Lord's death, had been pushed aside, replaced by Easter, in the
church at Rome. False teachings and practices had already come
into the world of "Christianity" by the second century A.D. BUT
it is true that MANY who called themselves "Christian" regardless
of beliefs and practices, were willing to die for their faith.
Many DID DIE, MANY WERE KILLED, WERE PERSECUTED, WERE TORTURED,
for the simple fact they were "Christians." It was NOT UNTIL
Constantine finally STOPPED "Christian persecution" in 313 A.D.
after the "GREAT persecution" had last 10 years, that Christians
had some rest, some peace, from persecution. But as Dave Hunt has
shown, the popular Roman church gained political power, more and
more, from Constantine on. And then that church organization,
with government backing, became THE PERSECUTOR of anyone who
openly disagreed with its teachings and practices.
So it will be ONCE MORE, for the LAST TIME, in the future, just
before Jesus comes to this earth again. The church of Rome will
RIDE the Beast, the SEVENTH and final resurrection of the HOLY
ROMAN EMPIRE.
It will be the" King of the North" of Daniel 11 (verse 40-45) It
will put an end to the Arab, Islam world. It will come against
the Arab Islam world, the "King of the South" of Daniel 11, and
overcome it. Roman Catholicism, with governments of Europe
backing will decide (because the king of the south will "push at"
it - Islam is, as we see today, a pushy religion), in the name of
Christ, that the Arab Islam world must be overthrown. It will
overthrow it, and march into Jerusalem - Daniel 11:45. And then
will come the time of trouble as never seen on this earth. Daniel
12 will be a reality. Matthew 24; Revelation 6, and the fifth
seal, will be a reality.
This Woman riding the Beast, will claim it needs to conquer the
world for Christ, to bring "rebellious" Catholics of the West,
and her "daughters of Protestantism" back into line, back into
the fold.
The Woman Whore, now riding the Beast of secular Government, will
for a short time, ABOUT (note I said "about") two and one half
years, will first of all, in battle, destroy the nations of the
House of Israel; especially the British Commonwealth and USA;
together with Judah, the Jews, and then persecute, even with
death, many of the peoples of the true Church of God.
All of this I have covered in detail with other studies on this
Website.
Only God knows the time for all this to take place. It could be
in the next decade or two, from 2010. Then it could be longer.
But if it is not in my lifetime (I'm 65 at this writing and
entering of this study - 2007), IT WILL COME TO PASS ONE DAY, if
the nations will not repent, JUST AS I'VE WRITTEN IT!!
Keith Hunt
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment