The Roman empire cannot be separated from the Roman church. The Imperial state church began in the days of Constantine. From a religious institution came forth a combination of state and church, namely the Papal state, which existed over centuries. One other church has such a structure. The legal status of the 20 monastery strong community that enjoys special status for Mount Athos established in the Accession Treaty of Greece to the EEC, which was reaffirmed in Amsterdam. The peninsula is self-governed and all the land there belongs to the monasteries and is therefore private, without exception and without any of it belonging to the public or the central Greek state. The Greek Orthodox, but not the world-wide Anglican church, is a sovereign nation. Officially a self-governed state within another state, the Roman church is also the most important political power on earth (Revelation 17:11). Vatican City State is a member of the United Nations and has diplomatic relations with over a hundred countries by the exchange of ambassadors called by the Holy See, nuncios. Why does no other church have such diplomatic relations? Why only the church of Rome? Because it is also a state which rules over all who belong to it, even in all other countries. It is, however, not the original church Christ instituted on the day of Pentecost.
Whenever the pope visits a country, he comes as a head of state and is received as such with all honors. When He spoke of the Kingdom of God, did Christ mean the Roman empire? A natural, visible kingdom popes have established before the eyes of all the world? Can this political, economic, and religious world power be the mystic Body of Jesus Christ? Was this the will of God? Was this the intention of Jesus Christ when He brought salvation through the cross of Calvary?
In order to better understand the parallel and intertwined history of spiritual and worldly powers, a few things need mention. According to visions God revealed to the prophet Daniel, four successive Gentile world empires would rule right to the end of this present civilization. The last is the Roman empire (Daniel 2, 7). The course of these world empires is historically documented. The Babylonian empire lasted from 606 to 538 BC, the empire of the Medes and Persians from 538 to 330 BC, and the Greek empire founded by Alexander the Great lasted from 330 to 30 BC when it was succeeded by the Roman empire which will last right to the end of this age. These four kingdoms were symbolized in Daniel 7 as four beasts. In Bible prophecy, a beast signifies 'power' - a kingdom or ruler who exercises power (Daniel 7:17, 23).
It is important to know how these totalitarian powers ruled. "The times of the Gentiles" commenced with Nebuchadnezzar. Influenced by fanatics, he ordered everyone worship the image of a holy man, (Daniel), on pain of death; the times of the Gentiles will end with the forced worship of a 'holy' man. Everyone knows of the three men cast into the fiery furnace because they called upon the one true God. A similar accusation caused the prophet Daniel to be cast into the lion's den. This empire ended when a hand wrote on the wall, in unknown tongues, "mene mene tekel upharsin," the kingdom was weighed and its days numbered.
The abundance of tongues in this day is a further proof that the times of the Gentiles is almost over, and God is turning back to Israel. Tongues is not the evidence of revival. It is the evidence of death. Tongues proclaimed that the ceremonial religion of the Jews was over and that a new era had begun. Tongues today is ringing down the curtain on the Gentile church ages, and the Gospel is going back to Israel. People are talking about tongues heralding in a great Spiritual move. They have missed the boat. The truth is that it is writing the finish to all of man's ideas, programs and kingdoms, and the kingdom of God is being ushered in. Wake up, people of God.
In the last two-thousand years, Rome has been the ruling power. In Revelation 13, the beast that was wounded unto death but lived again is Imperial pagan Rome that fell to the onslaught of the barbarians and thereby lost her temporal power. She regained it in Papal Rome. The nation that ruled by crushing all and which became the strongest empire ever known, was finally wounded to death. Her power was gone physically as to control by armies, etc. But under Constantine, she came back to life. Papal Rome has infiltrated the whole world, and her power is absolute. She uses kings and merchants, and in her deadly religious and financial strength, she is governing as the goddess of this present age. She is also the dragon that stood waiting to devour the man child when Herod tried to kill the Lord Jesus and failed. Later Jesus was crucified by Roman soldiers.
All other kingdoms down to the British Empire fell and had to submit and become part of current developments. Even the Soviet Empire no longer exists. The Eastern Bloc was shaken and those countries received their independence. All this has happened in order to position the Roman world empire for domination according to end-time prophecy.
In the Roman empire, the Roman Catholic trinity-belief was proclaimed in the 4th century to be the only valid faith. Emperors, popes, princes, and those with influence were duty-bound to enforce this edict. Whoever turned to the only true God, for instance Christians or dissenters were terribly persecuted. Many crusades and the so-called holy wars were instigated by the Roman church, destroying the aristocracy and the feudal system, and confiscating castles and lands.
Whoever sees the instruments of torture employed by the holy inquisition will faint. Intolerance of different beliefs, blind fanaticism and deadly hatred knew no measure. These cruel acts were justified because only the teaching of the Roman Universal church was recognized by the Empire.
Kings and emperors ruled at the pleasure of Popes who excommunicated and deposed those who earned their displeasure. This so-called 'Holy' Roman Empire was neither holy nor the Kingdom of God. Intentionally, or by ignorance, it was considered as such. But God's true ministers have always preached the Kingdom of God and left politics to the politicians.
The Roman empire of political, economic and religious power is rising up again to openly exercise its might. A United Europe has always been the dream of popes and plays the most important role now, according to end-time prophecy.
Regardless of the form of government in these countries which formed the Roman empire, the Roman power survived and still dominates through the Papacy. The Vatican will include all the world's major religions in her union, but she will rule. No longer are they cursed and banned; rather welcome arms open to all (Revelation 17:1-5). The pope in the same week received politicians from Israel and the chief of the PLO. Political and religious heads from all countries make the pilgrimage to Rome irrespective of ideology. Ambition can best be achieved with publicity from a papal visit. President of the United States, George Bush, while making his trip to Europe in May, 1989, had an audience with the pope. Mikhail Gorbachev did the same. And when German unification was determined, German chancellor, Helmut Kohl, thanked the pope publicly and directly via TV from Berlin. This is the direction of world politics.
Historical enemies are becoming friends so prophecy may be fulfilled, "For when they shall say, `Peace and safety', then sudden destruction cometh upon them. . ." (I Thessalonians 5:3). Through Europe's changing relationship between East and West, the chief concern has been "peace." Tremendous progress has been made in disarmament talks, however political peace won't be proclaimed by any politician, but by the officiating antichrist, who will present himself as peacemaker and mediator. True and lasting peace will only come through Christ Who is the true Prince of Peace.
Unregenerated Christians apologetically speak of an endtime superman and search for him in Judaism and Islam, testifying to their own ignorance. This man will be neither atheist, Hebrew, Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu, but the triple-crowned king who claims the rulership of the whole world - heaven, earth, and 'purgatory'. When the Gentile cup of iniquity is full, Satan will enter this man as he entered into Judas.
Bible prophecy of the end time is not concerned with China or the United States so much as with a United Europe. Since the last war, the Vatican has been strongly committed to a new united Europe. Jewish "Pope Paul VI constantly expressed the concept. Even his predecessors, Jewish popes Pius XII and John XXIII, sought a European Union of a supranational character. Jewish Pope Paul VI emphasized that it was the Catholic faith which once made Europe great. The Catholic faith today is unequaled as a means to breathe new spiritual vitality into this fundamentally common culture which a socially and politically United Europe should have. The necessity that Europe joins up becomes more urgent from day to day, he declared in 1963" (O. Markmann, Endzeit, Entruckung, Antichrist, p. 70). One can appreciate this sense of urgency as we see his enemies, who set up communism and the UN, rapidly eroding his influence as they destroy any community of race, religion and culture in Europe, or anywhere else in their own conspiracy to grasp power in the coming NWO.
The Vatican was the driving force behind the Treaty of Rome (March 25, 1957). In 1970, they established diplomatic relations with the E.E.C. in Brussels. There will be a United Europe composed of East and West. The esteemed Mr. Gorbachev introduced afresh the thought of rebuilding the European house, a term used in the Treaty. Politicians and clergymen are using the same vocabulary. All influential voices express the desire for a united Europe.
'The pope called for a Europe without boundaries which does not deny its Christian roots. He entrusted this project for a Europe without boundaries to the intercession of Mary, the Mother of God. He said this on Monday before 6,000 people in Covadonga in Astoria, the last station of his three-day visit to Spain' (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, August 22, 1989).
'The strong interest of the pope concerning a United Europe founded on the Catholic religion is also expressed by invoking European patrons. Already Jewish Pope Paul VI declared Benedict of Norcia to be patron of Europe. Now Jewish Pope John Paul II has announced to the Catholic world church the holy brethren Cyrillos and Methodios, who in the 9th century were apostles and teachers and worked among the Slavs, to be the two patrons of Europe'.
Jewish 'John Paul II intends with his solemn proclamation of the saints Cyrillos and Methodios as patrons of Europe to emphasize their decisive part in the formation of Europe. On the other hand, he emphasizes that the spiritual and cultural profile of Europe not only carries the imprint of the Latin Roman civilization and the Occidental spiritual traditions but also of the classical Greek culture of the Byzantine and the Byzantine-Slavic tradition'.
"The dean of the German Bishop's Conference," cardinal Joseph Hoffner declared in Cologne, "the working of the new patrons as apostles of the Slavs can be compared to what Saint Benedict achieved in West and Middle Europe. All three saints therefore are the spiritual constructors of Europe - of the whole Europe".
'The decision of the pope is a demand to all to commit the whole of Europe into a process to achieve a total unity between the Catholic and the orthodox church - as already decisive steps are made - for the intercession of these three saints' (O. Markmann, Endzeit, Entruckung, Antichrist, p. 72-73).
Through its many organizations, the Vatican plays the major role in uniting Europe politically and religiously. Rome plays a central part in end time prophecy. Its strategy has changed fundamentally since World War II which knowledgeable writers consider was an attempt to establish a Catholic Europe by military force. The goal of course is the same, only today they are acting without force. (Daniel said they would come in by "flatteries").
Atheistic bolshevism was viewed by the Vatican, the curia and Western governments as the greatest threat to the Christian Occidental world. In 1929 Mussolini surrendered his service to the church when he declared Vatican state to be national territory. From the time of Jewish pope Pius XI, the Vatican has again been a sovereign state.
Historians have investigated the connection of the church with Fascism and Nazism until 1945. The following references are taken from 'Abermals krahte der Hahn' by Dr. Karlheinz Deschner, chapters 67 and 68:
'The first service the ex-socialist (Mussolini) rendered to the Holy See was a financial one. He saved the Banco di Roma from bankruptcy to which the curia and other dignitaries had entrusted huge sums. At the cost of the Italian government, he gave approximately 1.5 billion lira . . . The cardinal Vannutelli, dean of the so-called Holy College, declared at the time, 'He is chosen to save the nation and to restore its fortune'.
Jewish Pope Pius XI was again compelled on the 13th of February, 1929, to call Mussolini 'the man providence has sent unto us . . .' After the signing of the Lateran Treaty the then mayor of Cologne, Konrad Adenauer, also assured Mussolini in a special telegram that his name will be written in golden letters into the history of the Catholic church.
While almost the whole world condemned the fascist aggression (Abyssinia), the Catholic church stood behind it, the high Italian clergy especially were on the side of Mussolini. On August 27th, 1935, when war preparations in Italy were running high, the pope proclaimed that a war for the purpose of expansion for the growing population would be just and right. Days later, and four weeks before the invasion, 19 archbishops and 57 bishops sent a telegram to Mussolini published in the Osservatore Romano which stated, 'Catholic Italy prays for the growing extension of its beloved fatherland which is more united through your government than ever before . . . After he celebrated mass on a submarine, the archbishop of Taranto called the aggression, 'a holy war, a crusade'. . . The archbishop of Milan, cardinal Schuster, who blessed the outgoing troops in the Autumn of 1935, compared Mussolini with Caesar, Augustus, and Constantine, and advised the Italian school youth, 'through the work of Duce, God has answered from heaven' . . . On the 12th of January, 1938, Mussolini received 72 bishops and 2,340 clergymen in the Palazzo Venezia where archbishop Nogara in a speech asked God to assist Duce in all his battles for the success of Christian Italy . . . 'With religious enthusiasm, with the voice and the heart of the people, we cried out, hail Duce?'
Already in 1933, the Spanish bishops in a pastoral letter, and the pope in an encyclical of June, 3rd, ordered, 'a holy crusade for the total restoration of church rights'. Franco's brother-in-law, Serrano Suffer, secretary of the Catholic youth organization, later Spanish Interior and Foreign Minister, was a friend of Mussolini and Hitler. At the end of June, 1942, he was honored by the pope with Grand cross of the order Pius IX. Two weeks before, Suffer declared to a correspondent of a Danish newspaper that already 15,000 Spanish soldiers were fighting at the East front, their number could be increased if Germany sees it fit, up to a million . . . The German bishops published a pastoral letter on the 30th of August, 1936 on the direct advice of the cardinal secretary Pacelli. Regarding Spain it said, 'The task for our people and fatherland is understood. May our Fuhrer have success with the help of God to accomplish this enormous work of defense (!) in unshakeable steadfastness and most faithful cooperation of all the people. Already on the 3rd of January, 1937, the German bishops sought again to influence their believers regarding Spain, 'Beloved diocesans, the Fuhrer and Reichchancellor, Adolf Hitler, has viewed the influx of bolshevism from a far off. His intention and concern is to turn away this enormous danger from our German people and the Occidental countries."'
'In the same year, 1933, the Catholic, von Papen, signed the concordat with Nazi-Germany and the Vatican. . . In the years 1934 till 1938, von Papen, being the German ambassador in Vienna, prepared the Nazi seizure of power in Austria'.
'Never did the German bishops speak up against the thousands of judicial murders of their opponents, nor against the persecution of liberals, democrats, and communists, because they desired the same . . . They never protested against the horrible pogroms of the Jews, against the destruction of more than 200 synagogues, against the humiliation and deportation of the Jews whom their own church had already persecuted and killed through a period of 1,500 years. They never protested against the Nazi system as such. On the contrary, the high clergy declared, for instance cardinal Faulhaber, Munich, cardinal Schulte, Cologne, bishop Matthias Ehrenfried, Wiirzburg, and others, in the year 1935 their full readiness and co-operation with Nazism, and regretted their non-participation'.
"On the 11th of March, 1938, Hitler's army occupied Austria. Cardinal Innitzer of Vienna, who with consent of the Vatican suggested surrender to Schuschnigg, declared, 'The annexation is not preventable'. He celebrated the coming in of the army with the ringing of church bells and the raising of Swastika flags on church buildings, and requested his clergy to do the same. On the 12th of March he obliged them to arrange thanksgiving services. When Hitler received the cardinal on March, the 15th, for an audience, he assured him that the church rights would be protected. Then all Austrian bishops except the bishop of Linz demanded the people to vote for Hitler and ended their appeal with the salutation, "Hail Hitler!"'
In view of the fact that the political goal of this world church remains unchanged, we must take the things of the past as warnings for the future. The so-called 'Holy Roman Empire of the German nation' consisted of political and religious powers. The Vatican has used Germany for its own goals in a special manner. Even today in the process of uniting Europe, Germany plays the main role. It is the engine of the whole train and the turn-table of East and West. Many historians did not deal with this dark religious chapter. Perhaps they feared the church.
Before World War II, the Vatican concentrated on Germany which became ever stronger. It started in Catholic Bavaria, especially in Munich, where Hitler did not succeed with his coup in 1923. In the year 1924, the Vatican signed the concordat with Bavaria. It is significant to note that during these years, the future (Jewish) pope, Pius XII, was nuncio in Munich and then in Berlin.
By 1938, approximately 40,000 political opponents were held in German concentration camps, with no one raising their voice for those deprived of all dignity. Franz von Papen, a devout Catholic, declared, "Nazism is a Christian reaction against the spirit of 1789" (E. Paris, The Secret History of the Jesuits, p. 130). In this statement he referred to the French revolution which led to the separation of state and church and also to the end of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation. As voices spoke out in neighboring countries of the happenings in Germany, the editor of the 'Sturmer,' Julius Streicher, defensively said, 'that is the Anglo-Saxon propaganda of the Protestants against us.' Whoever secured the O.K. of the pope felt very secure.
Insiders also knew that the Vatican viewed bolshevism as its political opponent. The separated East church too was looked upon as a religious rival, and therefore to be conquered. Only those who know that Hitler's SS comprised essentially Jesuits to whom also Goebbels belonged, (that the Jesuits are a Jewish orginization from their inception and Goebbels, Hitler, and most of the Nazi leaders were in fact Jews - Ed), will comprehend how things were organized and done when German troops marched into Russia, whereas in Roman Catholic Ukraine, no religious buildings were destroyed. Again we quote from the book of Dr. Karlheinz Deschner, 'Abermals krahte der Hahn,' chapter 67 and 68.
'After the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the Catholic military bishop (Franz Justus Rarkowski) - whose pastoral letters even Catholics admit contain support for the nationalist socialistic war - a pastoral letter addressed to the Catholic members of the Wehrmacht reads as follows, 'As so often in history, Germany is presently the savior and protagonist of Europe . . . Many European states know that the war against Russia is a European crusade . . . This strong and obligatory experience of mission in the East will let you know how unspeakably great and fortunate we are as Germans"'.
In a memorandum of all Catholic bishops in Germany of December, 10th, 1941, the church dignitaries confessed, "With satisfaction we follow the battle against the power of bolshevism of which we, the German bishops, have warned the German Catholics in many pastoral letters since 1921 till 1936, to be alert as it is known to the Reichsregierung"'.
'The pope kept quiet while almost 2,000 Orthodox churches and 500 synagogues were destroyed and many clergy murdered during the war in the East. As in other territories occupied by Hitler's armies, the Vatican intended to spread Catholicism in orthodox Russia. Talks with deputies of Hitler's secret service about co-operation between Jesuits, SS and Gestapo, were begun in 1940 by Jesuit Graf Ledochowski (1866-1942) - general of the Order since 1915. Since 1919, so the document states, the Vatican has tried to topple the communistic regime . . . The intention of the Vatican was to send as many priests as possible into the occupied Russian territories to prepare the ground for further plans and policies of the Vatican towards Russia. On November, the 8th, 1941, the high command of the Wehrmacht advised all chief commanders of German armies in the East to assist the missionary activities of Catholic priests in the occupied territories out of consideration of the treaty with the Vatican. Leading German secret service man, SS Oberfiihrer Schellenberg, reported in a five page account to the foreign office, his conversation with the pope, "The pope will do his utmost to assure the German victory. His goal is the destroying of Russia."'
'Twenty years later, Dr. Adenauer said, "Therefore, we stand with great watchfulness against this (Eastern) world which actually is our deadly enemy. Our concern is not only the Soviet Zone, but rather the deliverance of all Eastern Europe from behind the iron curtain . . . Germany will not be the prey of atheistic communism, but rather will topple it."'
While German troops marched into Yugoslavia in April, 1941, the Roman Catholic Croats were spared and orthodox Serbs were murdered en-mass. The fascist Catholic movement of Croatia, the Ustashis, co-operated with the Catholic dominated high command of the occupying power. It is known that archbishop Stepinac coordinated things. He reported to the pope that 250,000 Serbs were converted by force to Roman Catholicism. Of the two million orthodox inhabitants of Croatia according to official statements, 600,000 were murdered; others estimate the number at 800,000. Not only were Jews and other ethnic groups slaughtered, but also those belonging to the same people who were of different faith.
When German troops marched into Poland, a massacre of German Protestants took place. At the bloodbath of Bromberg, it is said 40,000, mainly men, were killed in territories under Polish rule. The call for this seems to have come from the pulpits. Nowadays this estimate is much lower.
It is not hard to guess what Hitler meant with his statement, "To build up a great political movement, I need the Catholics of Bavaria as well as the Protestant of Prussia. The next comes later." (K. Deschner, Ein Jahrhundert der Heilsgeschichte, Vol. 1, p. 360). Leading evangelical theologians from the Confessional Church co-operated. Instead of remaining with the eternal blessings of God, they took the timely curse. The action against Jews and other ethnic minorities and political opponents, would eventually have come upon Protestants also.
The Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed in Flossenberg one month before the end of the war, on April, the 9th, 1945, after two years imprisonment, at the direct order of the Catholic Himmler. All Protestant youth organizations were prohibited during the war. First those in the Confessional Church, who spoke up against the national socialistic dictatorship, and then the believers of various free churches. It was deadly to oppose the conviction of the Roman church, that no other faith has the right to exist.
It must be said that the voices of some Catholics whose conscience could not accept these unrighteous deeds were also heard.
Knowing these facts, it could be asked whether Protestant and other free churches would exist in Europe today had Hitler's Germany ruled Europe. Dedicated Jesuits and their organizations since the time of reformation sought to present to the pope one holy Catholic apostolic church as is formulated in their creed. "Pope Benedict XV in the midst of a truce in 1915, declared the confessors of the evangelical sect, envoys of Satan, as pest pulpits, whose spiritual office bearers are robbers and thieves" (O. Markmann, Irrtumer der katholischen Kirche, p. 22). "The Jesuit Mayrhofer of Ingolstadt taught in his 'Preacher's mirror': 'We will not be judged if we demand the killing of Protestants, any more than we would by asking for the death penalty on thieves, murderers, counterfeiters and revolutionaries"' (E. Paris, The Secret History of the Jesuits, p. 35).
The actual role of the Catholic church in World War II is documented in many volumes. On May, the 3rd, 1945, the Vatican asked general Franco to publish the following press release in Madrid after Hitler's death, "Adolf Hitler, son of the Catholic Church, died while defending Christianity. It is therefore understandable that words cannot be found to lament over his death, when so many were found to exalt his life. Over his mortal remains stands his victorious moral figure. With the palm of the martyr, God gives Hitler the laurels of Victory" (ibid. p. 163).
Many who shouted, "Hail Hitler!" did not know what they were doing, but the dignitaries should have known. They stretched forth their arm and said "Hail Hitler!" as though salvation should come from Hitler instead of from God. It sounded so mighty when the many voices were shouting, on parade, "Victory Hail! Victory Hail!"
After the collapse of Hitler's dictatorship, many realised that they belonged to a terribly deceived war generation. Nazi propaganda still rings in many ears, some remember the proclamation, ". . .and one faith to the whole world!" On the buckles of the soldiers, were the words, "God with us".
More than 55 million people lost their lives in World War II. But those who actually initiated this slaughter were spared. "Cardinal Frings of Cologne announced in a radio speech on the 16th of December, 1945, he desires an Occident shaped only by Christendom, that of course, means by Roman Catholicism. He was the first one who requested publicly on the 23rd of June, 1950 at a general meeting of the Catholics in Bonn that Germany be armed again, founded on God's order, resting in peace . . . Bishop Muench asked, as Jewish pope Pius XII, in 1945, in a pastoral letter forbearance towards the German war criminals. In 1951 he was honored by the German president with the Great Federal Service Cross and promoted to cardinal by Jewish pope John XXIII" (K. Deschner, Abermals krahte der Hahn, p. 647-650).
Also enlightening is the following quote, "After the collapse of the Catholic regiment, the mass murderers fled into Franciscan monasteries in foreign countries, Klagenfurt in Austria, Modena in Italy, and also in France" (ibid. p. 625). Apparently they knew their way around. They found not only open doors but open arms. Even Paul Tourvier the French assistant of mass-murder, Klaus Barbie, the butcher of Lyon, was arrested in a Catholic monastery in the south of France in May, 1989, where he had spent many pleasant years.
After the defeat of the German army at Stalingrad, the pope tried to pull the United States to his side to fight against bolshevism. The only condition, President Roosevelt demanded was that Hitler step down. The pope pleaded with Hitler. The powerful dictator was dumbfounded, the Catholic bishops who had assured him of solidarity in March 1933, introduced a totally different strategy in 1945 to achieve their goal of a religious and politically united Europe.
What could not be achieved by war and force would now become a reality through diplomacy. It is often said Germany and Japan lost the war but won the peace; so did Rome. While millions of displaced people, refugees, prisoners of war and deportees to work camps, suffered the consequences of the war, the clergy turned around and flew the flag of a new convenience. The innocent suffered but the guilty were secure and played their roles with pride further on.
The counter reformation ended with the Second Vatican Council, 1962-1965. A new development ensued. No longer are Protestant churches cursed, but received with open arms as separated brethren. Yet not one of the many curses upon the Protestants, pronounced mainly at the Council of Trent, was revoked. And to this day, not one word of apology has been offered to Jews, Protestants and others who have been persecuted unto death in their tens of millions by the church through the centuries to this present day.
Never was human life valued by Rome. Whoever was in their way, adult or child - political or religious foes were liquidated. Nero, Diocletian, Constantine and others had set the pace and this trend was continued by the popes. Whoever did not submit was persecuted and murdered, whether Heathen, Jew, Moslem or Christian. Their crime was that they did not bow to Roman dogma.
Constantine was founder of the Roman state church. He claimed to have seen a fiery cross in heaven with the inscription, "In this sign you will conquer." This murderer killed his brothers-in-law, Licinius and Basanius, his nephew, the son of Licinius, his father-in-law, Maximilian, son Crispus and wife Fausta. He was a shrewd politician who saw the church as a power-base by which he could secure his popularity. He instituted the Roman Catholic church and though he later changed his mind, as President of the First Nicea Council, it was Constantine who decided God was a trinity. With State backing, this false church soon began to persecute and murder any who would not agree with her. Seventy years later, Augustine praised this church as 'the God state'. He considered Satan was bound, and God was ruling on earth through His vicar, the Pope. In reality, Satan had been loosed.
The birthday of the Sun god was declared to be the birthday of the Son of God to compromise heathen and evolving Catholic theology. (The Romish church through history established five dates for the birth of Christ, ranging from October to May). Buildings and property were given to the new State religion. Jupiter, Diana, and other gods were taken down or renamed after Peter, Mary, and others declared to be saints so the Greek and Roman gods were embraced and their worship continued under new names. Citizens were forced to submit to this political and religious power. The co-operation of state and church gave no occasion for dissent. In business, trades, or private life, those who did not submit were boycotted or liquidated.
Only after the pope and the Roman church repent and show the fruits of repentance for the death of tens of millions, will they have the right to speak about the protection of the unborn life. Unborn life should be protected, but living beings have meant nothing to them. Did not popes call the bloody crusades? Did they not bless those who fought, whose lives they did not respect? Did the crusaders and mercenaries pity those with child, children, or human life in general? Certainly not. And how many are the skeletons of babies found near convents today?
Many practicing Catholic have difficulties with the church. Not a few say, 'Jesus, yes - church, no'! The main objection against the church is that it has in its history betrayed the original message of Jesus. Jesus, so they argue, was poor and spoke for the poor; the church on the other hand is rich and increased with goods, consorts with the rich and powerful, and has failed in social aspects. Where Jesus preached love, even the love of one's enemies, the church is intolerant, persecuting its opponents with brutal cruelty as in the inquisition, First, and Second World Wars, and even Vietnam . . . What must a Catholic say to such a list of sins? "The church which proclaims the forgiveness of sins can in confidence towards God confess its guilt and trust in God's forgiveness" said pope Hadrian VI at the Imperial Diet in Nuremberg, 1522-1523. Jewish Pope Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council said, "The Christian does not need to deny such drawbacks in the church history".
With God, forgiveness will not go as smoothly as suggested on page 256 of the Catholic Catechism for adults. Forgiveness can only come through true repentance. He will not forgive these intentional cruel deeds, but will avenge the blood of the innocent (I Thessalonians 4:1-9; Revelation 6:9-10; 18:7-8,24).
After the religious and political union, according to Bible prophecy, there will come a boycott and persecution "that no man might buy or sell" (Revelation 13:17). After the close of the Gentile Dispensation, and during the manifestation of the sons of God, the saints will be a hunted and persecuted little group at the hands of an apostate church, government and citizenry, when she speaks against the nominal churches - the only body providing material comfort, relief and shelter in this time of unprecedented natural disaster and international tension. They will be treated as heretics, not fit for society. Their crime will be that they disagree with the accredited teachings of the World Council of Churches or the Roman church. This is to refuse the mark in the forehead - their teaching. And to refuse their bidding - is to refuse the mark in the hand. It's almost that way now.
Scripture says the kingdom called the 'beast' received a deadly wound by the sword (Revelation 13:3,14). This was Imperial Rome, which came back to life and power as the 'Holy Roman Empire'. Her religious empire has kept her ruling from the inside where from outward appearance, she would not seem to do so. As foretold in Bible prophecy, all the world will be astonished when Rome shows her true colors through the image erected unto her.
Most Protestant churches began as a Move of God. Today only tradition remains. Few old-time Pentecostals with a genuine experience of Christ remain alive. Those who claim to be fundamental have no clear view, and cannot recognize the previous Church Age, let alone the present Truth.
Right before the Council Vaticanum Secundum, the Secretariat for Ecumenical Questions was opened by Jewish pope John XXIII in 1960 under the leadership of Jewish cardinal Augustine Bea (who was in the pay of the Jews). In the Lexicon for Theology and Church, Vol. 13, pg 12-26, the Herder publishing house describes how the Second Vatican Council's theme of ecumenical unity bridges all differences between the separated churches:
"The secretariat is a channel created by papal authority for communication and a means which assists in every conceivable way, cooperation to achieve full unity . . . As cardinal at the funeral of Jewish John XXIII in the Dome of Milan on June 7th, 1963 Paul VI spoke of the 'universality of the Catholic faith' and of the 'ecumenicism of the Roman church'. For him 'inner ecumenicism of the Catholicism' signifies unity in plurality, with great possibilities to develop a new phase in church history".
"In view of the other Christian fellowships here, the concern is the real acknowledgement of the Christian inheritance of the separated brethren. That means acknowledging all 'traces' or 'elements' of the church, which by the grace of God, exist among the separated brethren. Thereby these - in different degrees - already real, although incomplete and imperfect, belong to the church."
"The following (7), speaks of separations and divisions. Because of 'human frailty', fights and ignorance of each other, estrangement arose within the flock of Jesus Christ, so that parts of the church separated and established themselves as independent groups. Thereby the church of Jesus Christ is cruelly mutilated. Because the church can only be one, there is 'no other church which could confess to be the true and only one' besides the one church ruled by the successor of Peter. No church separated from the seat of Peter belongs in the same way to the same visible and heavenly church. (8) emphasizes the necessity of unity with the head which does not exclude differences within the body. An even greater conformity would diminish the beauty of the body. Hence the significance of the individual traditions, especially the honorable churches of the orient. The more space is given to plurality, the more one sole authority is required."
"Whoever lives in good faith in one of the separated churches will not be looked upon from the true church as a foreigner (9) but he is missing many means of salvation, especially leading through the teaching ministry, which protects faith and customs. Separation harms the inner and the outward increase of the family of Christ. Therefore it is the desire of the council that all 'dissidents' are concerned with the complete unity of the flock of Christ, and come together in one flock (10). Thereby the common inheritance always has to be recognized with the existing spiritual bondage: 'We have remained brethren."'
"Because of past errors on both sides, the brethren of the one Christian people drifted apart to different sides, their ways separated. In the spirit of repentance and reconciliation on the part of all Christians it will happen that all will unite again in the one father house (31)".
"The Christians shall make a mutual front against the advance of atheism and communism (35)".
"All equal parts of the church shall grow together under the one head, that is neither oriental nor occidental, but the father of all (47)".
"In the following, concrete conditions for the unification are named, and the way to achieve it described. The orientals shall know when they want to join and again take their place, nothing more than what is necessary to become a member of their church shall be required of those who return home (48). They shall recite the creed wherein the confession of the unity of the church is contained in a simple manner, without renouncing the heresies. To the orientals the right is granted to keep their own discipline (5O). Their consecrations are valid and may be continued (51)."
"Therefore, we must speak with our brethren in an evangelical language which they understand. We must tell them that the primate of Peter at first is a diaconate, a pastoral task, a ministry, which the leader of the apostles has received from Christ, not to exercise power nor to rule, but rather to feed the flock of Christ. After all the juridical authority of Peter is directed to his pastoral task . . . This is the real picture of the sovereign shepherd in the church, which has a peculiar attraction to the separated brethren who are led only by love and with a strong hand to the unique refuge of Christ which is the Catholic church".
"The God-inspired desire of today for unity in all separated fellowships of Christians must be seen as the real goal: the church as the only healing institution for all."
"In the next paragraph (50), an appeal is made to every Christian to accept the invitation of the Mother church. The toleration of different traditions is to be understood as an appeal to return to the unity of the Catholic church. That applies especially to the Holy Scripture and the sacraments which belong to the church of Christ and are means of unity. The Christians are therein not seen as individuals but rather 'united in their fellowships'".
"It is a must for those who wish to obey the will of Christ with all their heart and grow in the fullness of ecumenicism under the leadership of the Spirit of Christ, to step more and more near that church which is the one house of God with many mansions in the oneness of faith, under the leading and fellowship of the vicar of Christ, the Roman pope."
"All who are baptized already constitute one fellowship in Christ. The Catholics should also confess their guilt concerning divisions, and ask God that He in His Own way lead His divided people back to that perfect unity".
"The necessity of belonging to the one true church is shown forth in the chapter about Catholic ecumenicism as a the principal way to overcome the difficulties and concerns of the separated brethren".
"The ecumenical movement is concerned only in the 'preparation' of ways which finally lead to the restoration of the unity of all Christians in the flock of Christ."
It is very interesting to read the documents and the declarations of the whole Second Vatican Council in the above-mentioned work of Herder. On page 747 at the end, the following statement is found, "Rome, by St. Peter, on 7th December, 1965. I Paul, Bishop of the Catholic church." Everything is so perfectly cut and designed that the doors and the arms of the Mother-Church are stretched forth to the separated churches. All who are baptized with the Trinitarian formula are recognized by the church as Christians whose baptism is valid. This was not the case a few years ago, those who converted were at once rebaptized.
The hour of decision is here, 'the Spirit and the Bride say, "Come!"' The last warning from heaven is, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (Revelation 18:4). At the Dispensation change, whoever belongs to this great church or her harlot daughters cannot belong to the church of Jesus Christ (Matthew 25:6). Every denomination automatically bears the mark or identification of the Mother Church. Whoever recognizes their Trinitarian teaching and is baptized in the Trinitarian formula actually belongs to that church though they may not think so.
The modern thought of unity is based on a misunderstanding. When Jesus prayed for unity, He spoke of the faith He received from the Father, not a variety of different faiths united under a pope in the church of Rome, or Protestant organization. The unity or 'oneness' He prayed for was in the common 'faith' or understanding in the revealed of Word (John 17:20-23; Ephesians 4:13). ". . .that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me". Only those who are truly born again can experience this divine oneness Paul described as "the unity of the faith." On one hand we have the oneness of Christ and His Church, on the other, unscriptural universal oneness of the man-made Roman Catholic system. Each of us must decide to which he would belong. bb931015.htm
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