THE POPE: VICAR OR VILLAIN OF CHRIST?

The title Pope comes from Latin papa, meaning father. The head of Roman Catholic Church, their “mediator” between man and God, the “authority” over souls in the purgatory, the final human authority.

Apostle Peter was not the first Pope, for he was killed in inverted crucifixion by the Romans. He never went to Rome. There is no Pope in the Bible. All the apostles- (minus Judas Iscariots) were murdered by the Romans. The Pope is not the head of the Church but Christ is (see Colossians 1:18, 2:9-10, Ephesians 1:22-23).

The Pope is not the successor of Peter, since Peter did not assume the role of “headship” of the Church. Roman Catholicism did not originate from the band of true believers since the RC were their persecutors. The early Church was not Catholics but Christians, the enemy of the Romans.

The Pope has STEAL THE TITLES that rightly belongs to Christ alone like “His Holiness, the Most Holy Father” "Father" and other, (Matthew 23:9-10).

The Catholics accept the Bible as the inspired Word of God, free from errors but imposed the ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY OF THE POPE based on the “apostolic traditions. They reject the authority of the Word of God.

The Council of Vatican under Pope Pious IX decreed in 1870 that the POPE IS PERFECT IN ALL HE DOES AND IN ALL OF DOGMATIC DOCTRINES while in his official capacity. Thus, he is in equality with God. (Romans 3:23, 5:12,17)

The priests during the time of Christ’s humanity were not believers but appointed by politicians. After the death of Christ in the cross, there is no need for priest and their sacrifices (Hebrew 7:27, 10:10-18, 7:17-28).

The believers in the Church age are indeed the true and only priests of God (1 Peter 2:5-9, Revelation 1:5-6).they was saved by the GRACE OF GOD  through the death of Christ on the Cross. They are people who obey and submit to the Divine Authority, the written Word of God.

The Roman Catholics called the true believers HERETICS, and in the past, murdered them by the thousands & in the future, WILL MURDER THOSE WHO WILL REFUSE TO WORSHIP THE BEAST OF THE TRIBULATION.

Some of anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-humanity activities of the popes in the past:

·        Innocent III (1198-1216 AD)- removed kings, exterminated thousands of heretics, banned the reading of the Bible and killed an unaccounted numbers  of Albanian citizens.

·        Innocent IV (1241-1254 AD) - persecuted true believer by devious methods and murdered those who refused to obey the Roman Catholic church dogmas and rituals.

·        Nicolas V (1447- 1455 AD) - approved the war against the African in order to make black people slaves of the whites.

·        Sixto or Sixtacius IV (1471 – 1484 AD) – approved the laws that legalized the worldwide “investigation” of the “good Spaniards” including their brutality, abuses and endless search for gold or “spices” for the Church. This is the beginning of the brutal inquisition. Learn about this at http://www.chick.com/

·        Leo X (1513- 1521 AD) – approved the public burning alive of the of the heretics as “godly deeds that pleases God.”

·        Clement XI (1700- 1721 AD) – forbid the ownership, reading or selling of the Bible, ordered the building of torture machines for the heretics (true Christians). The true Christians were and still the great barrier for the Roman Catholic to control whole world. They spent their entire history chasing and terrorizing them.

·         Leo XII (1821- 1829 AD) – abolished all religious & civil freedom, abolished all Bible and Christian organizations, removed from jobs or service those who were suspected as heretics.

·        Pope Pious IX (1846- 1878 AD) – withhold all forms and even expression of freedom, demanded religious taxes from all countries with Catholic churches in them.

·        Leo XIII (1878- 1903 AD) proclaimed that all protestant and their families are enemies of Christianity.

·        John Paul II – decreed Mary as co-equal with Christ, the “mediator,” the wife of the Holy Spirit, the advocate of the ecumenical Church.

·        Peter was never the head of the Church (compare Matthew 16:18-19 with Revelation 3:7, Psalm 61:2-3, 62:1-2,6-7). Therefore, the Pope cannot be the successor of Peter.

 ”You are Peter (a tiny stone) and upon this rock (a great solid rock referring to Christ)...I will build MY CHURCH – (not church of Peter or the church of the pope)…”I will give you the keys…which are THE GOSPEL not the pontiff authority.

Read more about the origins of the papacy, the nemerous forgeries the popes have invented, the Medieval, Spanish and Roman inquisition of the papacy, the modern crimes of the papacy and more at:

http://jmgainor.homestead.com/files/PU/PU.htm

WAS APOSTLE PETER A POPE?

Peter did not claim to be highest leader or the first Pope but simply acknowledge that he was one of the elders of the infant Church (1 Peter 5:1). Peter was never perfect (as the Catholic dogmas claimed the popes are) but was refuted by the apostle Paul in two occassions.

 Peter challenged the Church leaders to serve freely and without motivation for sordid gain (1 Peter 5:2)

 Peter rebuked the Church leaders with greed for power and potential abuser of authority and the potential dictators (1 Peter 5:3).

Peter encouraged the demonstration of genuine humility, (1 Peter 5:5, Phil. 2:3-9). He never put himself above anyone else.

Peter refused to receive honor and glory from men, he rejected all forms of human approbation (Acts 10:25-26).

Peter was sharply rebuked by the Lord for his pride and ignorance of divine will and divine purpose (Matt. 16:23)

Paul also rebuked Peter for his double-mindedness and hypocrisy that almost mislead others (Gal. 2:11-14).

Peter was married (Matt. 8:14, Luke 4:38, 1 Corinthians 9:5)

Peter never went to Rome; otherwise, Paul would have sent his greetings to Peter in the last chapter of Romans 16. There is no truth to the claims of the Roman Catholics that Peter & Paul shared the same prison cell in Rome and were executed at the same time. Paul was beheaded alone.

There is no biblical history or secular history or any writings (except for church tradition) that Peter assumed the role of the first Pope. Peter was not a Pope because he was not a Catholic.

The Roman Catholics priestly system was installed in 294 AD, more than 270 years after the death of Peter. During those years, the Catholic were chasing true believers and Christians were running for their lives.

Peter can not be a Roman Catholic priest or Pope because ha had a very different view of priesthood (1 Peter 2:5, 9). Peter did not visit Rome, was never imprisoned in Rome and was never buried in Rome. The basilica that was named after him belongs to another Peter who was never an apostle, and not even a Christian for sure. Therefore, the apostle Peter was never a pope, and the popes have nothing similar with Peter.

Peter IS NOT THE GATE KEEPER OF HEAVEN and holds no real (literal) key of heaven (Rev. 3:7) but was the first to preach the Gospel of Salvation- (THE KEYS), by believing a person receive access to heaven, by rejection, a person- is condemn to hell by his own choice (Matt. 16:19).

The Roman Catholics renamed and substituted one of their pagan god, and ascribed to him the name Peter with the title of the pope.

The apostleship of the twelve were unique, non-transferable and non-succession. There were only two qualification of the apostleship: first they were called and chosen by Christ Himself and secondly, they have been with Chrst. Matthias was chosen by men lead by Peter, but his election to replace Judas Iscariot lack functional assignment. Christ did not allow him to function as an apostle. The Lord put apostle Paul into the responsibility.

The office of the pope of the Roman Catholic with his election by the school of cardinals has no bearing in the sight of God since it is nothing but falsification of the truth.

The office of the pope is leading in building the ecumenical church, the unification of all religious group that will worship Satan during the Tribulation. Satan will use the Muslims not only as the chief antagonist against Israel but also as the exterminator of the Roman Catholics, the Great Babylon.

VIRGIN MARY

There were five MARY’s in the Gospels: 

1.  Mary, the mother of John Mark (Acts 12:12)
2.  Mary, the wife of Cleophas (John 19:25)
3. Mary, the sister of Lazarus & Martha (Luke 7:37-38)
4. Mary, Magdalene (John 19:25, Mark 15:47)
5. Mary, the mother of the humanity of Jesus Christ, who did not claimed, to be the “mother” of God.

But there is yet another Mary whom the Roman Catholics designated as the mother of God.

1.)   THE ROMANS CLAIMED TO BE THE ONLY MEDIATOR BETWEEN THE SINNERS AND GOD.[1]

         Question: Why Jesus, Paul, and Peter did not preach that Mary is the only mediator? (See 1 Tim. 2:5, John 14:6). If she is the only mediator why the Bible did not mention it?

2.)   THE ROMAN CATHOLICS COMMAND & ASCRIBED TO MARY THE WORSHIP AND TITLE AS MOTHER OF GOD.[2]

        Questions: Where in the Bible, that Mary was called “mother of God? Why Christ did not mentioned that she is the mother of God? Why the Vatican conferred her that title only in AD 431?

3.) THE ROMAN CATHOLICS TEACH THAT THEIR VIRGIN MARY  IS MORE LOVING, MERCIFUL, COMPASSIONATE, APPROACHABLE JUDGE AND CO-MEDIATOR THAN CHRIST.[3

      Questions: Why prayer to Mary was instituted by Vatican only in AD 600? Why “Hail Mary” was officially adopted only in AD 1508? (Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25, 9:24).

4.)   THE ROMAN CATHOLICS TEACH THAT SHE IS THE “GATE OF HEAVEN” AND NO ONE CAN SEE HEAVEN WITHOUT PASSING THROUGH HER? (Acts 4:12, John 14:6)

5.)   THE ROMANS ASCRIBED TO HER NUMEROUS TITLES THAT BELONG TO GOD ALONE.[4] 

Question: Why the Bible did not exalt her? Because she was not above the others- sinner just like all human being.

6.)   THE ROMAN CATHOLICS CLAIMED THAT SHE WAS BORN WITHOUT SIN AND HER IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.[5]

Question: Why the Vatican officially adopted this dogma only in AD 1854 by Pope Pious IX? (Romans 3:23, 5:12-13, Luke 1:46, 1 John 1:8, 10)

7.)   THE ROMANS CLAIMED THAT SHE ASCENDED TO HEAVEN.[6]

Questions: Why the Vatican formulated this dogma only in 1950 by Pope Pious XII? Who saw her ascended? This is not truth but presumption, assumption without basis.

8.)   THE ROMAN CATHOLICS CLAIMED THAT SHE REMAINED VIRGIN FOREVER.[7]

Question: What is the miracle here? The miracle is that God provided the 23 chromosomes inside the body of Mary- not her virginity! Mary gave birth to several sons and daughters after giving birth to the Lord Jesus. (Matthew 13:54-56, Mark 6:3, John 7:5)

WHO IS THIS MARY? She is not the mother of Christ’s humanity! She is not the same with any of the Mary of the Bible but an impostor. The Mary, the mother of Christ’s humanity is notable in several things:

• She has genuine humility as result of the stored Word of God in her heart (Luke 1:48)\
• She did not claimed that she was the mother of God, or anything else (Luke 1:49).
• She accepted the fact that she was a sinner (Luke. 1:47) and that she in-need of   Savior
• She submitted to the authority of Christ (John 2:5) and did not use her “mother power.”
•  She was happy to remain the “mother of Jesus” (John 2:1,3, 19:26, Acts 1:14).

From this simple conclusion, we can see that their Mary is an impostor, someone who assumes an identity and titles not of her own for the purpose of deception. This Mary is dragging you to hell, softly and tenderly.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CULT

The Roman Catholic beliefs are the product of slow development through continuing addition of doctrines upon doctrines in support of their dogmas. The following is a partial list of such doctrinal development with the corresponding authors (popes) and the year it was circulated.

• The prayer for the dead people (300 AD).
• The sign of the cross (300 AD)
• The mass as form of their daily sacrifice (394 AD)
• The worship of Mary as the mother of God (431 AD)
• The use of candles, relics and images in worship (593 AD)
• The inclusion of prayer to Mary in every mass (600 AD)
• The pope as the cardinal of the world first officially conferred to Boniface III (607)
• The use of the holy water as anti-demons, anti-sickness and all around antidote for various problems (890 AD)
• The celibacy of the priesthood pioneered by Pope Gregory VII – the homo (1079 AD)
•  The use of the rosary in prayer (1090 AD)
• The transubstantiation of the Eucharistic bread into literal body of Christ during the mass as taught by Pope Innocent III (1215 AD)
•  Personal confession of faith to the priests (1215 AD)
• The authority of the priests to forgive sins (1219 AD)
• The worship of the Eucharistic bread as the body of Christ by Pope Honorius III (1220 AD)
• The total prohibition of private or public reading of the Bible penalized by burning alive (1229 AD)
• The prohibition of the Eucharistic cup to the natives or black motivated by racial bias and prejudices (1414 AD)
•   The teaching of purgatory and venial sins (1439 AD)
• The seven sacraments (1439 AD)
•  The addition of the apocrypha and secret teachings to the Bible (1546 AD)
• The addition of the Hail Mary to the mass and to daily prayer which was composed in 1508 (1546 AD)
•  Immaculate conception and the doctrine of Mary’s lifetime virginity by Pope Pious IX (1854)
•   The doctrine that Mary ascended to heaven by Pope  Pious XII (1950)
• Mary was conferred the title “Mother of the universal church by Pope Paul VI (1965)
•  Mary was declared as co-mediator of God and as the wife of the Holy Spirit by Pope John Paul II (1998)

These are but few of the thousands questionable  dogmas that concerns about the school of cardinals, the Holy Friday, the ash Wednesday, the Holy Thursday, the Black Saturday, the Easter Sunday, indulgences, penance, mortal sins, nuns, the monks, priests, novenas, all soul soul’s day, the holy water, the holy oil, valentine, Christmas, feasts, and the list is endless.

In short, the totalities of the Catholic doctrines are based on assumptions, myths, presumptions and heretical fallacies. It is nothing but a collection of superstitions and myths. It not different from the doctrines of the Mormons, the Jehovah witnesses or some charismatic fanatics that enslaves, deceives and drags people to hell.

The three big defenders of the Roman Catholic faith were Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco. All three had concordats with the Vatican. When the Nazi war machine swept through the Balkans on the way to attack Russia, Yugoslavia had become a Nazi occupied country. Read all about this at:

  http://www.chick.com/reading/books/160/160cont.asp 

True Christianity did not origin from Roman Catholicism since they were and are the enemies of Gospel and Bible Doctrine. The history of Christianity is history of running for their lives from persecution and destruction from the hands of the Roman Catholics.

Read more about this at http://www.chick.com/information/religions/catholicism/

  01/18/06

Copyright ©2003-2007  J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries