Jesus as Son of God.
Lets see examples of the miracles performed by Jesus. Jesus not only performed miracles but He did it with full right as if he is God himself. No wonder that Jesus was crucified lets look at some of the miracles.Jesus raises the dead:
Luke 8:52 And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead. And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise. And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat. And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done
John 11:39 Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said, Lord, by this time the body will be smelling, for he has been dead four days.Jesus said to her, Did I not say to you that if you had faith you would see the glory of God? So they took away the stone. And Jesus, looking up to heaven, said, Father, I give praise to you for hearing me. I was certain that your ears are at all times open to me, but I said it because of these who are here, so that they may see that you sent me.Then he said in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! And he who was dead came out, with linen bands folded tightly about his hands and feet, and a cloth about his face. Jesus said to them, Make him free and let him go.
Raising the dead in this way means a lot in the second verse John11 Jesus says clearly that" I said it because that the people may see and know that God has sent me" It means for people to understand that Jesus is the son of God not a prophet. And he is the promised one to save people.On the other hand the miracles that is the most astonishing which will make us think. Read the paragraph below very important to understand this scripture.
Matt 15:21 21Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession." Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said. He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
If you try to interpret the above scripture with materialistic mind this scripture may sound very rude and discriminating to you. But very important is we need to understand that every action of Jesus was saying something to his disciples and to the futures readers. This wasnt the first time Jesus healed a gentile. When Jesus used to walk amongst so many people doies it mean ther were only Jews and no gentiles?1. Jesus by healing this gentile lady's child has removed the discrimination amongst people by showing compassion towards her faith in Him. And also to show that the beliefs Jews had has to change that God of Abraham and Moses is not only for Jews but for everyone who believes in Jesus and He has come to save every human being on this earth not only a particular race.2. Jesus by doing this has moulded the complete Jewish belief and changed the law by healing a non Jew. What does this say? This scriptures are shouting out loud and saying that Jesus has power to change everything and anything and who can have this kind of authority only God himself. Actually after this miracle the disciples of Jesus were amazed that how can Jesus heal a non Jew which is against the authority of the Jewish law and it made them thinking.
Not only the above scripture but another scripture from the Bible says it clearly where Jesus healed a non Jews slave and what He had to say about the Non Jews compared to Jews.
Matthew 8:5 And when Jesus was come into Capernaum, a certain captain came to him with a request, Saying, Lord, my servant is ill in bed at the house, with no power in his body, and in great pain. And he said to him, I will come and make him well.And the captain in answer said, Lord, I am not good enough for you to come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be made well.Because I myself am a man under authority, having under me fighting men; and I say to this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it.And when these words came to the ears of Jesus he was surprised, and said to those who came after him, Truly I say to you, I have not seen such great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say to you that numbers will come from the east and the west, and will take their seats with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven: But the sons of the kingdom will be put out into the dark, and there will be weeping and cries of pain.And Jesus said to the captain, Go in peace; as your faith is, so let it be done to you. And the servant was made well in that hour.
This is another fantastic scripture where Jesus says that the non Jews will be the ones to sit with Abrahaam, Isaac and Jacob. In the same way Jesus compared the gentiles to dog showing that they are more faithfull than the Jews. Which prophet in the history had so much authority how much Jesus had? No one but only Jesus alone, is he a prophet? No. Jesus came down toearth to show them and make them understand what God is He came to show the love of His father towards his lost children and lead them to eternal life.In many instances while Jesus performing miracle He would say "your sins are forgiven" Who can have authority for forgivining our sins. No normal man can have authority to forgive us our sins. But the creator himself who has complete authority over the law of nature.So Jesus had the authority for forgiving our sins that means Jesus is showing what right He has over us that he cacn even amend the rules to lead us to eternity if we believe in Him.Thats why Jesus said "even if you have faith in me as big as mustard seed and you tell the mountains to move it will move" So all we need is faith in Jesus to solve our problems.In one scripture where Jesus was asked description of God and this is what Jesus answered:
John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Jesus has literally told Phillip that He is God or rather Son of God. However Jesus also tells him that whoever believes in me will perform same miracles like He did or better then Him. This scripture calls for wisdom to understand Jesus is telling us that we can be equal to Him if we believe in Him and be like him. Because Jesus is going to the Father and He is giving us the key to happiness and peace and showing us that God wants us to make Him more closer and leave our burdens to Him. Because God made us with love and most precious words are that He made us in his own image.Now in His own image means alot. if we read the Bible in Genesis we can see that God created Adam in His own image and God used to talk to Adam and Eve and they were good children but because they listened to evil they put a barrier between themselves and God and evil got them into their clutches and made them sin against God. And they felt naked and guilty and fear developed inside them suddenly they felt they are incomplete and not perfect. So God got very angry with them for dis obeying Him and they were chased out of the garden of Eden so that they do not eat the fruit of life and live forever.But God was very sad and grieved.Now the question arises that if God is the creator then He knew everything about the end and that Adam will sin against him. So God could have stopped it before happening. Now over here Im going to explain you what does "Man made in Image of God" mean. When God made man He made them out of clay and filled them with His love and then he blew air through his nostril and life came into him. Also we have to understand that if God blew air whats that air. That is the spirit we have in us that is the breath of God thats is the reason when we die the breath of God leaves it assigned body and goes to its resting place and it waits for the judgement day. It is not the same for all since the blood line of humans was polluted by the fallen angels who took earthly womans to be their wife and they bare children through them.So coming back to the Image of God. Then God gave us all his qualities Like Love, Emotion,Caring,Respect. And many other emotion and feelings that we have but themost imporatant thing that He gave us is Free will. To do anything as we will but later on will give an account of your will God could have programmed us like a computer and make us do only things he wants us to do. However God made us in His image and He also gave us freedom to think and to live, to understand the rights and wrongs of life and eventually we will give an account of whatever we did so He gave us choice to choose. Also on the other hand we have capability to do alot of things but we are bonded with negativity thrown by evil to us things like diseases,disbelief,sadness,luxury,lust,Jealousy, and many things that pulls us away from the truth of life. So basically in simple terms satan is stealing our liberty of getting connected to God. And that way satan will pull people towards him by various means. So by Jesus saying that He and God are one has made it simple for people to break the barriers and get connected to God. That is the reason Jesus always forgave people of their sins which came in through Adam and Eve and told them to believe in Him to have eternal life and that way we will come more closer to God.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Decode Christianity
Preface
This article is dedicated to our heavenly Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is regarding how I’ve gained knowledge about Christianity and how I’ve understood which path to follow. It is also about how our faith in Christ can be easily shaken. This has been possible due to the various people I’ve met in this ongoing journey of my life.
Mark 9:38-42 "'Teacher,' said John, 'we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he wasn't one of us.' 'Do not stop him,' Jesus said, 'No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward. And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.'"
The above quote clearly makes us aware that one who does good in the name of Jesus will always be blessed abundantly. But, the one who leads people in the direction of evil, in Jesus’ name, will surely be punished.
Matthew 24:11 "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.
Matthew 24:24 "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.
Acts 5:36 "For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.
1 John 2:18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.
1 John 4:3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world
Just like the disciples of Jesus, we too are warned, through these references, about the antichrist. There will be people who’ll do wonders to mislead others and to gain power in this world.
Lets look around in today’s world as to how many people, in the name of Jesus, lead others astray from the church.
Every Christian organization you go to, the first thing they always preach is how they are living a Godly life and how Catholics are living an ungodly life. The quote below teaches us how we must not judge others. And if we do, then we must be ready to be judged in the same way.
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Matthew 7:12)."
If you have ever attended a Christian meeting or Jehovah witnesses, the talks are less about the works of God but more of recruiting people in their organization. More about themselves and what their organisation has done.
Matthew 16: 13-19 You are Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. – According to this, Jesus laid the rock that is Peter, and through him came the Roman Catholic Church.
If you look back in history there are many Catholics who were persecuted by the emerging European powers. The protestants are the ones who blame the Pope as being anti Christ. Saint Peter was the first Pope of our Catholic Church and was anointed by Jesus himself.
Now as we preach, we are in the end times and as rightly said many people will come in the name of Jesus. Therefore, looking around we see many Christian organizations that have sprung up, who preach in the name of Jesus and perform miracles. But they lead people away from the real church thus leading them away from Jesus Christ. Now this is where the real faith counts…!!
Catholics are always hated by the other Christian groups. They do take a lot of money from the Catholic organization but never tell anyone. This is done so that they don’t portray a good image of the Catholic Church. However, if the Vatican was evil, it would have been destroyed when the European kings came into powers in the 15th century. They started killing Catholics and forcing them to attend their churches. They wanted to be more powerful than the Pope and follow and impose their own rules. But the Vatican is still growing because no evil can destroy it. It is a rock that was laid by Jesus and it is laid in heaven as promised by Him.
Many Christians say that the catholic do idol worship. Lets look at this verse from the bible where Jesus healed the blind man and when the man was asked how was he cured he said "The man called Jesus made some clay and smeared it on my eyes," he replied, "and then he said, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So off I went and washed - and that's how I got my sight!"
So this scripture has a lot to say why Jesus healed the man in this way. He could have just said the words, “you’re healed” and the man would begin to see. Jesus was conveying a message to everyone. It means very clearly that things can be blessed in the name of Jesus. Like some people wear the cross and sprinkle Holy water to bless the house. This doesn’t mean its idol worshipping. Jesus came to tell us lot of things but which many preachers, who claim to be prophets in this new age, misinterpret.
Things have changed. The world has changed. The Holy Spirit is moving around the world preparing way for the return of the Christ. Many Christian meetings have the Holy anointing where the preachers or pastors touch the person and he falls backwards. Does the Bible say that Jesus touched the person and he fell backwards? Now it’s all up to you to think how does this happen, because you never fall, you always rise up when God touches you.
This is just a small alarming message to all people who believe they are Holy and the selected people to enter into heaven with Jesus when the judgment comes. Nevertheless, beware you may be following or doing something that is leading you away from Jesus the Son of God. Who is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. Alleluia…!!!!
Decode
In recent times we see a number of organizations emerging and claiming to preach in the right way and that they interpret gospel in way that will make people live life in a different way. You must have read many articles and books or have heard of how some people claim that they are the right leaders and will lead people to Christ. And how many miracles and magics have been happening around the world. This pulls people towards them and they start to follow their ways.
Some people are trying to put across themselves as the holy and the chosen one. Who can prophesize and heal people. This will not only create confusion in people’s relationships, but will also shake their beliefs about the existence of God. If they do believe that God exist they’ll be confused as to which God to follow.
What I am trying to put across is how people are brainwashed without their knowledge. Evil is a deceiver and very intelligently it is trying to pull the people away from the house of the Christ, the Church. It is hiding the truth from people and making way for the antichrist to be accepted by the world.
So lets start from the beginning. I will be quoting scriptures from the Bible, so that my answer will satisfy you along with the things that have happened in the past. So starting from the book of Genesis.
God’s Promise:
After Adam and Eve sinned against God and did what was forbidden God cursed the serpent (Evil) for deceiving the humans and leading them to sin by going against God. The humans were also cursed for listening to the Evil….Satan...! However, God loves us so much, that He promised the redeemer to come and set us free from the sins. And the redeemer is his own son known as Jesus, the Lamb of God. God said that the Messiah will be the offspring of a woman and will crush the head of Satan with his heel and bring forgiveness for the whole human race.
14The LORD God said to the serpent,
"Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you will go,
And dust you will eat
All the days of your life;
15And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel."
So here even after God cursed the humans however they were given a hope that the redeemer will be born and will crush the head of the Satan. The redeemer will be the Lamb of God. Therefore, from that point onwards the humans were waiting for the messiah in hope of getting forgiveness from God.
Therefore, when the evil knew about this he planned to get the human race so sinful that there should be no Holy person left throughout the world. By which the Messiah was to be born. So, the fallen angels took the form of man and married women on the earth and they bore their children. Who were giants and heroes of those times, which started to pollute the bloodline of the human race and so much sin covered the earth that God became very unhappy and decided to end up human race.
2That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all, which they chose.
3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
4There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men, which were of old, men of renown.
5And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
Through the above scriptures, we can see how the evil has planned that the redeemer shall not have a proper Holy human to be born by polluting the bloodline.
However there was one person Noah in those times who was holy and feared the almighty God and was faithful to God. Therefore, God choose him and told him to build an ark through which he and his family will be saved. So it rained 40 days and nights and the flood drowned everyone except for Noah his family and the animals on the ark. So the only people left were the three sons of Noah. Through them came the rest of the descendants living on earth. And through the chosen son whom Noah blessed came the generation of Abraham then David and Jesus.
After reading the scriptures it clearly mentions that God has been faithful towards his people who obey him took care of the people through whom the Messiah was to come. They are in this age called the Jews whose ancestors were loyal to God and were the chosen ones.
Now the Messiah is born. He spread the word of God and did all those things that were prophesized in the Old Testament about the messiah. Later Jesus proclaimed himself as the Son of God. And eventually the Lamb of God was crucified on the cross and the promise of God given to mankind was fulfilled. So does it mean that this is the end? This is not the end; in fact this is the beginning of the end. Now forgiveness is given to all mankind that means whoever believes in Jesus shall have eternal life and peace. John 8:24 "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." Now the Evil will go to every extend to stop people believing in Jesus and that they do not get forgiveness of their sins or else it will close the door for Satan. Since it is the time for the end of the world, Satan started preparing for the Armageddon after Jesus ascended into heaven to prepare the new heaven for the people of God. The Satan is busy to get more and more people to sin by not letting people to believe in Jesus. Since the judgment day is near and it will be the second coming of Jesus with all his glory to destroy Satan and his kingdom on earth.
Now the Satan is preparing his way to welcome the antichrist to fight Jesus. Making such a smooth way so that the people accept him without judging him. However, Satan had already mastered the human mind and the way it works as it has been living amongst humans for thousands of years. So the only way he can lead people is by shaking their Faith which is the main root of Christianity - Love, Faith and Hope. Every time when Jesus healed or did any kind of miracles, Jesus always mentioned about faith and how the lack of faith can lead us to sin.
Matt 17:16/27 Jesus answered, "You were not able to make the demon go out, because your faith is too small. I tell you the truth. If your faith is as big as a mustard seed, then you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there.' And it will move. All things will be possible for you."
Matt 14:21 Peter said to Him, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." 29 And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
Therefore Satan’s best weapon is first to ruin the faith of the people and make them doubt everything. Now how can this be done? There are many different ways our faith in Jesus can be ruined, which can lead us to sin. And make us go against God.
Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He gave authority of his work to his disciples but the chosen one who had the promise is Peter. He was given authority over everything about spreading the word of God after Jesus. And as promised the Holy Spirit which is the Spirit of God was gifted to humans on the day of Pentecost. And the disciples were anointed by the Holy Spirit. That night more than 3000 people from different languages and religions were converted when Peter proclaimed the good news of God. The people were gathered there for some feast and from there the good news was proclaimed by Peter. Then the journey of preaching the word of God to everyone was started it was no more only Jewish God but everyone who believes in Jesus shall have eternal life and their sins will be forgiven. And the good news started spreading around the world. The Romans were the ones to spread the word of God since they experienced many miracles and believed in Jesus as the Son of God. Therefore, they changed Rome as the head church of all the Catholics.
And when the Holy Spirit of God came upon the people they started to prophesize and speak in different languages. These gifts are from the Holy Spirit like healing, preaching, evangelizing and many more. Evil can also prophesize but it is false and deceives people and leads them on wrong path. It is written in the Bible how evil will take the name of Jesus and lead the people astray.
In the Bible Jesus warns us about people who will come in his name and will lead his people to confusion and darkness and then the antichrist who will do miracles and make people against the real people of God. In addition, Jesus warned about the false prophets who will claim to have come from God and will claim to be the chosen ones.
Matthew 24:5 "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many.
Mark 13:6 "Many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He!' and will mislead many.
Luke 21:8 And He said, "See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not go after them.
You have to be very careful and understand that evil is the biggest liar and deceiver. It has been living amongst the humans since thousand of years and has mastered the minds of people and how it thinks and works. If you read the above paragraph it clearly explains how evil has been lying to people and getting them away from Christ so that they will never believe in forgiveness of their sin. And this way people will involve into materialistic things and welcome evil into their lives which will lead to a confused life and searching for peace which will lead them to bars and nightclubs or involve into lustful activities or drugs and problems in family relationships. Moreover, this way we will close the door for the Lord to enter into our hearts and develop the feelings of hatred and jealousy within our hearts.
Now in the New Testament, the most powerful book is the Revelation written by John who had a vision of future and of the things to come, and how it will be in the end times and how the world will end. Here we should be thanking God for showing us the future and warning us of the things which is to occur so we are prepared and ready to defend ourselves and not go astray. But how many of us are aware of the things mentioned in the Bible about the end times? The things that will happen in end times were revealed to us 2000 years ago. But still people are being adamant and stick to what they have heard or are like the lost sheep having their own beliefs, and just bearing the name of Christianity but don't know what it is all about. I am not blaming every Christian group. However, I am talking about various groups who are confusing people who are already Christians. The reason for confusion is the lack of Bible reading and the most important is faith in Jesus. And these things are the biggest weapons for these organizations to interpret the scriptures and put it across to people in their own way.
If we look why the book of Revelation was given to us, and if Jesus had warned us from the things to come in future it’s a clear sign that God has foretold of the things that will happen. So will the Satan be quiet and let people get away towards God? No ways. In fact it will try its best to destroy people and pull them into hell. So more lies has been spread across so people are getting more confused and when the time comes people will say, “Oh Jesus we did miracle and evangelized in your name”. However, Jesus will say I do not know you. This has already been prophesized by Jesus about false prophets and false preachers.
Nowadays evangelising is going on, on a large scale. But in terms of evangelising we should not let people who are already in Christ to leave the church of Christ and become like the lost sheep.
The Church of Christ:
Jesus ascended to heaven and before He ascended, He gave the authority to his disciple Peter through him came the Catholic Church. If we see in the history, the Catholics are the ones who are being persecuted more than any Christian group until now. Moreover, after Rome becoming the head church for all the Christians in those times the pope who took the place of Peter became very powerful like the Kings and queens in Europe.
Therefore, God blessed the Pope and without having a kingdom, he had authority over kings and Queens of different countries. The Satan tried to get in the church and destroy the church but he was never successful because it is a rock laid by Peter and cannot be broken down. So since it is getting hard and it’s high time to welcome the antichrist the evil has to make way for it to take over the world. So the Satan started the work to break the church. 1400 years after Christ and Satan succeeded due to some people who revolted against the Catholic Church and the Pope.
The queen of England church came into form and the Catholics were forced to go to that church and not the Catholic Church. Later Martin Luther started the protestant church that is protesting against the pope and the Catholic Church and claiming that Virgin Mary mother of Christ is not Virgin. Drastically the church was torn into pieces and people withered away like falling leaves from a tree. Evil got confusion into peoples mind and their beliefs about Christ and the church. The belief vanished in thin air and only power mongers and different rituals came first. The Satan was very happy as it was again successful in getting people to lose their faith in Christ. It was all planned for the generations to come so that they are confused and every time when the faith is renewed some other organization will come to destroy it, carrying Bible in their hands and destroying their faith. These all things were pre planned by Evil and now we see how it is affecting people. But not only confusion, the evil had a bigger plan than this to break the Church.
The new version of Bible was introduced and few of the books were removed from the Bible. People were made to believe in Christ in a different way than the Catholics do. Martin Luther at first considered Revelation to be "neither apostolic nor prophetic" and stated that "Christ is neither taught nor known in it", and placed it in his Antilegomena. Now the question is why the Bible was changed and why were different beliefs and congregation formed? Mother Mary was prayed to no more and the cross was no more a symbol of Christ for some organizations, which later appeared. This was nothing but the things, which have already been predicted in the Bible. The same people, who believe in Christ, are sometimes not aware of where they are heading.
Beware. Evil knows the Bible very well and can use the word of God and interpret it in a very different way.
The reason for the break down of the Catholic Church in those time have got many political reason the way it has been portrayed to people of new generation. You can think it could be because the Pope became corrupted and started selling pardons. Or it could be that they were not looking at poor people and were enjoying their own status. Now did this go on for a very long time? It was just a phase since the evil was and is at its best to get down the church of Christ. And if the Vatican was so evil then why is it so powerful and stands there for more than 1000 years? It is just that people started to break the Church and get the Vatican down due to evil influence and their main aim was to attack the mother of Christ. And they removed Her from the whole belief that she was a Virgin, what the Catholics believe. And it is clearly mentioned in the book of Revelation as how the Satan will attack the Woman who bore the Messiah.
However its a huge conspiracy that's been done by the evil in the same way as it was done during the time of Noah the time of Jesus and now in the end times of the two prophets who are to come as it is written in the Revelation. All this conspiracy is to put across that the Catholics are not living a Godly life and that they are evil. And antichrist will come through them. But the Bible is the living answer that this is a trap for people for them not to believe the two witnesses coming from God who will preach the word of God. Since they will be from the Catholic faith and they will perform miracles, which were performed by, Elijah, and Moses people will take them as the Antichrist and kill them. Then the antichrist will claim to be the Savior from God and deceive people and spread lies and people will get amazed by him and will follow him. However these things are already mentioned in the book of Revelation.
Against the Catholics:
It is being preached by many organisation that Catholics are idol worshippers they worship saints and apostles they believe that there is no father but only Jesus. Jesus is the Son of God but still people did not believe in him. And till now the Jews are waiting for the Messiah to come. Lies has been spread about Jesus that Jesus did not die on the Cross, He is not the Son of God and Mother Mary had more children after Jesus. It’s just that Satan is at its best to destroy the faith of the people. You can accept Jesus if you think from your heart and if you think from your mind you will have millions of questions through which Satan can get in you. Because Jesus said to understand the kingdom of God one has to be like a child because children are innocent. That is what we are to God, innocent children. But when we doubt the Love of God we become prey to Satan.
Rev 11:3 Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, "Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. 2 "Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months. 3 "And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." 4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. 6 These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.
7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9 Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
11 But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, " ;Come up here." Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them.
John does not name or specifically identify the two witnesses. However, some indicators point the way towards at least their symbolic identification. Revelation describes the two witnesses as two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the Lord (11:4). Not surprisingly, an Old Testament passage contains these images. Zechariah saw a vision of a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at its top containing seven lights. By the bowls, one on each side, were the two olive trees (4:2-3).
Zechariah asked the angel for the identity of the two olive trees. The angel’s answer was: "These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth" (4:14). That is, they are witnesses or prophets of God.
The subject of Zechariah’s book was a call to God’s people to repent (Zechariah 1:3). As did their ancient predecessors, the two witnesses wear rough sackcloth, a badge of the office of a prophet who calls people to repentance. In ancient times, sackcloth was the garment depicting mourning and contrition (Jeremiah 4:8; Matthew 11:21).
In Zechariah, the two olive trees stand beside the lampstand that has seven lights. Revelation uses a lampstand as a symbol of the church (1:20). Perhaps John was trying to tell his readers that the two witnesses were to be identified with the church, perhaps as its representatives or leaders. Through them the divine light of God reflected by the churches is made evident to the world (Matthew 5:15-16).
So the two witnesses who were claiming to spread the word of God and warning people of the things that will come and that we are in the end times. And for people to open their eyes and know Jesus and how they have to change their ways and come back to Christ. However they will be killed by the antichrist because other denomination people supported him and later on after killing them the antichrist attacked the Church where the Catholics pray to Christ and honor Virgin Mary, mother of Christ. The below scriptures from the book of Revelation clearly states of the things I’ve mentioned.
Rev 12:3 Then another sign appeared in the sky: a huge red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal crowns on its heads. 4Its tail swept away one-third of the stars in the sky and knocked them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that it could devour her child when it was born. 5She gave birth to a son, a boy, who is to rule [a] all the nations with an iron scepter. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne. 6Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where a place had been prepared for her by God so that she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. 13When the dragon saw that it had been thrown down to the earth, it pursued [c] the woman who had given birth to the boy. 14However, the woman was given the two wings of a large eagle so that she could fly away from the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she could be taken care of for a time, times, and half a time. 15From its mouth the serpent spewed water like a river behind the woman in order to sweep her away with the flood. 16But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed from its mouth. 17The dragon became angry with the woman and went away to do battle against the rest of her children, the ones who keep God's commandments and hold on to the testimony about Jesus.
It means the Catholics will be persecuted by the antichrist and people will not believe them since now days many people think Catholics as not the right Christians. However the promise is with Peter and the righteous will come through his denomination and will spread the word of God because God never breaks his promise. So by reading the above scriptures you can clearly understand how people are being brainwashed in the name of religion and been taken away from the real house of the God. And how some people are being confused and don't know which way to go. Since
All I want to put across to you is know what Christ said and follow his ways and Jesus will never break his promise and He Loves his people a lot that He gave his life for us.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Before reading the below article taken from different books please read the scripture given of what Jesus said.
John 15:18 If the world hate you, remember that it hated me before it hated you.
England
Anti-Catholicism in England originated with the English Reformation under Henry VIII. The Act of Supremacy of 1534 declared the English crown to be 'the only supreme head on earth of the Church in England' in place of the pope. Any act of allegiance to the latter was considered treason because the papacy claimed both spiritual and political power over its followers. It was under this Act that saints Thomas More and John Fisher were executed and became martyrs to the Catholic faith.
Scotland
In the last 150 years, Irish immigration to Scotland increased dramatically and at the beginning of the immigration period Catholics were treated like second class citizens. As time has gone on Scotland has, however, become much more open to other religions and Catholics have seen the nationalisation of their schools
United States
John Highham described anti-Catholic bigotry as "the most luxuriant, tenacious tradition of paranoiac agitation in American history".] The bigotry which was prominent in the United Kingdom was exported to the United States. Two types of anti-Catholic rhetoric existed in colonial society. The first, derived from the heritage of the Protestant Reformation and the religious wars of the sixteenth century, consisted of the "Anti-Christ" and the "Whore of Babylon" variety and dominated Anti-Catholic thought until the late seventeenth century. The second was a more secular variety which focused on the supposed intrigue of the Catholics intent on extending medieval despotism worldwide.
Historian Arthur Schlesinger Sr. has called Anti-Catholicism "the deepest-held bias in the history of the American people."
The roots of American Anti-Catholicism go back to the Reformation, whose ideas about Rome and the papacy travelled to the New World with the earliest settlers. These settlers were, of course, predominantly Protestant, and many opposed not only Catholicism but also the remaining Catholic traditions of the official Anglican State Church, the Church of England, which they felt was insufficiently Reformed. A large part of American culture is a legacy of Great Britain, and an enormous part of its religious culture a legacy of the more extreme Protestant tendencies of the English Reformation
Anti Catholics
Anti-Catholic stereotypes are a long-standing feature of Anglo-Saxon literary, sub-literary and even pornographic traditions. Gothic fiction is particularly rich in this regard with the figure of the lustful priest, the cruel abbess, the immured nun, and the sadistic inquisitor appearing in such works as The Italian by Ann Radcliffe, The Monk by Matthew Lewis, Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Maturin and "The Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe.
Such gothic fiction may have inspired Rebecca Reed's Six Months in a Convent which describes her alleged captivity by an Ursuline order near Boston in 1832.[28][29] Her claims inspired an angry mob to burn down the convent, and her narrative, released three years later as the rioters were tried, famously sold 200,000 copies in one month. In another bestselling fraudulent exposé, Awful Disclosures of the Hotel-Dieu Nunnery, Maria Monk claimed that the convent served as a harem for Catholic priests, and that any resulting children were murdered after baptism. Col. William Stone, a New York city newspaper editor, along with a team of Protestant investigators, made inquiry into the claims of Monk, inspecting the convent in the process. Col. Stone's investigation concluded there was no evidence that Maria Monk "had ever been within the walls of the cloister".
Reed's book became a best-seller, and Monk or her handlers hoped to cash in on the evident market for anti-Catholic horror fiction by their offering. The tale of Maria Monk was, in fact, clearly modelled on the Gothic novels that were popular in the early 19th century, a literary genre that had already been used for anti-Catholic sentiments in works such as Matthew Lewis' The Monk. Monk's story explores the genre-defining elements of a young, innocent woman being trapped in a remote, old, and gloomily picturesque estate; she learns the dark secrets the place contains, and after harrowing adventures makes her escape.
The anti-Catholic Gothic tradition continued with Charlotte Brontë's semi-autobiographical novel Villette (1853) which explores the culture clash between the heroine Lucy’s English Protestantism and the Catholicism of her environment at her school in 'Villette' (aka Brussels), Belgium, before coming to the magisterial pronouncement that 'God is not with Rome'.
Pornography has been the vehicle for anti-Catholic sentiments from Denis Diderot's La Religieuse (1798), to contemporary nunsploitation films. These latter, although often seen as pure exploitation films, often contain criticism against religion in general and the Catholic church in particular. Indeed, some of the protagonists voice a feminist consciousness and a rejection of their subordinated social role. For instance at the end of The Nun and the Devil, based on the true events of the suppression of the Convent of Sant Archagelo at Naples in the 16th century, a condemned nun launches a bitter attack against the church hierarchy. Many of these films were made in countries where the Catholic church is dominant, such as Italy and Spain
Anti-Catholic stereotypes are a long-standing feature of Anglo-Saxon literary, sub-literary and even pornographic traditions. Gothic fiction is particularly rich in this regard with the figure of the lustful priest, the cruel abbess, the immured nun, and the sadistic inquisitor appearing in such works as The Italian by Ann Radcliffe, The Monk by Matthew Lewis, Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Maturin and "The Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe.
Such gothic fiction may have inspired Rebecca Reed's Six Months in a Convent which describes her alleged captivity by an Ursuline order near Boston in 1832. Her claims inspired an angry mob to burn down the convent, and her narrative, released three years later as the rioters were tried, famously sold 200,000 copies in one month. In another bestselling fraudulent exposé, Awful Disclosures of the Hotel-Dieu Nunnery, Maria Monk claimed that the convent served as a harem for Catholic priests, and that any resulting children were murdered after baptism. Col. William Stone, a New York city newspaper editor, along with a team of Protestant investigators, made inquiry into the claims of Monk, inspecting the convent in the process. Col. Stone's investigation concluded there was no evidence that Maria Monk "had ever been within the walls of the cloister".
Reed's book became a best-seller, and Monk or her handlers hoped to cash in on the evident market for anti-Catholic horror fiction by their offering. The tale of Maria Monk was, in fact, clearly modelled on the Gothic novels that were popular in the early 19th century, a literary genre that had already been used for anti-Catholic sentiments in works such as Matthew Lewis' The Monk. Monk's story explores the genre-defining elements of a young, innocent woman being trapped in a remote, old, and gloomily picturesque estate; she learns the dark secrets the place contains, and after harrowing adventures makes her escape.
The anti-Catholic Gothic tradition continued with Charlotte Brontë's semi-autobiographical novel Villette (1853) which explores the culture clash between the heroine Lucy’s English Protestantism and the Catholicism of her environment at her school in 'Villette' (aka Brussels), Belgium, before coming to the magisterial pronouncement that 'God is not with Rome'.
Pornography has been the vehicle for anti-Catholic sentiments from Denis Diderot's La Religieuse (1798), to contemporary nunsploitation films. These latter, although often seen as pure exploitation films, often contain criticism against religion in general and the Catholic church in particular. Indeed, some of the protagonists voice a feminist consciousness and a rejection of their subordinated social role. For instance at the end of The Nun and the Devil, based on the true events of the suppression of the Convent of Sant Archagelo at Naples in the 16th century, a condemned nun launches a bitter attack against the church hierarchy. Many of these films were made in countries where the Catholic church is dominant, such as Italy and Spain
Dan Brown's best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code depicts the Catholic Church as determined to hide the truth about Mary Magdelene. An article in an April 2004 issue of National Catholic Register maintains that the "The Da Vinci Code claims that Catholicism is a big, bloody, woman-hating lie created out of pagan cloth by the manipulative Emperor of Rome". An earlier book by Brown Angels and Demons, depicts the Church as involved in an elemental battle with Freemasonry.
David Ranan’s Double Cross: The Code of the Catholic Church asks three questions: should the pope be sacked? Should the Vatican be dissolved? Can the Catholic Church be saved? His analysis of the Church’s history, dogma and present day strategies leads to the conclusion that the Catholic Church is incapable of accepting her culpability and therefore unlikely to change.
Author David Yallop has followed up his best-selling book In God's Name (1984), which claimed that Pope John Paul I was killed by corrupt Vatican schemers (see Pope John Paul I conspiracy theories) with another The Power and the Glory: Inside the Dark Heart of John Paul II's Vatican (2007) which claims that Pope John Paul II was in league with Soviet power. Yallop enlarges on claims of priestly sexual abuse and repeats the other standard anti-Catholic tropes listed above together with a new one that St Maximilian Kolbe, the Polish priest who died in place of a young married man at Auschwitz, had previously endorsed the anti-Jewish Protocols of the Elders of Zion. There is no reference for this claim and just thirteen footnotes in the entire 530 pages.
Anti-Catholic Satire and Humour
The Catholic church has been a target for satire and humour, from the time of the Reformation to the present day. Such satire and humour ranges from mild burlesque to vicious attacks Catholic clergy and lay organizations such as the Catholic League monitor for particularly offensive and derogatory incidences and voice their objections and protests..
David Ranan’s Double Cross: The Code of the Catholic Church asks three questions: should the pope be sacked? Should the Vatican be dissolved? Can the Catholic Church be saved? His analysis of the Church’s history, dogma and present day strategies leads to the conclusion that the Catholic Church is incapable of accepting her culpability and therefore unlikely to change.
Author David Yallop has followed up his best-selling book In God's Name (1984), which claimed that Pope John Paul I was killed by corrupt Vatican schemers (see Pope John Paul I conspiracy theories) with another The Power and the Glory: Inside the Dark Heart of John Paul II's Vatican (2007) which claims that Pope John Paul II was in league with Soviet power. Yallop enlarges on claims of priestly sexual abuse and repeats the other standard anti-Catholic tropes listed above together with a new one that St Maximilian Kolbe, the Polish priest who died in place of a young married man at Auschwitz, had previously endorsed the anti-Jewish Protocols of the Elders of Zion. There is no reference for this claim and just thirteen footnotes in the entire 530 pages.
Sexuality, contraception and abortion
Many feminists and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activists criticize the Catholic Church for its policies on issues relating to sexuality, contraception and abortion. In 1989 members of the ACT UP and WHAM! disrupted a Sunday Mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral to protest the Church’s position on homosexuality, safer sex education and the use of condoms. One hundred and eleven protesters were arrested outside the Cathedral, and at least one protester inside threw used condoms at a Church altar and desecrated the Eucharist during Mass
England
Residual anti-Catholicism in England is represented by the burning of an effigy of the Catholic conspirator Guy Fawkes at local celebrations on Guy Fawkes Night every 5th of November.This celebration has, however, largely lost any sectarian connotation and the allied tradition of burning an effigy of the Pope on this day has been discontinued - except in the town of Lewes, Sussex.
Scotland
Sectarian bigotry has been been associated with incidents that have marred the rivalry between two football clubs collectively known as the Old Firm (i.e. the Celtic FC and Rangers FC). Rangers' traditional support has largely come from the Protestant community, while Celtic's has often, but by no means exclusively, come from those of Irish and Italian extraction, Both Rangers and Celtic now accept that they have a problem with sectarianism, and both admit that a proportion of their supporters have been, and continue to be, guilty of perpetuating partisan, sectarian beliefs as well as cultural intolerance.
In recent years, both clubs have increasingly participated along with religious organisations and the Scottish Government in campaigns directed at removing the sectarian undercurrent. These campaigns have included efforts to clamp down on sectarian songs, inflammatory flag-waving, and troublesome supporters, using increased levels of policing and surveillance.However, disagreements about what constitutes sectarian behaviour have undermined progress in these matters, and consensus over what types of songs and flags are acceptable remains difficult to achieve.
Northern Ireland
The recent Troubles in Northern Ireland were characterised by bitter sectarian antagonism and bloodshed between Catholics and Protestants.
Some of the worst horrors were perpetrated by a vicious Protestant gang dubbed the Shankill Butchers, led by a psychopath named Lenny Murphy who gained notoriety by torturing and killing an estimated thirty Catholics, between 1972 and 1982. Most of their victims had no connection to the Provisional Irish Republican Army or any other republican groups but were killed for no other reason than their religious affiliation Murphy's killing spree is the theme of a British film called Resurrection Man (1998).
Church buildings were frequently attacked and mass-goers were harassed and prevented from attending mass by Loyalist paramilitaries. One of the most famous incidents was the attack on St Matthew's church by Loyalists on the night of 27 June 1970 when the Provisional IRA, led by Billy McKee repelled the attack with the death of at least four Loyalists and one PIRA member.
At the moment sectarian killings in Northern Ireland have largely ceased, though bad feelings between Catholics and Protestants linger on. The Saville Inquiry, into the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre of unarmed Catholics in Derry by the British army, has yet to report. Some forty "Peace walls" built to inhibit sectarian violence, still remain, dividing Protestant and Catholic areas in Belfast and elsewhere in the Province. Despite the achievements of the Peace process and the cessation of paramilitary violence there is no sign that these will be knocked down in the immediate future.
Former Soviet Union
In the former Soviet Union, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was persecuted just for its religious role in the community, but at other times the Russian Orthodox Church was manipulated to combat Catholics on the grounds that this was a more "Russian" body.
Israel
The roots of Anti-Catholicism in Israel can be traced back to the origin of the Jewish state in 1948 when several villages with majority Catholic populations, such as Kafr Bir'im and Iqrit, were forcibly depopulated by the Israel Defence Forces. Catholic priests have been expelled from the country, and dozens of churches have been occupied, closed or forcibly sold since 1948. More recently Israel has denied residence status to Catholic clerics and has attempted to block the appointment of Catholic bishops Israeli government attempts such as the failed 1998 effort to block the Holy See's appointment of Boutros Mouallem as archbishop of Galilee were condemned by the Vatican and other nations Suspicion and hostility towards Catholic clerics has led to incidents such as the October 2002 detention and harassment of Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop Elias Chacour and Archbishop Boutros Mouallem, who were prevented from leaving Jerusalem to attend an interfaith meeting in London.
This article is dedicated to our heavenly Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is regarding how I’ve gained knowledge about Christianity and how I’ve understood which path to follow. It is also about how our faith in Christ can be easily shaken. This has been possible due to the various people I’ve met in this ongoing journey of my life.
Mark 9:38-42 "'Teacher,' said John, 'we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he wasn't one of us.' 'Do not stop him,' Jesus said, 'No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward. And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.'"
The above quote clearly makes us aware that one who does good in the name of Jesus will always be blessed abundantly. But, the one who leads people in the direction of evil, in Jesus’ name, will surely be punished.
Matthew 24:11 "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.
Matthew 24:24 "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.
Acts 5:36 "For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.
1 John 2:18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.
1 John 4:3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world
Just like the disciples of Jesus, we too are warned, through these references, about the antichrist. There will be people who’ll do wonders to mislead others and to gain power in this world.
Lets look around in today’s world as to how many people, in the name of Jesus, lead others astray from the church.
Every Christian organization you go to, the first thing they always preach is how they are living a Godly life and how Catholics are living an ungodly life. The quote below teaches us how we must not judge others. And if we do, then we must be ready to be judged in the same way.
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Matthew 7:12)."
If you have ever attended a Christian meeting or Jehovah witnesses, the talks are less about the works of God but more of recruiting people in their organization. More about themselves and what their organisation has done.
Matthew 16: 13-19 You are Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. – According to this, Jesus laid the rock that is Peter, and through him came the Roman Catholic Church.
If you look back in history there are many Catholics who were persecuted by the emerging European powers. The protestants are the ones who blame the Pope as being anti Christ. Saint Peter was the first Pope of our Catholic Church and was anointed by Jesus himself.
Now as we preach, we are in the end times and as rightly said many people will come in the name of Jesus. Therefore, looking around we see many Christian organizations that have sprung up, who preach in the name of Jesus and perform miracles. But they lead people away from the real church thus leading them away from Jesus Christ. Now this is where the real faith counts…!!
Catholics are always hated by the other Christian groups. They do take a lot of money from the Catholic organization but never tell anyone. This is done so that they don’t portray a good image of the Catholic Church. However, if the Vatican was evil, it would have been destroyed when the European kings came into powers in the 15th century. They started killing Catholics and forcing them to attend their churches. They wanted to be more powerful than the Pope and follow and impose their own rules. But the Vatican is still growing because no evil can destroy it. It is a rock that was laid by Jesus and it is laid in heaven as promised by Him.
Many Christians say that the catholic do idol worship. Lets look at this verse from the bible where Jesus healed the blind man and when the man was asked how was he cured he said "The man called Jesus made some clay and smeared it on my eyes," he replied, "and then he said, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So off I went and washed - and that's how I got my sight!"
So this scripture has a lot to say why Jesus healed the man in this way. He could have just said the words, “you’re healed” and the man would begin to see. Jesus was conveying a message to everyone. It means very clearly that things can be blessed in the name of Jesus. Like some people wear the cross and sprinkle Holy water to bless the house. This doesn’t mean its idol worshipping. Jesus came to tell us lot of things but which many preachers, who claim to be prophets in this new age, misinterpret.
Things have changed. The world has changed. The Holy Spirit is moving around the world preparing way for the return of the Christ. Many Christian meetings have the Holy anointing where the preachers or pastors touch the person and he falls backwards. Does the Bible say that Jesus touched the person and he fell backwards? Now it’s all up to you to think how does this happen, because you never fall, you always rise up when God touches you.
This is just a small alarming message to all people who believe they are Holy and the selected people to enter into heaven with Jesus when the judgment comes. Nevertheless, beware you may be following or doing something that is leading you away from Jesus the Son of God. Who is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. Alleluia…!!!!
Decode
In recent times we see a number of organizations emerging and claiming to preach in the right way and that they interpret gospel in way that will make people live life in a different way. You must have read many articles and books or have heard of how some people claim that they are the right leaders and will lead people to Christ. And how many miracles and magics have been happening around the world. This pulls people towards them and they start to follow their ways.
Some people are trying to put across themselves as the holy and the chosen one. Who can prophesize and heal people. This will not only create confusion in people’s relationships, but will also shake their beliefs about the existence of God. If they do believe that God exist they’ll be confused as to which God to follow.
What I am trying to put across is how people are brainwashed without their knowledge. Evil is a deceiver and very intelligently it is trying to pull the people away from the house of the Christ, the Church. It is hiding the truth from people and making way for the antichrist to be accepted by the world.
So lets start from the beginning. I will be quoting scriptures from the Bible, so that my answer will satisfy you along with the things that have happened in the past. So starting from the book of Genesis.
God’s Promise:
After Adam and Eve sinned against God and did what was forbidden God cursed the serpent (Evil) for deceiving the humans and leading them to sin by going against God. The humans were also cursed for listening to the Evil….Satan...! However, God loves us so much, that He promised the redeemer to come and set us free from the sins. And the redeemer is his own son known as Jesus, the Lamb of God. God said that the Messiah will be the offspring of a woman and will crush the head of Satan with his heel and bring forgiveness for the whole human race.
14The LORD God said to the serpent,
"Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you will go,
And dust you will eat
All the days of your life;
15And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel."
So here even after God cursed the humans however they were given a hope that the redeemer will be born and will crush the head of the Satan. The redeemer will be the Lamb of God. Therefore, from that point onwards the humans were waiting for the messiah in hope of getting forgiveness from God.
Therefore, when the evil knew about this he planned to get the human race so sinful that there should be no Holy person left throughout the world. By which the Messiah was to be born. So, the fallen angels took the form of man and married women on the earth and they bore their children. Who were giants and heroes of those times, which started to pollute the bloodline of the human race and so much sin covered the earth that God became very unhappy and decided to end up human race.
2That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all, which they chose.
3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
4There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men, which were of old, men of renown.
5And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
Through the above scriptures, we can see how the evil has planned that the redeemer shall not have a proper Holy human to be born by polluting the bloodline.
However there was one person Noah in those times who was holy and feared the almighty God and was faithful to God. Therefore, God choose him and told him to build an ark through which he and his family will be saved. So it rained 40 days and nights and the flood drowned everyone except for Noah his family and the animals on the ark. So the only people left were the three sons of Noah. Through them came the rest of the descendants living on earth. And through the chosen son whom Noah blessed came the generation of Abraham then David and Jesus.
After reading the scriptures it clearly mentions that God has been faithful towards his people who obey him took care of the people through whom the Messiah was to come. They are in this age called the Jews whose ancestors were loyal to God and were the chosen ones.
Now the Messiah is born. He spread the word of God and did all those things that were prophesized in the Old Testament about the messiah. Later Jesus proclaimed himself as the Son of God. And eventually the Lamb of God was crucified on the cross and the promise of God given to mankind was fulfilled. So does it mean that this is the end? This is not the end; in fact this is the beginning of the end. Now forgiveness is given to all mankind that means whoever believes in Jesus shall have eternal life and peace. John 8:24 "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." Now the Evil will go to every extend to stop people believing in Jesus and that they do not get forgiveness of their sins or else it will close the door for Satan. Since it is the time for the end of the world, Satan started preparing for the Armageddon after Jesus ascended into heaven to prepare the new heaven for the people of God. The Satan is busy to get more and more people to sin by not letting people to believe in Jesus. Since the judgment day is near and it will be the second coming of Jesus with all his glory to destroy Satan and his kingdom on earth.
Now the Satan is preparing his way to welcome the antichrist to fight Jesus. Making such a smooth way so that the people accept him without judging him. However, Satan had already mastered the human mind and the way it works as it has been living amongst humans for thousands of years. So the only way he can lead people is by shaking their Faith which is the main root of Christianity - Love, Faith and Hope. Every time when Jesus healed or did any kind of miracles, Jesus always mentioned about faith and how the lack of faith can lead us to sin.
Matt 17:16/27 Jesus answered, "You were not able to make the demon go out, because your faith is too small. I tell you the truth. If your faith is as big as a mustard seed, then you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there.' And it will move. All things will be possible for you."
Matt 14:21 Peter said to Him, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." 29 And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
Therefore Satan’s best weapon is first to ruin the faith of the people and make them doubt everything. Now how can this be done? There are many different ways our faith in Jesus can be ruined, which can lead us to sin. And make us go against God.
Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He gave authority of his work to his disciples but the chosen one who had the promise is Peter. He was given authority over everything about spreading the word of God after Jesus. And as promised the Holy Spirit which is the Spirit of God was gifted to humans on the day of Pentecost. And the disciples were anointed by the Holy Spirit. That night more than 3000 people from different languages and religions were converted when Peter proclaimed the good news of God. The people were gathered there for some feast and from there the good news was proclaimed by Peter. Then the journey of preaching the word of God to everyone was started it was no more only Jewish God but everyone who believes in Jesus shall have eternal life and their sins will be forgiven. And the good news started spreading around the world. The Romans were the ones to spread the word of God since they experienced many miracles and believed in Jesus as the Son of God. Therefore, they changed Rome as the head church of all the Catholics.
And when the Holy Spirit of God came upon the people they started to prophesize and speak in different languages. These gifts are from the Holy Spirit like healing, preaching, evangelizing and many more. Evil can also prophesize but it is false and deceives people and leads them on wrong path. It is written in the Bible how evil will take the name of Jesus and lead the people astray.
In the Bible Jesus warns us about people who will come in his name and will lead his people to confusion and darkness and then the antichrist who will do miracles and make people against the real people of God. In addition, Jesus warned about the false prophets who will claim to have come from God and will claim to be the chosen ones.
Matthew 24:5 "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many.
Mark 13:6 "Many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He!' and will mislead many.
Luke 21:8 And He said, "See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not go after them.
You have to be very careful and understand that evil is the biggest liar and deceiver. It has been living amongst the humans since thousand of years and has mastered the minds of people and how it thinks and works. If you read the above paragraph it clearly explains how evil has been lying to people and getting them away from Christ so that they will never believe in forgiveness of their sin. And this way people will involve into materialistic things and welcome evil into their lives which will lead to a confused life and searching for peace which will lead them to bars and nightclubs or involve into lustful activities or drugs and problems in family relationships. Moreover, this way we will close the door for the Lord to enter into our hearts and develop the feelings of hatred and jealousy within our hearts.
Now in the New Testament, the most powerful book is the Revelation written by John who had a vision of future and of the things to come, and how it will be in the end times and how the world will end. Here we should be thanking God for showing us the future and warning us of the things which is to occur so we are prepared and ready to defend ourselves and not go astray. But how many of us are aware of the things mentioned in the Bible about the end times? The things that will happen in end times were revealed to us 2000 years ago. But still people are being adamant and stick to what they have heard or are like the lost sheep having their own beliefs, and just bearing the name of Christianity but don't know what it is all about. I am not blaming every Christian group. However, I am talking about various groups who are confusing people who are already Christians. The reason for confusion is the lack of Bible reading and the most important is faith in Jesus. And these things are the biggest weapons for these organizations to interpret the scriptures and put it across to people in their own way.
If we look why the book of Revelation was given to us, and if Jesus had warned us from the things to come in future it’s a clear sign that God has foretold of the things that will happen. So will the Satan be quiet and let people get away towards God? No ways. In fact it will try its best to destroy people and pull them into hell. So more lies has been spread across so people are getting more confused and when the time comes people will say, “Oh Jesus we did miracle and evangelized in your name”. However, Jesus will say I do not know you. This has already been prophesized by Jesus about false prophets and false preachers.
Nowadays evangelising is going on, on a large scale. But in terms of evangelising we should not let people who are already in Christ to leave the church of Christ and become like the lost sheep.
The Church of Christ:
Jesus ascended to heaven and before He ascended, He gave the authority to his disciple Peter through him came the Catholic Church. If we see in the history, the Catholics are the ones who are being persecuted more than any Christian group until now. Moreover, after Rome becoming the head church for all the Christians in those times the pope who took the place of Peter became very powerful like the Kings and queens in Europe.
Therefore, God blessed the Pope and without having a kingdom, he had authority over kings and Queens of different countries. The Satan tried to get in the church and destroy the church but he was never successful because it is a rock laid by Peter and cannot be broken down. So since it is getting hard and it’s high time to welcome the antichrist the evil has to make way for it to take over the world. So the Satan started the work to break the church. 1400 years after Christ and Satan succeeded due to some people who revolted against the Catholic Church and the Pope.
The queen of England church came into form and the Catholics were forced to go to that church and not the Catholic Church. Later Martin Luther started the protestant church that is protesting against the pope and the Catholic Church and claiming that Virgin Mary mother of Christ is not Virgin. Drastically the church was torn into pieces and people withered away like falling leaves from a tree. Evil got confusion into peoples mind and their beliefs about Christ and the church. The belief vanished in thin air and only power mongers and different rituals came first. The Satan was very happy as it was again successful in getting people to lose their faith in Christ. It was all planned for the generations to come so that they are confused and every time when the faith is renewed some other organization will come to destroy it, carrying Bible in their hands and destroying their faith. These all things were pre planned by Evil and now we see how it is affecting people. But not only confusion, the evil had a bigger plan than this to break the Church.
The new version of Bible was introduced and few of the books were removed from the Bible. People were made to believe in Christ in a different way than the Catholics do. Martin Luther at first considered Revelation to be "neither apostolic nor prophetic" and stated that "Christ is neither taught nor known in it", and placed it in his Antilegomena. Now the question is why the Bible was changed and why were different beliefs and congregation formed? Mother Mary was prayed to no more and the cross was no more a symbol of Christ for some organizations, which later appeared. This was nothing but the things, which have already been predicted in the Bible. The same people, who believe in Christ, are sometimes not aware of where they are heading.
Beware. Evil knows the Bible very well and can use the word of God and interpret it in a very different way.
The reason for the break down of the Catholic Church in those time have got many political reason the way it has been portrayed to people of new generation. You can think it could be because the Pope became corrupted and started selling pardons. Or it could be that they were not looking at poor people and were enjoying their own status. Now did this go on for a very long time? It was just a phase since the evil was and is at its best to get down the church of Christ. And if the Vatican was so evil then why is it so powerful and stands there for more than 1000 years? It is just that people started to break the Church and get the Vatican down due to evil influence and their main aim was to attack the mother of Christ. And they removed Her from the whole belief that she was a Virgin, what the Catholics believe. And it is clearly mentioned in the book of Revelation as how the Satan will attack the Woman who bore the Messiah.
However its a huge conspiracy that's been done by the evil in the same way as it was done during the time of Noah the time of Jesus and now in the end times of the two prophets who are to come as it is written in the Revelation. All this conspiracy is to put across that the Catholics are not living a Godly life and that they are evil. And antichrist will come through them. But the Bible is the living answer that this is a trap for people for them not to believe the two witnesses coming from God who will preach the word of God. Since they will be from the Catholic faith and they will perform miracles, which were performed by, Elijah, and Moses people will take them as the Antichrist and kill them. Then the antichrist will claim to be the Savior from God and deceive people and spread lies and people will get amazed by him and will follow him. However these things are already mentioned in the book of Revelation.
Against the Catholics:
It is being preached by many organisation that Catholics are idol worshippers they worship saints and apostles they believe that there is no father but only Jesus. Jesus is the Son of God but still people did not believe in him. And till now the Jews are waiting for the Messiah to come. Lies has been spread about Jesus that Jesus did not die on the Cross, He is not the Son of God and Mother Mary had more children after Jesus. It’s just that Satan is at its best to destroy the faith of the people. You can accept Jesus if you think from your heart and if you think from your mind you will have millions of questions through which Satan can get in you. Because Jesus said to understand the kingdom of God one has to be like a child because children are innocent. That is what we are to God, innocent children. But when we doubt the Love of God we become prey to Satan.
Rev 11:3 Then there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, "Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. 2 "Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months. 3 "And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." 4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. 6 These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.
7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9 Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
11 But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, " ;Come up here." Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them.
John does not name or specifically identify the two witnesses. However, some indicators point the way towards at least their symbolic identification. Revelation describes the two witnesses as two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the Lord (11:4). Not surprisingly, an Old Testament passage contains these images. Zechariah saw a vision of a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at its top containing seven lights. By the bowls, one on each side, were the two olive trees (4:2-3).
Zechariah asked the angel for the identity of the two olive trees. The angel’s answer was: "These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth" (4:14). That is, they are witnesses or prophets of God.
The subject of Zechariah’s book was a call to God’s people to repent (Zechariah 1:3). As did their ancient predecessors, the two witnesses wear rough sackcloth, a badge of the office of a prophet who calls people to repentance. In ancient times, sackcloth was the garment depicting mourning and contrition (Jeremiah 4:8; Matthew 11:21).
In Zechariah, the two olive trees stand beside the lampstand that has seven lights. Revelation uses a lampstand as a symbol of the church (1:20). Perhaps John was trying to tell his readers that the two witnesses were to be identified with the church, perhaps as its representatives or leaders. Through them the divine light of God reflected by the churches is made evident to the world (Matthew 5:15-16).
So the two witnesses who were claiming to spread the word of God and warning people of the things that will come and that we are in the end times. And for people to open their eyes and know Jesus and how they have to change their ways and come back to Christ. However they will be killed by the antichrist because other denomination people supported him and later on after killing them the antichrist attacked the Church where the Catholics pray to Christ and honor Virgin Mary, mother of Christ. The below scriptures from the book of Revelation clearly states of the things I’ve mentioned.
Rev 12:3 Then another sign appeared in the sky: a huge red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal crowns on its heads. 4Its tail swept away one-third of the stars in the sky and knocked them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that it could devour her child when it was born. 5She gave birth to a son, a boy, who is to rule [a] all the nations with an iron scepter. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne. 6Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where a place had been prepared for her by God so that she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. 13When the dragon saw that it had been thrown down to the earth, it pursued [c] the woman who had given birth to the boy. 14However, the woman was given the two wings of a large eagle so that she could fly away from the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she could be taken care of for a time, times, and half a time. 15From its mouth the serpent spewed water like a river behind the woman in order to sweep her away with the flood. 16But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed from its mouth. 17The dragon became angry with the woman and went away to do battle against the rest of her children, the ones who keep God's commandments and hold on to the testimony about Jesus.
It means the Catholics will be persecuted by the antichrist and people will not believe them since now days many people think Catholics as not the right Christians. However the promise is with Peter and the righteous will come through his denomination and will spread the word of God because God never breaks his promise. So by reading the above scriptures you can clearly understand how people are being brainwashed in the name of religion and been taken away from the real house of the God. And how some people are being confused and don't know which way to go. Since
All I want to put across to you is know what Christ said and follow his ways and Jesus will never break his promise and He Loves his people a lot that He gave his life for us.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Before reading the below article taken from different books please read the scripture given of what Jesus said.
John 15:18 If the world hate you, remember that it hated me before it hated you.
England
Anti-Catholicism in England originated with the English Reformation under Henry VIII. The Act of Supremacy of 1534 declared the English crown to be 'the only supreme head on earth of the Church in England' in place of the pope. Any act of allegiance to the latter was considered treason because the papacy claimed both spiritual and political power over its followers. It was under this Act that saints Thomas More and John Fisher were executed and became martyrs to the Catholic faith.
Scotland
In the last 150 years, Irish immigration to Scotland increased dramatically and at the beginning of the immigration period Catholics were treated like second class citizens. As time has gone on Scotland has, however, become much more open to other religions and Catholics have seen the nationalisation of their schools
United States
John Highham described anti-Catholic bigotry as "the most luxuriant, tenacious tradition of paranoiac agitation in American history".] The bigotry which was prominent in the United Kingdom was exported to the United States. Two types of anti-Catholic rhetoric existed in colonial society. The first, derived from the heritage of the Protestant Reformation and the religious wars of the sixteenth century, consisted of the "Anti-Christ" and the "Whore of Babylon" variety and dominated Anti-Catholic thought until the late seventeenth century. The second was a more secular variety which focused on the supposed intrigue of the Catholics intent on extending medieval despotism worldwide.
Historian Arthur Schlesinger Sr. has called Anti-Catholicism "the deepest-held bias in the history of the American people."
The roots of American Anti-Catholicism go back to the Reformation, whose ideas about Rome and the papacy travelled to the New World with the earliest settlers. These settlers were, of course, predominantly Protestant, and many opposed not only Catholicism but also the remaining Catholic traditions of the official Anglican State Church, the Church of England, which they felt was insufficiently Reformed. A large part of American culture is a legacy of Great Britain, and an enormous part of its religious culture a legacy of the more extreme Protestant tendencies of the English Reformation
Anti Catholics
Anti-Catholic stereotypes are a long-standing feature of Anglo-Saxon literary, sub-literary and even pornographic traditions. Gothic fiction is particularly rich in this regard with the figure of the lustful priest, the cruel abbess, the immured nun, and the sadistic inquisitor appearing in such works as The Italian by Ann Radcliffe, The Monk by Matthew Lewis, Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Maturin and "The Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe.
Such gothic fiction may have inspired Rebecca Reed's Six Months in a Convent which describes her alleged captivity by an Ursuline order near Boston in 1832.[28][29] Her claims inspired an angry mob to burn down the convent, and her narrative, released three years later as the rioters were tried, famously sold 200,000 copies in one month. In another bestselling fraudulent exposé, Awful Disclosures of the Hotel-Dieu Nunnery, Maria Monk claimed that the convent served as a harem for Catholic priests, and that any resulting children were murdered after baptism. Col. William Stone, a New York city newspaper editor, along with a team of Protestant investigators, made inquiry into the claims of Monk, inspecting the convent in the process. Col. Stone's investigation concluded there was no evidence that Maria Monk "had ever been within the walls of the cloister".
Reed's book became a best-seller, and Monk or her handlers hoped to cash in on the evident market for anti-Catholic horror fiction by their offering. The tale of Maria Monk was, in fact, clearly modelled on the Gothic novels that were popular in the early 19th century, a literary genre that had already been used for anti-Catholic sentiments in works such as Matthew Lewis' The Monk. Monk's story explores the genre-defining elements of a young, innocent woman being trapped in a remote, old, and gloomily picturesque estate; she learns the dark secrets the place contains, and after harrowing adventures makes her escape.
The anti-Catholic Gothic tradition continued with Charlotte Brontë's semi-autobiographical novel Villette (1853) which explores the culture clash between the heroine Lucy’s English Protestantism and the Catholicism of her environment at her school in 'Villette' (aka Brussels), Belgium, before coming to the magisterial pronouncement that 'God is not with Rome'.
Pornography has been the vehicle for anti-Catholic sentiments from Denis Diderot's La Religieuse (1798), to contemporary nunsploitation films. These latter, although often seen as pure exploitation films, often contain criticism against religion in general and the Catholic church in particular. Indeed, some of the protagonists voice a feminist consciousness and a rejection of their subordinated social role. For instance at the end of The Nun and the Devil, based on the true events of the suppression of the Convent of Sant Archagelo at Naples in the 16th century, a condemned nun launches a bitter attack against the church hierarchy. Many of these films were made in countries where the Catholic church is dominant, such as Italy and Spain
Anti-Catholic stereotypes are a long-standing feature of Anglo-Saxon literary, sub-literary and even pornographic traditions. Gothic fiction is particularly rich in this regard with the figure of the lustful priest, the cruel abbess, the immured nun, and the sadistic inquisitor appearing in such works as The Italian by Ann Radcliffe, The Monk by Matthew Lewis, Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Maturin and "The Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe.
Such gothic fiction may have inspired Rebecca Reed's Six Months in a Convent which describes her alleged captivity by an Ursuline order near Boston in 1832. Her claims inspired an angry mob to burn down the convent, and her narrative, released three years later as the rioters were tried, famously sold 200,000 copies in one month. In another bestselling fraudulent exposé, Awful Disclosures of the Hotel-Dieu Nunnery, Maria Monk claimed that the convent served as a harem for Catholic priests, and that any resulting children were murdered after baptism. Col. William Stone, a New York city newspaper editor, along with a team of Protestant investigators, made inquiry into the claims of Monk, inspecting the convent in the process. Col. Stone's investigation concluded there was no evidence that Maria Monk "had ever been within the walls of the cloister".
Reed's book became a best-seller, and Monk or her handlers hoped to cash in on the evident market for anti-Catholic horror fiction by their offering. The tale of Maria Monk was, in fact, clearly modelled on the Gothic novels that were popular in the early 19th century, a literary genre that had already been used for anti-Catholic sentiments in works such as Matthew Lewis' The Monk. Monk's story explores the genre-defining elements of a young, innocent woman being trapped in a remote, old, and gloomily picturesque estate; she learns the dark secrets the place contains, and after harrowing adventures makes her escape.
The anti-Catholic Gothic tradition continued with Charlotte Brontë's semi-autobiographical novel Villette (1853) which explores the culture clash between the heroine Lucy’s English Protestantism and the Catholicism of her environment at her school in 'Villette' (aka Brussels), Belgium, before coming to the magisterial pronouncement that 'God is not with Rome'.
Pornography has been the vehicle for anti-Catholic sentiments from Denis Diderot's La Religieuse (1798), to contemporary nunsploitation films. These latter, although often seen as pure exploitation films, often contain criticism against religion in general and the Catholic church in particular. Indeed, some of the protagonists voice a feminist consciousness and a rejection of their subordinated social role. For instance at the end of The Nun and the Devil, based on the true events of the suppression of the Convent of Sant Archagelo at Naples in the 16th century, a condemned nun launches a bitter attack against the church hierarchy. Many of these films were made in countries where the Catholic church is dominant, such as Italy and Spain
Dan Brown's best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code depicts the Catholic Church as determined to hide the truth about Mary Magdelene. An article in an April 2004 issue of National Catholic Register maintains that the "The Da Vinci Code claims that Catholicism is a big, bloody, woman-hating lie created out of pagan cloth by the manipulative Emperor of Rome". An earlier book by Brown Angels and Demons, depicts the Church as involved in an elemental battle with Freemasonry.
David Ranan’s Double Cross: The Code of the Catholic Church asks three questions: should the pope be sacked? Should the Vatican be dissolved? Can the Catholic Church be saved? His analysis of the Church’s history, dogma and present day strategies leads to the conclusion that the Catholic Church is incapable of accepting her culpability and therefore unlikely to change.
Author David Yallop has followed up his best-selling book In God's Name (1984), which claimed that Pope John Paul I was killed by corrupt Vatican schemers (see Pope John Paul I conspiracy theories) with another The Power and the Glory: Inside the Dark Heart of John Paul II's Vatican (2007) which claims that Pope John Paul II was in league with Soviet power. Yallop enlarges on claims of priestly sexual abuse and repeats the other standard anti-Catholic tropes listed above together with a new one that St Maximilian Kolbe, the Polish priest who died in place of a young married man at Auschwitz, had previously endorsed the anti-Jewish Protocols of the Elders of Zion. There is no reference for this claim and just thirteen footnotes in the entire 530 pages.
Anti-Catholic Satire and Humour
The Catholic church has been a target for satire and humour, from the time of the Reformation to the present day. Such satire and humour ranges from mild burlesque to vicious attacks Catholic clergy and lay organizations such as the Catholic League monitor for particularly offensive and derogatory incidences and voice their objections and protests..
David Ranan’s Double Cross: The Code of the Catholic Church asks three questions: should the pope be sacked? Should the Vatican be dissolved? Can the Catholic Church be saved? His analysis of the Church’s history, dogma and present day strategies leads to the conclusion that the Catholic Church is incapable of accepting her culpability and therefore unlikely to change.
Author David Yallop has followed up his best-selling book In God's Name (1984), which claimed that Pope John Paul I was killed by corrupt Vatican schemers (see Pope John Paul I conspiracy theories) with another The Power and the Glory: Inside the Dark Heart of John Paul II's Vatican (2007) which claims that Pope John Paul II was in league with Soviet power. Yallop enlarges on claims of priestly sexual abuse and repeats the other standard anti-Catholic tropes listed above together with a new one that St Maximilian Kolbe, the Polish priest who died in place of a young married man at Auschwitz, had previously endorsed the anti-Jewish Protocols of the Elders of Zion. There is no reference for this claim and just thirteen footnotes in the entire 530 pages.
Sexuality, contraception and abortion
Many feminists and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activists criticize the Catholic Church for its policies on issues relating to sexuality, contraception and abortion. In 1989 members of the ACT UP and WHAM! disrupted a Sunday Mass at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral to protest the Church’s position on homosexuality, safer sex education and the use of condoms. One hundred and eleven protesters were arrested outside the Cathedral, and at least one protester inside threw used condoms at a Church altar and desecrated the Eucharist during Mass
England
Residual anti-Catholicism in England is represented by the burning of an effigy of the Catholic conspirator Guy Fawkes at local celebrations on Guy Fawkes Night every 5th of November.This celebration has, however, largely lost any sectarian connotation and the allied tradition of burning an effigy of the Pope on this day has been discontinued - except in the town of Lewes, Sussex.
Scotland
Sectarian bigotry has been been associated with incidents that have marred the rivalry between two football clubs collectively known as the Old Firm (i.e. the Celtic FC and Rangers FC). Rangers' traditional support has largely come from the Protestant community, while Celtic's has often, but by no means exclusively, come from those of Irish and Italian extraction, Both Rangers and Celtic now accept that they have a problem with sectarianism, and both admit that a proportion of their supporters have been, and continue to be, guilty of perpetuating partisan, sectarian beliefs as well as cultural intolerance.
In recent years, both clubs have increasingly participated along with religious organisations and the Scottish Government in campaigns directed at removing the sectarian undercurrent. These campaigns have included efforts to clamp down on sectarian songs, inflammatory flag-waving, and troublesome supporters, using increased levels of policing and surveillance.However, disagreements about what constitutes sectarian behaviour have undermined progress in these matters, and consensus over what types of songs and flags are acceptable remains difficult to achieve.
Northern Ireland
The recent Troubles in Northern Ireland were characterised by bitter sectarian antagonism and bloodshed between Catholics and Protestants.
Some of the worst horrors were perpetrated by a vicious Protestant gang dubbed the Shankill Butchers, led by a psychopath named Lenny Murphy who gained notoriety by torturing and killing an estimated thirty Catholics, between 1972 and 1982. Most of their victims had no connection to the Provisional Irish Republican Army or any other republican groups but were killed for no other reason than their religious affiliation Murphy's killing spree is the theme of a British film called Resurrection Man (1998).
Church buildings were frequently attacked and mass-goers were harassed and prevented from attending mass by Loyalist paramilitaries. One of the most famous incidents was the attack on St Matthew's church by Loyalists on the night of 27 June 1970 when the Provisional IRA, led by Billy McKee repelled the attack with the death of at least four Loyalists and one PIRA member.
At the moment sectarian killings in Northern Ireland have largely ceased, though bad feelings between Catholics and Protestants linger on. The Saville Inquiry, into the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre of unarmed Catholics in Derry by the British army, has yet to report. Some forty "Peace walls" built to inhibit sectarian violence, still remain, dividing Protestant and Catholic areas in Belfast and elsewhere in the Province. Despite the achievements of the Peace process and the cessation of paramilitary violence there is no sign that these will be knocked down in the immediate future.
Former Soviet Union
In the former Soviet Union, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was persecuted just for its religious role in the community, but at other times the Russian Orthodox Church was manipulated to combat Catholics on the grounds that this was a more "Russian" body.
Israel
The roots of Anti-Catholicism in Israel can be traced back to the origin of the Jewish state in 1948 when several villages with majority Catholic populations, such as Kafr Bir'im and Iqrit, were forcibly depopulated by the Israel Defence Forces. Catholic priests have been expelled from the country, and dozens of churches have been occupied, closed or forcibly sold since 1948. More recently Israel has denied residence status to Catholic clerics and has attempted to block the appointment of Catholic bishops Israeli government attempts such as the failed 1998 effort to block the Holy See's appointment of Boutros Mouallem as archbishop of Galilee were condemned by the Vatican and other nations Suspicion and hostility towards Catholic clerics has led to incidents such as the October 2002 detention and harassment of Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop Elias Chacour and Archbishop Boutros Mouallem, who were prevented from leaving Jerusalem to attend an interfaith meeting in London.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
