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Chapter 8 Religion of the Antichrist In review of previous chapters, Daniel’s dream dovetailed with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in that they both represented world empires: Nebuchadnezzar’s dream referred to Old Testament empires, while Daniel’s dream referred to New Testament empires. There was one kingdom that intersected both eras, and that kingdom nailed Jesus to a cross at the request of the Jews. After the man of lawlessness is appointed Pope of the Vatican in Rome, he will stage his assassination, counterfeiting Jesus’ resurrection by asserting to rise from the dead, attempting to give credence to his deception. After rising from the Vatican’s abyss of Catholicism, attempting to obfuscate a Christian revival, his efforts will fail, so the Beast will burn the antichrist's city with his own hands, and he will migrate to Jerusalem to smother the Great Endtime Revival that will have its origins in Jerusalem, by which millions of people will be saved from this satanic world empire. Sitting on his infamous throne in Jerusalem, the antichrist will take Israel hostage, posing as the Jewish messiah and savior of the world. Since Catholics believe in the continuous sacrifice of the Son of God with the bread and wine miraculously turning into the flesh and blood of Christ at the blessing of the priest, this Pope will pretend to become the very personification of their religion by presuming to sacrifice himself. He will claim the world is eating the flesh and blood of his own body after his false resurrection, and they will worship him for it. Thus he will extend his antichristian influence throughout the world, attempting to stamp out Christianity once and for all, which has also been a Jewish sentiment for millennia, by implementing his mark for the purpose of identifying, isolating and exterminating both believing Jews and gentiles. This statement, “Once was, now is not and will come,” in Rev 17-8, refers to a religion that once dominated the world, persisted through the ages and then reappeared to dominate the world again at the end of the age. The Bible speaks of the church as the bride of Christ in Rev 19,7-8, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints)" NIV. If the true church is the bride of Christ, then the false church must be the whore of Babylon. This chapter revolves around a catfight between these two women: the true and the false church. Both claim to be the bride of Christ, one proving it through signs and wonders, "and they did not love their life even when faced with death" (Rev 12-11), while the other tried to prove it by martyring them. Daniel 12-3 says, “Those who have insight will shine bright like the brightness of the expanse of heaven….” Normally it would be obvious to all who is who, but the world will fall under the delusions of Satan, delineating this word “insight” to mean those who are able to break his spell through the power of God. Revelation chapters thirteen and seventeen hold many similarities with the Vatican and the Jewish Talmud, suggesting the Roman Catholic Church will one day mix its doctrines with the orthodox Jewish Talmud to create a new religion of antichrist, whom the Bible calls the great whore of Babylon. Just the fact that God uses a prostitute to analogize the antichrist’s religion reeks of Catholicism in that it claims to be the one and only true Church, though it worships demons as a matter of faith in its many practices that were tragically designed to funnel money into its coffers. On the one side, Satan from desperation will attempt to use his antichrist to quell the Christian revival that originated Jerusalem. The antichrist will be a religious man, who will persuade Israel's enemies to let them rebuild their temple, so that Israel for the first time in two thousand years will finally be able to worship the God of the Old Testament the way their ancestors did in the days of King Solomon. He will do this in order to get peoples’ attention off divine worship and onto ancient Jewish traditions by brainwashing the world that the Jewish tabernacle is the essence of Christian faith. That way he can claim credit for this worldwide spiritual awakening. If he can establish a connection between himself and the revival, he can begin regulating it, humanizing it and running it into the ground, until he morphs it into yet another religion as he has done to every spiritual awakening throughout the ages. Chapter List On the other side, God using His church, will shine His light in the eyes of pure evil and expose wickedness in the world, so that Satan has no choice but to manifest himself in human flesh as the man of lawlessness. Instead of using force to stamp out competition to his throne, he will first try deception. Originally seated in Rome the antichrist will move his empire to Jerusalem where all the action is transpiring. He will masquerade as Israel’s messiah in attempt to create religious confusion and take charge of the Jewish revival, but when he ambles into the Jewish holy of holies, the priests will reject him as their messiah, defeating his grandiose delusion as God of the Bible, who attempted to seduce the world to believe that he was the return of Jesus Christ in the flesh. When his plan fails, it will mark the beginning of Christian mass-genocide on the grandest scale imaginable, precipitating the judgment of God and forever marking the end of human governments, and initiating the manifestation of God’s eternal kingdom on the earth. Only a replica of Christ would even attempt to enter the Jewish temple that serves as a mere copy of the heavenly one, being the reason Jesus never entered the Jewish temple's Holy of Holies 2000 years ago, since He is the very substance of life and truth. These will be times of great deception and confusion, but those with a remnant of the Spirit will discriminate the motives of Satan from the true words of God. Once the temple is built, he will proclaim himself as Israel’s messiah and will enter the Most Holy Place without permission of the high priest. They will react explosively with religious fervor at the blatant audacity of such blasphemy, and will physically extricate him from the temple in front of the whole world. As a result of publicly humiliating his monstrous ego, he will unleash a supernatural malevolence against Christians, both Jews and gentiles. At the moment of extraction, Satan will enter the man of lawlessness on the spot, who will turn his tactics from deception to murder. The institution of the mark will be instituted with the goal of eliminating defectors from his kingdom, and since Christians are the only ones who are willing to resist him to the death, the mark will be aimed directly at them. One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.” Rev 17-1,2 NIV Italy is a peninsula. Therefore, to say that Rome sits on many waters fits the description. For the New International Version to describe the antichrist as a prostitute that commits spiritual adultery, paints a picture of a married woman selling her body to other gods, but this is not an accurate depiction of the antichrist, based on what the rest of Scripture says about him. The whore of Babylon is not spiritually married to God. It makes it sound like she is the true Church, which is under God’s eternal covenant originally made to Abraham, the father of Israel, the only nation that is married to God (read Hosea). Israel is therefore the only nation that can commit spiritual adultery against God. While it is true that Israel will be involved in the identity of the great whore of Babylon, it will not be true of all Israel, for she will be divided between Christian Jews and unbelieving Jews. Jerusalem is the center of the world. It befits Jerusalem to be the spiritual battleground of human souls. The Talmudic Jews believe in a way of the historical Pharisees, the religious people that delivered up Jesus for crucifixion. Israel was the only nation with whom God initiated a covenant, promising He would never stop being their God, and they would never stop being His people. They were hardly faithful, but they were never divorced. In Israel’s case their disobedience and unbelief is an accurate depiction of spiritual adultery. To apply the analogy of spiritual adultery to the Catholic Church, however, is not a match, because the Catholic Church has never been under God’s covenant. She has self-proclaimed for centuries to be the true Christian Church, yet she has fabricated her own covenant with God, but He never acknowledged their covenant, hence she is not married to Him. God wants people to obey His word, but the Catholic Church has set the conditions of its own obedience by inventing its own religion instead of obeying Scripture. The fact that the Catholic Church is not under God’s covenant, but under their own pseudo covenant is the difference between fornicating with other gods, and committing adultery against the true God of heaven. She worships demons through her many liturgical incantations, amounting to ceremonial witchcraft. That is why the NASB is a more accurate translation when it uses the word “immorality” as opposed to the NIV’s “adultery”. This is an important distinction. Chapter List The NASB says in Rev 17-2, “With whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” The word immorality carries the connotation that the Catholic Church was never married to Christ, and is hence fornicating with other gods. She is incapable of committing spiritual adultery with the God of heaven, because she is not married to Him as is Israel. Being intoxicated with the wine of her immorality refers to their method of communion that transforms the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, which is blasphemous. They dress it up with a big word – transubstantiation – to make it seem more believable, but it is a hoax. According to the above verses, Catholicism has an idolatrous affair with demons through their rendition of communion. And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet. And adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, and upon her forehead a name was written, a mystery, BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered greatly (Rev 17,3-6 NASB). This mother of harlots is the false bride of Christ, who holds a caldron dripping with the blood of the saints that she sips in communion with the demons she serves, established as queen of harlots over the kingdoms of the earth. God detests the doctrines of Catholicism that have led the church to commune with demons, and in the last days they will direct the world to replace the bread and wine with the flesh and blood of the saints! According to their tradition, the priest receives both the bread and the wine, but the parishioners receive only the bread. Scripture has this religious harlot imbibing a cup of wine, elucidating the fact that God holds the leaders of the Catholic Church accountable for the evils perpetrated against the truth and against those who were faithful in Christ for the last two millennia. The Bible speaks of the spirit of error in 1John 4-6, “We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error” NASB. Jesus said in John 16,1-3, “All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me” (NIV). You just heard Jesus say the Catholic Church does not know God, for martyrdom is the legacy of Catholicism. This theory is not something you need to believe, since it has already happened. We all know that Hitler systematically murdered the Jews along with many other people groups during World War II, yet it is a little known fact that the groundwork for his anti-Semitism had already been laid before Hitler came to power, and it was laid by the Catholic Church. There is a complaint on the Internet that every political argument eventually leads to Hitler. They even give it a name, Godwin's law. Now that they have giving it a name they expect us not to talk about Hitler anymore, but he keeps coming up for good reason. He is still on everyone’s mind because what he did is destined to happen again in exactly the same manner. In a mass meeting in Straubing on 8 August 1923, Pieper [an ordained Catholic priest] further fleshed out his vision of the full compatibility between Nazi racial anti-Semitism and the Catholic faith: Beneath religion comes the elevated holy ideal of Fatherland, which means the unity of all German comrades of blood, fate and Volk [race]… He also desires that what he created should remain pure. We must attack anything that damages our racial unity. For that reason the racial standpoint of National Socialism corresponds completely with Christianity. It is therefore in the spirit of Christ that we must proceed against the Jews. Pieper made his position even clearer in a widely publicized mass meeting in Regenburg on 25 August 1923, wherein he insisted on the morality of keeping Jews separate from Germans… “It is the duty of each race to keep itself pure from foreign pollutants. Therefore anti-Semitism is not un-Christian, but rather a command!” (Hastings; page 128) Roth [another Catholic priest] contended that full-fledged racial anti-Semitism was, for Catholics and Christians, the only principled response to the destructive moral and cultural impact of the Jews as a result of their biological makeup: Certainly the Catholic Church stands above races and nations, but the Catholic idea stands first and foremost against immorality; and when immorality and race combine, then the Catholic idea stands against that race…. An anti-Semitism conceived on this basis is not only allowed for the Christian, but rather obligatory…. The Jewish race must be eliminated from public life because it exercises, as a result of its very nature, a demoralizing influence on our religion and our Volk [race]. (Hastings; page 122) Chapter List In answer to the world’s prayer for spiritual guidance during the most tumultuous time in history, Catholicism is destined to rise from the ashes of mediocrity to resume its former Dark Ages glory. The antichrist will be at its helm, but the false prophet will be the political and economic entity who will execute the antichrist’s plan to eliminate faith in Jesus from the earth. However, there will be one significant difference: Hitler murdered the Jews who did not believe in Jesus, but this time the antichrist will use the Mark of the Beast to flesh out both Jews and gentiles who practice faith in Jesus. That is, the “Final Solution” will be reenacted on the true Church. There will be one other difference: those in Hitler's concentration camps wore a mark on their arm, but those with the mark this time will be on the other side of the fence, the mark standing for their vote to exterminate Christianity. Some may question the notion that the Catholic Church is the whore of Babylon, but there are some things we know for certain that will determine this to be more than mere conjecture. The most glaring poof is the fact that the prostitute is a woman. She’s not a woman because she’s a prostitute, but because she is the pseudo wife of the lamb. In order for her to be a counterfeit bride of Christ, she must be a so-called Christian religion; otherwise the analogy would not fit. That rules out Islam, which is not a Christian religion by any stretch. God doesn’t see Islam as a prostitute of Christianity any more than the descendents of Ishmael are God’s chosen people, who mostly compose the Islamic Middle Eastern countries. Their religion does not even pretend to worship the God of the Bible. Their God is Ala, who is not connected with the Bible at all. Islamic religions may hate Christianity and for that reason they have a motive for martyring Christians and they may well do so, but that does not make them the great whore of Babylon. In contrast, Catholicism has claimed for centuries to be the one true Christian Church, essentially claiming to be the bride of Christ, which would make her an unfaithful prostitute in worshipping demons throughout the centuries by their demon inspired doctrines. God has made a covenant with Israel (which is essentially what marriage is), making Israel His bride of the Old Testament. God called Israel a prostitute in Ezekiel chapter sixteen, and used the same word in Revelation seventeen to describe the great whore of Babylon, who then by definition must be either unbelieving Israel or a religion that claims to be Christ's Church but in practice is not. In fact, it is both! In the last days Catholicism will join forces with unbelieving Jews, attempting to exterminate a Christian revival that will begin in Jerusalem! When Jesus walked the earth, the Pharisees hated His teachings because He contradicted them on every level, but mostly they were jealous of Him. In the days of Jesus’ flesh the Pharisees immediately recognized the intrinsic value of laying their hands on someone and seeing them healed as the greatest moneymaking racket they could ever contrive, but there was no way they could throw a rope around Jesus and harness His power, and God certainly wasn’t about to give them His power, so they stewed in their jealousy, wanting nothing more than to see Jesus hang on a cross. If they could have laid their hands on this kind of power, they would have charged exorbitant prices to heal people, but Jesus healed them for free, and it drove the Pharisees crazy, but what bothered them the most was His rising popularity and the words He preached that diametrically opposed their godless religion. Catholic priests are modern-day Pharisees, who made up doctrines to simulate spirituality that only the priests could perform, laying their hands on little boys, but they were anything but getting healed. There is no place for priests in the new covenant. They were made obsolete with Jesus now as our Great High Priest; we have no need for any other mediator. Nevertheless, Catholicism claimed that an ordained Catholic priest must bless the Eucharist for communion to "work", that is for the bread and wine to transform into the body and blood of Christ. The Roman Catholic Church for centuries has proclaimed itself to be the one and only true Christian Church, claiming that if anyone is not a member of their religion, they have no other destiny but the eternal flames of hell. This doctrine supported their moneymaking racket, making them possibly more unfaithful to God in the new covenant than Israel was in the old. Moreover, the Vatican claims to be its own country, seated in the city of Rome within the nation of Italy. Rev 18-7,8 says, “In her heart she boasts, `I sit as queen; I am not a widow, and I will never mourn.' Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her” NIV. She claimed she was not a widow, claiming that her husband is not dead, referring to Christ, but her real god is Satan, who is hardly alive! Chapter List "The beast that you saw was and is not, and is about to come up out of the Abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth will wonder, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come." Rev 17-8 NASB This statement: “Was and is not, and is about to come,” is an accurate description of Catholic Church history. The reason the world is astonished at the Beast is that people will be surprised when they see Catholicism rise to its former glory and its Pope regain his former status as a world religious leader. Rome once was the greatest city in the world even while Jesus walked the earth, being the nation that crucified Him. Its world dominance has since dissolved, but like the Vatican located within its borders, it too will regain its former glory in the last days, only to be destroyed. In the Dark Ages neither the Pope, nor any of the priests ever rivaled against the king of any nation for power, but worked side-by-side with the king to enslave the people in a relationship iconic to the antichrist and the False Prophet. Jerusalem also fits this description as a city that once was, then ceased to be a sovereign nation for many centuries, and now at the end of the age has suddenly regained its sovereignty, and will host the kingdom of antichrist. Since the fall of Rome, the Vatican reigned supreme throughout most of the New Testament era, stationed in Rome as the most prevalent Christian religion in the world, together making Rome by far the longest lasting empire of all time. If they called Catholicism’s greatest hour the Dark Ages, what will they call the times that are almost upon us? Catholicism is not a world power, but it was, and it will be reinstated to its former glory in the last days. In that sense both Rome and Jerusalem, 'were and are not and will come.' "Here is a mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. And they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain for a little while. And the beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth, and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction." Rev 17,9-11 NASB The most popular interpretive location of these seven mountains is Rome. The names of the hills are: Palatine (traditional site of the city’s founding), Aventine, Caelian, Capitoline, Esquiline, Quirinal, and Viminal (American Heritage Dictionary under: Seven Hills of Rome). There are many other cities that have been built on seven hills, but the dictionary only recognizes one city with seven hills. Also, both the Vatican and Rome claim to be countries in their own right, situated in the nation of Italy, representing the outer court. This is analogous to the Old Testament Jewish tabernacle located in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel as the outer court. The Catholic Church fits the description of the great whore of Babylon in almost every way, with its wine of immorality, sitting on many waters, martyring the saints and accumulating wealth, but there is one trait that is not characteristic of the Catholic Church. Revelation 17 describes this religious whore as one that has blasphemous names written on it. Rev 13-5 says, “And there was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies.” This does not conform to the characteristics of the Catholic Church; instead, it befits the Jewish blasphemous Talmud, suggesting that the antichrist will mix his catholic religion with Judaism to make a new religion as a composition of the two. The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place. He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all. Instead of them, he will honor a god of fortresses; a god unknown to his fathers he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. He will attack the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god [the false prophet] and will greatly honor those who acknowledge him. He will make them rulers over many people and will distribute the land at a price. Dan 11,36-39 NIV Chapter List In the Scripture above, when it says, “He will attack the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god,” it is referring to the false prophet (Rev 13,11-17) when it says, “He will honor those who acknowledge him.” This is referring to the ten horns of the beast (Rev 17-12,13), who are the giant moneylenders of the world, who finance his ambitions to enslave the people in his one-world religion, his one-world government, and with their help, his one world economy. The Jewish Talmud is an extremely blasphemous document especially against Jesus Christ and Christians. Following are some excerpts of the Talmud (taken from http://www.talmudblasphemy.com/talmud_tidbits.html): 1. " Sanhedrin 105ab: "Jesus fornicated with his jackass. 2. " Gittin 57a: "Jesus is in hell and is being punished by being boiled in semen. Christians are boiled in dung. 3. Insults Against Mary, Sanhedrin 106a . Says Jesus' mother was a whore: "She who was the descendant of princes and governors played the harlot with carpenters." Also in footnote #2 to Shabbath 104b it is stated that in the "uncensored" text of the Talmud it is written that Jesus mother, "Miriam the hairdresser," had sex with many men. 4. Gloats over Christ Dying Young, A passage from Sanhedrin 106 gloats over the early age at which Jesus died: "Hast thou heard how old Balaam (Jesus) was?--He replied: It is not actually stated but since it is written, Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days it follows that he was thirty-three or thirty-four years old." 5. Says Jesus was a Sorcerer, Sanhedrin 43a . Says Jesus ("Yeshu the Nazarene") was executed because he practiced sorcery. 6. Horrible Blasphemy of Jesus, Gittin 57a . Says Jesus is being boiled in "hot excrement." 7. Sanhedrin 43a. Jesus deserved execution: "On the eve of the Passover, Yeshu was hanged...Do you suppose that he was one for whom a defense could be made? Was he not a Mesith (enticer)?" 8. Sanhedrin 59a: "Murdering Goyim [a non Jew – particularly Christians] is like killing a wild animal." 9. Abodah Zara 26b: "Even the best of the Gentiles should be killed," particularly Christian gentiles. 10. Libbre David 37: "To communicate anything with a Goy about our religious relations would be equal to the killing of all Jews, for if the Goyim knew what we teach about them, they would kill us openly.” 11. " Yebhamoth 11b: "Sexual intercourse with a little girl is permitted if she is at least three years of age.” Rev 13-6 says, “And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.” Roman Catholicism may certainly be blasphemous in its doctrines, in its rituals and in its services, but it does not blaspheme the name of Jesus Christ, because they think they are worshipping and serving Him. Nor would the Catholic Church blaspheme those who dwell in heaven, because they believe they are going there. Judaism is the religion of the Talmud, which is an extremely blasphemous manuscript against the name of Jesus Christ and those who dwell in heaven. This is nothing that the Catholics would embrace, but something that Satan and his antichrist would love to mix with the already blasphemous doctrines of Catholicism (Rev 13-1; Rev 17-3). Therefore, the religious institution of the antichrist will be a marriage between Roman Catholicism and the Talmud. Together, they are the very personification of Revelation’s description of the great whore of Babylon, but alone neither does well to describe the satanic government prophesied to rise at the end of the age. The antichrist will make Jerusalem an accomplice to Rome’s upcoming atrocities. In addition to the analogy of the seven hills representing Rome, it also represents seven kings, showing that the city of Rome is one of seven nations administrating Satan’s world empire. The Vatican is hence the eighth of seven kings (see Rev 17,9-13), and Jerusalem is the eleventh of ten horns, which both claim to be countries in their own right, though it is not really a country by definition; nor does it contribute anything but a blasphemous religion (see Dan 2,40-43). According to the analogy, the Vatican spiritually weakened its parent nation, making Rome a target for the nations to later destroy it. It is the fate of everyone Satan uses to rise to power; he assimilates what he wants and discards the remains. Following is a list of blasphemous Catholic doctrines that oppose the Scriptures: 1. The antichrist will be head of the Catholic Church. The pope will be a homosexual and will betray his own religion. Dan 11-37 says, “Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers [the popes before him], nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all” KJV. He will disregard the catholic faith by mixing it with the teachings of the Talmud, but he will not disregard sex; rather, he will disregard women. Fornication and adultery are rooted in rebellion, but homosexuality and sex with children is associated with demons. For that reason you can expect the antichrist to be a homosexual, for where there are demons there will always be blasphemy and rebellion. It is one thing to follow the natural inclinations of the flesh, but it is another thing to follow unnatural desires spawned by demonic entities. God is not happy when people show an indifference to him by following the natural inclinations of the flesh, but He is incensed by homosexuality. Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home-these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. Jude 5-7 NIV Chapter List This verse equates homosexuality with abandonment of angelic posts, causing homosexuals to resemble demons when they leave the natural order and crave unnatural desires of their own gender. Where there is homosexuality there are demons; it is that simple. There is a steep downhill grade that results from a person or a nation that exchanges the freedom of Christ for slavery to the flesh, leading to unnatural desires, which eventually leads to demon worship, and ultimately to judgment. See also Romans 1,18-32. 2. Their version of communion is the doctrine of demons, where the bread and wine are miraculously transformed into the body and blood of Christ at the blessing of the priest. This is more than just an innocent and misguided doctrine; it is spiritual treason. The arrogance it would take to institute a doctrine like this is incomprehensible, but to perpetuate such blasphemy throughout the ages exponentially compounds the theological infraction. The Bible teaches that Jesus offered His body once for all, stating this many times throughout the New Testament, according to the following passages. Heb 7-27,28 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. NIV Rom 6-9,10 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. NIV Heb 9-12,24-26 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. NIV Heb 10,10-14 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” NIV. It is passages like these that make it crystal clear that the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation is blasphemous, for it diametrically opposes Scripture and the sacrifice of Jesus body on the cross. Note that in the verses above the key word is once. If Jesus conquered death and placed it under His feet, why then does the bread and wine need to transform into the body and blood of Christ whenever they take communion? Doesn't that constitute offering His flesh more than once? The Bible teaches that we are redeemed through faith in Jesus' blood sacrifice that He offered once for all time. Nowhere in Scripture does it indicate that God has given anyone authority to offer the body of His Son after He was offered. Chapter List Nevertheless, there are those who don’t have the reverence for God to treat Jesus’ sacrifice as holy, but prefer to make it their business to defile the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified and, “…crucify to themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame.” NASB. The blessing of the Catholic priest at communion is an incantation of sorcery. Rev 2-20 says, “Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess… By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols [communion]” NIV. Then Rev 18-3,6 states, “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality [idolatry] with her… Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her.” NASB. 3. Sacrifices and the worship of Idols. There are many people within the Catholic Church who love God, and for that reason they should disavow the Catholic faith and go elsewhere that teaches the true doctrines of Christianity. Mk 12-33,34 says, “'To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.' When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, 'You are not far from the kingdom of God.'” NIV. Jesus said of the scribe in these verses that He was not far from the kingdom of God, but how far is the Catholic Church from the kingdom of God? Absolution is the power endowed to catholic priests to forgive sins. This is blasphemous! Even the Pharisees knew this. They said about Jesus in Mark 2-7, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" NIV. The Pharisees were evil and wicked, yet no one could criticize them for their lack of knowledge of the Old Testament. What they lacked was love and empathy and a heart to serve God. Another example of false sacrifice is indulgence; the Catholic Church sold licenses to sin. All their religious offerings and sacrifices are made to idols of their own making, but God does not accept them; their sacrifices are hence offered to demons, making Catholicism the religion of witchcraft. 4. The worship of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mary’s statement to Catholicism is found in Jn 2-5, “His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you"” NIV. Mk 3,31-35 says, “Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you." "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother" NIV. This seriously downplays Mary's role as a figure of deity. The Catholic Church treats her as though she were somewhat equal with God because of her matronly role with Christ. The Catholic mind sees her as someone who can hear and answer prayer; however, these verses teach us that Mary is no different from other women who believe in Jesus. Mary believed in Jesus. Her flesh has since decayed, leaving only her faith in Christ significant in eternity, giving her common standing with all God's children. God does not acknowledge prayers to Mary; therefore, they are praying to an idol. 5. The catholic priest addressed as father is a direct contradiction to the Scriptures. Mat 23-9 says, “And do not call anyone on earth `father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven” NIV. Jesus apparently spoke these words as a prophesy to Catholic priests in the future who would require their congregation to call them Father, indicating that He knew Catholicism would rise up soon after His departure and replace His truth with their religion. Jesus in this verse is entreating His people not to adhere to the Catholic faith, since no one can call their minister Father with a clear conscience after Jesus sternly forbade them. 6. The catholic priest is required to remain celibate. 1Tim 4,1-5 says, “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer” NIV. Both this verse and the one before it have Catholicism stamped on them with a prophetic message not to participate in their forged doctrines, perpetuated by demons. This passage address the fact that Catholic priests are not allowed to marry, and that no Catholic is allowed to eat meat of Friday (fish being as the exception – hence Friday night fish fry). These demands seem relatively harmless and could be potentially beneficial, except that it doesn’t end that way. For example, Catholic priests are called to remain single so they can devote more time to the word of God and prayer, but many waste their time having sex with children. Likewise, fasting from meat once a week is probably a healthy dietary plan, except they turned it into a requirement, which tempts the parishioners to believe they are finding favor with God by complying with the Catholic tenets. Jesus paid with His own blood to set us free of these foolish ideas and all we want to do is invent new ways to put ourselves in bondage (see Act 15,19-29). 7. Jesus condemned the sacrifices of repetitious prayer (chanting). Mat 6-7,8 says, “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” NIV. Chanting in the Catholic Church is integrated into their liturgy as an essential part of their weekly ceremonies. Chanting lyrics can be found in their doctrinal theology, and in their various books of chants. Therefore, because chanting comes from a book and not from the heart, it goes unheard, and because they believe in it, it is witchcraft. God is interested in what you have to say to Him from your heart, not from a book of chants; He doesn't care for your religion. 8. Washing your hands before eating as a religious doctrine. Mat 15-2,3;7-9 say, 2,3 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!" Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?” 7-9 “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: "`These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'" NIV. Do you think Jesus condemned the Pharisees for washing their hands before eating? No, in fact it is a good idea for reasons of personal hygiene; your doctor will concur. Where your doctor and the Pharisees part ways, though, is in the conviction that hand washing is a means of finding favor with God. This is what Jesus was addressing as a blasphemous teaching, because it has nothing to do with the state of your heart. Don't you think you could scrub your cuticles and hate your brother at the same time? What good are these man-made doctrines, and all the fabricated doctrines that allow people to live any way they want, while ignoring the will of God? The worship of Mary and the other idolatrous teachings of the Catholic faith, Purgatory, the Sacrament, the Eucharist, and the implications of Baptism (the error of infant baptism that ensures the salvation of a child, regardless of how the person lives as an adult) are only some of the tenants of the Catholic Church that were simply invented. They are independent of a relationship with Jesus Christ through faith in the truth. All these doctrines have one thing in common: they do not address the state of the heart, which is God’s main concern. The doctrines of the Catholic faith do not encapsulate a relationship with God. Some Catholics are born-again Christians, but they believe in Jesus in spite of their religion. You cannot find support for any of the mentioned doctrines in the Holy Scriptures. Chapter List James R. Wuthrich www.jeansbiblestudy.com Covenant and Controversy Part One: The Great Rage 1:39:12 Sources American Heritage© Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition Copyright© 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from and portions copyright© 1994 by InfoSoft International, Inc. All rights reserved. Hastings, Derek. (2010) Catholicism and the Roots of Nazism. Oxford University Press. New York, NY.