Gradually,
over the millennia, the catholic Church became the Catholic denomination.
Admittedly, it represented the true Church even with its shortcomings. For
instance, within a few hundred years at least one bishop, Cyril of Jerusalem,
was baptizing naked people naked. 519 Of course he rationalized it
but that’s exactly what it is. Holy Scripture teaches modesty without
exception! Why else would God have covered “their shame” with original sin?
As Satan knows “good” and uses
it for his evil purposes, nothing is entirely evil! As such, total depravity
does not make theological sense. It is more a conclusion than a legitimate
doctrine. Totally depraved people would do no good at all! Depravity is more
selective than totality; it applies only to the choice of salvation. Mankind
does not have a will to choose right because they are totally depraved, they
submit. With the Calvinistic doctrines of irresistible grace and election, then
mankind never need make choices. Hence, depravity would be extraneous to
salvation. It seems that TULIP is less grace and more philosophy than the sola
gratia to which they adhere. (Note: TULIP is the acronym for Total Depravity,
Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, and Preservation of the Saints – aka
eternal security). 520 With that doctrine, salvation is mere
existence, and damnation is merely random. That is not God’s Plan! This is one
of the many doctrines which withers the Church.
Fortunately, most people, when
they are called, answer in the affirmative even if they don’t need to answer.
Many reformed – Calvinistic - churches have had great leaders in spite of
questionable doctrine. One of the most convicting is Sinners in the Hands of an
Angry God read by Jonathan Edwards during the Great Awakening. On the other
hand, the misuse of Calvinism can be catastrophic. Some even fail to have
missions (the Great Commission), and don’t attend church because with election,
those things serve no purpose! Grace is having wrong doctrine and still be
“safe”, both for the individual and the Church. If one examines the seven
Churches, and apparently Jerusalem was not worth including, each had wrong
doctrine; none were orthodox scripturally.
Imagine, if you will, if every
Christian were required to be doctrinally pure. Then doctrine would enslave
just as obsessive-compulsive obedience to the Law did for the Jews. It’s not
that God expects total comprehension. Then mankind would be as God. He
understands our inability to understand because of the bewildered look which
was surely Eve’s when she failed to understand death. Paul understood doctrinal
differences and chastised his fellow believers. Christians are to follow the
one Christ and put aside the doctrines of others.
There is one doctrine, one
faith, one baptism, and one Lord. As mentioned earlier. Doctrine divides! There
are thirty-five Christian denominations in just the United States. 521
That is a good thing, and a bad one! The good is that from one wrong-doxy came
other wrong-doxies (sic). No Church is truly orthodox, each failing the
Doctrine of Christ in some respects. Doctrine is good in that it identifies the
belief system of the church body. However, doctrine is to be tested against the
Doctrine of Christ – perfect doctrine because Christ wrote the mystery! 522
In truth, most in the Old Testament understood the mystery! The patriarchs did.
Most today fail to understand the same mystery. Some denominations teach that
only they are orthodox – of right doctrine. It seems that since they exclude
others who are born-again, perhaps they are wrong-dox (sic)!
While denominations proliferated,
dissension increased. At Jerusalem the Holy Ghost revealed Himself because of
concordance. Denominations are discordance. At the same time, denominations are
a blessing and a curse. That is enough to fuel even more cognitive dissonance.
True Christians desire ecumenicalism, but alas, that inclusiveness is evil in
practice. Why so? Imagine the seven churches of Asia all of one mind.
Philadelphia would be diminished, and Laodicea elevated. Concordance, if done
with mankind’s own devices is catastrophic. Satan knows that! If all
denominations unite according the Doctrine of Christ, then the Holy Ghost would
bless the Church more.
The Dominant
Church:
The Roman Catholic Church
dominated Christianity for centuries. Constantine made a new Rome in
Constantinople, and the empire was divided. Not too long afterward, the Church
was divided, and still is to this day. Although separate, the two divisions
retain “catholic” in their formal names, thus each claiming to be the universal
Church. The Roman Catholic Church was the church of the western world, and the
Orthodox of the eastern world. At times, the division of the Church was the
source of wars and at other times, wars were the source of Church division.
Division is of Satan. It is imperative that if division is toward chaos, it is
evil. On the other hand, if division is toward order, it is God correcting the
chaos created by Satan. God often restores the withering Church by separating
the good Churches from the wicked ones.
Before, the “Catholic” churches
are criticized, let me acknowledge that protestant Churches should be as well!
Holy Scripture was written for a purpose: 523
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness.
My wish is that the Roman and
Orthodox Catholic Churches do self-examinations using Holy Scripture. Look at
the nature of Scripture: (1) inspired by God, (2) right doctrine (orthodoxy),
(3) to criticize faults, (4) to correct the wrong doctrine, (5) and to rightly
instruct! I’m not the first to do that! Martin Luther wrote his 95 Theses and
nailed them to the door of the Wittenburg Church. 524 Did that harm
the true Church or did it help? It certainly divided but was the division to wither the Church or to correct the withered Church. Of course,
that may differ from the perspective of the viewer but not from God’s view. It seems
from a Scriptural standpoint that God corrected a withering Church.
Catholic doctrine is that the
Pope has authority greater than Scripture! 525 That one doctrine
alone can be tested by Scripture and rejected. Only Jesus, is infallible, and
the Word is Jesus. By claiming papal authority places the pope as a god who
claims power supreme to the Word! Papal infallibility withered the Church. Like
the Church at Smyrna which was the Synagogue of Satan. Likewise, that same
Church had riches but claimed to be concerned with the poor, and many there
claimed to be “Jews” but were not. The Catholic faith has many who claim to be
Christians but are not!
The Roman Catholic Church does
not hold the doctrine of the rebirth. Being born-again, in their doctrine is accomplished
at baptism by grace. 526 That sounds great, but Catholics perform
pedobaptism. Infants cannot believe in the blood of Christ because of their
mental capacity. Most evangelical
churches have a doctrine of “believers baptism”. Protestants accept the
Scripture that, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
527 Jesus went on to explain the doctrine using Moses lifting up the
bronze serpent. Nicodemus had to understand that symbolism to know what
born-again means. Infants have no idea!
Marianism is really offensive to
most non-Catholics. Because Mary was the “mother of God” Catholics revere her
to the extent that it is worship, 528 although of course, they deny
that. Veneration in theory is honoring but in practice is taken to the extent
that it is worshiping! Praying the Rosary often takes the form of “Hail Mary’s”
and is asking for intercession from the virgin Mary. 529 When Mary is revered, God is not! Holy
Scripture claims Jesus as the Intercessor to God; not Mary! 530 Likewise,
Christians are not to have repetitive prayers as the pagans do. 531
Historically the Catholic
doctrine of transubstantiation has been the most obtrusive to reformers. That
is “the conversion of the substance of the Eucharistic elements into the body
and blood of Christ at consecration, only the appearances of bread and wine
still remaining.” 532 The early reformers considered that idol
worship. Many reformers were burned at the stake because they would not blaspheme
God by this act. Most protestants do not and will not take Mass because of
transubstantiation. Burning at the stake was not ever a biblical way of proselytizing either! Some were converted through the threat of
that just as most Muslims are Muslims because a sword was held to the throat of
an ancestor.
With Christianity, the spear in
the side of the Savior was the Way to salvation. With early Catholicism, their
cross was the burning pyre with a so-called heretic praising God as he or she
was baptized with fire. Islam proselytized with a sword to the throat, and a threat
of beheading! Christ doesn’t convert by force. He convinces through the Word and
transforms by his own blood!
Referring to the 95 Theses,
Luther had a problem with indulgences. Scripture does as well! Protestants
rejected usury and any payment of sins. The Church at Smyrna had the sin of
Balaam. Indulgences are a similar sin.
On a positive note, at least
until Pope Frances came along, the Catholic Church were fine defenders of the
faith. It does seem with the advent of ecumenicalism, that the Catholic Church
has accepted universalism and unitarianism as efficacious. One pope referred to
them as a way to salvation but Christ as the Super-Way. (I’m sorry, I can’t
locate my source for that but remember it from several years previous).
Like the Church at Smyrna which
was withering in the same fashion, Roman Catholicism, at least by doctrine,
still holds the Doctrines of Christ. They are heretical, but because “they know
not what they do,” 533 are forgiven for their misunderstanding.
Many fundamentalists hold that
the Roman Catholic Church is the antichurch and that the Pope is the antichrist. Those against God are
antichrists but the antichrist is one
specific person who is likely to come from the church-type of Laodicea. I believe
that is the general condition of the global Church. It would be a leader accepted
by most; hence the disgust with the ecumenical movement.
The Smyrna-type Church was given
reprieve even in deference to their heresies: They will be tested by
tribulation but remain faithful. They will receive “the crown of life” which is
salvation, and a reward for those who overcome; for those who remain faithful.
In spite of Roman Catholic doctrine, there are many within that denomination
who were born-again in spite of their church teachings. I have known many
orthodox Roman Catholics who have been born again! Specifically, it seems that
Sean Hannity has a personal relationship which can’t be denied!
Church typology includes the “good”
and the “bad”. Don’t be offended, Catholics, if others don’t accept your doctrines.
That is nothing new. Any Christian should and must test their church doctrines
using Holy Scripture. Papal authority and infallibility is a hindrance to that.
Ask yourself the question: do you believe
Christ or do you believe Frances? Discerning people with wisdom will accept
the Way, the Truth, 534 and the Life before fallible man! The Roman
Catholic Church, no different from the protestant, are part of the withering
Church. It is inevitable that the organized “Church” will continue to suffer
heresies as time goes on for apocalyptic truths to come about. Eschatologically
speaking, the future of the Church is the withered fig tree. The once dominant “fig
tree” is falling first and fastest it seems – the Roman Catholic faith.
519
Lectures on the Mysteries II;
“Sacraments of Baptism”; Cyril of Jerusalem.
521
Wikipedia; “Christianity in the
United States”.
522
Holy Bible; Rom 16:25.
523
ibid; 2 Tim 3:16.
527
Holy Bible; John 3:3.
528
Wikipedia; “Veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church”.
529
Wikipedia; “Rosary”.
530 Holy
Bible; 1 Tim 2:5.
531
ibid; Mat 6:7.
532
Wikipedia; “Transubstantiation”.
533
Holy Bible; Luke 23:34.
534
ibid; John 4:34.
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