Читать книгу Head of the Serpent? - Mary Spinale Williams - Страница 4

Is the pope infallible? Was Peter our first pope? Was he, “the rock”, as the Catholic church teaches? I find it very interesting that within hours of when Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation on February 11, 2013, two separate bolts of lightning struck St. Peter’s. What are the chances of two bolts of lightning striking hours after his resignation? Was God trying to tell us something? Or when two white doves were released from a window as a peace gesture by children standing on both sides of Pope Frances and were attacked by a seagull and a large black crow sweeping down on them after they were released. Not one but both birds were attacked while thousands of people watched in St Peter’s Square! I think maybe God’s trying to get our attention. He does it twice each time so we will have a harder time passing it off as coincidence and to get us thinking.

Pope Francis has been quoted as saying it is harmful and dangerous for anyone to have a relationship with Jesus outside of the church! Psalm 119:130 says “The opening up of Thy words gives light: it supplies understanding to the simple." “Understanding to the simple” means you and me. We don’t need any one person or organization to tell us what God’s word says. What’s harmful and dangerous is the following of man and his traditions instead of scripture. God says in 1 Corinthians 8:3 “But the one who loves God is known by God.” Reading His word is what brings us closer to Him and develops a relationship with Him. As you study and become closer to Jesus you will see for yourself all the lies and deception within the Catholic church.

Back in the Dark Ages you were burned you at the stake as a heretic if you were caught reading the Bible for yourself. It's hard for us to believe that it was forbidden to possess a bible in your own home, but there it is in our history. You can research it for yourself. The average person was prohibited and not allowed to own a Bible. Let's not forget that the average person didn't know how to read. In 1229 the Roman Catholic Church at the Council of Toulouse declared that laity (ordinary person) should be prohibited and strictly forbidden to own a Bible. Why were they afraid to have you read it for yourself? They didn't want you questioning their teachings and gaining knowledge for yourself, that's why. Thank God we can now read it for ourselves and not have to depend on any organization to tell us what’s in His word.

In John 15:5-6 Jesus says “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” You read those words and tell me what you think it means. Can we have life without remaining a part of the vine? Isn’t that a direct contradiction from what the pope is saying? It’s necessary to have a relationship with Jesus in order to remain in Him. Don’t be misled and be a branch that withers and thrown into the fire to burn.

Here is another quote from the pope that shouldn’t surprise me, but I’ll admit made me a bit dumbstruck. “You ask me if the God of the Christians forgives those who don’t believe and who don’t seek the faith. I start by saying – and this is the fundamental thing – that God’s mercy has no limits if you go to him with a sincere and contrite heart. The issue for those who do not believe in God is to obey their conscience.” Really? That’s all we need to do to be forgiven if we don’t believe is obey our conscience? What if my conscience differs from your conscience? For example, one person’s conscience says it’s okay to abort an unborn baby, and another’s says absolutely not, so whose do we follow? Is there no absolute truth?

More astonishing and more important is apparently the pope doesn’t believe in the basic message of God’s word that tells us that faith and faith alone in Jesus and the belief in His death and resurrection on the cross for our remittance of sins is the only way to the Father. You can agree and go along with the pope and obey your conscience or you can obey our Creator. Jesus says that He is the way and the truth and the life, so why do we accept the teachings that say otherwise? Above all, why and how can the pope clearly teach in stark contrast to God’s word? Romans 10:9 says “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us to just obey our conscience and we will be saved. We can’t forget and ignore the basic and essential elements of the gospel for the sake of political correctness or unity.

First of all, we need to recognize that we are all sinners and in need of salvation, which some people have a very hard time admitting. We all think we are good people because we don’t kill, steal and maybe tell just a little lie every now and then. But whose standard are we judging by? The bible tells us there is no one good and we need to recognize that. Secondly, we need to understand that Jesus paid for our sins by his death on the cross in full. And thirdly, that he has been resurrected and He is alive at the right hand of the Father. All we need do is accept His free gift of eternal life and we will be saved. If we reject Him, we reject His payment on our behalf. God tells us that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Whether you want to admit it or not, we are all sinners and have a debt to pay. Jesus paid the fine in full for anyone willing to accept His free gift. He said it is finished. What does that mean but that our debt or the fine was paid in full and we as believers are free to enter into His kingdom. Let me remind you that no one else on earth or otherwise played any part in this. That includes Mary.

Pope Francis has also suggested that Jesus’ work at the cross was a failure! One astonishing statement after another! What do you say to that? My question is, has the pope read Isaiah? It was foretold, but he calls it a failure? Isaiah 53:5 reads “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds, we are healed.” It’s all about the cross! It’s because of the cross and the penalty that Jesus paid in our place which gives us hope! His free gift to us is eternal life with no pain, sickness or sorrows. It would have been a failure if Jesus was somehow deterred and His accomplishment for all of mankind didn’t come about. You heard me correctly, I said ACCOMPLISHMENT, not FAILURE! He gave his only begotten Son for a reason, and to consider the cross a failure is missing the whole message of the gospel!

It is totally shocking to me that the people in the church accept whatever comes out of the pope's mouth and aren’t leaving the church in droves! Naturally, there were people who questioned his statement. So I went to Catholic.com to confirm this statement and found a qualifier. Pope Francis said humanly speaking, the cross was a failure. What’s that mean? That Jesus failed as a human, but not as God? It’s all double talk that you shouldn’t accept.

According to Catholicnewsagency.com, on January 1, 2016 Pope Francis is quoted as saying “It is most fitting that on this day we invoke the Blessed Virgin Mary above all as ‘mother of mercy." The door we have opened is, in fact, a Door of Mercy,” Pope Francis said. “Those who cross its threshold are called to enter into the merciful love of the Father with complete trust and freedom from fear; they can leave this Basilica knowing that Mary is ever at their side.” Did you hear the name of Jesus in any of that? Jesus told us He would never leave or forsake us, but we've replaced Him with Mary.

Pope Francis is quoted as saying in this same article, “She is the Mother of mercy, because she bore in her womb the very Face of divine mercy, Jesus, …The Son of God, made incarnate for our salvation, has given us his mother, who joins us on our pilgrimage through this life, so that we may never be left alone, especially at times of trouble and uncertainty.” Do you read anywhere in the Bible that Mary will join us on our pilgrimage through life?

He went on to say, “A person unable to forgive has not yet known the fullness of love. Only one who truly loves is able to forgive and forget. He added that at the foot of the cross, Mary becomes for all people the mother of forgiveness, as she follows in the example of her Son who forgives those who are killing him." Mary is now the mother of forgiveness? Can you or will you accept that?

Another concept we shouldn’t accept is Peter as our first pope or that the pope can speak for God on earth. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus says “And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” This is the verse that the Catholics use to make their claim of Jesus designating Peter as the head of the church with the power to bind and unbind. Let’s look further to see if that claim is true or false.

A little further on in Matthew 18:18 Jesus is talking to his disciples, note not just to Peter, when he says “Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” If you read the context of the verse you will see that these words are not directed only to Peter but to all the disciples. The same words that are used for “evidence” that Peter was placed as our first pope were spoken to others of Jesus’ disciples placing all believers with the authority to bind and unbind.

Let’s take a look at another passage in the Bible, John 20:19 says “that Jesus appears to his disciples and says “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven, if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Does that sound like Jesus handed the authority to forgive sins to Peter only? He was addressing all of his disciples that were there, yet the Catholic church still insists that all authority was given only to Peter? And was the authority to forgive sins actually passed on to the disciples? I thought the bible taught that only God can forgive sins. If that is true and only God can forgive sins, what was Jesus actually telling his disciples?

I think that we, as believers, can bind and unbind or forgive sins because it is not through our own power and authority but because as believers we can confidently say “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) If we don’t accept his free gift of salvation, we will all die in our sins, so as a disciple or follower of Christ we can declare that if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved and that your sins are forgiven.

Wikipedia says this about binding and loosing. “To bind and to loose simply means to forbid by an indisputable authority and to permit by an indisputable authority." We as believers aren’t actually doing the forbidding and permitting, or the binding and loosing, but by an indisputable authority. It is upon Peter’s divine revelation and confession of faith in Christ that “thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” that he, Jesus, will build his church, not upon Peter himself. I am not a scholar, but I believe I am interpreting this correctly. But whether I am or not, I do know that Peter is not our rock and no man on earth is infallible, including the pope.

We could reference many verses telling us who our rock is, and not one refers to Peter as our rock. Psalms 31:3 says “For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me.” Psalms 18:31 says “For who is God save the Lord? Or who is a rock save our God?” Isaiah 44:8 “is there any God besides Me, or is there any other rock? I know of none.” Jesus didn’t say “Upon you Peter, I will build my church," but said "Upon this rock I will build my church.” It is upon the confession of thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, upon recognizing the Messiah and his belief in Him on which He builds His church.

In 1 Peter 5:1 Peter refers to himself as a “fellow elder,” not regarding or placing himself in any authority. Peter is translated as "stone". As the body of Christ we are all little stones that make up the foundation of His church upon our acts of faith. Peter tells us in Acts 4:11-12 "Jesus is the stone you builder rejected, which has become the cornerstone. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."

Peter himself tells us that Christ is the head of the corner. Then he reminds us that there is no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved. This can't be repeated enough to actually get us to think about what he is saying. There is only one name we should be calling upon and none other. Let that sink in.

The following two verses illustrate the importance of building our lives on the right foundation:

Luke 6:46-49 “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them: He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid his foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the torrent crashed against that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears My words and does not act on them is like a man who built his house on ground without a foundation. The torrent crashed against that house, and immediately it fell and great was its destruction.”

Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the torrents rages, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell and great was its collapse!”

In order to test the truth of teachings, we need a solid foundation of His word. If you know His word, you won't be fooled into believing error. So what do you say, do we build our houses on sand like a foolish man, or like a wise man, on an immovable solid rock? Do we build on a solid foundation that can’t be shaken, which is His word, or man's word, which will cause us all to fall with great destruction? He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He has not changed his mind like the Church always seems to be doing. I need to pose the question yet again so it sinks in: Who is our rock save our God? Is He the one of the Catholic church's making or of what scripture clearly tells us?

On the front cover of this book is a picture of the Pope’s Audience Hall at the Vatican. What does that look like to you? Why would they make such a design? It looks to me like the pope is speaking from the mouth of a snake sitting right between his fangs, scales and all. I’ll leave it up to you to decide what to think of that.

The pope, thereby the church, has left all the basic tenets of Christianity and it’s all cloaked behind global peace, love, and unity. To make matters worse, he labels Christians that adhere to the basic principles of Christianity or the Bible as violent. The dictionary defines fundamentalism as ”strict adherence to the basic principles of any subject or discipline." Apparently the pope has spoken up quite a bit about fundamentalism. He has said, among many other comments, “A fundamentalist group, although it may not kill anyone, although it may not strike anyone, is violent. The mental structure of fundamentalists is violence in the name of God.” Did you get that? If you believe in the exclusive basic fundamental principles of, “I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me,” you are a violent person and a threat to humanity. I say if we don’t have a strict adherence to faith in Jesus as the only way to eternal life, we’ve followed the lie in one way or another and have let someone or some organization snatch away your only opportunity for eternal life.

One article I read in response from the Church was that Pope Francis is simply trying to point out that we don’t know everything as if we have the corner on truth. What truth is he talking about?" That Jesus is the only way to eternal life? Are we to agree with the Muslims, that Jesus was only a prophet? Or maybe with the Jews, that the Messiah hasn’t come yet? Or maybe with the Mormons, that say we can become like God? Or how about with the Jehovah's Witnesses that say that Jesus was Michael the Archangel before he came to earth! We can come up with any twisted doctrine we want when we add or even change God’s word as they do. I have a really difficult time understanding how people who truly set aside their own preconceived misconceptions and, of course, above all their pride can be misled into believing so many false doctrines. I was one of those blind followers until I woke up to the outright contradictions the Catholic church was teaching me. It’s there in black and white, and sometimes in red! Read it for yourself. That’s what He wants you to do. That’s why He wrote it.

In Matthew 23:10 God tells us that “None of you should be called leader. The Messiah is your only leader.” That is completely opposed to what the Catholic church teaches about Peter being handed over the “keys to the kingdom of heaven." Jesus would not designate Peter as our first pope or leader of the church opposing his own teaching. Designating Peter as our first pope is made up out of thin air and there is no scriptural support for this claim.

What about the infallibility of the pope? The following is a direct quote from Catholic answers.com. The article titled “Papal Infallibility” reads as follows: “The Catholic church's teaching on papal infallibility is one that is generally misunderstood by those outside the church. In particular, Fundamentalists and other Bible Christians often confuse the charism of papal “infallibility” with “impeccability.” They imagine Catholics believe the pope cannot sin." Further on it reads, “Given these common misapprehensions regarding the basic tenets of papal infallibility, it is necessary to explain exactly what infallibility is not. Infallibility is not the absence of sin. Nor is it a charism that belongs only to the pope. Indeed, infallibility also belongs to the body of bishops as a whole, when, in doctrinal unity with the pope, they solemnly teach a doctrine as true. We have this from Jesus himself, who promised the apostles and their successors the bishops, the magisterium of the church: “He who hears you hears me” (Luke 10:16)

So they agree that we are all sinners, including the pope, the bishops, etc., but when it comes to doctrine we are to believe that infallibility belongs to the body of bishops as a whole because “We have this from Jesus himself, who promised the apostles and their successors, the bishops, the magisterium of the Church: ‘He who hears you hears me.’ ” The only problem with them quoting, "He who hears you hears me" is, as far as I can tell, Jesus wasn't even speaking to the apostles but to the seventy he sent out before him! Read Luke 10 for yourself to see who Jesus was speaking to. The Catholic church is right on one point. Papal infallibility is generally misunderstood by those outside the church because we can see past their deceptions.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that these men "the magisterium of the Church" or the teaching authority of the Roman Catholic Church, have some special authority over any and all believers and are infallible when it comes to the Word of God and His truth. I need to say again so it is understood that Jesus didn't address these words, "He who hears you, hears me" to his apostles. The Bible tells us he was talking to the 72 "others" or disciples that he sent forth two by two to where he was going ahead of Him, not to the apostles themselves.

If the claim for papal infallibility is true, why have we had more than one pope reverse a pronouncement of a previous pope? That doesn't make any sense because truth never changes. Don't listen to their mere man-made doctrine. God tells us in Mark 7:7-9 "Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men..." He says we "Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition." We can't let the evil one get his way and lay aside the commandments of God so that we can keep our own tradition. Don't let that be you.

The Catholic church claims, based on Christ's mandate, that Christ instructed the church to preach everything he taught. They site Matthew 28:19-20 known as the Great Commission. I always believed that the Great Commission was for everyone to follow and that His church are the people, not an institution. Next they site John 16:13 that says "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come." The Spirit of truth is the Holy Spirit that every true born again Christian has inside of them, not these select few. Can you still adhere to the thought that the pope is infallible and can speak for God on earth?

In December 2019 it was splashed all over the internet about Pope Francis responding to a question about how to deal with atheists and people of other faiths. His answer was quite lengthy so I will try and paraphrase. He said with an unbeliever the last thing we need to do is try and convince him. He said we need to live consistent with our faith and that it will be our testimony to awaken the curiosity of others. And yes, then you can speak. But he says never, never bring the gospel by proselytizing (attempting to convert). The next words are hard to believe they came out of his mouth, but here it goes. If someone says they are a disciple of Jesus and comes to you with proselytism, they are not a disciple of Jesus. He said the church doesn't grow by proselytism but by attraction and testimony. But without pressure.

I agree with part of that statement. Absolutely people will be drawn to Jesus through our testimony and actions, but it can't stop there. What was Paul doing preaching in the synagogue week after week? He wasn't trying to convince believers but unbelievers! The Bible says he tried to persuade them about Jesus. Actions might speak louder than words, but words are necessary in order to communicate the message. In order to fulfill the Great Commission, words are imperative and indispensable to understanding His message. We don't live in the Dark Ages anymore where there is pressure to convert or die. The only pressure there is, is the pressure we put on ourselves due to our culture, family and the way we are brought up. The only pressure is to know the truth and not let man or Satan subtlety corrupt His word and blind you to His truth.

Pope Francis himself has said that Satan is stalking the Catholic church. He has said that we should not think of the devil as a myth which would lead us to the mistake of letting down our guard. He said the devil is alive and well and is actively working to undermine the Roman Catholic Church. I don't believe the pope really understands the depth of that statement. He was referring to the sex abuse crisis in the church, but it goes far deeper than that. The sex abuse crisis in the church is absolutely depraved and of the devil there is no doubt, but does the pope or any other bishop, priest or clergymen of the church see what else is of the devil?

According to https://www.vaticannews.va/en.html on Sept. 29, 2018 Pope Francis called on Catholics worldwide to pray the Rosary during the month of October, asking the Mother of God and St. Michael the Archangel “to protect the church from the devil, who always seeks to separate us from God and from each other." I have a real problem with that. Why are we asking Mary or Michael the Archangel to protect us from the devil? He asked to spread this appeal to all the faithful throughout the world, inviting them to conclude the recitation of the Rosary with the ancient invocation “Sub Tuum Praesidium,” and with the prayer to Saint Michael Archangel that he protect us and help us in the struggle against evil. With this request for intercession the Holy Father asks the faithful of all the world to pray that the Holy Mother of God place the church beneath her protective mantle...

The invocation “Sub Tuum Praesidium” is recited as follows: “We fly to thy protection, O Holy Mother of God; do not despise our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O Glorious and Blessed Virgin. Amen."

The Holy Father has also asked that the recitation of the Holy Rosary during the month of October conclude with the prayer written by Leo XIII: “Saint Michael Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.”

The pope is right about one thing. The devil is alive and well and is attacking the Word of God and wants your focus off of Jesus and onto Mary or Saint Michael the Archangel or anyone but Him. Always remember and keep in mind that he is the father of lies! Don't fall for his subtle lies and deceptions.

Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Our minds can be deceived too easily when we put our trust in anything or anyone else but Jesus and His word. Only the Bible is totally trustworthy. When religious traditions conflict with the plain meaning of Scripture, then we need to discard those traditions. We cannot afford to do otherwise, because our eternal destiny is at stake.

We can’t have a discussion on the Catholic Church or the clergy without mentioning the widespread corruption within the church that has been covered up and swept under the rug as much as possible. The exposed scandals against numerous priests accused of pedophilia, child trafficking and the repeated raping of nuns sound like Satan’s work to me. The fact that those words can be all in one sentence proves it’s the work of the devil. Evil has penetrated the Vatican and has been exposed for all to see, except people just seem to turn a blind eye.

Billions of dollars have been paid to victims of crimes committed by priests. How does the Church handle the issue? They attempt to cover it up by transferring the offending priests to different parishes so it can happen all over again. We could discuss this at length, but it is sickening to contemplate.

Look up the history of the popes for yourselves. If even a tiny portion of the history of the depravity of past popes is true, I hope it drives home that these people who call themselves men of God are not!

This is another disturbing picture of the Pope’s Audience Hall. This is directly behind where the pope sits. A picture is worth a thousand words, and it’s a good thing because I’m at a loss for words.