The Church

AliveinJesus · Site Admin Joined: 03 May 2007 Posts: 64

The Church

The difficulty for those within the Roman catholic church today is that the very foundation of the church is thought to be the Roman Catholic church itself ~ therefore she is to be believed without question on issues of morals and doctrines ~ but this is not the teaching of Gods Word and it's something that needs to be looked at in much more detail.

During the time of Constantine, in about 306 AD, Christianity became the state religion of the Roman empire and the persecution of Christians ceased. Rome was now considered the headquarters for this new church which mixed and merged paganism with Christianity to form the Roman Catholic church. It is a fallacy to suggest that the RC church existed from the time of the Ascension and Pentecost when infact it was only in the 4th century that it was formed, with doctrines and dogma's added at different times to suggest it was in existence from the time of the apostles.

Pagan symbolism is clearly visible in the RC church today and in much of the architecture and art work at the Vatican ~ it's clearly visible by those who are open to the truth. The very title Pontiff comes from the name Pontiff Maximus ~ the title given to the Pagan High Priest ~ overwhelming evidence supports this.

The Catholic church was then accepted (at the time of Constantine) and it's doctrines organized into that religion. Anyone who went against it was now persecuted as much as the Christians went through earlier. Persecution which continues today in many heavily catholic countries where people were told by Pope JP II to 'defend the faith vigiorously' against protestantism. Perhaps violence and persecution was not his intention ~ but he never clarified this even when some atrocities came to the attention of the world and couldn't possibly be ignored by the RC church. Pleading ignorance is the poorest excuse.

They claim Peter to be the first pope ~ yet they distort scripture to support this view ~ especially abusing the meaning of God's Word in Matthew 16:18.

Matt 16:18 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.

They claim Peter to be the rock spoken of in this verse ~ yet we know that the name Peter means small pebble or stone ~ and Jesus is the rock and cornerstone on which the Church is built. It was Peter's confession of faith in Jesus that was significant because it is He that the church would be built upon ~ not the person of Peter.

2 Sam 22:2 And he said, The LORD [is] my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;

2 Sam 22:32 For who [is] God, save the LORD? and who [is] a rock, save our God?

Psalm 62:2 He only [is] my rock and my salvation; [he is] my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.

The verse following this is then used to suggest that Peter has some sort of authority over the rest of the apostles.

Matt 16:19 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.

When we read through the whole of this chapter we see that Jesus is not speaking to Peter alone but to all the apostles who are with Him. When Peter confesses Jesus as Lord the Lord gives thanks that the Holy Spirit has revealed the truth to Him. We can be certain that vs 19 is given to all of the apostles when we see it confirmed again in Matthew 18:18. The authority here to bind and loose is given clearly to all of the apostles.

They claim to hold 'the chair of Peter' but again no such thing is spoken of in Scripture. The verses relating to the 'mercy seat' and 'Moses chair' are both distorted.

The chair or 'mercy seat' in the OT verses are refering to the 'mercy seat' within the Temple, behind the veil. The seat was sprinkled 7 times on the Day of Atonement symbolically reconcilling Jehovah with His chosen people. He that ministered at the alter couldn't see the mercy seat yet he was commanded to face it and burn the incence toward it. This was to teach us that we can not see the throne of grace with our eyes, yet we must in prayer by faith set ourselves before it, direct our prayer, and look up to that wonderful throne where God resides.

The reference to Moses seat in Matt 23:2 is symbolically stating that the Scribes and Pharisees hold an office of authority ordained by God. (Notice here the plural ~ they held the authority ordained by God ~ not one individual so clearly no indication of the need for a Pope or Vicar of Christ to be Christ's representative here on earth). Christ remains Head of the Church from His postition in the heavenly realm and He requires no single man to be His representative on earth. The Pharisees and scribes knew the scriptures and the law and were well acquainted with the history and customs. Christ would have the people make use of their knowledge of scripture and do according to the scriptures. Good truths remain good truths even when preached by bad ministers. Therefore the people were warned to accept their knowledge, but not to follow in their footsteps. There were 4 main faults of the Pharisees and Scribes.

1. Their saying and doing were two contrary things.

2. They imposed a heavy yoke around the people ~ insisiting on observances they themselves did not keep. We know that the yoke of the Lord is light and not burdensome.

3. They were all for show. We must do our works for the glory of God not men and not for show.

4. They were full of pride, coveting the names given them such as rabbi and father, and being placed in a postition of superiority.

Also,frequently the RC church refers to the roles of men such as Moses and Abraham in the Old Testemant for the need to have one identified leader ~ but this is misleading. Firstly as the above discussion clarifies the role of church leadership was not given to one man but to all those God ordained ~ clearly there are roles within the church ~ bishops, deacons, etc ~ but those ordained to be bishops today ALL come under God's authority and not the authority of one man. Secondly, Moses and Abraham were filled with the Spirit of God and God spoke to them as He willed ~ something that was bestowed at that time on certain men. However, the New Testemant shows us that when Christ ascended to Heaven the Holy Spirit was poured out, not just on a few men, but on all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Cr 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

1 Cr 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

Unless people are willing to be open to the power of God's Holy Spirit and allow the Spirit to guide them in all things deception will prevail ~ Satan's seat will remain in Rome. This is a hard teaching but it is true that Satan is the great deceiver ~ and the hearts of men are easily manipulated when they don't fully surrender to God Almighty but instead surrender to a church ~ and a Magisterium ~ they surrender to the teachings of men based on some false belief that they have infallibility in matters of faith.

One false doctrine built on another ~ one false teaching built on another ~ the manipulation of scriptures to suit her dogma's ~ the web of lies is far greater then is noticed at a first glance.

Its only through the deeper study of these teachings alongside God's Holy Word that shows the falseness of the RC church. We exhort you to study the Word and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you in knowledge and truth. Listen not to the teachings of men who claim authority but instead use the written Word of God which comes directly from divine authority.