Some of you will not like the content here presented, some will be pissed even. But if you choose to read on till the end, you will not only uncover some deep secrets which explain why some pastors/priests prevent people from reading the two books (Daniel and Revelation). You will have enough information to choose for yourself what to believe, unlike following blindly. I know you've been curious all along, which is why I promise to keep the symbolism to a minimum.
The World They Didn't Want You to See
There are some people or churches that teach that only the priest or pastor has the ability and intelligence to understand and interpret the Bible. But that's not a concept that the Bible teaches at all. God wants each person who can read to study the Bible for themselves and decide what to believe. I know you are smart enough to understand the Bible.
On this journey together, I'm hoping that you will see just how simple it is to understand the Bible. I'm hoping that you will develop enough interest to study it on your own after you see how consistent it is in its teachings.
The foundation
Daniel chapter 7, starting from verse 3, introduces some strange looking beasts. I say strange because they are strange, for example "a lion, and had eagle's wings..." is strange to me. Lions don't have wings.
Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth. Thus he said, 'The fourth beast shall be A fourth kingdom on earth...'
- Daniel 7: 17, 23
It's clear from the above verses that a beast simply represents a king and his kingdom. That's all there is to it. As for the nature of these beasts, their "strange" features represent the characteristics of these kings and their kingdoms.
The actual four kingdoms represented by these four beasts are Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and the Roman Empire in that order. Babylon was the kingdom ruling at the time.
These kingdoms are important because of their connection with God's people. While there were other kingdoms at the time, these four are the ones that were actively connected with God's people. The Israelites had been captured and taken to Babylon, Daniel was one of them.
Babylon was defeated by Medo-Persia, which was in turn defeated by Greece, under Alexandre the great (you must have heard this name before), which was in turn defeated by Rome, the Roman empire. The Roman empire was ruling during Jesus' time.
QUICK RECAP: Daniel saw four beasts, these beasts represent four kingdoms, these kingdoms are Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and the Roman empire. These kingdoms are important because of their connection with God's people.
It's true that these kingdoms are all part of history now, so why should be talk about them? Here is why:
Without studying Daniel, we have no idea what a beast is. We have no way of explaining the beasts in Revelation. Since Revelation is a book about things that are supposed to happen presently and in the near future, we have no way of knowing what to look out for.
Without studying these past kingdoms, we have no way of identifying the beast, most importantly, we have no way of knowing what his mark is. There's no way to avoid the mark of the beast if we have no idea what it is. Let me put this plain, anyone who tries to explain the mark of the beast without, referring to the book of Daniel, is spreading lies for sure.
These beasts (kingdoms) establish a timeline that we can then use to trace the events that are meant to happen in our time. The current widespread disinterest in studying these books (Daniel and Revelation) is not inspired by the spirit of God.
The fourth beast is said to be "diverse", which means different, from the other beasts. It has ten horns, which represent the 10 nations that resulted from the ruins of the Roman empire (Daniel 7: 24). Among the 10 horns, a "little horn" sprouted and when it did, it "subdued" three others. Interesting things are said about this "little horn".
Its Claims : It has "A MOUTH SPEAKING GREAT THINGS AND BLASPHEMIES" Daniel 7:8, 11, 20, 25; 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 13:1, 5, 6
Its Inherited Authority: "THE DRAGON GAVE HIM ...HIS THRONE" Revelation 13:2
The Circumstances of its Rise: "HE SHALL SUBDUE THREE KINGS" Daniel 7:8; Daniel 7:20; Daniel 7:24
Its Inherited Characteristics: "LIKE A LEOPARD,... A BEAR, AND...A LION" Daniel 7:12; Revelation 13:2
Its Persecuting Activity: "SHALL PERSECUTE THE SAINTS OF THE MOST HIGH" Daniel 7:21, 25; Revelation 13:7
Its Number: "HIS NUMBER IS 666" Revelation 13:18
Its Doctrine: "DOES NOT CONFESSES THAT JESUS CHRIST HAS COME IN THE FLESH" 1 John 4:3; 2 John 7
Its Attempt to Tamper with God’s Law: "HE SHALL...INTEND TO CHANGE TIMES AND LAW" Daniel 7:25
Its Duration: "A TIME AND TIMES AND HALF A TIME" Daniel 7:25; Daniel 12:7; Revelation 12:14, "FORTY-TWO MONTHS" Revelation 11:2; Revelation 13:5 and "ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY DAYS" Revelation 11:3; Revelation 12:6
Its Apparent Death and then Healing: "AS IF IT HAD BEEN MORTALLY WOUNDED" Revelation 13:3, "HIS DEADLY WOUND WAS HEALED" Revelation 13:3
You will notice that the "little horn" is the same as the beast in Revelation 13, the same beast which has 666 as its number.
Here is the moment of truth, the "little horn" points to the pope of the Roman Catholic church! That's a bold statement to make I know, but watch this...
A man who sits in a temple and calls himself God
The little horn has "A MOUTH SPEAKING GREAT THINGS AND BLASPHEMIES" Daniel 7:8, 11, 20, 25; 2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 13:1, 5, 6
The Bible gives two definitions of blasphemy: (1) John 10:33 -- When a man makes himself God; (2) Luke 5:20, 21 -- Claiming the power which belongs only to God to forgive sins. The papacy makes both of these claims. Notice the following quotations:
Thou art another God on earth.
—Christopher Marcellus’ Oration in the Fifth Lateran Council, 4th session. [Said about the Pope]
We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.
- Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter "The Reunion of Christendom.".
All names which in the Scriptures are applied to Christ...all the same names are applied to the Pope.
—Robert Bellarmine, Disputationes de Controversiis, Tom. 2.
Hence the pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven and of earth and of the lower regions.
—Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca , "Papa", art. 2.
The very title, pope, means "papa," or "father." It is a title which in religious usage belongs only to God. "Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven." Matthew 23:9.
They have assumed infallibility, which belongs only to God. They profess to forgive sins, which belongs only to God. They profess to open and shut heaven, which belongs only to God. They profess to be higher than all the kings of the earth, which belongs only to God. And they go beyond God in pretending to loose whole nations from their oath of allegiance to their kings, when such kings do not please them. And they go against God, when they give indulgences for sin. This is the worst of all blasphemies.
- Adam Clarke, Commentary , on Daniel 7:25.
Furthermore, this "little horn" or beast of Revelation 13 is said to be "the man of sin... who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped,... he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." [2 Thessalonians 2:3,4]
He got his power from the Dragon
"THE DRAGON GAVE HIM ...HIS THRONE" Revelation 13:2
Who is the dragon? According to the Bible (Revelation 12:19), the dragon is the Devil himself.
In Mathew chapter 4 the devil came to tempt Jesus. Let's zoom in on the third temptation a bit. The devil "showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And... said to Him 'All these things I will give...'". You will notice that the devil presented the same temptation to the bishop of Rome, only that this time he succeeded. That's how the papal seat was born.
Pay attention to the contrast in character between the pope and Christ. Jesus rejected the earthly power that the devil offered. The Savior did not own a house or a plot while on earth. On the other hand the pope claims to have power over all earthly kings, that includes presidents and all other earthly rulers.
The devil worked through paganism to try and step out Christianity by way of persecution. But the more Christians they killed the more people converted to Christianity.
Since he wasn't really succeeding through persecution, the devil infiltrated Christianity instead. Here is exactly how the devil managed to infiltrate Christianity and set up his throne in the church in the form of the papal seat.
A roman emperor named Constantine, whose mission was to join both the pagans and Christians together, stopped the persecution of Christians. Then later joined the church. This was merely a political move to gain the support of as many people as possible. He worked with the bishops of the church of Rome and their compromise was a reduced standard in the church. The church now allowed pagan rituals and ceremonies, only that these rituals would now be called Christian names. This is where the adoration of saints practiced in the Roman catholic today stems from, among other things.
When Constantine moved his capital to Byzantium, which he named Constantinople, he donated the palace in Rome to the bishop of Rome. This laid the foundation for the establishment of the papal seat, the church was on its way to becoming a kingdom. But it was later that the seat was firmly established.
On the vacated seat of the Roman Empire arose the papacy. Said one historian,
The Pope...is Caesar’s successor.
—Adolf Harnack, What is Christianity? (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1903), p. 270.
He vanquishes three kings in order to have power
"HE SHALL SUBDUE THREE KINGS" Daniel 7:8; Daniel 7:20; Daniel 7:24
The Roman Empire gave its power to ten nations in 476 A.D, these ten nations were represented by the ten horns of the fourth beast of Daniel 7. Of the ten nations, the Heruli, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths would not recognize the Bishop of Rome as the head of the church, and were deposed. These three nations are represented by the three horns that were "uprooted" in order for the "little horn" (the papacy) to sprout.
You remember that the bishop of Rome didn't posses full power immediately after inheriting the seat from Constantine in the 4th century. In A.D. 533, however, emperor Justinian issued a decree recognizing the bishop of Rome as the "head of all the holy churches." But even then, full sovereignty could not be realized as long as the Ostrogoths held power in Rome.
The Ostrogoths were the last of the three kingdoms which would not recognize the Roman bishop’s authority. Then in 538 the Ostrogoths were overwhelmingly defeated. The bishop of Rome, with unchallenged political and ecclesiastical authority, was now the most powerful man in the West. The church finally became a kingdom, with the pope as its king, in A.D 538.
He has parts of all the other kingdoms in him
"LIKE A LEOPARD,... A BEAR, AND...A LION" Daniel 7:12; Revelation 13:2
The vital aspects of the kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece are preserved in the papacy. The priesthood and sacramental ritual of Catholicism were taken directly from the Babylonian cults. Also from ancient Babylon came the worship of a virgin mother-goddess. The Persian sun-worship religion, Mithraism, has been preserved in amazingly precise detail in the holidays and religious customs of the Catholic people. Doctrines and philosophies of Greek Gnosticism taught by the church fathers and adopted by early Catholic councils are still alive today.
The Catholic Cardinal Newman gives an extended list of things "of pagan origin" which the papacy brought into the church "in order to recommend the new religion to the heathen":
the use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches of trees; incense...candles...holy water...holydays...processions...sacerdotal vestments...the ring in marriage...images...the ecclesiastical chant.
—J. H. Newman, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine , 1920 ed., p. 373.
Him and his kingdom kill off God's people
"SHALL PERSECUTE THE SAINTS OF THE MOST HIGH" Daniel 7:21, 25; Revelation 13:7
For professing faith contrary to the teachings of the Church of Rome, history records the martyrdom of more than one hundred million people. A million Waldenses and Albigenses perished during a crusade proclaimed by Pope Innocent III in 1208; beginning from the establishment of the Jesuits in 1540 to 1580, nine hundred thousand were destroyed; one hundred and fifty thousand perished by the Inquisition in 30 years; within the space of thirty-eight years after the edict of Charles V against Protestants, fifty thousand persons were hanged, beheaded, or burned alive for heresy; eighteen thousand more perished during the administration of the Duke of Alva in five and a half years.
—Brief Bible Readings for Busy People , No. 8.
That the Church of Rome has shed more innocent blood than any other institution that has ever existed among mankind, will be questioned by no Protestant who has a competent knowledge of history.... It is impossible to form a complete conception of the multitude of her victims, and it is quite certain that no powers of imagination can adequately realise their sufferings.
- W. E. H. Lecky, History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe (1955 ed.), Vol. 2, p. 40.
666 The beast's number
"HIS NUMBER IS 666" Revelation 13:18
Let us notice four facts about the mystical number 666:
1. It is "the number of the beast " (verse 18).
2. It is "the number of a man " (verse 18).
3. It is "the number of his name " (verse 17).
4. If a person "has understanding" he can " calculate the number" (verse 18).
The Catholic Douay Bible has this note on Revelation 13:18:
The numeral letters of his name shall make up this number.
So all we need is an understanding of the pope’s name and we will be able to add it up ourselves. The Catholic weekly, Our Sunday Visitor , April 18, 1915, says,
The letters inscribed in the Pope’s miter are these: VICARIUS FILII DEI, which is the Latin for `VICAR OF THE SON OF GOD.’
This title is applied to the pope in Roman Catholic literature of high standing (Prompta Bibliotheca, by Ferraris, in the article "Papa"). In English this expression is applied to the pope eleven times by Cardinal Manning in his book, The Temporal Sovereignty of the Pope. Thus the title is of undisputed authenticity. It expresses very plainly the position the pope claims to possess.
How does one calculate the number of his name? Before the use of numbers as we have them today, letters of the alphabet were given numerical significance. In ancient heathen cults much thought was given to the preparing of titles which contained the desired numerical significance.
You are familiar with Roman numerals, the numbering system used in ancient Rome. I=1; V or U=5; X=10; L=50; C=100; D=500. Let’s add up the numerical value of the pope’s title:
V = 5
I = 1
C = 100
A = 0
R = 0
I = 1
U = 5
S = 0
F = 0
I = 1
L = 50
I = 1
I = 1
D = 500
E = 0
I = 1
TOTAL: 666
QUICK RECAP: The "little horn" king is the pope of the Roman catholic church. He, a man, claims to be God on earth. The papal seat was firmly established in 538 A.D when the Ostrogoths were defeated. The church then became a kingdom with the pope as its king. The number 666 is not necessarily the beast, nor is it the mark of the beast, it's the number of the beast's name. We can calculate the number by adding the roman numerals in the beast (pope)'s name which is VICARIUS FILLI DEI. The catholic church, killed off millions of people whom they called heretics for believing contrary to its teachings. This kingdom forces religion on pain of persecution or even death. Finally, the catholic church adopted pagan ceremonies and worship rituals which have no foundation in the Bible, instead are borrowed from ancient Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece.
He teaches the immaculate conception of Mary
"DOES NOT CONFESSES THAT JESUS CHRIST HAS COME IN THE FLESH" 1 John 4:3; 2 John 7
According to the Bible, a primary characteristic of antichrist is its teachings regarding the human nature of Christ. The apostle John (who also recorded the book of Revelation) warned that antichrist would deny that Jesus Christ came in the flesh.
The Bible says that Jesus came "in the likeness of men," "in the likeness of sinful flesh." He came in the nature of those whom He wished to save. "In all things" he was "made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest."
Catholic belief denies that Jesus came in the nature that you and I possess. The Catholic doctrine of the immaculate conception teaches that Mary was born without the ability to sin. Jesus, therefore, was born with a nature so far removed from us that He could not fully be "touched with the feeling of our infirmities," or be "in all points tempted like as we are."
He attempts to change God's law
HE SHALL...INTEND TO CHANGE TIMES AND LAW" Daniel 7:25
Primarily, the activities of the little horn are directed not merely against human authority, but against God Himself. Says the text, "He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High." The "times and law" that he would "intend to change" would therefore be "of the Most High." The papacy would actually claim the right to alter divine law.
Consider the following statement made in Pope Nicholas’ time.
The pope has authority and has often exercised it, to dispense with the commands of Christ...He can dispense above the law, and of wrong make right, by correcting and changing laws.
Again,
The pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even divine laws.... The pope can modify divine law, since his power is not of man, but of God, and he acts in the place of God upon earth, with the fullest power of binding and loosing his sheep.
- Lucius Ferraris, "Papa," art. 2, in Prompta Bibliotheca.
You remember that the Ten Commandments are the only part of the Bible which God both spoke with His own voice and wrote with his own finger. They are found in Exodus 20:3-17. Here are a few examples of where the papacy has tried to change God’s law. You will find these changes in any Catholic catechism.
God’s second commandment says in Exodus 20:4-6,
You shall not make for yourself a carved image.
But because it speaks against the use of carved images which are a vital part of Catholic worship, the papacy has completely removed God’s second commandment from its teachings. Then in order to come up with ten, they divide the tenth into two separate commandments, again attempting to change God’s law.
Our text says he shall "intend to change times and law ." The only law of God that has to do with time is His fourth commandment. It says:
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work.
The current widespread profaning of God’s holy Sabbath day, and the veneration of the day of the sun, were brought about by no other authority than the Roman Catholic papacy itself. The papacy picked it up as just another practice inherited from heathenism.
It's clear from the Catholic catechism (shown below) that the change from the seventh to the first day of the week was a change made by the catholic church:
Q. Which is the Sabbath day?
A. Saturday is the Sabbath day.
Q. Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
A. We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.
—Peter Geiermann, The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine (1957 ed.), p. 50.
He ruled for 1260 years
"A TIME AND TIMES AND HALF A TIME" Daniel 7:25; Daniel 12:7; Revelation 12:14
"FORTY-TWO MONTHS" Revelation 11:2; Revelation 13:5
"ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY DAYS" Revelation 11:3; Revelation 12:6
These three expressions all refer to the period of time during which the papacy was to exercise its supremacy.
"A time and times and half a time." A "time" represents a year (Daniel 4:16; 11:13, margin). One prophetic year equals 360 prophetic days. In Aramaic (the original language used in Daniel 7:25) the word "times" means "two times." So let’s add it up.
1 time = 360 prophetic days
+2 times = 720 prophetic days
+half time = 180 prophetic days
TOTAL = 1260 PROPHETIC DAYS
"Forty-two months". A prophetic month consists of 30 prophetic days. So let’s multiply it.
30 days per month
x 42 months
TOTAL = 1260 PROPHETIC DAYS
With seven references in Scripture to this time period, one thing is clear. The papacy was to be in power for exactly 1260 prophetic days.
The Bible gives us a scale for interpreting prophetic time - "each day for a year." Two Biblical instances when this scale was used are Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6.
Let's apply the scale to the prophecy at hand:
1 prophetic day = 1 literal year
1260 prophetic days = 1260 LITERAL YEARS
History confirms the fact that the papacy held supremacy for exactly 1260 years. In A.D. 533, emperor Justinian issued a decree recognizing the bishop of Rome as the "head of all the holy churches." But full sovereignty could not be realized as long as the Ostrogoths held power in Rome. The Ostrogoths being the last of the three kingdoms which would not recognize the Roman bishop’s authority. Then in 538 the Ostrogoths were overwhelmingly defeated. The bishop of Rome, with unchallenged political and ecclesiastical authority, was now the most powerful man in the West. That year, 538, marks the beginning of the 1260 years of papal supremacy. Now let’s do some addition.
A.D. 538
+ 1260 years
A.D. 1798
On February 10, 1798, during the French Revolution, Napoleon’s general, Berthier, entered Rome, proclaimed a republic, and took the pope prisoner. The pope died shortly thereafter in Valence, France. That year, 1798, marks the end of the 1260 years of papal supremacy.
He had lost his power at one time, but then got it back again
"AS IF IT HAD BEEN MORTALLY WOUNDED" Revelation 13:3
"HIS DEADLY WOUND WAS HEALED" Revelation 13:3
The death blow which took place on February 10, 1798, marking the end of the 1260 years, was the deadly wound getting inflicted on the beast. This destroyed the papal structure, at least for a moment. But the Bible says "his deadly wound was healed".
In 1870 the Italian government took over the city of Rome. But in 1929 Cardinal Gasparri met Premier Mussolini in the Lateran Palace to sign the Treaty of the Vatican, returning political power to the papacy.
The Catholic Advocate in Australia (April 18, 1929, p. 16) said that its effect was to "heal a wound of 59 years." The front page of the San Francisco Chronicle of February 12, 1929 carried the headline, "Heal Wound of Many Years." The Associated Press dispatch of the event said,
In affixing the autographs to the memorable document, healing the wound which has festered since 1870, extreme cordiality was displayed on both sides.
Thus in 1929 Vatican City was recognized as an independent state, the pope its king. Religious and civil power were once again united in the papal office.
On March 9, 1929 the pope could say,
The peoples of the entire world are with us.
Exactly what the Bible predicted -
And all the world marveled and followed the beast.
Today there is not a man on earth who receives more publicity, or whose movements are more closely followed than the pope.
QUICK RECAP: The papacy, and his catholic system, teaches the doctrine of the immaculate conception of Mary, a fact which further confirms he's the antichrist. They (the papacy and the catholic system), attempted to change God's law. They removed the second commandment which forbids image worship, changed the Sabbath day from Saturday to Sunday and split the tenth commandment into two to make up for the second. The papacy was in power for exactly 1260 years (538 A.D to 1798 A.D), just as the bible predicted. At the end of these 1260 years, in 1798, the papal system was destroyed when the pope was imprisoned. But it was only destroyed for a moment, it went back into power in 1929.
The Downward Spiral
The roman catholic church, which once held the truth, is apostate. This apostacy did not happen overnight. As early as the first century, errors that prepared the way for the development of the papacy, started creeping into the church.
Little by little, at first in stealth and silence, and then more openly as it increased in strength and gained control of the minds of men, the "mystery of iniquity" [2 Thessalonians 2:7] carried forward its deceptive and blasphemous work.
The spirit of compromise and conformity was restrained for a time by the fierce persecutions which the church endured under paganism. But as persecution ceased, and Christianity entered the courts and palaces of kings, she laid aside the humble simplicity of Christ and his apostles for the pomp and pride of pagan priests and rulers; and in place of the requirements of God, she substituted human theories and traditions. The nominal conversion of Constantine, in the early part of the fourth century, caused great rejoicing; and the world, cloaked with a form of righteousness, walked into the church. Now the work of corruption rapidly progressed. Paganism, while appearing to be vanquished, became the conqueror. Her spirit controlled the church. Her doctrines, ceremonies, and superstitions were incorporated into the faith and worship of the professed followers of Christ.
This compromise between paganism and Christianity resulted in the development of the "man of sin" foretold in prophecy as opposing and exalting himself above God. That gigantic system of false religion is a masterpiece of Satan's power,--a monument of his efforts to seat himself upon the throne to rule the earth according to his will.
Satan once endeavored to form a compromise with Christ. He came to the Son of God in the wilderness of temptation, and, showing Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, offered to give all into his hands if he would but acknowledge the supremacy of the prince of darkness. Christ rebuked the presumptuous tempter, and forced him to depart. But Satan meets with greater success in presenting the same temptations to man. To secure worldly gains and honors, the church was led to seek the favor and support of the great men of earth, and having thus rejected Christ, she was induced to yield allegiance to the representative of Satan,--the bishop of Rome.
Here are some steps of the downward spiral:
Blotting out the Word
Satan well knew that the Holy Scriptures would enable men to discern his deceptions and withstand his power. It was by the Word that even the Savior of the world had resisted his attacks. At every assault, Christ presented the shield of eternal truth, saying, "It is written." To every suggestion of the adversary, he opposed the wisdom and power of the Word. In order for Satan to maintain his sway over men, and establish the authority of the papal usurper, he must keep them in ignorance of the Scriptures. The Bible would exalt God, and place finite men in their true position; therefore its sacred truths must be concealed and suppressed. This logic was adopted by the Roman Church. For hundreds of years the circulation of the Bible was prohibited. The people were forbidden to read or to have it in their houses, and unprincipled priests and prelates interpreted its teachings to sustain their pretensions. Thus the pope came to be almost universally acknowledged as the vicegerent of God on earth endowed with authority over Church and State.
Penance and Payment
The people were taught not only to look to the pope as their mediator, but to trust to works of their own to atone for sin. Long pilgrimages, acts of penance, the worship of relics, the erection of churches, shrines, and altars, the payment of large sums to the church,--these and many similar acts were enjoined to appease the wrath of God or to secure His favor; as if God were like men, to be angered at trifles, or pacified by gifts or acts of penance!
Church Forgeries
At first not all members would acknowledge the pope as the supreme leader. To silence these few, and establish authority for the pope's claim to supreme power, a way was needed fast. The Bible could not be used, since there's no evidence of any such power given to a man over all churches. So, ancient writings were forged by monks. Decrees of councils before unheard of were discovered, establishing the universal supremacy of the pope from the earliest times. And a church that had rejected the truth, greedily accepted these deceptions.
Images and Candles
The darkness seemed to grow more dense. Image worship became more general. Candles were burned before images, and prayers were offered to them. The most absurd and superstitious customs prevailed. The minds of men were so completely controlled by superstition that reason itself seemed to have lost her sway. While priests and bishops were themselves pleasure-loving, sensual, and corrupt, it could only be expected that the people who looked to them for guidance would be sunken in ignorance and vice.
Babylon the Unerring
Another step in papal assumption was taken, when, in the eleventh century, Pope Gregory VII, proclaimed the perfection of the Romish Church. Among the propositions which he put forth, was one declaring that the church had never erred, nor would it ever err, according to the Scriptures. But the Scripture proofs did not accompany the assertion. The proud pontiff next claimed the power to depose emperors, and declared that no sentence which he pronounced could be reversed by anyone, but that it was his prerogative to reverse the decisions of all others.
Purgatory--to burn off sin
Then the way was prepared for the introduction of still another invention of paganism, which Rome named purgatory, and employed to terrify the credulous and superstitious multitudes. By this heresy is affirmed the existence of a place of torment, in which the souls of such as have not merited eternal damnation are to suffer punishment for their sins, and from which, when freed from impurity, they are admitted to Heaven.
Indulgences--by Warfare and by Money
Still another fabrication was needed to enable Rome to profit by the fears and the vices of her adherents. This was supplied by the doctrine of indulgences. Full remission of sins, past, present, and future, and release from all the pains and penalties incurred, were promised to all who would enlist in the pontiff's wars to extend his temporal dominion, to punish his enemies, or to exterminate those who dared deny his spiritual supremacy. The people were also taught that by the payment of money to the church they might free themselves from sin, and also release the souls of their deceased friends who were confined in the tormenting flames. By such means did Rome fill her coffers, and sustain the magnificence, and vice of the pretended representatives of Him who had not where to lay His head.
The Blasphemous Mass
The Scriptural ordinance of the Lord's supper had been supplanted by the idolatrous sacrifice of the Mass. Papist priests pretended, by their senseless mummery, to convert the simple bread and wine into the actual body and blood of Christ. With blasphemous presumption, they openly claimed the power of "creating God, the Creator of all things." All Christians were required, on pain of death, to avow their faith in this horrible, Heaven-insulting heresy. Multitudes who refused were given to the flames.
Auricular confession
Of all the doctrines of Catholicism, there is no other which is so degrading, especially to the females, than auricular confession.
I know by my own experience that of all actions confession is the most degrading in a person's life.
Said a former catholic priest.
Every catholic priest vows to celibacy. Afterwards, they are required to listen to females, both married and unmarried, during confession. Males are allowed to just confess their sins to a priest. But for females it's different. The ritual requires all priests to ask the females, young or old, specific questions. I'm talking straight up dirty talk.
The confessional is a place where one gets accustomed to hear, and repeat without a scruple, things which would cause even a prostitute to blush! In the confessional, a girl's thoughts are polluted, her tongue is polluted, her heart is polluted yes, and forever polluted!
By the confessional the priests poison the springs of life in children. They initiate them into such mysteries of iniquity as would terrify old galley slaves. By their questions they reveal to them secrets of a corruption such as carries its germs of death into the very marrow of their bones, and that from the earliest years of their infancy.
In one incident, a seventeen-year old girl, within a monastery, went to confession and she was not the same afterwards. She went in an innocent girl but came out with her mind so polluted that she could barely recognize herself anymore. The old priest who was her confessor polluted her mind with the dirty questions that he's required to ask her.
The conversations between this girl and the old priest were so intimate that eventually the old priest seduced this girl into sleeping with him and kept sleeping with her until the day that she left the monastery.
This is just one of the cases, there are so many incidents where priests were involved sexually with their penitents, some with their maids, and... some with their nieces.
The truth is, the priests are also victims. The vow of celibacy goes against what God intended for human beings - why He blessed marriage. The catholic system is corrupt, meant to serve only the papal hierarchy.
The Terrible Inquisition
In the thirteenth century was established that most terrible of all the engines of the papacy,--the Inquisition. The prince of darkness wrought with the leaders of the papal hierarchy. In their secret councils, Satan and his angels controlled the minds of evil men, while unseen in the midst stood an angel of God, taking the fearful record of their iniquitous decrees, and writing the history of deeds too horrible to appear to human eyes. "Babylon the great," was "drunken with the blood of the saints." The mangled forms of millions of martyrs cried to God for vengeance upon that apostate power.
TRADITION: THE STORY OF THE STEPS DOWNWARD
Prayers for the dead - A.D. 300
Making the sign of the cross - A.D. 300
Wax candles - A.D. 320
Veneration of angels and dead saints, and use of images - A.D. 375
The Mass, as a daily celebration - A.D. 394
Beginning of the exaltation of Mary, the term "Mother of God" first applied to her by the Council of Ephesus - A.D. 431
Priests began to dress differently from laymen - A.D. 500
Extreme Unction - A.D. 526
The doctrine of Purgatory, established by Gregory 1 - A.D. 593
Latin language, used in prayer and worship, imposed by Gregory I - A.D. 600
Prayers directed to Mary, dead saints and angels - A.D. 600
Title of pope, or universal bishop, given to Boniface III by emperor Phocas - A.D. 607
Kissing the pope's foot, began with pope Constantine - A.D. 709
Temporal power of the popes, conferred by Pepin, king of the Franks - A.D. 750
Worship of the cross, images and relics - A.D. 786
Holy water, mixed with a pinch of salt and blessed by a priest - A.D. 850
Worship of St. Joseph - A.D. 890
College of Cardinals established - A.D. 927
Baptism of bells, instituted by pope John XIII - A.D. 965
Canonization of dead saints, first by pope John XV - A.D 995
Fasting on Fridays and during Lent - A.D. 998
The Mass, developed gradually as a sacrifice, attendance made obligatory in the 11th century - A.D. 1050
Celibacy of the priesthood, decreed by pope Gregory VII (Hildebrand) - A.D. 1079
The Rosary, mechanical praying with beads, invented by Peter the Hermit - A.D 1090
The Inquisition, instituted by the Council of Verona - A.D. 1184
Sale of Indulgences - A.D 1190
Transubstantiation, proclaimed by pope Innocent III - A.D. 1215
Auricular Confession of sins to a priest instead of to God, instituted by pope Innocent III, in Lateran Council - A.D. 1215
Adoration of the wafer (Host), decreed by pope Honorius III - A.D. 1220
Bible forbidden to laymen, placed on the Index of Forbidden Books by the Council of Valencia - A.D 1229
The Scapular, invented by Simon Stock, an English monk - A.D. 1251
Cup forbidden to the people at communion by Council of Constance - A.D. 1414
Purgatory proclaimed as a dogma by the Council of Florence - A.D. 1439
The doctrine of Seven Sacraments affirmed - A.D. 1439
The Ave Maria (part of the last half was completed 50 years later and approved by pope Sixtus V at the end of the 16th century) - A.D. 1508
Jesuit order founded by Ignatius Loyola - A.D. 1534
Tradition declared of equal authority with the Bible by the Council of Trent - A.D. 1545
Apocryphal books added to the Bible by the Council of Trent - A.D. 1546
Creed of pope Pius IV imposed as the official creed - A.D. 1560
Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, proclaimed by pope Pius IX - A.D. 1854
Syllabus of Errors, proclaimed by pope Pius IX, and ratified by the Vatican Council. The Syllabus condemned freedom of religion, conscience, speech, press, and scientific discoveries which are disapproved by the Roman Church. It asserted the pope 's temporal authority overall civil rulers - A.D. 1864
Infallibility of the pope in matters of faith and morals, proclaimed by the Vatican Council - A.D. 1870
Public Schools condemned by pope Pius XI - A.D. 1930
Assumption of the Virgin Mary (bodily ascension into heaven shortly after her death), proclaimed by pope Pius XII - A.D. 1950
Mary proclaimed Mother of God, by pope Paul VI - A.D. 1965
