Chapter 19 -
What is a false religion?
I believe it is very important that we understand this question. A false
religion is one that comes to you in the name of Jesus but does not teach you
the whole truth as taught in the bible, or one that comes to you in the name of
God even though that "God" is not the one true God. Let's take a look a
few of the major religions and explore the real doctrine that they teach and see
if we think they are part of the true church of Jesus Christ. I think you
will agree with me that not all religions worship the same God as the promoters
of Interfaithism are trying to make us believe.
But, let me say one thing before we start. I do realize and am very glad
that there are some people in the religions listed below that truly love and
truly want to please God. And I realize that some "churches" or factions
or affiliates of these religions don't necessarily teach the same doctrine that
was originally taught by these religions and may even approach the truth in some
ways. Some, like the Mormon church, have broken into different pieces that
teach different doctrines, and some, like Islam, have many factions that vary
substantially in beliefs and doctrines. The Catholic church also has some
variations within it's organization, although it does have a leader, the Pope,
and doctrinal guidance from that leadership. What I am stressing most in
this study is that the root of these religions and their beginnings are what you
are buying into by being part of that organization. If it did not begin
with truth and/or began with a false prophet or false God, it is not of God.
If it is not of God, we should not be a part of it even if our particular church
or organization teaches doctrine that differs from the original teachings of
that faith. We should come out of that and give ourselves to the one true
God and follow Him and seek His truth with all our heart.
Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my
people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her
plagues.
This passage is speaking of the Great Whore, the false church of the end time,
and God is telling his people to come out of her! This is a good
indication that there are indeed those who truly love Him within those
religions, but it's also clear that if you do not come out of them that you will
be considered a part of the whole and will be a partaker of the sins it has
committed. Please remember this!
The Muslim religion
The Mormon religion
The Catholic religion and her daughters
The Jewish religion (Judaism)
The Buddhist / Hindu religion and other Universal, Scientology, etc...
What about Islam (the Muslims)?
I had to ask myself this question: who is the God of Islam? Is it
really the same God that Abraham worshiped as they want us to believe?
It is asserted by Muslims that the Meccan Arabs are descendants of Ishmael, the
son of Abraham. They also claim that Ishmael settled in Mecca where he, along
with Abraham, built the Kabah and passed on the religion of the true God to his
offspring. It is believed that throughout time the Ishmaelites perverted the
worship of the true God, not by abandoning their belief in him, but by adding
other gods in their worship, thus perverting the religion of the God of their
father Ishmael. It is actually provable that this is not true, as I will
show you.
In the Old Testament, near Israel's beginnings, worship of a false God called
Baal began, and consisted of worshiping the heavenly bodies, of which the moon
is the largest in the sky. The Biblical and historical evidence shows that
the Moabites worshiped Baal. The pre-Islamic and Muslim sources show (a) that
the Meccans took over the idol Hubal from the Moabites and (b) that Allah and
Hubal are actually identical. Thus, whether the Meccans are Ishmaelites or
not, the evidence is still strong and sufficient to conclude that Muhammad's
Allah is actually Hubal, i.e., the Baal of the Moabites and thus not the God of
the Bible. Muhammad incorporated the characteristics and names of various other
gods into his new monotheistic message about Allah, but he apparently started
the construction of Allah with Hubal, the chief god of the Meccans.
The pre-Islam pagan Arabs worshiped the Moon-god Allah by praying toward Mecca
several times a day; making a pilgrimage to Mecca; running around the temple of
the Moon-god called the Kabah; kissing the black stone; killing an animal in
sacrifice to the Moon-god; throwing stones at the devil; fasting for the month
which begins and ends with the crescent moon; giving alms to the poor, etc.
If you have read the news in recent months, you know that modern day Muslims
practice these very rituals.
The Muslims are worshiping the same false god that people have been worshiping
since early times as far back as Israel's beginnings.
Most importantly, Muslims say you don’t need to believe in Jesus Christ
to be saved! Muslims will admit that Jesus Christ was a true prophet, but
deny that He was the Messiah (although some Western Muslims will say He was
anointed), they will deny that He was God manifested in the flesh as of the Son
of God (John 1:14), and they will deny that He died on the cross and rose again.
Does that make sense? Absolutely not. That belief cannot be truth
because Jesus Christ Himself said He was the Messiah, and said He was the Son of
God!
John 4:26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
John 9:35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him,
he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? 36 He answered and said,
Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? 37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou
hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.
Mark 14:61 Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?
62 And Jesus said, I am
That would make Him a false prophet according to the Muslim beliefs! How
twisted is that? But it’s a lie believed by one and a half billion people.
We absolutely must believe that Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh, was
crucified for our sins and rose again. This is the gospel!
John 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if
ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth
not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other
name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
There is no salvation in any other name but Jesus! Not Mohammed, not
Buddha; no other name…
Islam goes even further than simple disbelief, and says that the name of Jesus is "the most awful name".
Hadith Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 224: Narrated by Abu Huraira
Allah's Apostle said, "The most awful name in Allah's sight on the Day of Resurrection, will be (that of) a man calling himself Malik Al-Amlak (the king of kings)."
Now, according to the Word of God: 1 Tim 6:15, Rev 17:14 and Rev 19:16, Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
This means that Muslims are instructed to hate the Jesus of the Bible.
The word Islam means "submission". Not only in the sense of submission to
Allah, but in the sense of making everyone submit to the rule of Islam.
Islam is about subduing the world and making it submit. The Muslims
believe that Mohammed is the exemplar of right conduct. They aspire to be
like him in the same manner that Christians aspire to be like Jesus.
Mohammed said to spread, through warfare, the rules of Islam. Mohammed
became increasingly violent during his career and spent 10 years in Medina
creating an army to overthrow his homeland, Mecca, after he was ran off by the
pagans in 622 AD. He killed thousands of people and subdued Arabia through
war. Muslims are encouraged to commit acts of heroism in combat.
They are promised that those who kill and are killed will be rewarded with
paradise. This is the basis for suicide bombers. They believe that
since they are killing while they are killed that the sin of suicide is covered
by the martyrdom of their action and, as such, they will be rewarded in heaven.
Islam is a religion of political rule, a system of government. It is not
about a personal relationship with Allah, it is about bringing the world under
submission to its rule.
The Quran (Koran) was written over time during the life of Mohammed (conveyed or
recited by him). He started as a peaceful man, but as time went on he
changed many of his values. As he became increasingly violent, his
writings matched his attitude. The correct interpretation of the Quran is
to take any conflict in doctrine, of which there is a whole lot, and replace an
older verse with the latest one, supplanting it's meaning with the more recent
version in a process called abrogation. The problem is that the Quran is
compiled from the longest Sura to the shortest, so it's nearly impossible to
know which conflicting verse to believe or obey. The Muslims have a whole
committee of scholars to interpret the Quran and decide which verses were
written first and the succession of them to the last.
If you think Islam is a religion of peace, as they claim, just look at all the
wars they are involved in today, in Europe, China, Africa, etc., and the mindset
of Muslims as a whole as they chant "Death to Israel, Death to America", while
they are working toward their goal of subduing the world. Islam is a
religion of peace only when they have conquered the world and subjected it to
the rule of Islam. Also, if the son of the ruler of Hamas says that Islam has no
moderates, then I believe him.
Now, on a side note, Mosab Hassan Yousef (the son of the ruler of Hamas) made the point that there is no moderate Islam in those that truly adhere to their faith, but this does not include the phony
Muslims.
The three types of moderate Muslims:
- By phony, I mean those who do not truly believe but identify as Muslim for cultural reasons, maybe out of fear for their life, because their family is Muslim. Does this mean they
are "moderate"? No, they will do whatever it takes to continue making their relatives believe that they believe, mostly out of self-preservation. These are they that will encourage
their devout brother to commit the atrocities that they themselves do not want to do. Don't expect these so called "moderates" to stop their devout brother, or do anything to save you.
- The second type are those who do not truly understand their own religion. I have seen and heard many testimonies of ex-Muslims who did not understand their own religion. And, I recently saw a video of a man talking about how he, as a Muslim, thought his religion was a peaceful religion, but as he grew to understand Islam and read the Quran, he came to understand that it is not a peaceful religion and that he was actually instructed to kill for Allah. This is a great example of how many Muslims, like Christians who never read their Bible, do not understand their own religion, and how the Imams (preachers of Islam) use the practice of Taqiyya (lying to assist the ascendency of Islam) on their own people and lure them in with promises of peace and love while they hope to bring them in deeper and turn them into devout Muslims who will die for them.
- The third type are those who are purposefully and deceitfully practicing Taqiyya (deceit to assist in the ascendency of Islam). This is used by Muslims to placate those who would be a threat until they can either over-power them or defeat them from within by infiltrating their society. The leaders of Islam even use this on new Muslim converts to lure them in, and then slowly lead them to stronger and stronger doctrine as they become devout Muslims.
See this page to read more: Is Islam a violent religion?
Do they really expect us to believe they worship the same God that we do?
Now, should we hate Muslims because they worship a false god and hate the lord Jesus?
Absolutely not.
It is our job to try to help those Muslims who think it's a peaceful religion to
understand the truth of it. This does not mean we should be ok with a false religion
by any means, but that we should talk to any who are willing to listen and help
them to understand, if at all possible.
For more information, see: Islam in the Bible
What about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints (the Mormons)?
I always thought that the Mormon religion was a little off from the truth, but
wasn't really sure what really went on inside. It's a very enlightening
study, to say the least. Here's a quick summary that will blow your mind.
If you want more information, I recommend a DVD by Jeremiah Films (www.jeremiahfilms.com)
called "The Secret World of Mormonism".
The Mormon Church originated in the early 1800's. A boy named Joseph Smith
claimed he was visited by celestial beings when he was 14 years old. His
story changed a few times but finally settled on it being two beings who ordered
him to organize a new religion. The Mormon Church today claims over 10
million members world wide and is currently the largest business corporation in
the western United States. It is very rich and very powerful with billions
in revenues from tithes and from business profits, and many members in high
offices of the US government, the CIA, FBI, and other entities.
The Mormon Church presents itself as a "Christian" religion, but it violates
nearly all of the tenets of true Christianity. They have vast door to door
missions as most of us have experienced, and they have many adds on TV, radio,
etc. that promote "family values" and other heart warming messages. They
say they are preaching the gospel, but don't teach the gospel as taught by Jesus
and the Apostles of the early church by any stretch of the imagination.
They talk about Jesus when they are trying to convert you, but they have a
completely different view of our Lord than we know from the pages of the Bible
and they don't tell you that up front.
Here's the story:
There are trillions of planets ruled by countless Gods who used to be humans.
Long ago an unknown God and one of his many wives had a spirit child named
Elohim. This child eventually was elevated to Godhood. Mormons
believe that Elohim is "God the Father" and that he has many wives who have lots
of spirit children who await to inhabit a physical body so that they may one day
be elevated to Gods as well.
Jesus and Lucifer are Elohims first born sons. Mormonism teaches that
Jesus and Lucifer were involved in planning mankind's eternal destiny. In order
to attain godhood like their heavenly parents, the spirit children needed to
leave the presence of their heavenly father, inhabit a physical body, and live a
worthy life. Elohim knew that mankind would sin and thus require a savior to pay
for sin and show us how to return to our heavenly father. At the heavenly
council, Jesus and Lucifer proposed their plans. Lucifer offered to go to earth
and be the savior but he wanted to force everyone to be saved and do everything
himself. Jesus desired to give man the freedom of choice. The Father chose
Jesus' plan. Angered by the decision, Lucifer persuaded one third of the spirit
children to rebel and a war in heaven took place between Satan's forces and
Jesus and His followers. Lucifer was defeated, cast out of heaven, and denied
the right to inhabit mortal bodies. Without the ability to attain physical
bodies, exaltation to the Celestial kingdom is impossible. He became known as
Satan and his followers became the demons who now exist on earth as spirits
opposing God's work. Those who remained neutral in the battle were cursed
to be born with black skin. The faithful spirit children who fought most
valiantly for Elohim are born into the light skinned peoples in the Mormon
Church.
Elohim came to the earth and had sex with Mary to provide the physical body for
Jesus. Jesus had 3 or more wives and birthed many children of whom many
people claim to be "descendants" today. After the resurrection of Jesus,
he came to America and preached to the Indians who are really Israelites.
There was a race called the Nephites who fought the Indians but were defeated by
them in 421 AD. They left their history inscribed on golden plates that
were buried and later "found" by Joseph Smith. The book of Mormon is
supposed to be this historical record translated by Joseph Smith.
Joseph Smith calls the book of Mormon "Another Testament of Jesus Christ".
We know for a fact that it is false and entirely not true. It contradicts
and conflicts with the words of Jesus Himself, and we're taught in the Bible
that there is no other truth and that if someone tries to preach another besides
what is taught in the Bible, that he is accursed. Gal 1:8 But though
we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we
have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now
again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received,
let him be accursed. There is no other gospel but what we read in the
Holy Bible. Not the book of Mormon or any of the other works of Joseph
Smith.
The book of Mormon alone has over 4000 changes since its original writing to
cover the doctrinal contradictions, the historical and archeological errors, and
to hide the prophecies that have been proven false. No archeological
evidence has ever been found to corroborate any of the supposed places or
races described in the book. In stark contrast, the Bible has been proven
with more than 25,000 archeological digs to be accurate history.
The Mormon religion has a very rigid code of both financial and moral laws.
If you keep those laws, they teach that you can become a god and will be
rewarded with endless celestial sex with thousands of wives and a planet of your
own to rule. This is exactly what Satan used to tempt Eve in Genesis 3:5,
promising her that she could be as gods. If you fail to keep those laws
you will be castrated upon your entrance to heaven. There are only a few
actual Mormon temples and to enter one you must be a devout Mormon, go through
elaborate rituals, and wear the "sacred" underwear (that you are donned with in
one of the rituals) all day, every day. You have to swear an oath that if
you reveal any of the secret words and/or gestures used in the temple that you
agree to be killed by the priesthood. The highest satanic symbol, the
inverted pentagram, is displayed in Mormon churches and temples, but nowhere
will you see a cross. They claim to be Christians, but the testimonies of
ex-Mormons reveal that they practice sorcery and witchcraft in the temples and
have had actual apparitions appear in the temples. Joseph Smith was a
crystal ball gazer and was arrested for the practice at one time.
Again, the Bible tells us that this is an abomination. Deut 18:10 There
shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass
through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an
enchanter, or a witch, 11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or
a wizard, or a necromancer. 12 For all that do these things are an abomination
unto the LORD:
The Mormons use baptism for the dead as a recruitment tool, but that practice is
totally against what the Bible teaches and is another lie. We cannot get
baptized for a dead person to save their soul. Orthodox Mormons practice
Polygamy, arrange the marriages of the their daughters for their own personal
gain, and believe that some sins are not covered by the blood of Jesus and teach
that you must die to shed your own blood for forgiveness of some sin, committing
"charitable" murder in order to save your soul, and many other abominations.
Of course, when they come to your door they don't tell you any of this, and many
Mormons don't even know the whole truth.
Joseph Smith says that he will be the one sitting on the throne to judge you
come judgment day. He claims that he has done more for you than Jesus
Christ himself by dying a martyr and shedding his blood for you.
Mormons have a higher rate of sex crimes, adultery, and teen suicide than the
national average.
All of the above information can be proven in the books that Mormons use every
day (Book of Mormon, D&C, etc.), and by studying the facts, but most Mormons
have never read all their books and don’t even know what their religion really
teaches and what they are subscribing to when they join that organization.
Here are some proofs of just a few of my statements. All of them can be
proven, but I am not including all of them because it would take a lot of room
in this little book. It’s not that hard to find and you can certainly research
it yourself if you are interested.
On the subject of Mormons believing they can become Gods: D&C
132:20 Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they
be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be
above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods,
because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them. 21 Verily,
verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law ye cannot attain to this glory.
Lorenzo Snow, a famous Mormon prophet gave this famous quote: "...as God is, man
can become."
On the subject of polygamy: D&C 132 deals with this subject and the
teaching is very plain. Some Mormons are taught that polygamy was introduced
many years after the founding of Mormonism, but Joseph Smith wrote this section
in 1843.
Descendants of Jesus: D&C 113:1-6 shows that Joseph Smith himself
claimed to be a descendant of Jesus. Ask any LDS missionary unto which
descendant of Joseph does the priesthood and the keys of the kingdom rightly
belong? Joseph also blessed several of his close associates and told them that
they were descendants as well. This is where the notion of people being
descendants came from.
God had sex with Mary: Orson Pratt wrote this in The Seer. Page
158.
Joseph Smith will be our judge: This is clearly LDS doctrine.
Brigham Young taught that: ...no man or women in this dispensation will ever
enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith.
From the day that the priesthood was taken from the earth to winding-up scene of
all things, every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith as a
passport to their entrance into the mansion above where God and Christ are—I
with you and you with me. I cannot go there without his consent.- Journal of
Discourses, v.7, p.289
LDS "prophet" Joseph Fielding Smith taught: [There is] no salvation without
accepting Joseph Smith...No man can reject that testimony without incurring the
most dreadful consequences, for he cannot enter the kingdom of God.- Joseph
Fielding Smith, DOCTRINES OF SALVATION, v.1, p.189-90
In the official Melchizedek Priesthood Manual, we are told: If we get our
salvation, we shall have to pass by him [Joseph Smith]; if we enter into our
glory, it will be through the authority that he has received. We cannot get
around him.- 1984 Melchizedek Priesthood Manual, pp.126-132
Joseph Smith was a false prophet: According to Deuteronomy
18:20-22, it only takes one false prophecy to make a prophet false, just as it
only takes one murder to make a person a murderer. As proven by what is now
history, Joseph Smith made over 50 false prophecies.
Click here to see a list of Joseph Smith's false prophecies
The Lamanites and the Nephites: There has never been found one single
piece of evidence that the peoples or places that Joseph Smith wrote about ever
existed. The fact is obvious given this knowledge. They never did exist.
Doctrine has changed in the Mormon Church as many Mormons will point out. Is
this a good thing? The bible has not changed and does not change. Only false
religions change. Even many "Christian" religions have changed because they are
false and do not teach what was taught by Jesus and the Apostles in the early
church.
What about the Roman Catholic religion and her
daughters?
I asked myself this question when I learned who the Great Whore was (See Chapter 7). What
could possibly be so bad that a term like that is used to describe her?
And didn't the "daughters" (Protestant, Methodist, Lutheran, etc.) actually drop
away from the Catholic church because they disagreed with the Vatican?
The Roman Catholic church was founded in 325 AD. They taught
(falsely), and still do, that the Bishops of the church were "spiritual
successors" to the original 12 apostles, in particular the Apostle Peter, and
that they had the right to discern true or false doctrine. At that time,
they changed many of the doctrines taught in the Bible, making Mary a
deity, empowering the “church” as your salvation instead of Jesus Christ being
the one and only way to salvation, changed the baptism taught by Jesus and His
apostles, including Peter, and indoctrinated many false concepts and rituals, including many pagan rituals of the Roman culture and false religions of that day. They
even say that the mother of Jesus is the only way whereby you may receive grace.
It's true that Mary was blessed to carry and give birth to Jesus, but she was
simply a Jewish woman, not a God. They made it a crime punishable by death
to attempt to actually read the bible for yourself and/or contradict the Roman
Catholic church during the Dark Ages, and they have killed an estimated 68
million Christians over the years for refusing to bow to the false doctrine of
the Roman Catholic church.
More information on the origin of the Catholic Church.
The following is a quote from a man who was raised in the Catholic church but
left the church as an adult to pursue the real Truth.
On the question of salvation; "Unfortunately most Roman Catholics really don't
know for sure what Rome's answers are. Most have a vague idea of a place called
'Purgatory.' They wander through life with an unfounded belief that, if their
'good works' outweigh their 'sins' then they get a ticket to heaven. Others
believe that just being a Roman Catholic is all that is required to get to
Heaven. Well, not directly to Heaven, but by way of an untold period of time in
unmentionable pain and suffering in Purgatory. Its not a pretty picture of
salvation. Not at all. One of the saddest laments of a priest friend (Novus
Ordo type) is that Catholics no longer know their own faith!"
Let's take a look at what the Catholic believer has to do today in order to
"receive" salvation.
The Vatican teaches that salvation is through the church.
According to the Catholic church you must do all of the following in order to
receive salvation:
-
Confess your sins to a Roman Catholic priest.
-
"Receive" all appropriate Roman Catholic sacraments.
-
Believe that Grace comes only via Rome's sacraments, and only through Mary.
-
Buy or earn as many indulgences as possible so as to avoid Purgatory.
-
Believe that Grace can only be distributed to you by Mary.
-
Attend the Roman Catholic Mass on all Sundays and holy days.
-
Obey all of Rome's rules (i.e., precepts of the Church).
-
Be a member of the Roman Catholic Church.
-
Submit yourself to the Pope.
The bible teaches that you must believe in Jesus and obey the Gospel for
salvation, and that it's by the grace of God, not Mary or Rome, that we are
saved. All of the above only make you subservient to the Roman Catholic
church and do not ensure your place with God at all.
But, the Roman Catholic leaders today are even saying that you don’t really
need to believe in Jesus Christ to be saved!
Article #841 of the Catechism says: "The Church's relationship with the
Muslims. 'The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the
Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold
the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God,
mankind's judge on the last day.'" This means that the Catholic church
believes that the Muslims will be saved just like anyone else even though
Muslims don't believe in Jesus, and that they worship the same God that we all
do even though Allah was originally a pagan moon god.
Muslims say you don’t need to believe in Jesus Christ to be saved! Muslims
will admit that Jesus Christ was a true prophet, but deny that He was the
Messiah (although some Western Muslims will say He was anointed), they will deny
that He was God manifested in the flesh as of the Son of God (John 1:14), and
they will deny that He died on the cross and rose again. That belief
cannot be truth because Jesus Christ Himself said He was the Messiah, and said
He was the Son of God!
John 4:26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
John 9:35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him,
he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? 36 He answered and said,
Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? 37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou
hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.
Mark 14:61 Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?
62 And Jesus said, I am
That would make Him a false prophet according to the Muslim beliefs! How
twisted is that? But it’s a lie believed by one and a half billion people.
We absolutely must believe that Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh, was
crucified for our sins and rose again. This is the gospel! And, Jesus
Christ himself said we have to believe in Him!
John 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if
ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other
name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
There is no salvation in any other name but Jesus! Not Mohammed, not
Buddha; no other name...
Does the Catholic leadership read the same bible I do??? Sure doesn't look
like it! No wonder God is angry with her...
More information on the origin of the Catholic Church.
And what about the "daughters"?
The Roman Catholic church is the self proclaimed “mother” of all churches.
And this is actually true for most western faiths.
03 Sep 2000 (AP) VATICAN CITY (AP) - One of Pope John Paul II's closest aides
has written to bishops worldwide declaring that the Catholic church is the
“mother” of other Christian churches … In the document, Cardinal Joseph
Ratzinger told the bishops that it was incorrect to refer to Christian
churches, ranging from Orthodox to Protestant, as “sister” churches of the
Catholic church ... stating that the term “sister” puts them on an equal footing
and they are not “sisters” but the Catholic church is the “mother”.
Most of the churches of western faiths broke away from the Catholic church
because they knew the error of the Vatican. The problem is that most of
them did not return completely to the truth as taught by Jesus and the Apostles.
And since that time many have allowed compromise after compromise over the years
that have taken them even further from the truth.
As stated above, the Roman Catholic church teaches that salvation comes through
the church, changed baptism from in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins
(done throughout the book of Acts), to be "in the name of the Father, Son and
Holy Ghost" (because they want you to believe your sins are forgiven through the
church so they have to leave the name of Jesus out of it), and they
indoctrinated the false concept of the "trinity" that had been invented around
200 AD but was never taught by Jesus or the Apostles, or taught anywhere in the
bible. All of this happened long before the churches broke away. These
points are discussed in detail in Book 2.
See proofs of the changes to baptism by the Catholic Church
More information on the meaning of Matthew 28:19.
The Catholic church also teaches that sin can be indulged and promotes the
mindset that you can pretty much do anything you want as long as you obey all
the precepts and confess to a priest. This mentality has unfortunately
come away with many churches. While most do teach salvation through Jesus
Christ, they do not baptize in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins, some
teaching that baptism isn't necessary for obedience to the Gospel. And
some even teach that we are saved by belief alone and that only the really bad
stuff in our life needs to be changed because we are saved by grace, so that's
somehow supposed to mean that it doesn't really matter what we do after
"accepting Jesus". This is so wrong! That is NOT what the bible
teaches us!
Rom 6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under
grace? God forbid.
The bible teaches us to obey the Gospel by being Born Again, which is a truth
that many churches miss the entire meaning of and teach falsely (also discussed
in Book 2), but when we read the bible we find that it goes even beyond that.
We should not have bitterness in our hearts toward any man or woman, we should
be peacemakers and should strive for Holiness (purity)! Heb 12:14
Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the
Lord: How can we profess to have God in us if we do not love others!?
The bible teaches us that we will not make it unless we're willing to follow
Jesus and give up the things of the world that we desire. This means that
we will begin to love even our enemies, we won't have hatred in our hearts, or
pride. We won't make our "goals" of life in this world our Gods by making
those things more important than God. The world teaches us to have a
burning desire for the things we want and to go after them with passion and
determination. That is not what God teaches us. If we love the world
and the things in it, the love of God is not in us.
1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If
any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all
that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
I apologize if I'm insulting your beliefs but if you will take the time to read
the bible yourself and really search for the truth, not justification of
doctrine, you will find truth! If you read it with the intent of
justifying your doctrine, guess what? You'll find that too. I
realize this is a bit harsh and may be offensive to some, but I have to ask why
did God call the Great Whore the Mother of Harlots? We know who the Great
Whore is, and it's only a small logical step to find the daughters. I know
that some people can read the bible and only find what they want to see.
The mystery of God separates the truth seekers from the excuse seekers. If
you don't love the truth and really want to follow the will of God, if you want
to be saved but aren't willing to give up everything that you want and give it
all to God, what are you really doing? I say these things to make you
think! I hope to shock you into thinking really hard about what salvation
means, who God is, and if you want to be with Him or not when this is all over!
What, exactly, do you think is too high of a price for eternal life full of joy
and peace?
I don't want to make anyone angry or insult your intelligence. I simply
hope that you will seek God and His truth with all your heart and all your soul!
Ensure your own salvation! Every person who believes there is a God is
faced with one inescapable, ultimate question: "What must I do to be saved?!"
All other questions pale to insignificance in light of this one. If you have not
yet considered it, one day you will! But by then it may be too late for the
answer to do you any good. Do you really know what you must do to be
saved, to have assurance of a place in Heaven? Read the bible and seek the
Truth! Please!
What about the Jews? Don't they worship the true God?
1 John 2:23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father : (but)
he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
You cannot have the Father without the Son. Can't. Doesn't even matter if you
profess to worship the God of Abraham. If you don't love His Son, you don't have
Him. If you don't believe in Jesus, you make God a liar.
1 John 5:10-12 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in
himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth
not the record that God gave of his Son.11 And this is the record , that God
hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.12 He that hath the
Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
The Jews who practice Judaism today do not believe Jesus was their Messiah and they're
waiting for what they call the Moshiach today.
See my article on the Moshiach and Jewish prophecy
If you do not believe in Jesus as God Himself manifest in the flesh as of the
only begotten of the Father, you do not have the Father.
What about the Buddhists, Scientologists, Universalists, etc...?
Buddhism is an offshoot of Hinduism and they do not even believe in "God" like most religions. "God", to them is a
basic "force" in the universe which has been harnessed by beings who are now "gods" of varying degrees,
and we can attain godhood eventually, by harnessing that power.
This is exactly what Satan used to tempt Eve in Genesis 3:5, promising her that she could be as gods.
Genesis 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Satan continues to use this temptation, that we can become gods, on men and women because it works so well on our pride. He has many, many religions that use this
to lure us, like Scientology, Universalism, etc., and this is the basis for Hinduism and Buddhism.
To Hindus and Buddhists, god is formless but it manifests itself through Purusha and Prakriti. Purusha is consciousness
and Prakriti is the material world. Purusha expresses itself through Prakriti.
They believe there are divine beings are called devas (gods). Devas are celestial beings that control forces of
nature such as fire, air, wind, etc. But, they believe there is one supreme god.
Again, they do not believe in Jesus or even the true God of Abraham.
Universalism, Scientology and so many (thousands) of other religions are used by Satan to deceive and distract us. He uses some truth and basic human
ideologies to promote the idea of how we can eventually achieve god-like power and/or universal salvation.
Scientology says we're all just aliens and can someday achieve unlimited power and be able to leave the physical realm to grow in power and might.
Satan continues to use human pride to convince us that we can elevate to gods of some kind through myriads of false religions.
Most of the false religions teach there is some kind of reincarnation that will eventually lead us to more and more power and enlightenment.
He still uses this basic lie that started with his very first lie to Eve, because it still works...
The "Golden Rule" and Co-Exist ideologies are tools he uses to mix lies with truth and appeal to human compassion and love without God. To lead us astray.
Universalism says that everyone will be saved, eventually.
If we do not believe the record that God gave us, and preserved for us in His Word, we will fall for these lies.
2 Thessalonians 2:10 through 12; And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.