By Dr. H. T. Spence
And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH (Rev. 17:1–5).
Roman Catholicism, the oldest continuing apostasy of Christianity, has been a historical enigma for centuries. A “mystery of iniquity” has been the rotting heart underneath her public veneer of a self-proclaimed “representation of Christ on earth.” Even from pre-Reformation times, the Roman Catholic Church has been viewed as the Mother Harlot of Revelation 17. Its extravagant wealth, pomp and circumstance have been part of an elaborate cover-up of this Kingdom of the Tares; it has been a church that has entered the gates of hell (Hades) where it resides in death. Its history from the early Crusades and subsequent reign of terror of the Papal Inquisitions has left the Vatican with more innocent blood on its hands than all the twentieth-century dictators, such as Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, and Saddam Hussein, put together. Although End-time political governments certainly have had their cover-ups of deception and oppression, Romanism has risen to be the greatest of all deceptions. Proclaiming to be under the cloak of Christ, she presents herself as the bride of Christ, the papacy as Christ’s Vicar, and the Roman Church as the only church accepted by God.
The Architectural Wonder of the Mother Harlot
The word Vatican comes from the Latin Vaticanus, the name of one of the hills in ancient Rome upon which the palace of the pope was later built. St. Peter’s Basilica, located at the Vatican, is the largest church in the world. It occupies the site of Constantine’s original basilica, commissioned in A.D. 326 to mark the place of Peter’s martyrdom; his basilica was completed thirty years later. By the fifteenth century this first basilica, unstable and with entire walls on the verge of collapse, was in great need of repair. Work did not properly begin until the reign of Julius II (1503–1513), who tore down almost the entire building under the care of Donato Bramante, his master architect, and then laid the foundation stone for the new church. Bramante died in 1514, after which numerous architects and artists were called in to scrutinize and rework the plans, including Raphael, Peruzzi, Michelangelo (who was personally responsible for designing the mighty dome, the largest rotunda in the world; St. Paul’s in London is the second). Carlo Maderno finally completed its very impressive façade.
On November 18, 1626, more than a century after work began, Urban VIII consecrated the new St. Peter’s, and Romanists from all over the world came to marvel at its beauty. As one approaches the basilica, the certain details of the towering façade are not obvious from a distance: the central balcony, for example, from which new popes are presented to the people and give their inaugural blessings; or the thirteen statues including Jesus, John the Baptist, and eleven of the Apostles that line the balustrade (St. Peter’s statue is inside). The entrance to the basilica itself is through one of five enormous doors in the atrium (the central, ornate door dates back to 1445). On the floor, a few feet inside the entrance, is a circle of dark red stone. Of the six such stones that decorated the floor of Constantine’s original basilica, this is the only one that remains. It was on this very slab that kings and emperors knelt to receive their coronations from the pope himself, including Charlemagne, crowned the first Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas Day, A.D. 800.
Upon entering the basilica, on display in the Chapel of St. Peter, to the right of the entrance, is Michelangelo’s marble statue of Jesus in the arms of Mary (the Pieta); interestingly, the head of Mary is disproportionately larger than Jesus’. Michelangelo was only 23-years old when he did this piece, eventually signing his name along the sash of Mary’s mantle (mantilla) to silence doubters who thought he was too young to have come up with a work of such perceptive depth. Pope Paul III commissioned the elder Michelangelo (in his 70s) to work on the basilica itself. In 1972 a mad-man attacked the sculpture severing Mary’s arm, shattering her nose, and chipping off one eyelid before guards could stop him. Six months later the restorers discovered a previously unknown monogram sculpted from the skin lines on the palm of the Madonna’s left hand—an “M” for Michelangelo.
Down the main hall from this Chapel are two monuments. The first of these is the tomb of Pope John XXIII, who when he died in 1963 had become the most beloved pontiff in modern history. The second is the statue of a seated St. Peter; this statue was rescued from the original basilica and is believed to have been sculpted in the workshop of Arnolfo di Cambio. Peter’s left hand clasps the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, while his right is raised in a papal blessing. It is his feet, however, that get the most attention, the right one having been subjected to the kisses of so many pilgrims over the ages that it has been visibly worn down.
The Vatican over the centuries has boasted of sacred relics which have included the head and a little finger of St. Andrew; fragments of the true Cross brought back from Jerusalem by Constantine’s mother Helena; the veil used by Veronica to wipe sweat from Jesus’ forehead as He carried that same cross to Calvary (that cross was later believed to have displayed miraculous powers, from curing blindness to resurrecting the dead); and the lance of the Roman soldier Longinus, used to pierce the side of the crucified Christ. It is interesting to note that the ancient Italian Abbey of Monoppello, high in the Apennine Mountains, was in 1999 declared to have been in possession of the “real” Veronica’s Veil all along, despite the fact that the Vatican still brings out its own version once a year for Easter ceremonies. Such relics, endless in number, are found in many halls and rooms as well as in the many buildings and annex rooms that make up this massive edifice called the Vatican. There are also the many priceless paintings that adorn the complexity of this home of the Harlot.
The Vatican boasts of being the site of Peter’s martyrdom. In 1950, Pope Pius XII announced that the apostle’s tomb had been discovered beneath the high altar of the basilica. This was the result of more than a decade of intense archaeological excavations. The crypt beneath Peter’s had long been the final resting place of popes, emperors, and early Christian leaders, but it was always suspected that under them lay even more ancient graves. These graves are what were discovered between 1939 and 1949 under the direction of Ludwig Kaas, a high-ranking Vatican priest. During this time an entire network of second- and third-century mausoleums was uncovered, some Christian, some Roman.
The most significant discovery was a small monument dating from as early as A.D. 160 and seeming to mark the tomb of Peter. The team, led by Kaas, dug deeper, coming across a range of bones that were immediately sent to Dr. Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi, the personal physician to the pope himself (soon after revealed as a “bogus” doctor), who asserted with inaccuracy that they belonged to a powerfully-built man who had died in his late 60s, a claim that led directly to Pius XII’s declaration. When the bones were sent to secular specialists for a second opinion, however, the results were far from what the Church had been hoping for. The “apostolic remains” were in fact bones belonging not to one man, but to two separate men (one young and one much older), as well as those of a woman, a pig, a chicken, and a horse. This news was kept from the public until Kaas died, less than two years later. It was then that other writings by Kaas were found and revealed that he had located another collection of bones in a second tomb. He had worked during a number of nights alone and kept his findings secret from the others of the archaeological team. When these bones were tested and confirmed to have belonged to a man in his 60s, the new Pope Paul VI made his own announcement, this time asserting that there could be no doubt that these were the true relics of Peter found beneath the high altar of the basilica (because of this the previous bones were discarded).
The Dark Secrets of the Mother Harlot
The history of Rome encompasses many dark secrets of deep immorality and perversions of great magnitude. It includes a woman as a pope (Joan in A.D. 855), the many illegitimate children of its papacy, assassinations of its leaders, and the many shady financial dealings of the Vatican bank. Truly, Rome has been the cover-up of evil throughout its history. Romanism is replete with history of debauchery and its control by the “prince of this world.”
Tokens of its perdition may be seen in such examples as Alexander VI (1492–1503), who ruled with such decadence that to this day the very mention of his name causes many within Rome to shake their heads in shame. He reputedly committed his first murder at the age of twelve, went on to become pope by sending four mules loaded with silver to his closest competitor, Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, to help swing the vote in his favor. Alexander became father to no less than ten illegitimate children with various mistresses, and as pope he engaged in a campaign of ruthless nepotism, elevating many to positions of power (his son Cesare was made Archbishop of Valencia while still a student of seventeen), and setting up his mistresses in palatial homes across Rome. One, Giulia Farnese, was even used as a model for the Virgin Mary as has been proven in a recently discovered fresco for the papal apartments. Wealthy cardinals were imprisoned and executed on trumped-up charges, simply so Alexander could get his hands on their property. Rome was plunged into a period of unprecedented darkness, its streets filled with prostitutes and murderers going unpunished, while the pope occupied himself with drunken banquets of great immorality. Rome has never recovered from this debauchery.
Another token of perdition is seen within her corruption of wealth (estimated at three trillion dollars), which came to the forefront in the tragic 1982 murder of the Italian banker Roberto Calvi, whose shady financial dealings with the Vatican bank brought him to his undignified end, swinging on a rope beneath London’s Blackfriars Bridge. He was the chairman of the Italian Banco Ambrosiano which collapsed with debts of up to 1.5 billion dollars. Calvi’s death seemed to have been suicide, and the case was quickly closed by the Vatican, the independent state within the city of Rome. Yet the verdict of suicide was not accepted by the family, and the exhumation of his body in 1998 found compelling evidence that he was murdered; this evidence had been intentionally overlooked the first time. The injuries to Calvi’s neck, for example, were inconsistent with hanging; and there were many aspects that indicated he was murdered. Various underworld figures were indicted for the murder by the police of the city of Rome. Even today great mysteries continue to surround his death.
The collapse of the Vatican’s bank (Banco Ambrosiano) revealed an enormous network of illegitimate investments traceable to the Vatican Institute for Religious Works (IOR). A number of people who were involved were paid off to keep quiet. Calvi’s secretary (left a note revealing all that was done) jumped from a fifth-floor window of the Banco Ambrosiano building taking her own life. Calvi shaved his moustache, purchased a fake passport, and fled to Venice, where he then hired a plane to London. The next morning, Calvi’s body was discovered. Several other individuals of the bank also mysteriously died.
Another example of Romanism’s deep-rooted corruption within the hierarchy is found in the mystery of what happened to the speech denouncing fascism that Pope Pius XI was due to give just hours before his death in 1939, and what was the true role of his successor, Pius XII, in the rise of Nazi Germany? One of his first acts in replacing Pius XI was to meet with German authorities and reaffirm his support for the Nazi Party. The following month the papal ambassador to Berlin hosted a gala reception to mark Hitler’s fiftieth birthday. War was just weeks away. When Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, Pope Pius XII said nothing. He refused to condemn the Nazis even as war escalated and casualties mounted on both sides. Even later, when President Roosevelt sent his personal representative to the Vatican in the hope of forcing a reaction, the pope remained cold and silent. Rome’s view of Hitler and his leadership seemed not to have changed even years later when Pope Benedict XVI made his controversial trip to Auschwitz; he would not condemn Hitler and the Germans for what they did to the Jews. (We must remember that this pope was a member of the Hitler Youth, though he states he was forced into it at 14.)
There still is a great mystery surrounding the untimely demise of Pope John Paul I, who was found dead in 1978 after only thirty-three days in office. Much speculation has been given to his death, believing he was poisoned due to his strong anti-communist beliefs and his immediate desire to curtail Marxist’s studies in the seminaries of the Roman Catholic Church across the world. None of his desires to stay the growing plague of Christian Marxism within Romanism would be seen in the next pope, John Paul II.
Then in 1998, a member of the Swiss Guard brutally killed John Paul II’s superior officer and wife in a great rage, or, at least, that was the Vatican’s official version of events. Information about these deaths was quickly quelled by the Vatican. The autopsies were carried out behind closed doors by Vatican doctors who were sworn to secrecy and kept no written records of their findings. The families involved hired their own independent detectives who uncovered much information, but nothing was able to be done with the Vatican because of their “closed doors” policy.
As for the assassinations perpetrated by Rome, the list is endless; so are its secret manipulations of the media. One of the reasons the tens of thousands of priests caught as pedophiles are able to by-pass the law of the countries of the world is that as representatives of the independent state of the Vatican they have political amnesty. Yes, the Vatican is truly one of the crucial seats of Satan on the planet today, the Harlot who has drunk much blood of the saints and lived in the dark powers of evil.
The Secrets of the Mother Harlot
Perhaps a word concerning the papal secret archives would be worthy to note. This notoriously inaccessible repository for all manner of records, the so-called “Archivio Segreto Vaticano,” contains much of its dark, insightful history of collaboration with the powers of evil. Off limits to all but the most persistent of scholars (and even then, the materials are very limited), access to it is granted only by a lengthy application procedure. Some of the manuscripts found here may date back to the Caesars of Rome. The writings number into the tens of thousands. The following is just a small sample of the documents contained within the archives:
- The letter from the Mongolian ruler Great Khan Guyuk to Pope Innocent IV, rejecting the pope’s claim that the Great Khan needs to be baptized, and his refusal to enter into peaceful relations with the Church until the pope himself goes to pay homage at the Mongolian Court.
- A document announcing the foundation of the University of Cambridge by Pope John XXII in 1318.
- A petition on behalf of the English King Henry VIII seeking papal annulment of his twenty-four-year marriage to Catherine of Aragon so that he might marry Anne Boleyn (1534). It is interesting to note that the many red ribbons attached to the bottom of the petition (the seals of eighty-five English noblemen attempting to convince the pope of the legitimacy of Henry’s case) are said to be the origin of the term “red tape.”
- A letter from Pope Paul III to the artist Michelangelo asking the artist to continue his work on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, originally commissioned by Paul’s predecessor, Clement VII—1535.
- One of the last remaining letters by Michelangelo himself, pleading the case of the guards of St. Peter’s Basilica, whom he says “have not been paid in three months and will desert their posts unless remuneration is forth-coming”—1550.
- Handwritten records of the Inquisition’s trial of Galileo for his so-called heretical claims that the earth revolved around the sun—1633.
- Award of the Papal Equestrian Order of the Golden Spur granted to Mozart for his musical achievements—1770.
- Peace treaty between the Pope and Napoleon’s French Republic, signed by Napoleon himself—1797.
Along with more manuscripts from the Inquisition, other items in these collections include the legendary lost second book of Aristotle’s Poetics; countless apocryphal Christian writings, many of them gospels penned by contemporaries of the apostolic apostles and a century later; the libraries of the heretical Frankish Cathars which speak of the alleged marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene; evidences pertaining to the many torture methods (and drawings) used by the Papal and Spanish Inquisitions; Gnostic writings,including texts by groups such as the Orphites who worshipped Lucifer as the “Light Bringer”;the dark dealings by Vatican authorities over many centuries; evidences and details of sacrificial murders and devil worship to the more recent controversy surrounding pedophile priests, and the tens of thousands of babies born to priests because of their immorality;detailed reports of various Vatican exorcisms through the many centuries of the Vatican; and the list goes on and on.
The popes over the centuries have kept nearly every scrap of paper, from personal letters to formal papal documents, since the beginning of the Roman Church. The vast bulk of this material was passed on from pope to pope until A.D. 649 when the collection found its first home in the vaults of the Lateran Palace of Rome. In the eleventh century, the archives were moved to a holding place on the slopes of Palatine Hill, by which point a number of the oldest papyri were already disintegrating. During the Middle Ages, the archives were significantly defected by being moved around a great deal. In 1245 they were taken by boat to a monastery in Cluny, and then to Perugia, Assisi, and finally Avignon, where they remained for more than a century. It was not until the rule of Pope Martin V (1427–1431) that the monumental process of moving the archives back to Rome began, by boat and wagon. A great number of official documents were lost or ruined at this time.
The first attempt at cataloguing the collection came during the reign of Pope Innocent II(1198–1216); but it was Nicholas V (1447–1455) who officially founded the Vatican Library and Sixtus V (1585–1590) who organized the secret archives into eighty separate cabinets or amaria which are still in existence today. There was one final journey of this collection, when at the turn of the nineteenth century Rome was invaded by Napoleon. He decided to transport the entire Vatican Library to France. The shipment was estimated at3,239 separate chests; it took three years to make the move. But following his defeat in1814, the archives began their slow return back to the Vatican. Many carts plunged into rivers and fell over cliffs; only 2,200 of the chests made it back to Rome.
Nevertheless, its archives are now safely in the vaults of the Vatican. According to some reports the secret archives are estimated as containing fifty-two miles of shelving, with some thirty-five thousand volumes catalogued and many works still waiting to be catalogued.The oldest surviving document (at least catalogued) is declared to have been written in the eighth century. But again, this is the formal statement of the Vatican. The secrets within the Vatican seem to go back much further.
What details of assassinations, plots to overthrow governments, and the writings of crimes against nature and humanity are to be found in the vaults of this Harlot’s record of iniquity! The historical record of her wickedness seems to be part of the thrill and delight of her many deeds of fornication with the world.
Jesus, the Savior of mankind, warns that we are to come out of Babylon (Rev. 18:4). However, if you do not know what Babylon is, how can you come out of her? This post will strive to match up the bible with history in order to clearly outline that when the Lord warned us of this Babylonian system, he was referring to the Mother of Harlots, which is the Roman (Empire) Catholic Church. To get the best understanding that you possibly can from this single post, it is best to read the entire post because some things may not be clear unless all the pieces of this puzzle are put together. It is my prayer that the information is presented as clearly as possible that your eye’s may be opened to this undeniable biblical fact!
Revelation 18
King James Version (KJV)
1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
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.
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
So here we have a great city ( modern day Babylon) that has made the nations drunk with the wine of her fornication! It is imperative that we understand the symbolism of what this wine represents. Fortunately for us, the bible interprets itself! This is why we are to study the bible and rightly divide the scripture!
Isaiah 29
King James Version (KJV)
9 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
10 For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.
If the people are drunk without the finest Italian wine, and they are staggering without a strong drink like Jack Daniels, then how are they drunk? These verses elude that this drunkenness is not physical, but spiritual. If we are spiritually drunk, then we cannot see nor understand the doctrine of the Lord. Hence in the 24th verse of this same chapter, we read:
24 They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.
The Lord is showing us that it is possible to be drunk without consuming alcohol. Because, when you are drunk, you are foolish and cannot make coherent decisions. Drunk people also tend to end up in danger, so we need to be careful! Above, in Revelations 18, the Lord warns us that all that follow the doctrine of Babylon will be spiritually drunk and will face the soon coming wrath of the Lord, unless they “come out of her”.
In Revelations 18:4, we are warned to not be partakers of Babylon’s sins! It is important to know that according to 1 John 3:4 – “sin is the transgression of the law”. Therefore, this institution that lies in this great city is contrary to God’s laws! Why does the Lord warn his people to come out of her? Well, we can see that this system is eventually going to be destroyed and the Lord does not want any man to be destroyed! The only reason that God will destroy anyone is due to disobedience to his word, i.e. sin. That is why we read that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). On the other hand, the Bible also teaches that salvation (eternal life) is given to all them that obey the WORD of God (Hebrews 5:9). Therefore, it is IMPERATIVE that we as Christians do not partake in this system’s sins and unlawful traditions!
We also find out more during this warning from the Lord in Revelation 18 about this great and terrible system:
Revelations 18
King James Version (KJV)
20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
Why will the Lord have to avenge the HOLY apostles and prophets when he destroys this system? It is because this institution has and will destroy the holy apostles and prophets of God! That is why in verse 24 it says the blood of the prophets and the saints were found in her.
Let’s look at the warning that the prophet Daniel gave us concerning the leader of this same institution that would arise out of this great city and will soon be destroyed by God! By doing this, we will see how to rightly divide scripture in striving to understand the warning of the Lord:
Daniel 7:25-26
King James Version (KJV)
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws
26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
Verse 25 begins with “And he shall…” The “he” that is being referred to is the leader of this system. We will see that this leader is in complete control of this institution. He is the one responsible for spilling the blood of the saints. He is the one responsible for changing the laws, i.e. causing the nations to sin against God. By reading this segment, it will become clear that this same leader is the one that is controlling the great city. When the Lord tells us to Come out of Babylon, he is referring to an organization, that is located in a great city, and presided by one man! We see some explicit and implicit correlations between Revelations 18 and Daniel 7. For example, we see that the saints will be worn our, i.e. afflicted. We see that laws will be changed, which causes people to sin. We see that eventually, the dominion that this man leads will be judged and destroyed, i.e. it will fall. We also see that the kingdom of God will be established in place of this wicked system and the saints will inherit the kingdom, i.e. the saints will be avenged.
The only way to understand this system is to fully investigate the scriptures that bare similarity to the characteristics of this organization coupled with correlating any historical facts that bares record to the scriptures. Remember the concept – Line upon Line, and Precept, upon Precept! It is the only way to gain understanding! So hopefully that we have seen at least some traits of this system, let us look for other clues pertaining to it!
Revelation 17
King James Version (KJV)
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: (Revelations 18:16)
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth.
6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
We should easily be able to spot the similarities between the above and what was said in Revelations 18 and Daniel 7. We can now say that we know that this system is without a doubt, responsible for spilling the blood of the saints. Again, like in Revelations 18, we see that it is dressed in red and purple, decked with gold and precious stones. We continually see that this system is filled with filthiness, abominations, and spiritual fornication! We should also recognize the name “Babylon, The Great” associated with this system. That is no different to Rev. 18:2. We should now be assured that we are dealing with the same system. But notice that this institution has also been referred to as the “The Mother Of Harlots”.
What gives for such a title?
Here is what theologian and author Ralph Woodrow had to say about this title in his book “Babylon Mystery Religion“:
“THE MYSTERY RELIGION of Babylon has been symbolically described in the last book of the Bible as a woman “arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: and upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (Rev. 17:1-6).
….Much of the Babylonian worship was carried on through mysterious symbols–it was a “mystery” religion. Since the deified Nimrod was believed to be the sun god, fire was considered his earthly representation. Thus, as we shall see, candles and ritual fires were lighted in his honor. In other forms, he was symbolized by sun images, fish, trees, pillars, and animals.
….Centuries later, Paul gave a description which perfectly fits the course that the people of Babylon followed: “When they knew God, they glorified him not as God…but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things…they changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the creator…for this cause God gave them up unto vile affections” (Rom. 1:21-26).
….This system of idolatry spread from Babylon to the nations, for it was from this location that men were scattered over the face of the earth (Gen. 11:9). As they went from Babylon, they took their worship of the mother and child, and the various mystery symbols with them. Herodotus, the world traveler and historian of antiquity, witnessed the mystery religion and its rites in numerous countries and mentions how Babylon was the primeval source from which all systems of idolatry flowed. Bunsen says that the religious system of Egypt was derived from Asia and “the primitive empire in Babel.” In his noted word Nineveh and its Remains, Layard declares that we have the united testimony of sacred and profane history that idolatry originated in the area of Babylonia–the most ancient of religious systems. All of these historians were quoted by Hislop.
….When Rome became a world empire, it is a known fact that she assimilated in to her system the gods and religions from the various sun worship countries over which she ruled. Since Babylon was the source of the sun worship of these countries, we can see how the early religion of sun worshiping Rome was but the Babylonish worship that had developed into various forms and under different names in the counties to which it had gone.
…Christianity came face to face with the Babylonia sun worship in its various forms that had been established in the Roman Empire. The early Christians refused to have anything to do with its customs and beliefs. Much persecution resulted. Many Christians were falsely accused, thrown to the lions burned at the stake, and in other ways tortured and martyred. Then great changes began to be made. The emperor of Rome professed conversion to Christianity. Imperial orders went forth throughout the empire that persecution should cease. Bishops were given high honors. The church began to receive worldly recognition and power. But for all of this, a great price had to be paid! Many compromises were made with sun worship. Instead of the church being separate from the world, it became a part of this world system. The emperor showing favor, demanded a place of leadership in the church: for in Sun worship, emperors were believe to be gods. From here on, wholesale mixtures of sun worship into the Christianity were made, especially at Rome.
History proves it was this mixture that produced the system which is known today as the Roman Catholic church. Lets not doubt that there are many fine, sincere, and devout Catholics. It is not our intention to treat lightly or to ridicule anyone whose beliefs we may here disagree with. But that history will inspire all–regardless of their religious affiliation–to forsake Babylonish doctrines and seek a return to the faith that was once delivered unto the saints.”
Download the book here : http://linesandprecepts.com/books/
The research presented from Woodrow shows that the Catholic Church is the system being referred to in Revelations 17. If he is correct in his analysis, then we will have to confirm if other sources allude to the Roman Catholic Church as being “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH”.
In order for the Catholic Church to fulfill the explanation of Woodrow and the biblical identification, then it will have to meet the following criteria:
1) Entrenched in paganism and doctrine that is not rooted in sound biblical precepts which will cause people to sin.
2) The influence of this church’s false doctrine has to be seen in all nations of the world.
3) It will have the authority to declare and change what is right and what is wrong, i.e. change laws.
4) It will have to be led by a man and exist in a great city.
5) It will need to have killed the saints and apostles of God!
When we have found an institution that fits these characteristics, then we would have located, “The Mother of Harlots”.
By looking at history and paying close attention to the five indicators above, we will see that the Catholic Church is the only organization that can be deemed as the Mother of Harlots aka Babylon the Great!
The Mother of Harlots has deceived the world by changing the Word of God and replacing it with the abominations of ancient pagan traditions.
Does the Catholic Church fit this description?
Indeed, it is a well known historic fact amongst unbiased scholars that the Roman Catholic Church has been steeped in paganism:
From Anthony Atmore, et al., eds., The Last Two Million Years (The Reader’s Digest Association, 1981) page 216,:
Pagan Rites Absorbed:
“By a stroke of tactical genius the Church, while intolerant of pagan beliefs, was able to harness the powerful emotions generated by pagan worship. Often, churches were sited where temples had stood before, and many heathen festivals were added to the Christian calendar. Easter, for instance, a time of sacrifice and rebirth in the Christian year, takes its name from the Norse goddess Eostre, in whose honor rites were held every spring. She in turn was simply a Northern version of the Phoenician earth-mother Astarte, goddess of fertility.”
By reading this secular source of history, a red flag should go up. This should serve as a warning, that whatever church this is, it has adopted pagan traditions and this is how and why Christians of all nations, celebrate Easter – a non-Christian festival. Have you ever wondered what an easter egg and bunny rabbit have to do with Jesus? Rabbits do not even lay eggs! Nonetheless, it is important to understand that when the above historians noted that “the Church” merged pagan beliefs with Christianity, they were speaking about the Roman Catholic Church!
From Helen Ellerbe’s, The Dark Side of Christian History, 1995, Political Maneuvering: Making Christianity Palatable to the Romans, Page 14:
“Their goal was to create what Bishop Irenaeus called “the catholic church dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth.” To that end, they used nearly any means. They revised Christian writings and adapted their principles to make Christianity more acceptable. They pandered to Roman authorities. They incorporated elements of paganism. Orthodox Christianity appealed to the government, not as a religion that would encourage enlightenment or spirituality, but rather as one that would bring order and conformity to the faltering empire. The Roman government in turn granted orthodox Christians unprecedented privilege, enabling the Christian church to become the very sort of authoritarian power that Jesus had resisted.”
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If such a statement is true, then how was this church able to incorporate such overtly pagan dogma’s into what we now know as Christianity? The answer is POWER! It is no coincidence that the Roman Catholic Church is the most powerful organization known to man! It will be helpful for us to understand when and how the Roman Church rose to such hegemony.
From Anthony Atmore, et al., eds., The Last Two Million Years (The Reader’s Digest Association, 1973) p. 215:
“After the final collapse of Rome in 476, when its last emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by the Goths under the leadership of Odoacer, the Christian Church gave Europe a similar measure of unity for the next 1000 years. The pope was more powerful than the barbarian kings who tried to recreate the Roman Empire; for the pope claimed his authority descended from St. Peter, to whom Christ had said: Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church. The pope’s armies were bishops and clergy and Crusaders… The persecution of Christians ended in 313, when Emperor Constantine granted religious freedom to all faiths, and in 380 Christianity was proclaimed as the empire’s official religion. In earlier times, Christianity had been only one of several competing religions, the most important of which was the Persian cult of Mithras, the sun-God, which had been brought to Rome, by legionaries serving in the East. But the early Christians were ready, in some cases even eager, to die for their faith. Constantine was impressed by the strength of a religion which could produce so many martyrs, and whose missionaries could hold to converts the promise of a future life. So Christianity, which had once been a threat to the port of Rome, now became its ally. At the beginning of the 4th century the imperial government moved to Constantinople, and as the western branch of the empire declined, the Christian Church filled the power vacuum.”
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So we see that the fall of the Roman empire in 476, eventually led to the rise of the Roman Christian Church. We see that before the fall of Rome, Emperor Constantine integrated the religions, and Christianity went from being one of Rome’s threats, to the main religion of the empire. As the leader of the church, we see that the pope eventually became more powerful than kings. This is a very important turning point in history. But before we explore the crucial role of the pope as the head of The Mother of Harlots, which fulfills biblical prophecy, we must take some time to deal with the imperial/political aspects of Roman Christianity before the fall of the Roman Empire. This imperial role that Emperor Constantine played was crucial because at this time, the Emperor was the most powerful man in the world. Constantine was noted as the first Roman Emperor to become a “Christian”, and by way of his power, “Christianity” grew and spread. But was Constantine a true Christian?
Dr. Christopher Bush Coleman’s, Constantine The Great and Christianity:
“Constantine professed to adopt Christianity for political motives and used it for political purposes, but did not commit either himself or the empire to it. While contending that Constantine was affected somewhat by Christianity and came out openly as a Christian at the end interpreted his official actions as hedging between paganism and Christianity” (^Lectures on the History of Rome, Third ed., Eng. trans., 1853, iii, p. 318.)
Link: Full text of “Constantine the Great and Christianity;” – Internet Archive
Anyone who studies the bible and the history of Constantine will know that he was not a true Christian. He used Christianity as an impetus for unity to gain political control over the Roman empire. It is through Constantine that we see another aspect of Mystery Babylon The Great, The Mother of Harlots. If we recall, this system was going to cause the nations to sin and as Daniel 7: 25 recalls, it would think to “change laws“. We have seen how the church mixed paganism with Christianity, but now we will see how paganism influenced this system to change God’s fourth commandment!
“Sunday actually made very little headway as a Christian day of rest until the time of Constantine in the fourth century. Constantine was emperor of Rome from AD 306 to 337. He was a sun worshiper during the first years of his reign. Later, he professed conversion to Christianity, but at heart remained a devotee of the sun. Edward Gibbon says, “The Sun was universally celebrated as the invincible guide and protector of Constantine.” – Constantine’s Conversion by Peter Paul Rubens
Chamber’s Encyclopedia says this:
Unquestionably the first law, either ecclesiastical or civil, by which the Sabbatical observance of that Day is known to have been ordained, is the edict of Constantine, 321 A.D.
Following this initial legislation, both emperors and Popes in succeeding centuries added other laws to strengthen Sunday observance. What began as a pagan ordinance ended as a Christian regulation. Close on the heels of the Edict of Constantine followed the Catholic Church Council of Laodicea (circa 364 AD):
“Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday (Sabbath), but shall work on that Day: but the Lord’s Day, they shall especially honour; and as being Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that day. If however, they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out from Christ.”
Catholic Bishop confesses that Rome changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday:
When we examine the amount of professed Christians of all tongues and denominations that partake in Sunday as their sanctified and holy day of rest and church adherence, we must understand that biblical prophecy has been fulfilled. The Mother of Harlots has made the nations drunk with false doctrine as the bible rightly declared. Sun-day or the Day of the Sun, was not the day that the God of the bible blessed, sanctified, and told us to Remember. In fact, it is the EXACT opposite. The God of the bible told us to honor the Seventh Day of the week. The Mother of Harlots told us to honor the First Day of the week. If God is all knowing, then it should be no surprise as to why he told us to:
Exodus 20:8-11
King James Version (KJV)
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
The Sabbath commandment is the only commandment God told us to Remember! So if he is all knowing, he most likely knew that this day would be changed/forgotten, as he warned us that this false church would think to change times and laws. We must be aware that mankind does not have the authority to change the laws of God. The old and new testament affirms that God and his commandments (including his sabbath) will not change, i.e. what God established is for ever!
King David informs us:
Psalm 111:7-9
King James Version (KJV)
7 The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure.
8 They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.
9 He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.
Surely if all God’s commandments are sure, and stand fast forever, then the Sabbath day is still the Seventh Day and not the First Day. Just in case there are any nay sayers to this fact, let us allow the bible to tell us how long the Sabbath should be kept for:
Exodus 31:12-17
King James Version (KJV)
12 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.
14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
Despite this admonition from God himself, many people hold to the notion that the Sabbath was for the Jews only. Let us see what the scriptures say regarding this issue:
Isaiah 56:2-7
King James Version (KJV)
2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
3 Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
4 For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;
5 Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;
7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.
We see that the stranger is also supposed to partake in the Lord’s sabbath and that the Lord will give them eternal life. Let us see if God changes his mind on what he expects of us:
Malachi 3:6
King James Version (KJV)
6 For I am the Lord, I change not;
Many may think that since we are now under the new covenant, that the old testament laws do not apply. This simply is not true, because we just read that the Lord does not change, and that the sabbath, and commandments are to be kept forever. But just incase people are not convinced by the words of the old testament, we will see that the new testament does nothing but confirms the old testament. Let us see what Jesus said concerning his commandments:
Matthew 5:17-20
King James Version (KJV)
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
John 14:15
King James Version (KJV)
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Do we still have the heavens and earth? Well if so, then we are still to keep the law because not one iota is to pass from the law until all is fulfilled. We know that all has not been fulfilled, because The Mother of Harlots is yet to be destroyed as we read in Revelations 18. We also see that if we love Jesus we will keep his commandments. Keeping the commandments of God is the ONLY way to COME OUT OF BABYLON!
That is why we read:
Revelation 22:14
King James Version (KJV)14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
We must remember that sin is the transgression of God’s laws and that sin is the wages of death. The whole plan of Satan is to get us to sin against God’s holy laws and thus end up in the lake of fire like him! Satan is using his counterfeit Church to lead people astray and that is why the Lord has warned us not to follow this wicked system! He is telling us to Come out of her because we are all born into the system, so we will need to come out of her if we want salvation. That is why if we Love Jesus and if we want Eternal life, then we will obey him and not an Satan’s organization.
Throughout the ages, many Christians that stood on the Bible and words of Jesus as their foundation, were deemed enemies to the Roman Catholic order. Those that did not obey the authoritarian Catholic form, of worship were labeled as heretics and could be fined, banished, or killed at any given moment. We read that the Mother of Harlots is an institution that was guilty for persecuting and murdering the saints and apostles of the True and Living God. Let’s see if the Catholic Church can attest to such a daunting history.
Dave Hunt, A Cup of Trembling (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 1995): 160:
“Church historian R. Tudor Jones writes that “the majority of the martyrs were ordinary people, including many women”…John Foxe was an eyewitness and earnest historian of the fierce persecution in England in his day. His Book of Martyrs gives detailed accounts of many public trials and executions of those whom the Roman Catholic Church judged to be “heretics” worthy of death. His descriptions of Christians being burned at the stake tell of their inspiring bravery in the face of such a horrible death and of the determination of Roman Catholicism to exterminate everywhere true Christians who opposed her. Similar records have come down of the massacres of Jews at the hands of the Roman Church.”
John Daniel, The Grand Design Exposed (CHJ Publishing, 1999): 27, 78:
“Through relentless torture, starvation, genocide, massacres, burning at the stake, against every conceivable fury of [Papal] Rome, they [i.e., the ‘seeds of protest’] could not be extinguished. History estimates that over one hundred million people lost their lives during that time of [Papal] Roman tyranny. Is it any wonder that God graphically describes this onslaught of [Papal] Rome as her being ‘drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus’, and calls her the ‘Beast’?
…For the unbiased researcher, history reeks of the butchery of Romanism, where whole cities and populations were unmercifully wiped out, just because they worshipped God in a manner that was different from Roman Catholicism.”
Charles A. Bolton (Ex-Roman Catholic priest):
“What has turned my soul against Roman abuse of power is the way in which it has tortured and burned such saints of God as Joan of Arc, hundreds of the Albigensian martyrs in France in the 12th century, the Knights Templar, John Huss [Czech Jan Hus], the Dominican Savonarola, the Dominican Giordano Bruno, [and] the Anglican bishops Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer. The Inquisition has promoted at least two wholesale massacres: [hundreds of] thousands of Protestant Waldensians in northern Italy, and thousands of Protestant Huguenots by the massacre of St. Bartholomew in France. More than 30,000 of the most cultured Protestants of France were put to the sword on the night of St. Bartholomew, August 24, 1572. At the news [of this brutal, bloody massacre], the Pope had cannons fired, proclaimed a jubilee, ordered a Te Deum of thanksgiving to be sung, and struck a special medal to commemorate the glorious ‘victory’.”
Hopefully, this insight can help you trace the bloody thread of the Catholic Church’s history. How can this ominous institution be the head of the largest religion in the world? Maybe this is why Jesus and Paul both informed us that Satan is the ruler of this world (as we know it) in John 14:30, 2 Corinthians 4:4, and Ephesians 2:2. This devastating reality is why Jesus will have to destroy the politic0-religious systems of this world when he returns as we have read in Daniel 7.
Now, let us look into more history to learn about how the Roman Catholic Church is responsible for most of the doctrine of all “Christian” denominations:
From H.G. Wells, The Outline of History, Chapter 29.8 The Establishment of Official Christianity, page 242-243:
“This date 325 A.D. is a very convenient date in our history. It is the date of the first complete general (oecumenical) council of the entire Christian world. (That at Arles we have mentioned had been a gathering of only the western half.) It marks the definite entry upon the stage of human affairs of the Christian church and of Christianity as it is generally understood in the world to-day. It marks the exact definition of Christian teaching by the Nicene Creed. It is necessary that we should recall the reader’s attention to the profound differences between this fully developed Christianity of Nicaea and the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth. All Christians hold that the latter is completely contained in the former, but that is a question outside our province.
What is clearly apparent is that the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth was a prophetic teaching of the new type that began with the Hebrew prophets. It was not priestly, it had no consecrated temple and no altar. It had no rites and ceremonies. Its sacrifice was a broken and a contrite heart. Its only organization was an organization of preachers, and its chief function was the sermon. But the fully fledged Christianity of the fourth century, though it preserved as its nucleus the teachings of Jesus in the gospels, was mainly a priestly religion of a type already familiar to the world for thousand of years. The centre of its elaborate ritual was an altar, and the essential act of worship the sacrifice, by a consecrated priest, of the mass. And it had a rapidly developing organization of deacons, priests, and bishops.
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With the abundance of historical proof from different sources, we see that the Catholic Church, rose to power and merged paganism with Christian teachings as a means of authoritarian order. We now know that this church is purporting to be pious, but in actual fact it is committing spiritual fornication. A good outline of what spiritual fornication is can be found in the book of Ezekiel 16. As seen earlier, Ralph Woodrow correctly pointed out how the woman in biblical symbology is a church. There are two types of churches in the world, the Church of Satan aka The Mother of Harlots (Great Whore), and the True Church, Israel (The Virgin). The similarities between these two churches is that they both claim to be the bride of Christ. The difference between these two churches, is that only one of them are keeping God’s commandments.
Remember, if we Love God, we will keep his commandments. The Mother of Harlots is a counterfeit church, hence the Lord refers to her as a whore and not a virgin. The Mother of Harlots, is thus a well befitting name because a woman that commits fornication outside of marriage is known as a Harlot. It is important to note that a mother has children, and a mother tells her children what to do. Now if we use our spiritual shades, we should see that this Mother Church with false doctrine, has daughters or subsidiary churches with the same false doctrine as their mother. This is why if the Mother declares Easter and Sunday as correct and holy, even tho it is pagan and contrary to God’s word, then regardless, the denominations of the world follows along. This is how and why the world has been deceived according to Revelations 12:9! What it is strikingly revealing about this, is that the Vatican pompously boasts herself as the THE MOTHER OF ALL CHURCHES!
Vatican claims to be the Mother of ALL Churches
Description:”Sacrosancta Lateranensis ecclesia omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput” (“Most Holy Lateran Church, of all the churches in the city and the world, the mother and head.”) Inscription on the façade of the Basilica of St. John Lateran (Rome).
Below is an article excerpt that confirms that the Catholic church assumes the role of the Mother Church i.e. the Mother of Harlots:
“The Roman Catholic Church received plenty of attention in the press last month when the Vatican published Dominus Iesus, a 36-page document which affirmed the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as well as the Catholic belief that their denomination is the one true Bride of Christ.
The Vatican also published a note from Cardinal John (sic) Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in which he said the Catholic Church could not be put on an equal footing with other denominations. The Church in Rome is not their sister, he said, but rather, it is the mother of all the particular churches.
Many reporters zeroed in on a statement in Dominus Iesus which declared that non-Catholic churches suffer from defects. The document also claimed that, while followers of other religions may receive divine grace, they are in a gravely deficient situation, whereas Catholics have the fullness of the means of salvation.
Most non-Catholics who responded to the document admitted that there was little, if anything, new about it; it mainly repeated beliefs that the Catholic Church has always held. Even the word defects appears only in a quote taken from a document issued during the Second Vatican Council, a meeting of Catholic hierarchy in the 1960s in which the Church made significant strides towards dialogue with other faiths.
But Dominus Iesus was still criticized by church leaders who felt that its bluntness posed a threat to interdenominational relations.
George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Anglican Church, issued a press release criticizing the document for failing to fully reflect the deeper understanding that has been achieved through ecumenical dialogue and cooperation during the past 30 years.
Manfred Kock, chair of the Evangelical Church of Germany, said future efforts could be jeopardized if churches do not meet on equal terms.
Even some Catholics expressed disappointment. Thomas J. Reese, editor of America, told The Washington Posthe was dismayed that the document made practically no reference to recent ecumenical dialogues, which have led to joint statements between the Catholic and Lutheran churches, affirming the beliefs they hold in common.
However, some say the Vatican’s declaration will have little impact on the growing rapport between Catholics and other Christians. Protestant historian Martin E. Marty said that Protestants and Orthodox Christians, each of whom claim a closer bond with the early Church than the Catholics, would do little more than sulk at their next gatherings and take the Catholic teaching with larger grains of more salt than usual.”
Full Article: http://amazingdiscoveries.org/00.10.01-the-mother-of-all-churches
Quotes on the Vatican as Mother/Head of all churches:
“It must always be clear, when the expression sister churches is used in this proper sense that the one, holy, catholic and apostolic universal church is not sister but mother of all the particular churches” — Cardinal Ratzinger. (Note On The Expression Sister Churches” by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, SDB, June 30, 2000)
“Thus a true filial spirit toward the Church can develop among Christians. It is the normal flowering of the baptismal grace which has begotten us in the womb of the Church and made us members of the Body of Christ. In her motherly care, the Church grants us the mercy of God which prevails over all our sins and is especially at work in the sacrament of reconciliation. With a mother’s foresight, she also lavishes on us day after day in her liturgy the nourishment of the Word and Eucharist of the Lord.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Article 2, #2040)
The Dominus Iesus declaration, which has been written by a close aide of Pope John Paul II, says that the Roman Catholic church is the “mother” of all Christian denominations and that it is incorrect to refer to the Church of England and other Protestant churches as “sister” organisations on a par with Rome.(Vatican declaration provokes churches. BBC, September 5, 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/910612.stm)
“Protestantism has not, and never can have, any right where Catholicity has triumphed.” (Catholic Review, June 1875)
“Religious liberty is merely endured until the opposite can be carried into effect without peril to the Catholic Church.” (Rt. Rev. O’Connor, Bishop of Pittsburgh.)
Paul gave us signs to identify The Mother of Harlots :
1 Timothy 4:1-5
King James Version (KJV)
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
Examples of LIES in HYPOCRISY made by the Catholic Church:
- Atheists will get into heaven (John 3:13, Acts 4:10-12)
- The Pope is the Vicar (Replacer) of Christ (Ephesian 4:5-6)
- The Pope is the Church’s spiritual Father (Matthew 23:7-9)
- The Church has the authority to change divine law (Dan 7:25)
- Worship of Mary (Luke 11:27-28)
- Christmas and the celebration of Jesus’ Death (Jeremiah 10:2-8, Exodus 12:1-14, Matthew 26)
- Sabbath is the 1st Day of the week (Exodus 20:8-11)
- Jesus Died “Good Friday” Night and Rose Easter Sunday Morning (Matthew 12:38-40)
- Kissing Graven Images (Exodus 20:4, Hosea 13:1-4)
3 Forbidding to marry,
The Mother Church forbids their priests to marry, when God specifically set up marriage for all people, even priests (I Timothy 3:2). To impose the burden of celibacy upon a priest is to put a man-made burden that is not necessary on them and not mandated by God, it is a clear case of putting human tradition ahead of the Bible. Many Roman Catholics believe that Peter was not married, the Bible says otherwise. (Matthew 8:14-15; Mark 1:30-31; Luke 4:38-39). It is interesting to note that priests of pagan Rome were also made to take a vow of celibacy as were the priests of Babylon. No wonder there are so many cases of sodomy and molestation by catholic priests and bishops!
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3(Cont’d )and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, IF it be received with thanksgiving: 5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
Click: Overview of How the Catholic Faith Contradicts the Bible!
This church is an apostate anti-Christ system which has challenged the authority, laws, and principles of God by way of the Pope whom gets its power from Satan (Rev. 13:2-4).
An analysis of The Mother of Harlots in Revelations 17:
Revelations 17:1-5,9
King James Version (KJV)
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication,
This fornication is not physical fornication but politico-religio-economic fornication as the pope rules over all the nations and governments! An excerpt from the Jesuit Oath shows us this.
“I, ……….., now, in the presence of Almighty God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the blessed Michael the Archangel, the blessed St. John the Baptist, the holy Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul and all the saints and sacred hosts of heaven, and to you, my ghostly father, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, founded by St. Ignatius Loyola in the Pontificate of Paul the Third, and continued to the present, do by the womb of the virgin, the matrix of God, and the rod of Jesus Christ, declare and swear, that his holiness the Pope is Christ’s Vice-regent and is the true and only head of the Catholic or Universal Church throughout the earth; and that by virtue of the keys of binding and loosing, given to his Holiness by my Savior, Jesus Christ, he hath power to depose heretical kings, princes, states, commonwealths and governments, all being illegal without his sacred confirmation and that they may safely be destroyed.”
2 (cont’d) and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Sunday Worship, Christmas, Easter, Lent, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, New Years Eve, Lent, Wearing Crosses, Going to Heaven, The Trinity, Grace = No Works, Communion, Graven Images, and the majority of all Christian dogma and practices, are all doctrine that the Catholic Church established by way of her “divine authority” and not by the holy scriptures! This is how we know that the God of the Bible is true, because he told us that all of this would happen thousand of years in advanced! The World is Truly Drunk with false doctrine!
Revelation 12:9 King James Version (KJV) 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth.
On Tuesday, September 5th, 2000, the Vatican made public a strongly worded document titled “Dominus Iesus” which reaffirmed the long held Catholic doctrine the only the Roman Catholic Church is the true Church of Christ. Excerpt from “Dominus Iesus”:
“the ecclesial communities which have not preserved the valid Episcopate and the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic mystery [Protestants], are not [sister] Churches in the proper sense; however, those who are baptized in these communities are, by Baptism, incorporated in Christ and thus are in a certain communion, albeit imperfect, with the [one true Catholic] Church.”
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth (Seven Hills of Rome)
Knowing that the woman represents a religion/church, this scripture has informed us where she is located. There is only ONE religious organization in the world that exists in a land mass with seven hills/mountains. This is the Roman Catholic Church! The Catholic Encyclopedia states, “It is within the city of Rome, called the city of seven hills, that the entire area of Vatican State proper is now confined.”
The Seven Hills of Rome (Italian: Sette colli di Roma, Latin: Septem montes Romae) east of the river Tiber form the geographical heart of Rome, within the walls of the ancient city.
The seven hills are:
- Aventine Hill (Latin, Aventinus; Italian, Aventino)
- Caelian Hill (Caelius, Celio)
- Capitoline Hill (Capitolium, Campidoglio)
- Esquiline Hill (Esquilinus, Esquilino)
- Palatine Hill (Palatinus, Palatino)
- Quirinal Hill (Quirinalis, Quirinale)
- Viminal Hill (Viminalis, Viminale)”
ALL ROADS TRULY DO LEAD TO ROME
Earlier we mentioned the five main characteristics of the Mother of Harlots which the Bible outlines. We stated that in order for an institution to qualify as the Mother of Harlots it must fit the following criteria:
1) Entrenched in paganism and doctrine that is not rooted in sound biblical precepts which will cause people to sin
2) The influence of this church’s false doctirne has to be seen in all nations of the world
3) It will have to have the authority to declare what is right and what is wrong, i.e. change laws
4) It will have to be led by a man and exist in a great city
5) It will need to have killed the saints and apostles of God!
An article in the National Catholic Reporter, titled “Rome, where the pontiff is supreme,” declared: “No city comes close to being so suffused with religious culture as Rome is with Catholicism. What has emerged over the centuries is unmistakably a culture of the papacy.” The article goes on to refer to the monuments to Roman Catholicism found everywhere in Rome and states: “All roads lead, sooner or later, down the via della Concilizione to the Vatican …. Rome is… the world’s spiritual crossroads.”
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