The Evangelicals and Catholics Together or ECT Movement is Part of Continuing the Counter-Reformation

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Make no mistake that having the Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT) movement is part of continuing the Counter-Reformation. The history of the Counter-Reformation also included the Jesuits who were involved in arranging for the demise of the Reformation. But the tactics have changed from brutal bloody force to infilitration. Today, the history of the Inquisition is almost well-covered up that the average Roman Catholic today believes it's just a myth invented to destroy unity.

So why was the Second Vatican Council created? It's announced as a time of healing. I could even remember the time John Paul II held the Day of Pardon Mass during his papacy. When he died his successor the resigned Benedict XVI also continued the same process. It involved dialogue with various religious groups. What also shocked me was to realize that several pastors who I once admired turned out to be pro-Vatican. Martin Luther King Jr. was also openly ecumenical and had an audience with Paul VI. Later, John Paul II called Graham his brother-in-Christ.

How does the ECT Movement continue to counter the Reformation? It's not immediately through the obvious use of the brutal methods of the Inquisition. Instead, it's all in the name of peace. Arthur W. Pink warned in one of his writings "Another Gospel" about the so-called brotherhood of man. This is the gospel of false peace. Many times, we think of Satan as just someone who sows discord never mind that he also destroys others through false peace. Daniel 8:25 warns that the Antichrist will destroy many through peace. The Pope who supposedly represents a man of peace has used false peace to destroy many. That's why a considerable amount of Christian theologians (Protestant or not) think of the Pope as Antichrist or that the final Pope will be the Antichrist.

The new movement's strategy is all about the so-called tolerance. Guilt inducement is one common technique. They can say some stuff like that there are many ways to serve God and you can serve Him the way you want. They would want you to believe that there's hardly a difference between Roman Catholics and Bible-believing Christians except the interpretation. It's often ignored that proper interpretation of Scripture or the art of hermeneutics is important. I get called a bigot because I refuse to accept both interpretations as right. But there is one truth and Amos 3:3 says that the two cannot walk together except they be agreed. Ephesians 5:11 says Christians should have nothing to do with the workers of darkness but to reprove them out of love.

There are many crucial differences between Roman Catholics and Evangelicals that cannot be reconciled. Evangelicals stand by that all traditions in the Church is governed by Sola Scriptura. The Roman Catholic institution insists on adding their tradition even when it is contrary to Scripture. Another issue is the doctrine of salvation by faith alone. Evangelicals do believe that a faith without works is dead but they do not believe in adding good works to staying saved. Roman Catholics on the other hand believe that you must do good works to stay saved. There is a big difference between faith that results to good works and adding works to faith. One does good works as a result of being saved. The other does good works in hopes of staying saved. If one has to do good works in hopes of staying saved then that's works salvation. If one does good works as a result of being saved then that is true salvation. Take note that anybody who is indifferent to good works and claims to be a Christian is a false convert.

The problem of the ECT Movement is trying to reconcile truth with error. It should be very confusing to why some Evangelical pastors could even sign that document during the reign of John Paul II. How could Graham himself even call the Pope as his brother-in-Christ. Don Moen is even known as the Protestant who sang for the Pope. Pope Francis is still continuously meeting various Evangelical leaders in hopes of "healing" the rift of the Reformation. They want everyone to think that the Reformation was just a "huge misunderstanding" when it isn't.

No, the Reformation was not just a huge misunderstanding. It was a real issue of Bible vs. manmade tradition. When Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses and would defy the Popes it was because of what the Bible said. The Reformation was a movement that got more Bibles out. Luther spent his whole time translating the Bible into German. John Calvin prepared the Geneva Study Bible which would soon inspire Puritanism. The whole Reformation renounced Rome. Luther once thought he could reform the Roman Catholic institution but he was dead wrong. I once thought I could reform it but I was also dead wrong. It was a matter of fighting for the truth that people needed to hear.

One good reason why the ECT Movement is becoming more successful can also be owed to watered down preaching in the churches. When you have pastors who are taking away the basic truths of hard preaching then you create a fertile ground for many fake conversions. How many people today think they are saved because they have said a prayer or signed a dotted line but they never understood the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Many of them are supposedly Evangelicals but they were never saved. That is why some Evangelicals are converting to Roman Catholicism because they were not true converts. They never had much root to begin with to go down and bear fruit. They join into the church but they were never part of the true Church. They were just sit-ins who end up becoming like Judas Iscariot (1 John 2:19).

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