The Unholy Father and Blasphemy
Here are some various articles of the Vatican Council as well as the Popes that show that the Pope is an antichrist. These are the Papal teachings which are plain contrary to Scripture which I will underline some important points which I find need to be emphasized for reading. Below is a study of the Papacy and why many of the Reformers counted him as the Antichrist. As a former Roman Catholic, I really have been awakened to the truth as well. I take no pleasure in doing this, in fact it is my painful responsibility to awaken Roman Catholics to the truth.
Here's what the Reformers had to say about the Pope based on SCRIPTURAL TRUTH:
Martin Luther
"We here are of the conviction that the Papacy is the seat of the true and real Antichrist. I owe the Pope no other obedience than that I owe to Antichrist."
"I am persuaded that if at this time St. Peter in person should preach all the articles of holy Scripture and only deny the Pope's authority, power and primacy and say that the Pope is not the head of all Christendom, they would cause him to be hanged. Yet if Christ Himself were again on earth and should preach without all doubt, the Pope would crucify Him again."
"All things which the Pope from a power so false, mischievous, blasphemous and arrogant has done and undertaken have been and still are purely diabolical affairs and transactions for the ruin of the entire holy Christian church and for the destruction of the first and chief article concerning the redemption made through Jesus Christ."
"The Pope is the very Antichrist who has exalted himself above and opposed himself against Christ because he will not permit Christians to be saved."
"It is nothing else than the devil himself because above and against God he urges and disseminates his Papal falsehoods concerning Masses, Purgatory, the monastic life, one's own works, fictitious divine worship which is the very Papacy and condemns, murders and tortures all Christians who do not exalt and honor these abominations of the Pope above all things, therefore just as little as we can worship the devil himself as Lord and God, we can endure his apostle the Pope. For to lie and to kill and destroy body and soul eternally, that is wherein his Papal government really consists."
John Calvin
"Some persons think us too severe and censorious when we call the Pontiff Antichrist, but those who are of this opinion do not consider that they bring the same charge of presumption against Paul himself after whom we speak and whose language we adopt. I shall briefly show that Paul's words in 2 Thessalonians 2 are not capable of any other interpretation than that which implies them to the Papacy."
John Knox the founder of the Presbyterian Movement
"The Papacy is the very Antichrist, the Pope being the son of perdition of whom Paul speaks."
Thomas Cranmer
"Whereof it follows Rome to be the seat of Antichrist and the Pope to be the very Antichrist himself. I can prove the same by many Scriptures." The Westminster Confession was written in 1647, the Westminster Confession, the Confession of the Reformers says, "There is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ, nor can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof, but is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition that exalted himself in the church against Christ and all that is called God."
Cotton Mather
"The oracles of God foretold the rising of an Antichrist in the Christian church. And in the Pope of Rome, all the characteristics of that Antichrist are so marvelously answered that if any who read the Scriptures do not see it, there is a marvelous blindness on them."
From the fundamental Baptist perspective to which I am one by my favorite dead preacher, Charles Spurgeon who also believes that the Pope is an antichrist:
"It is the bound and duty of every Christian to pray against this Antichrist and as to what Antichrist is no sane man ought to raise a question. If it be not the popery in the church of Rome, there's nothing in the world that can be called by that name."
"Of all the dreams that have ever deluded men, and probably of all blasphemies that ever were uttered, there has never been one which is more absurd and which is more fruitful in all manner of mischief than the idea that the Bishop of Rome can be the head of the church of Jesus Christ. No. These Popes die, and how could the church live if its head were dead? The true head ever lives and the church ever lives in Him."
"A man...this is very interesting...a man who deludes other people by degrees comes to delude himself. The deluder first makes dupes out of others and then becomes a dupe to himself. I should not wonder but what the Pope really believes that he is infallible and that he ought to be saluted as His Holiness. It must have taken him a good time to arrive at that eminence of self-deception. But he's got to it, I daresay by now, and everyone who kisses his toe confirms him in this insane idea. When everybody else believes a flattering falsehood concerning you, you come at last to believe it yourself. Or at least to think it may be so. But the Pharisees being continually called the learned, rabbi, father, the holy scribe, the devout and pious doctor, the sanctified teacher believed the flattering compliments. They used very grand phrases in those days and doctors of divinity were very common, almost as common as they are now and the crowd of doctors and rabbis help to keep each other in countenance by repeating each other's fine names until they believed they meant something. Dear friends,it's very difficult to receive honor and expect it and yet to keep your eyesight for men's eyes gradually grow dull through the smoke of the incense which is burned before them. And when their eyes become dim with self-conceit, their own great selves conceal the cross and make them unable to believe the truth."
"Christ did not redeem His church with His blood so the Pope could come in and steal away the glory. He never came from heaven to earth. He never poured out his very heart that he might purchase his people. That a poor sinner, a mere man should be set upon high to be admired by all the nations and to call himself God's representative on earth, Christ has always been the head of His church."
There's been common objections from Catholic websites to what they consider foolishness. However from their own doctrine vs. the Bible, again I can say that Catholics and true Christians cannot walk together. I am NOT a Roman Baptholic, I am a Baptist Christian and if I were an Evangelical or Presbyterian- I definitely would not be a Roman Evangotholic or Presbytholic. Yes I belong to the Catholic (Universal) Church but NOT the Roman Catholic Church. To understand further their statements, let's take a look at doctrine in itself with various Vatican sources in the light of Scripture to how the Reformers came up with a logical theory that the final Pope could be the Antichrist:
On the Primacy of the Pope from Catholic teaching itself that gives the Pope his supposed power and leadership of the whole world when it comes to religious matters:
"We decree that the Holy Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff have primacy in the whole world and that this Roman Pontiff is the successor of blessed Peter, the Prince of the Apostles and the true Vicar of Christ head of the whole Church and father and teacher of all Christians; that to him in blessed Peter was given by our Lord Jesus Christ the full power of feeding, ruling and governing the universal Church as it is contained int he acts of the ecumenical councils and in the sacred canons." (Council of Florence, 1439, Ibid. p. 206, No. 349)
"If any one, therefore, shall say that blessed Peter the Apostle was not appointed the Prince of all the Apostles and the visible head of the whole Church; or that he directly and immediately received a primacy of honor only, and not of true and proper jurisdiction let him be anathema." (Vatican Council I, 1870, Ibid, p. 223, No. 374)
"Hence we teach and declare that by the appointment of our Lord, the Roman Church possesses possesses a superiority of ordianry power all over all other Churches, and that this power of jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiff, which is truly Episcopal, is immediate to which all and whatever rite and collectively are bound by their duty of hierarchical subordination and true obedience to submit not only in the matters that pertain to faith and morals but also in those that pertain to discipline and government of the Church throughout the world." (Vatican Council I, 1870, p. 224-225, No. 379)
"If then any one shall say that the Roman Pontiff has merely the office of inspection and direction but not full and supreme power of jurisdiction over the universal Church, not only in things pertaining to the faith and morals but also in those things that relate to the discipline and government of the Church spread throughout the world or that he possesses only the principal part and not fullness of this supreme power... Let him be excommunicated and condemed." (Vatican Council I, Ibid, p. 226, No. 382)
"Therefore faithfully adhering to the tradition received from the beginning of the Christian faith for the glory of God our Savior, the exaltation of the Catholic religion, and the salvation of Christian peoples, the sacred Council approving, we teach and define that it is a dogma divinely revealed that the Roman Pontiff when he speaks ex cathedra that is when, in the discharge of the office of Pastor and Doctor of all Christians by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority he defines a doctrine regarding faith or morals to be held by the universal church by the divine assistance promised him in blessed Peter, is possessed with that infallibility with which the Divine Redeemer willed at His church should be endowed for defining doctrine regarding faith and morals: and that therefore such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are irreformable of themselves and not from the consent of the Church. But if any one- which God avert- presume to contradict this our definition- let him be excommunicated and condemned." (Vatican Council I, p. 229. No. 338)
Other statements about the Pope which is really 100% blasphemy:
- The Pope is usually and formally addressed as Most Holy Father. (Encyclical by Leo XIII as introduction to the Douay version of the Bible which I use to win Catholics to Christ)
- In the Cardinals' Oath, Pius X is addressed as Our Most Holy Lord.
- The famous historian Moreri writes, "To make war against the Pope is to make war against God."
- The writer Decius states, "The Pope can do all things God can do."
The word "Holy Father" was been quite interestingly but not surprisingly removed from the Catholic Bibles yet Matthew 23:9 says it this way, "And do not choose to call anyone on Earth your father for one is your Father who is in Heaven." Also, I just had my thoughts on the statements made- aren't those titles supposedly for God Himself? To make war against the Pope is to make war against God? Seriously, that is blasphemy. The Pope can do all things God can do? That really explains why one doctrine after the other contradicts each other. Here's what Martin Luther said during his trial:
"Since then your majesty and your lordships desire a simple reply, I will answer without horns and without teeth. Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of Popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen."
What the Popes said about themselves which I find to be very disturbing because this is 100% blasphemy against the Word of God:
- Pope Boniface VIII said in his Bull Unam Sanctum, "Furthermore we declare, state and define (dogmatic statement)that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of all men that they submit to the Roman Pontiff."
- "The supreme teacher in the Church is the Roman Pontiff. Union of minds therefore requires together with a perfect accord in the one faith, complete submission and obedience of will to the Church and to the Roman Pontiff as God Himself."- Leo XIII
- "The Pope is not only the representative of Jesus Christ but He is Jesus Christ Himself hidden under the veil of flesh. Does the Pope speak? It is Jesus Christ who speaks."- Pius X
Now I would like to give some excerpts of the deadly Jesuit Oath and the Pope: (read the whole oath here) which is pretty disturbing and worse, the average Roman Catholic knows nothing about it:
Superior speaks:
My son, heretofore you have been taught to act the dissembler: among Roman Catholics to be a Roman Catholic, and to be a spy even among your own brethren; to believe no man, to trust no man. Among the Reformers, to be a Reformer; among the Huguenots, to be a Huguenot; among the Calvinists, to be a Calvinist; among other Protestants, generally to be a Protestant; and obtaining their confidence, to seek even to preach from their pulpits, and to denounce with all the vehemence in your nature our Holy Religion and the Pope; and even to descend so low as to become a Jew among Jews, that you might be enabled to gather together all information for the benefit of your Order as a faithful soldier of the Pope. You have been taught to plant insidiously the seeds of jealousy and hatred between communities, provinces, states that were at peace, and to incite them to deeds of blood, involving them in war with each other, and to create revolutions and civil wars in countries that were independent and prosperous, cultivating the arts and the sciences and enjoying the blessings of peace; to take sides with the combatants and to act secretly with your brother Jesuit, who might be engaged on the other side, but openly opposed to that with which you might be connected, only that the Church might be the gainer in the end, in the conditions fixed in the treaties for peace and that the end justifies the means. You have been taught your duty as a spy, to gather all statistics, facts and information in your power from every source; to ingratiate yourself into the confidence of the family circle of Protestants and heretics of every class and character, as well as that of the merchant, the banker, the lawyer, among the schools and universities, in parliaments and legislatures, and the judiciaries and councils of state, and to be all things to all men, for the Pope's sake, whose servants we are unto death. You have received all your instructions heretofore as a novice, a neophyte, and have served as co-adjurer, confessor and priest, but you have not yet been invested with all that is necessary to command in the Army of Loyola in the service of the Pope. You must serve the proper time as the instrument and executioner as directed by your superiors; for none can command here who has not consecrated his labours with the blood of the heretic; for "without the shedding of blood no man can be saved". Therefore, to fit yourself for your work and make your own salvation sure, you will, in addition to your former oath of obedience to your order and allegiance to the Pope, repeat after me:
(The candidate)"I_______________ , now in the presence of Almighty God, the blessed Virgin Mary, the blessed St. John the Baptist, the Holy Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, and all the saints, sacred host of Heaven, and to you, my Ghostly Father, the superior general of the Society of Jesus, founded by St. Ignatius Loyola, in the pontification 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 headof the Catholic or Universal Church throughout the earth; and that by the virtue of the keys of binding and loosing given to His Holiness by my Saviour, Jesus Christ, he hath power to depose heretical Kings, Princes, States, Commonwealths, and Governments, and they may be safely destroyed. Therefore to the utmost of my power I will defend this doctrine and His Holiness's right and custom against all usurpers of the heretical or Protestant authority whatever, especially the Lutheran Church of Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and the now pretended authority and Churches of England and Scotland, and the branches of same now established in Ireland and on the continent of America and elsewhere and all adherents in regard that they may be usurped and heretical, opposing the sacred Mother Church of Rome. I do now denounce and disown any allegiance as due to any heretical king, prince or State, named Protestant or Liberal, or obedience to any of their laws, magistrates or officers..."
How screwed up can they get?! Just as said, rejecting Sola Scriptura is what would be the excuse to kick out God's tradition in the Bible for MAN'S TRADITION NOT IN THE BIBLE (Mark 7:8-13). As said, no man ever has ANY authority to add or to subtract to the canon laws, traditions, customs, practices and everything in the Bible. Want tradition of the Church? Take the Bible! That's where all the traditions and practices of the Church can be found. Paul already warned in 2 Thessalonians 2:15 that every tradition which Christians are taught by the Word or by the Epistles- NOT MANMADE DOCTRINE! Baptism, Lord's supper, soulwinning, church hierarchy, Bible reading, fasting, prayer meetings are all Biblical tradition while those like confessionals, personal vendettas, no healing on the Sabbath, rosaries, etc. are all but manmade tradition not based and rooted on God's Word.