Roman Catholicism Is Nothing More Than the Jewish Religion of Jesus' Day Repackaged and Disguised as Christianity!
The Pope himself no is no way the successor of Peter. Roman Catholics are quick to point Matthew 16:16-18 to justify their claims. However a closer look even at the Good News Version says, "You are Peter and you are a rock and upon this Rock I will build my Church." Looking at the sentence, Peter is just a small rock which you use for construction or petros. Petra on the other hand means huge rock which is used as a foundation for any building. As a former Roman Catholic, I was too lazy to study my Bible but after I got saved, I wanted to really learn more about the Bible. Nothing was more shocking than having a similar experience that Martin Luther had in reading the Scriptures.
Why do I say the Pope is the "successor" of Caiaphas? Now Caiaphas was not the founder of the papacy but he was a type of Pope and neither are the Popes the genetic descendants of Caiaphas. I say that he succeeds the legacy of Caiaphas in terms of how he leads the laity and how he actually influences even the political arena. Today, the Pope is compared to Caiaphas and the government is compared to Pontius Pilate considering that the Vatican influences world politics whether you like it or not. Learning about the Pharisees, they are actually an ancient secret society according to Cutting Edge Ministries. According to some sources, the Pharisees were involved with the Cabala which was used in their own version of Judaism. When a person is elected the high priest, his word becomes law. The resignation of Annas and the rise of Caiaphas (but this was a father-in-law and son-in-law relationship) is similar to the resignation of Benedict XVI and the rise of Pope Francis.
Now let us take a look at the similarities between the Jewish religion of Jesus' day and the Roman Catholic system of today:
Both groups forbade Bible reading to their laity so they can keep their own tradition
Isaiah 29:11-13 warns about the Bible getting sealed from the public and that the Word of God is rejected for the traditions of men. Jesus later condemned the Pharisees in Matthew 7:8-13 to how the Pharisees rejected the Word of God to keep their own tradition. The Pharisees added so many manmade rules that went against the Word of God. When the Roman Catholic institution came into power they banned the Bible from being read to the public. Worse, they even read the Bible in Latin even to those who can't understand Latin rather than have the Bible read to the public. The results were ugly like the killing of the pre-Reformation Baptists, the death of the Baptist preacher William Tyndale on the stake, the death of John Huss on the stake because he declared the Pope a fraud based on the Scriptures, Girolamo Savonarola opposed the whole Roman Catholic system and paid dearly for it under Pope Alexander VI and the Inquisition targeted those who shared the Bible to the public as the biggest enemies ever. Nobody was ever allowed to teach the Bible without the permission and guidance of their authorities. This was all a tactic used to keep people from ever finding out the truth. Today Roman Catholics are not really encouraged to read their Bibles except under the interpretation of a priest rather than let them figure out the truth for themselves.
Both groups believe in keeping up with a legalistic system
When I started reading the Bible and figuring out the Pharisees with all their unnecessary policies, they have even defiled a Sabbath into a burden. For example, if you are sick on a Sabbath, no doctor was ever allowed to heal you or if a person fell into a pit, the person was left to die. In Roman Catholicism I have observed a lot of ritualistic superstition like they order people never to eat meat on Fridays, Ash Wednesday and the Lenten season. There's also all the stupidity of having to go to the Confessionals, the Rosary and every other ritual which their followers are made to believe will get them closer to God when those superstitions cannot get them any closer to God because of man's fallen merit. In the Dark Ages, breaking any rules concerning fasting or any ritual could get you severely disciplined or even executed. If you remember the Reformer Huldrych Zwingli, he dared to eat sausages during Lent and was severely criticized for it. In my own experience, I freely ate steak on Good Friday and my former churchmates booed and hissed me like there was no tomorrow. This is in direct violation to Colossians 2:16 which says that nobody should judge you what you should eat or drink when it comes to religious matters. The doctor can have the right to judge you for eating high cholesterol foods for health reasons but nobody has the right to judge another for religious reasons.
Both groups have their two-faced arrogant Pharisees ruling over it
If you look at the Roman Catholic Pharisees and the Pharisees, both of them have a lot of things in common. Matthew 23 reveals the ugliness of the Pharisees and it's hardly any different from the Roman Catholic Pharisees. Both groups have their priests wearing long flowing robes and love the greetings in the marketplace. The Pharisees and the Roman Catholic Pharisees are also called "father" in the religious sense. They have a faulty interpretation of 1 Corinthians 4:15 without being aware that Paul was not called as "father" at all but father in the figurative sense and Timothy was called a "son" to describe they were were like a father and son. However the Roman Catholic Pharisees and the Pharisees are called "father" by the general laity in contrast to Paul who became a "father" to some of the new converts. The Roman Catholic Pharisees however embraced celibacy which was not even commanded thinking that because they are celibate, it puts them above the pedestal. They should have considered reading 1 Timothy 3:1-5 that commands that every church leader (and don't tell me that they are not church leaders) are to be the husband of but one wife.
Both groups used infiltration tactics to get even with their enemies
The Pharisees weren't really so fond of Jesus so they decided to attack Him from within. Judas Iscariot became the answer. 2 Corinthians 11:26 warns of the peril of false brethren left and right. The Roman Catholic system had resolved to using infiltration tactics to attack and weed out people they hated. The Dominicans and later the Jesuits would use spies who were sent to monitor people. Many Christian assemblies end up getting temporarily destroyed whenever a certain someone was sent there and alerted the Inquisition. I prefer to call this tactic the "Judas Iscariot method".
Both groups are always seeking after a sign and reject the final authority of Scripture
Whenever I try to expose any miracles of today as satanic attacks, it's a problem that Roman Catholics believe that they need more signs and wonders rather than refer to the Bible. It reminded me of me hearing of an incident where somebody was invited to hear to Dr. Bob Hughes preach in Bible Baptist Church-Cebu but after that, she said she didn't see God on the wall or any miracles, she made the sign of the cross and left the auditorium. Matthew 12:39 and Matthew 16:4 give a warning not to seek out signs. Many Roman Catholics today keep seeking signs like an apparition of Mary or an angel speaking and when you tell them that it's possibly satanic deception, they protest like a child in a candy store. The Pharisees themselves were always seeking for signs but even when they saw the signs Jesus is the Messiah, they still rejected Him. Roman Catholics today can have that attitude that even if they see signs like moral revival where the Gospel is preached, some of them can still reject the Gospel preferring to believe in signs and wonders. 2 Thessalonians 2:9 warns of the signs and lying wonders.
Both groups believe on a works-based, church membership type of salvation
Whenever I think of the Roman Catholic institution, their salvation is first by faith then kept by works. While they are right to say that salvation must be by faith but they are wrong to teach in the conditional security of the believer. Arminianism is nothing more than diet or modified Roman Catholicism or Catholicism repackaged and slimmed down. When the Pharisees saw Jesus reaching out the outcasts of society, they frowned. If you recall the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, we read that the Pharisee sought to justify himself by his works. The Roman Catholic institution is no better where they teach that salvation is first by faith then added by these works - keeping the sacraments such as confession, attending the Mass, praying the Rosary, prayers to saints, prayers to angels, doing all your good works to keep one's salvation in contrast to the Christian who does good works only because they are already saved and sanctified by God's grace.
Both do not believe that Christ's sacrifice was sufficient for our sins
Even after Jesus had died, the Jewish religion still kept offering animals sacrifices rejecting the full sacrifice of Jesus Christ and denying the public from entering the Holy of Holies even when the veil was already torn. I would believe God's judgment fell on it when the Romans sacked Jerusalem in 70 A.D. where the Romans destroyed the corrupted Jewish Temple. Later on, the Roman Catholic system would institute the Mass which was a perversion of the Lord's Supper as a "continual sacrifice for sins" rather than as as remembrance of Christ's finished work on the cross. The Mass was celebrated daily instead of just Sundays as a type of repetition of the useless animal sacrifices. Claiming an unbloody sacrifice contradicts what Hebrews 9:22 says that without bloodshed there is no remission. While Roman Catholics believe that Jesus had to shed His blood for the forgiveness of sins but the celebration of the Roman Catholic Mass (which some Reformers call as the Abomination of Desolation and for later Reformed theologians as a prequel to the Abomination of Desolation) is nothing more than a mockery. Also they believe that people who die in the state of grace must also enter Purgatory, a belief taken from the Maccabees which is not part of the Old Testament. The confessional is also nothing more than a mockery and repeat of the practice that before sins were confessed to God, a priest had to receive the unblemished animal in a symbolic manner. Only this time, the Roman Catholic Pharisees even dare to admit they have the power to absolve sin.
Both groups claim to worship God but their hearts are far away from Him
Isaiah 29:13 warns about the hearts being far from God even if the praises are there. The Pharisees were condemned for such behavior and the Roman Catholic Pharisees are no better than that. It reminded me of how I can hear a Catholic Mass singing, "This World is Not My Home" during a Roman Catholic funeral (which is followed up my so many masses for the dead) or "Lord I Lift Your Name On High" during a Roman Catholic Mass. It made me think it's serious mockery and they don't even know it because they're blinded from the truth. It's stupid to think they are singing praises to God but they worship Mary more than God with the Rosary having 15 Hail Marys or how often they keep praying to Mary asking them to make them worthy of the promises of Christ. Only if they read their Bibles then they can see that Christ can make them immediately worthy of His promises but the problem is that their hearts are too hardened it needs to be softened first. They are too engrossed with their worship of graven images that even if they claim they do not worship but the fact they do more than kneel, they actually pray to it is showing they are really guilty of idolatry.
The destruction of the Jewish Temple: typology of the destruction of Babylon the Great?
Revelation 17-18 describes the Great Whore of Revelation as a counterfeit church. She tries to look Christian but she isn't. She tries to look like she's of God but she isn't. Many Christian theologians of the past such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, Cotton Mather, John Gill, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield and Charles Spurgeon identified the Great Whore to be the Roman Catholic institution and no other religious city on Earth is built on seven hills. We can see how the Apostate Church is described in the Bible. Revelation 17:1-6 describes the Harlot to be a woman dressed in purple and scarlet, gold, precious stones, pearls and she carries a golden cup full of abomination and the blood of the saints. Now where do we get the descriptions of purple, scarlet, gold, precious stones and pearls?
Let us go back to the Old Testament and see the attire of the priests and the high priest. Purple and scarlet are representations of the authority of the Old Testament priesthood. You can see that the attires of the Old Testament priests have purple and scarlet are the symbols of authority. Now I am curious why isn't there a mention of blue in the Great Whore? The Old Testament priest wore a miter which is the priestly cap. The breastplate had 12 types of jewels to represent the twelve political tribes of Israel. The harlot is a counterfeit of God's ordinance. Remember that paganism did not only copy from each other but also from the Bible. The story of Samson was later used to make the story of Hercules where both characters slew a lion with their bare hands and the story of Moses partly inspired Adonis as a baby found in a basket.
The Roman Catholic institution's priesthood not only mimics the Old Testament priesthood but also mocks it. When I think of how Roman Catholic apologists read verses from Leviticus to justify their priesthood, however they fail to see that the Jewish priests were required to get married (Leviticus 21:13). What was also interesting is that in Leviticus 21:9 is that if any daughter of a priest defiles herself with harlotry, she was to be burned alive. The Great Whore of Babylon is pictured as a harlot that would be destroyed by fire. She also claims to be a Christian church founded by Peter, she says she is the true church of Jesus but she has practiced all unscriptural practices such as idolatry (and denies it), the worship of the Queen of Heaven they call as the Virgin Mary all in the name of "showing another way to love God" when it's all but serious mockery.
The Old Testament had utensils used in the temple. If you remember during the 70 year exile and the Babylonian Empire was coming to its end, Belshazzar himself used the gold and silver utensils from the Jewish Temple to drink to the pagan gods (Daniel 5:2). The woman in Revelation 17 has a golden cup full of abomination and filthiness. When Belshazzar drank liquor to the idols of Babylon, I wish to make a parallelism to the symbolic harlot. The Great Whore using the golden cup may be a reference to Belshazzar's using the sacred temple utensils to feast to pagan gods. The idea is that the Great Whore defiles that was dedicated to God with her filth and abomination which results to her judgment one day at the right time.
Why I am bringing up the Jewish Temple here is to show what I think is a possible parallelism between its destruction and the fall of Babylon the Great in the near future. Jesus during His day was also calling people out of the corrupt Jewish religious system that was enslaving them and in Revelation 18:4-8 the Lord Jesus is calling people out of the apostate system of the world. Matthew 23:34-36 condemns the corrupt Jewish system of slaying the true believers of God and in the Book of Acts, Stephen's very own death mirrored the Roman Catholic Inquisition. Even Jesus' illegal trial was a type of the Roman Catholic Inquisition. In 70 A.D. the Jewish Temple was destroyed by the Romans and burnt down with fire. In Revelation 17 and 18, the ultimate fate of Babylon the Great is to be destroyed with fire. The parallelisms are getting more and more similar.
Even so come Lord Jesus!
See also:
- Are Roman Catholics Aware of the REAL REASON Why Jesus Attacked the Pharisees?
- Defending the Doctrine and Tradition of Sola Scriptura
- It's Easy to Ignore the Fact that Satan Can Appear As an "Angel of Light"
- Many Roman Catholics Just Refuse to Hear the Truth!
- Papal Infallibility?
- Reasons Why the Roman Catholic Church is NOT Christian
- The Crisis of Faith in Roman Catholicism
- The Unholy Father and Blasphemy
- Those Pharisees May Fool the World With Their Good Works but NEVER God