In PART I we explored the drive on the part of the Catholic Church to build a structure that could take-in most – if not all of the world’s religions. Since the Vatican II ecumenical gathering of the 1960’s, Rome has been operating under the anti-biblical notion that all are children of God. [We saw, that in contrast, that the “right to become children of God,” is reserved to those who “received Him” – “those who believe in His name.” (see John 1:10-13)] We traced some of the current steps of Pope Francis to ally the Church with the outlying elements of what the Vatican sees as the Protestant rebellion, – but also to build bridges of integration with the Christ-denying Islamic faith. In the process scriptural principles are cast aside in favor of a new understanding of theological ‘truth.’
Last installment concluded with a discussion of something called the 2016 Mekudeshet Festival, being held right now, in which Catholics, Muslims and some Jewish elements are worshiping together in the Old City of Jerusalem. The conclusion of this festival will see an 11 day period of consecration to this unified notion of a god. But who is this to be? It is noteworthy that “Mekudeshet” refers to a Jewish wedding ceremony. In that cermony the groom pronounces: “Harei at mekudeshet lee,” which means: “Behold you are consecrated unto me.” In some ceremonies the bride proclaims: “Harei atah mekudah li,” “Behold you are holy unto me.”[i] But this begs the question: To whom are the participants consecrating themselves?
It seems that behind it all are dark forces. The drive toward religious unity is replete with connections to Eastern religions and the occult. We saw that pagan symbology is creeping into ecumenical / Christian events promoted by the Pope. The Bible tells us that this drive toward unity will ultimaely succeed …..for a time, under the auspices of the False Prophet. However the conditions necessary for its manifestation are a long-time in the making. The culture has been being prepared over decades, even centuries. There are two major streams feediing this disintegration. First and foremost is the failure of the Church to maintain biblical principles. This in turn feeds the second; the emergence of an occult revivival that is bringing the overtly pagan into public view – and even acceptance by the population at large..
THE FALLOW GROUND OF APOSTASY
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.”
(1Timothy 4:1-2)
The Church has lost its way. That is what is at the root of all of it. Though there is no space here to go into it: The process started very early on with the adoption of compromises with paganism. Beginning in about the 4th century, Christianity began to adopt pagan ways – and let us say – rework them. Over time we saw Patron Saints – replace local ‘gods’, the Virgin Mary – replace Semiramis of the Babylonian sytem – and purgatory and indulgences creep their way into Christian thought. It truly was a dark age.
In his letter to Timothy referenced above, Paul addresses this. This passage describes the gradual falling away that has afflicted the Church almost from the beginning. Then about the middle of the 18th century, the pace of this falling away began to quicken with the onset in European circles of something called ‘Higher Criticism’ or Historical Criticism. As this methodology of Bible interpretation gained steam, it called into question the long accepted and historically sound, foundational doctrines of Christianity. This became – and remains – especially prevalent among the clergy of many mainline Protestant denominations. Surveys have shown that a minority of Christian ministers in these bodies believes in the very foundational truths of Christianity as presented by the Scriptures. Barna research published by Agape Press in 2004 found that barely 51% of Protestant Pastors held to a Biblical worldview. “Southern Baptists scored the highest with 71% while United Methodists finished at the bottom with just 27%.” Seminary graduates were found to be the worst.[ii] Now in case you’re wondering, Barna defined a Biblical Worldview for us. It was defined as “believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today. In the research, anyone who held all of those beliefs was said to have a biblical worldview.” And if it’s bad in the pulpits it follows that it will be bad in the pews. Only 9% of Americans were found to have such a worldview. Among those claiming to be ‘born again’ that number only climbed to 19%. And in the youngest demographic it plunges to about one-half of one percent.[iii]
So segments of the Church are ignoring and sidestepping clear Biblical teaching on the divinity of Jesus, the virgin birth, the reality of the Resurrection, the existence of a hell, and the nature of sin. The Catholic Church has imposed its own man-generated doctrines on its adherents, – even where they clearly contradict the dictates of Scripture. Now all of this apostasy came into focus back in June of 2016 when the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA gathered to handle church business. And included in that first order of business was a lifting up of a prayer to Allah, the counterfeit deity of Islam. Now the Ecumenical and Interfaith team of the assembly brought in one Wajidi Said of the Muslim Education Trust to lead the prayer. The congregation lifted their petitions: “In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful…” Said intoned: “Allah bless us and bless our families and bless our Lord. Lead us on the straight path—the path of all prophets: Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad.” [This prayer….offered in a putative Christian assembly….is equating Ishamael and Muhammad with Abraham, Moses and Jesus. This is absurdly anti-Christian stuff.] In the name of some sort of uber-tolerance, it called for peace for “Islamaphobes” and “bigots.”[iv] This is perhaps not so surprisig for the PCUSA which decided several years back to punish firms doing business with Israel – (and by consequence Israel itself) – by the process of divestment. [If they just stop doing business with Israel….that’ll show ‘em! News Flash: GOD IS NOT ALARMED! His promises to Israel still stand. The Jews are returning just as prophesied, Jerusalem is being restored – and some day soon, Yeshua, Jesus, the Jewish Messiah and Savior of the World will return there as King!!!!]
The action of the PCUSA is really however just a symptom of the flaccid leadership and a certain confused, biblical uncertainty that characterizes much of the Western Church. The scripture-denying doctrines of gay marriage, queer ministers, sodomite & lesbian bishops and a theologically-based support for abortion – (which is nothing less than satanically-inspired pagan child sacrifice) – is robbing the power of the Church – especially the mainline denominations. . Why would anyone want to be a part of something that has no center of reference, no point of authority – but rather makes up its worldview as it goes along? The fact is they don’t. Pew Research reports: “14.7% of U.S. adults are affiliated with the mainline Protestant tradition – a sharp decline from 18.1% when our last Religious Landscape Study was conducted in 2007. Mainline Protestants have declined at a faster rate than any other major Christian group, including Catholics and evangelical Protestants, and as a result also are shrinking as a share of all Protestants and Christians. Indeed, despite overall U.S. population growth between 2007 and 2014, the total number of mainline Protestant adults has decreased by roughly 5 million during that time (from about 41 million in 2007 to 36 million in 2014).”
A by product of this denominational lack of direction and purpose has been the shrinking of the religious population. Where once America was a Christian country, now one could almost agree with President Obama that we are no longer a Christian nation. Though dedicated at Jamestown and Plymouth and at Washington’s first innauguration in New York City; though stirred by a great awakening and the revival that preceeded the Civil War and Azuaa Street and the Jesus Movement of the 60’s: As a nation we seem to be falling into religious complacency and indifference. In 2015 Pew Research conducted a mass study involving 35,000 individuals, only to find that we are becoming increasingly irreligious. The study found “that the percentages who say they believe in God, pray daily and regularly go to church or other religious services all have declined modestly in recent years….The recent decrease in religious beliefs and behaviors is largely attributable to the ‘nones’ – the growing minority of Americans, particularly in the Millennial generation, who say they do not belong to any organized faith….The share of Americans who say they are ‘absolutely certain’ God exists has dropped more sharply, from 71% in 2007 to 63% in 2014.” The 2015 article reported that a growing number of “Americans are religiously unaffiliated, including some who self-identify as atheists or agnostics as well as many who describe their religion as ‘nothing in particular.’ Altogether, the religiously unaffiliated (also called the ‘nones’) now account for 23% of the adult population, up from 16% in 2007.”[v]
The squishy new theology has done more than just contibute to emptying out the churches. It has prepared the ground for a truth-denying philosophy of hyper-tolerance that cannot discriminate between reality and nonsense; between fantasy and logic. It has given us the “COEXIST” bumper sticker in all its empty glory. To embrace the notion that all paths may lead to God is to deny the notion of TRUTH itself. With each faith offering a point of exclusivity, to embrace all, is to embrace contradiction.
[i] Jewish Wedding Ceremony Part II, Jewish Celebrations, September 8, 2016
[ii] Survey: Only Half of Pastors Have ‘Biblical’ Worldview, Agape Press, January 13, 2004
[iii] Barna: How Many Have a Biblical Worldview?, Christianity Today, March 9, 2009
[iv] Mainline Christian Denomination Praying to Allah?, CBN, June 29, 2016
[v] U.S. Public Becoming Less Religious, Pew Research, November 3, 2015
Eric R. Hart says
You never speak about the remnant Catholics that stay true to the Eucharist and believe in the divine presence of Christ. The Blessed Mother has said time and time again in over 700 apparitions and locutions that her rosary will be victorious in the end. My faith holds solid even until death. Jesus has given us Divine Mercy which you don’t talk about which is His preparation for His coming back. When as stated in the Book of Daniel, there will be three days of darkness and the world will see the Power, Glory and Justice of God. His wrath has no end for the wicked. We are in the time of Martyrs so brace your heart and pray for the world. Man will not listen until it is too late.
Christians who pray daily and a lot know this. We must follow the commandments of God or perish. Those who persevere will make it and those who seek their own will will perish. Finally, the ABSOLUTE TRUTH can be found only in one Church—The Catholic Church and all its Rites because it is He, Jesus Christ is found there in that fullness of Truth and Glory. The body, blood, soul and divinity is only there and waiting for everyone to receive Him. John 6:53 sums it up clearly for all to hear. If you and I receive Jesus in a consecrated form, then we have life in us and death can not kill us. The martyrdom that is coming keeps us in God through Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Robert Palaszewski says
Eric R Hart,
Thank you so much for taking the time to express your point of view. While I have at times referenced “remnant Catholics” in previous articles, I do not generally beat that drum – because I do not believe that the Catholic Church is the repository of all truth. That is a subject that is much greater than can be tackled in the comment section of a website. Perhaps we’ll again run some articles that would put forth the position of this website. I will however address the notion that salvation comes only through the Catholic Church. Quoting the Catholic Bible I offer this: John 1:10-13 “He was in the world that had come into being through him, and the world did not recognize him. He came to his own and his own people did not accept him. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believed in his name who were born not from human stock or human desire or human will but from God himself.”
God’s blessings to you. May He lead us all into Truth.