The appeal of the Roman Catholic Church to Protestants, asking them to acknowledge the Pope at Rome as the head of Christendom, is becoming more blatant and more insistent. The argument of history is being employed by the Roman Church in an attempt to disturb the faith of Protestants and to convince them that the Roman Catholic Church alone is the true church representing Jesus Christ. In this article, I would like to explode the fiction of their arguments.

First, let's discuss the split. The split between the simplicity of the Gospel and the grandeur of Rome early became evident. That split has widened with the centuries. With man-made doctrine, requirement upon requirement, church regulation upon church regulation (all given the force of divine law by its peculiarly dictatorial system), the Roman Church has proceeded upon a steadfast course to induce, persuade, cajole, betray, and, when all else fails, to bend men forcibly in submission to the dictum of Boniface VIII, "It is necessary to salvation that every man should submit to the Pope." (Bull Unam Sanctum, 1303, quoted by Pope Pius IX in his encyclical of December 8, 1864.)

The facts of history show, one by one, how the gap widened between the Church of Christ and the machinery of Rome. The facts of history demonstrate, too, that the average Christian confronted by the vigorous appeal of the Roman Catholic Church today must make a clear choice between man-made dogmas of Rome and the God-given doctrines of the Bible.

I will present only historical facts......facts presented in as favorable a light as Roman Catholic books themselves can present them. I will present the words of Rome and then show you what God's word has to say about the same subject. Time will not allow me to go into every doctrine of Rome that contradicts the blessed word of God...but I will do my best to hit the major issues.

Let's start with purgatory....invented by Rome in 593 AD. Cardinal O'Connell of Boston, in The Catholic Church, the True Church of the Bible, pg. 178, we read:

"It is of faith that there is a place we call purgatory, where petty faults, or the temporal punishment due to sin are expiated."

Now, the Bible nowhere speaks of purgatory, but it does teach us in Luke 23:43:

"Jesus said unto him (him being the thief on the cross) Verily, I say unto thee, TODAY thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." Also, in Luke 16:26:

"Between us and you (heaven and hell) there is a great gulf fixed; so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us that would from thence."

Christ knew nothing about the fiction of passing from purgatory to heaven. Hebrews 9:27 teaches us that there is only one chance.

"It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment." Notice it says "after this the judgment" NOT after this.....purgatory!

According to the Council of Trent, Session XIV, Canon 12:

"If anyone saith, that God always remits the whole punishment together with the guilt, and that the satisfaction of penitents is no other than the faith whereby they apprehend that Christ has satisfied for them, let him be anathema."

Now that was the word of Rome, but what saith the word of God? Romans chapter 8, verse 1...teaches when God forgives...He forgives everything!!

"There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus."

And what of 2nd Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 19?

"...God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them...."

With purgatory, there is also need for another man-made teaching, that is indulgences. In one quote from the Catholic publication, Messenger of the Sacred Heart

"What easier than to have the holy name of Jesus on our lips as we go from hallowed mound to mound and from row to row? Indulgenced ejaculations [or short prayers] are hardly valued enough, ‘My Jesus Mercy!’ 100 days indulgence…[that would be 100 days off your time in purgatory]…‘Heart of Jesus, in Thee I trust!’... 300 days indulgence each time...‘Sweet heart of Jesus, be Thou my love’...300 days indulgence each time; in less than a minute's time, if you have the proper dispositions of contrition and love, you have a thousand days' indulgence, remission of temporal punishment that could have been acquired in olden centuries only by ten hundred days of penitential sackcloth and ashes!"

Rome teaches you can do acts or chants and this helps remit sins. But, once again....what saith the word of God? We see that the doctrine of purgatory with its indulgences implies that Christ's offering is not enough.....but let's turn to Hebrews 10: 14: "For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified."

And Romans 3:23,24:

"All have sinned and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

Rome insists justification is not free!! Which will you believe, the words of Rome or the word of God? Let's continue in Colossians 2:13,14:

"You being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us."

There are no indulgences needed according to that people!! Jesus took our punishment away! Isaiah 53:5 says,

"He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with His stripes we are healed."

1 John, 2:2 clearly shows we are saved through Jesus Christ, and not through purgatory.

"He is the propitiation [satisfaction] for our sins; and not for our only, but also for the sins of the whole world."

Next, let us go back to 754 AD. Pope Stephen II crowned Pepin, King of the Franks, in return for Pepin's assistance in establishing the authority of the Pope in Italy. This is historical FACT! But, what did Jesus say? "My kingdom is not of this world." (John 18:36) Therefore, churches whose program or mission is the seeking of worldly power, are in opposition to Jesus Christ! Rome wanted to build herself a worldly kingdom and used whatever was available, and if nothing was available, they forged their own documents. Now I could go into the Isidorian Decretals from 847 AD, the Cyril Decretal and the Donation of Constantine, some of many forgeries Rome has used to build herself an empire, but suffice to say, if the Roman Catholic Church had observed the commandments of Christ, there would have been no need of resorting to forgeries and lies to build themselves an earthly kingdom, but....alas.....she did have need. Anyone remember the commandment... "Thou shalt not bear false witness"? Or how about Ephesians 4:25... "Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor." Jeremiah prophesied well in chapter 5:31:

"The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so. And what will ye do in the end thereof?"

As Rome parades around the world today as the champions of honesty, she lies, as the champions of freedom, she practices tyranny, and as the champions of the family, she has done more to destroy the family unit. Here is an interesting bit of history; the Greatest mass divorce in history was forced upon the clergy by Gregory VII. He declared all clerical marriages invalid. Let me quote from the First Lateran Council of 1123, Canon XXI:

"Our judgment upon marriages contracted by persons of this kind (clergy) is that they must be broken."

Hmmm....sounds strangely contradictory to what my Bible teaches...how about yours? Not sure? Hebrews 13:4 clearly teaches, "Marriage is honorable in all." All means “all” which includes the clergy. Mark 1:30 says, "But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her." Rome’s first “pope” was married. Did he leave his wife? No! 1 Corinthians 9:5 claims Peter led his wife around with him.

“Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas [i.e. Peter]?”

Christ did not declare his marriage invalid!! As a matter of fact....God HATES divorce!!! "What God hath joined together let no man put asunder." (Mark 10:9) So what kind of doctrine is Rome teaching? Let's turn to 1 Timothy 4:1-3.

"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; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron: FORBIDDING TO MARRY...." Where did they get this doctrine? From devils, and not from God! Let's now turn to the historical FACT that Rome has charged money for masses....According to the Question Box , a Catholic publication which attempts to answer questions concerning Catholic faith, on page 271, we read:

"The practice of giving the priest a money alms for a Mass dates from the seventh or eighth century, and became a universal practice in the twelfth. If more masses are asked for than a priest can say, he is bound to send them to priests in poor parishes where few offerings are made or to priests on foreign missions. The custom of accepting stipends for masses is approved only by tradition. i.e., the church's approval for the past twelve hundred years. As the divine teacher of Christ's revelation she cannot make any universal law contrary to the natural or positive divine law." First, Rome lies, then swears she is unable to make a law “contrary to the...divine law”. Yet, the word of God exposes her fraud. In Acts 8:20, we read:

"Peter said unto him, [Simon magus, who wished to purchase the gift of God with money] Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money."

Rome approved....but God disapproves. Whom will you believe? Rome even admits it is but by "tradition" she received this practice, but in Mark 7:7-9 we learn how some "...full well reject the commandment of God that they may keep their own tradition”, and how some in vain do worship Him teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

These are but a few of the many incidences of Rome’s blatant disobedience to the word of God. I could go on and on, especially with Rome’s claim of the Pope to political supremacy, for it will be this doctrine that will lead all the people to a one world religion. Pope Boniface VIII issued the official document on the political aims of the papacy, in his Bull Unam Sanctum which stands as “good canon law” this day:

1. "It is necessary to salvation that every man should submit to the Pope."

2. "The material sword is drawn for the Church, the spiritual by the Church.

3. "The supremacy of the Pope, even in temporal things is to be enforced.

4. The temporal power is subordinate to the ecclesiastical as to the higher.

All this power and authority claimed on earth....and yet we read in Matthew 23:10: "Neither be ye called masters, for one is your master, even Christ." Now I don't know about YOU...but I surely do not consider the pope or any other man Christ. I serve only one master.....Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. Jesus Himself said:

"My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now is my kingdom not from hence." (John 18:36).

This next quote comes from The Spirit of Catholicism, written by a priest named Karl Adams, copyright 1928 by Macmillan, New York, page 2:

"We Catholics acknowledge readily, without any shame, nay with pride, that Catholicism cannot be identified simply and wholly with primitive Christianity, nor even with the Gospel of Christ, in the same way that the great oak cannot be identified with the tiny acorn. There is no mechanical identity but an organic identity. And we go further and say that thousands of years hence Catholicism will probably be even richer, more luxuriant, more manifold in dogma, morals, laws and worship, than the Catholicism of the present day. A religious historian of the fifth millennium AD will without difficulty discover in Catholicism conceptions and forms and practices which will derive from India, China, and Japan."

Finally, Rome and I agree. Catholicism CANNOT be identified with the gospel of Jesus Christ! According to Romanism, doctrine evolves. As the church grows, so do their laws, practices, doctrines and dogmas. Yet, the Apostle Paul tells us that he did not shun to declare unto us the “WHOLE GOSPEL”. We would do good to heed the warning in Colossians 2:8:

"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men...and not after Christ."

So dear reader....who will you believe? The word of Rome or the word of God? Will you stand in the spirit of Jesus Christ that set men free or will you stand in the spirit of Roman Catholicism that enslave them? The faith of Jesus Christ offers a free life, freedom from the guilt of sin, freedom from the punishment of sin, freedom from man-made Church domination and freedom from regulations designed to prevent ready approach to God. The issue is clear dear people.....will you follow Christ Jesus or will you follow a man who pretends to speak for Christ? Will you choose freedom of Christ or the dictatorship of Rome? The word of God or the word of Man? But, as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

By Diane M. Schoeppner