For the last 2,000 years or so, the world has been living under the teaching of the MESSIAH, JESUS CHRIST.
As we look back for a moment, we must confess, that at no time in history have Moses and his writings, called The Pentateuch, been arraigned or ridiculed by any Jew, nor has the Koran been subjected to attacks and blasphemy by Muslims, as CHRIST and HIS gospel have by men who, at one time in their lives, were baptized and called Christian, yet out of their mouths has come nothing but filth. It did not take place under the banner of another religion, but in contempt and defiance of all divine revelations, nor was it done by way of spitefulness that had triggered a wave of faithlessness, which through their own weakness they were unable to overcome, and therefore, desired to be instructed in – and helped in the understanding of – and be reconciled to the truth which they had received, but by way of sheer opposition, as if they looked upon CHRIST as their enemy who was about to cause them ruin, or some kind of evil harm.
If the pretence of it has transported many in the church of Rome into such corruption of worship, and cruelty of government, then instead of being prejudice against pure Christianity, they ought to be more vigorously in defense of it, as they see so excellent an institution as this, being so basely abused and misrepresented. The church of Rome pretends to have liberty in thoughts as they oppose true Christianity, and should therefore be recognized as free – thinkers. For those who maintain the liberty of free-thinking as one of natures privileges of human nature, they ought to defend that when they take up arms against – ALMIGHTY GOD HIMSELF. Fact is, they do not think freely, neither do they allow others to exercise this freedom.
Chances are they never admit this, for it makes them very uneasy, and because of it, a secret enmity against a holy and heavenly mind and life forbids them all free thoughts, for so strong a prejudice have their lusts and passions laid hold of them against the law of CHRIST, that they find themselves under the necessity of opposing the truth of CHRIST upon which these laws are founded. Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. While they are believed to have perfect liberty, they have become slaves to corruption. Others are possessed by a spirit of reigning pride and presumptuous attitude of singularity, which is coupled with a spirit of contradiction that is outstanding. Those lusts of the mind, which are impetuous and imperious as any lust of the world can be, forbid a freedom of genuine thinking by enslaving the soul in all its inquires after religion. Nowhere in history can one find such immoral behavior as in the ranks of the popes and his underlings. He has the nerve to call himself the "deputy of Christ", and the world believes it. They did atrocities, and kings, emperors and nations stood by and never raised a hand, nor asked questions concerning their lifestyle, but they kissed the feet of those tyrants in sheep’s clothing.
If there ever was a leader of a nation who was level headed, and could see the filth that spewed out from Rome and stood up against it, the stupid people cried out against such a leader and had him often assassinated. However, if there ever was a nation intelligent enough to see through this deception, then a moron of a leader arose and spoke against them calling them heretics. (Today we have the opposite, for GOD has given the nations to a reprobate mind to do what they want and they are reaping the harvest of it.)
What have we today? We have popes who have usurped the rights they did not have, and should never have even today. By clever deception have they accomplished step by step to profit from the ignorance and lack of knowledge on part of the common people. Many wrongs can never make a right, even if it takes 1700 years not even when it has been incorporated in to a law. Those that have been deceived have the right to free themselves as soon as they are able. If they ever stop believing in the false teaching of the R.C. church they will be well on their way to setting themselves free from the satanic influence of this so called "Christian church". (It must be a satanic church, for everything ungodly is promoted.)
The first bishop, of whom we know had ambitious thoughts in his mind to be higher than all other bishop, was Victor, who reigned from 192-201 A.D. (Most likely was he one of the Nicolaitans in the Church of Ephesus, the loveless church.)
His colleagues thought he had lost his marbles, for he insisted that all Christians ought to eat their Passover Lamb on the day of resurrection, and not like the Jews on the Friday, as it was done by JESUS. He claimed that it was initiated by Peter. However, none of his fellow bishops took notice of it except Polycrates of Ephesus who wrote him a letter reminding him that it was GOD who initiated the Passover, not Peter. That Peter was supposed to be the chief Apostle was even unknown to the closest Church fathers, but 1,000 years later this persistent lie was generally accepted by most everyone.
The story goes on that at the time of electing a bishop of Rome a pigeon had landed on the head of a man with the name of Fabian, and in typical superstitious heathen fashion the people shouted – he shall be bishop. Since that time it is assumed that the Holy Spirit is present at every election to lead them to the right man.
What a comforting thought this was, for now every blunder could be traced down to the Holy Spirit, who had to take the blame.
Stephen I before he became pope in 253 A.D., was the second one who asserted himself to be higher than all other bishops, and it was he who said that he was the successor to Peter. He even went as far as cancelling the fellowship of other bishops, because they did not obey his instruction. His colleagues were highly amused over the nerve of this so called brother in Christ, and Firmilion of Cappadocian made the remark: "Rightfully must we complain over such fool-heartedness of Stephen who boasts of his office and thinks he is the successor of the Apostle Peter."
When emperor Constantine I attempted to make Christianity state religion this ambition of the Roman bishops sprung into action, and soon they were jockeying for such a position by cringing and flattery. As time passed, they proceeded to accumulate more and more rights for themselves as I have already outlined in the previous chapter of this book. The office of a bishop was so lucrative, that even the heathen official of Rome, Pretextatus, remarked, "Make me a bishop of Rome and I will turn to Christianity." It was so highly sought after that many died in bloody fights over it.
The virtues of 1. Tim. Chapter 3 had now all but disappeared. There were now bishops that were engaged in adultery and murder, as well as petty crimes of all kinds.
By the 4th century, the bishops of Rome had achieved to be recognized as the higher ranking ones among the patriarchs. This was not a result of their being successors to Peter, but because their office happened to be in Rome, which was the capital of the world in those days.
Needless to say their power grew throughout the 5th, 6th, and 7th centuries, and they began to usurp higher positions than any other bishop. Peter also came back to claim "his rightful place in the church", for he alone was to be held responsible for it all. The arrogance that came from Rome was for a long time more or less ignored. The Churches, which had been established by the Apostles, were still ruled by the guidelines of the HOLY SPIRIT, and since the church of Rome was the only one established outside Asia Minor, it was a complete normal procedure to handle any dispute within the Church, seeking advice from Rome in a collegiate manner.
As the cases came before the bishop of Rome, it was always made certain that the advice was sent in the form of an order that sounded like this: "As it pleases the apostolic chair", but none of the other bishops thought in earnest about Rome being the chief seat of the Church, for the emperor Justinian had decreed that the seat of the Church was to be at Constantinople, and the patriarch of that city was only recognized as one of the other bishops, much to the dismay of Rome.
All over the known world of those days every bishop, although they were held in high esteem, was addressed as Papa, which means father. The title patriarch was not only given the bishop of Rome, but to every bishop who was bishop over a large urban center. Even in 883 A.D., at the second synod of Macon, the bishop of Lyon, France, was still addressed as patriarch.
Right up to the 7th century, a bishop was at the same level as any other government official, and synods were called by the respective head of a nation, and they were presented by an ambassador. When at the synod at Chalcedon, the legate of the Roman church, Leo, chaired the synod because he had asked for it, and it was granted him by the emperor. Any solution from such synod was not confirmed by any bishop, but by the head of state of that host nation. Therefore, if any synod was called against the will of a bishop, or perhaps several bishops, the outcome of such synod was by no means invalid.
Conflicts between bishops were always handled by the king, or emperor, and not by any bishop, and no bishop was to take up office without the consent of the head of state of the country in question. If there was any sign of subordination displayed by a bishop, like arrogance, and displayed in an unrestraint manner, he would not dare to go against the kings decree.
Even Gregory I who already had the spirit of rebellion in him, was humble as a dog before the emperor Mauritius. This can be seen in a letter to him, which reads: "Who am I that speaks to my lord, but dust and a worm." He called the emperor his devout master who's power over all the people was given to him from heaven, and spoke of himself as a "worthless servant." In fact, this was a correct statement about himself, for he was in reality a wicked and evil villain. His behavior toward the tyrant Phokas gives witness to this.
The emperor Mauritius was one of the purest human beings that had ever sat on a throne, but he was dethroned by one of his ministers, whose name was "Phokas". By comparison, the bloodthirsty emperor Nero was a loving ruler of his people, in comparison to this monster. Phokas had five of the emperors children executed before his very eyes, and than killed the emperor, together with his whole family. He went on murdering right up to the end of his life with an unspeakable rage and hatred.
Gregory had only received kindness from the emperor Mauritius, and he had called him "my benefactor", but with the same breath he slandered him in the eyes of Phokas. To this bloodthirsty tyrant he wrote:
"Until now, we were hard pressed, and the almighty God has chosen your majesty to sit on the emperor’s throne, so that by your majesty's merciful disposition and arrangement all our troubles and grief have come to an end. Heaven rejoices, and the earth be given to happiness, and all the people ought to be grateful to the change you have brought about."
Gregory did deliver himself into the hands of Phokas, and his equally evil minded wife, in hopes that he would favor him over the bishop of Constantinople, who had, much to Gregory's displeasure, taken on the title of bishop general. I must restrain any uttering of contempt against this pitiful human being, as I continue to describe the even more horrendous works of his even more vile successors.
Today, this bloodthirsty Gregory I stands in high regard in the R.C. church, because he was the inventor of purgatory, as well as a number of other useless and witless ceremonies that are still in use today. This individual was the one that cleansed the R.C. church of every trace of true Christianity, as it was understood by JESUS and HIS Apostles. He was also the most fervent promoter of monastic life.
With the 7th century there came a change to the R.C. church that hit Christendom very hard. To the bishop of Rome however, this was a "blessing" no one had expected. It came in the form of a new religion, Islam. Mohammed taught that there was only one God, and he reigns over all the world. This God wants to be worshipped by all men through a life of purity. This implies surrender to the will of God, devoted prayers, doing good deeds to strangers and the poor, and promoting honesty, chastity, soberness, courage to defend the cause of God, even unto death. Whosoever fulfills these duties is a believer and will receive the reward of everlasting life.
This teaching surely found lots of followers, because it was simple to understand. The R.C. church had separated herself so far from the teachings of CHRIST, and the gospel, that most people no longer had an understanding of Who CHRIST was, nor did they know about HIS way of salvation. It had become mystical, hazy, and more often silly, more so than the heathen, who worship with their idols of wood, stone and metal gods had ever been. On top of it all, the heaven of Mohammed was sensuous and desirable to the carnal mind and practical. On the other side, no Catholic who had a sound mind was able to understand the heaven of the R.C. church anymore.
Therefore, it was no wonder that the teaching of Mohammed spread with such speed across the nations of the Orient, Africa, and Asia, resulting in the destruction of Christianity in those regions. Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria, etc., and the most dangerous enemies of the R.C. church were eliminated. So the Islam worked in a sense for the furtherance of Catholicism. We know it today as the Vatican.
Insubordination against a king or emperor was still a serious matter, and was dealt with in a swift and efficient way. It can be seen in bishop Liberius who would not submit in matters concerning faith and was swiftly demoted and exiled by emperor Constantine III. The proud bishop Leo the Great had to go to the king of the Huns, Attila, in the year 452, as an ambassador of emperor Valentine III, and bishop Agapet was sent in the same manner to the king of the East Goth's, Theodat, by emperor Justinian.
However, at the dawn of the 8th century things began to change. It came with the victory of the Franks over the Langobards. Arising out of this conquest were the bishops who became the greatest landowners in Italy, and with the help of the king of the Franks permission was given to them to establish the primate in Italy. They lost their influence over Spain, but were able to lay the foundation of control over Germany. Control over England was already established in the 6th century.