2017 was the 500th year of the beginning of the Reformation. October 31, 1517, was when Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses on the Wittenburg Door. Later, 1521 became the year when Luther faced the Diet of Worms. We’ve had the Vatican II Council which was founded by John XIII. I was born during the reign of the late John Paul II, passed through the short reign of resigned Benedict XVI (who had a stroke), and incumbent Pope Francis had a knee problem presumably due to old age of 85 years old. The Vatican II Council has been talking about interreligious dialogue.
I grew up having three religions–Catholicism by default while I also was a part-time Taoist and part-time Buddhist. I could remember how I was told by somebody that the gods of Taoism and Buddhism are idols. Now, the same person who told me that I must accept every religion and that thinking only my religion is right is wrong. Even worse, I’m told that I’m going to burn in Hell for preaching that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father. For the worldly, it’s an offense worth going to Hell to preach Jesus is the only way to the Father. Yet, I didn’t say it–Jesus said it in John 14:6! I wasn’t too surprised many members of where I used to attend church (a Jesuit parish) are also practicing Buddhism and Taoism. When somebody died, a nine-day prayer service was held for the deceased. After the Catholic novena, a Buddhist prayer service was also held. I coined it as a Buddhist novena even if it was usually just one day. Sadly, after the Catholic novena and after the Buddhist prayer service, the soul of the unsaved remains in Hell.
The Vatican II’s liberal policy begins with the idea, “All religions worship the same God. It’s just the interpretation that’s different.” You can be a Muslim and still go to Heaven. You can be a Buddhist and still go to heaven. You can be a Christian and go to heaven with the Catholic, Taoist, Buddhist, etc. It became a constant source of quarrel when I became a born-again Christian. It’s because I refused to follow the threefold religion or take part in operation tolerance. I said religion is important and I’m called a fanatic. I say Jesus is the only way to Heaven and I’m told to go to Hell. Once again, the Scriptures are very hard to believe because it’s foolishness to the natural man (1 Corinthians 1:21). Reading through John F. MacArthur’s book Hard to Believe provided me a very humbling experience. I always got irritated when people reject the Gospel. Now, I understand even more how hard it is to believe the Gospel. Even I had a hard time believing it even as I underwent by Catholic faith crisis. Many I saw go to church and still sin from Monday to Saturday, partake in the sacrament of confession on a Saturday, go to mass on Sundays (and some even boldly go to church with their paramours), and then it’s a rinse and repeat cycle.
The big purpose of the Reformation was because the Gospel was clouded yet again
The Protestants never called themselves Protestants or reformers. The enemy, Rome, named them. I believe the same happened to a group of Christians before the Reformation–they were called Baptists because they insisted on Scriptural baptism. The Romish sacraments were perversions of what the Bible said. Infant baptism was said to cleanse original sin. The Roman mass became a perversion of the Lord’s supper or communion. Sacraments were meant to be symbols not means of salvation. Luther did preach consubstantiation which he insisted on the spiritual presence of Jesus in the Lord’s supper. Luther pointed out the abuses and declared a million times, “Salvation is not for sale!” Luther defended the five stances namely (1) Scripture alone, (2) grace alone, (3) faith alone, (4) in Christ alone, and (5) glory to God alone.
Before the Reformation, we had Jan Hus who was burned alive for his conviction in Christ. Another fiery example is when Alexander VI of Borgia later gave a papal decree to have Girolamo Savonarola burned alive. Savonarola only had a Catholic Bible in his hand to renounce the errors of the Papacy. Luther was targeted because he translated a copy of a Latin Catholic Bible (which I believe is the basis for many Catholic Bibles today such as the GNT). William Tyndale, an English translator, was martyred for translating the Bible into English. Centuries later, Tyndale’s translation (along with other translations such as Calvin’s Geneva Bible) would be part of the history of the KJV. It’s because of centuries (and Rome and her defenders deny it) that Rome forbade people from owning the Bible. This is what Isaiah 29:11 predicted about the Scriptures being sealed and people can’t read because they’re not learned. The Bible has been a bloodstained book such as when unbelieving Jews and Romans were among the worst persecutors. The persecution in Rome never ended with Nero. Later on, John the apostle was exiled to Patmos during Domitian’s rule. Domitian was said to be worse than Nero in terms of brutality.
The big irony repeated itself. The more violent the persecution against Christianity–the bolder Christians get. News about the persecution of Christians in China today is something. Instead of getting more afraid, some Christians in China are even proclaiming the Gospel as its leader, Xi Jinping, has become another version of Nero and Domitian. Mao Zedong persecuted Christianity but never succeeded. The Dark Ages tried every infamous torture method. The Inquisition which was founded by the Dominicans did every bloody method. Later, the Counter-Reformation was launched by the Jesuits. Ignatius of Loyola founded the Jesuit Order in hopes of crushing the Reformation. Yet, Christianity only got bolder.
Later on, the move was to move from inquisition to infiltration
Infiltration also began when movements like Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT) started. Many ECT members were also crooked pastors like Jim Bakker (a conman). Protestants were no longer considered heretics but “separated brethren”. Many Catholics today are prone to believing that the Inquisition is just a myth. Many Catholics today have no idea that they belong to a bloody and corrupt institution. The average Catholic today (except for Catholic fanatics) is now told to embrace Protestants as separated brethren. I was even told, “Did John Paul II say we should kill the Protestants? Instead, he apologized for the atrocities.” However, not even half of the truth has been told. Such feelings caused me to flip-flop about if Catholics are my brethren or not after I got saved. I almost wanted to return to attending Catholic masses but was too disgusted by the hypocrisy of my folks.
What started with simply saying, “It’s time to heal the wounds.” with Protestants and Baptists becomes a whole new ship The Vatican II didn’t only go for the ECT. John Paull calling the late Billy Graham his brother was another. Martin Luther King Jr. wasn’t just a civil rights activist–he was also an adulterous prick (therefore no longer qualified to be a pastor) but also an open Vatican stooge. I used to watch the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) back when I was newly saved. I did hear the message of salvation which I think was spoken by Franklin Graham or any member of the Billy Graham Association. I did watch TBN in my younger Christian years. TBN did have Fr. Cedric Pesigna. One of the pastors was even blatantly supporting the work of Mother Theresa. That’s why I had my flip-flops about Rome. I’d admit I still got romantically interested in women (they were good people, humanly speaking, unlike the blatantly evil Delilah or Jezebel) from my former Jesuit parish–something that I had to unlearn too many times.
That’s why it was not easy for me to see the contradiction until I went to a Baptist school. Learning about how Israel was often punished for worshiping idols made me realize that God doesn’t embrace other people’s religions. Catholicism fully went ecumenical. I’m not surprised that Buddhist temples in Cebu City have had collaborations with Catholic charities. I’m not surprised to learn that an interpreter in a Taoist temple carried a Catholic prayer card, prayed the Catholic rosary, and wore a scapular alongside a Taoist lucky charm. A certain Taoist organization I knew had their children marry in the Catholic church. A Hindu I knew married his Catholic wife in a Jesuit parish. I could remember seeing a Child “Jesus” idol in the center flanked by a Fat Buddha idol and a Chinese Land God idol. Yet, I’m told that I should just respect and accept other people’s religions. Worse, they say the Bible says it but Jesus said otherwise.
By default, being a Baptist or Protestant (or identifying one’s self as one or a Christian) is not a crime. However, it becomes criminal (to a certain extent) to preach the Gospel according to Jesus. Yes, all religions besides Christianity worship the same god–the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). Satan is called the god of this world and he has blinded the minds of people. People think only Satanism worships Satan. People today are prone to think that it’s the same prayer whether one is a Protestant, a Catholic, a Taoist (and there’s also the I-Kuan-Tao movement which many of its founders claim to be avatars of the gods), a Buddhist, a Hindu, a Sikh, a Jain, a Muslim, a Judaizer, etc. Yet, the doctrines all clash. Islam and Judaism both reject the deity of Christ. The Old Testament religion isn’t Judaism either. Contemporary Judaism is nothing more than corruption. Islam is also just as perverted. The Koran and the Talmud are both satanic. I heard the Talmud approves of pedophilia. Mohammad’s youngest mistress was only nine years old. The Vedas of Hinduism and Buddhism teach a different god. Today, the views of Jesus in various religions differ. Amos 3:3 warns that can the two walk together unless they are agreed?
Since when did Peter and the apostles even accept other people’s religions? Yet, the Vatican has the nerve to call itself the true Church founded in 33 AD. Peter was beaten for not accepting Judaism. Peter never accepted other religions. Paul blasted the pagan religion of his day. Paul went to jail several times for preaching Jesus to the pagans. The people at Ephesus weren’t so happy when the Gospel was preached. The Ephesians worshiped Diana whom they bizarrely portray as a many-breasted woman. The Greeks were so immersed in the occult. Paul even went to jail when he exorcised a fortune teller. Today, people will still say that Paul had it coming. Yet, the fraudsters who claimed apostolic succession are now embracing other religions.
It’s not going to be popular. Christianity has never been about popularity. Sadly, the late John Lennon rightly said they were more people than Jesus Christ. How many people chose the Beatles over the Gospel? It’s no surprise to me now that blatantly satanic musicians receive more praise than Jesus. Marilyn Manson has been openly rejecting the truth many times such as when he tore a Bible. Trent Reznor has been blatantly rejecting Jesus. Hopefully, by God’s will, neither Mason nor Reznor will be in Hell. John 15 has Jesus preaching the hard truth that the Christian is not of the world. That’s why people cling to whatever they grew up with. They are, by default, unable to believe in Jesus. It takes a supernatural intervention to do so. True, any person getting saved doesn’t get signs and wonders. Yet, one can’t deny the supernatural intervention that caused the people to be saved.
The world will still think it’s bigotry. Some people will still continue to insist that saying Jesus is the only way to tantamount to extremism and bigotry. It’s to be expected by the Christian. The ecumenical movement is a sign of the last days. Yet, Matthew 24:14 says that the Gospel will be preached as a sign of the times. We can have all the earthquakes, storms, persecutions, rising sin in society, etc. hitting at full speed. However, the Gospel preaching must be fulfilled before the end of the current age will hit. As a preacher may say, “If you want Jesus to return quickly–preach the Gospel!” The signs are there. The Reformation must continue by preaching the Gospel and rejecting ecumenism.
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