Traditional Religion: A Comprehensive Study of Roman Catholic History By WLC

***The following study has been borrowed from WLC. Light of the World has come to these same conclusions prior. However WLC does a beautiful job at tying all the history into scripture. *Let the Ruach HaKodesh/Holy Spirit be your ONLY guiding light. Amen. 

In the Love of [cwhy/Yahusha our Messiah, Sister Aviela Levia

The Structure and formation of Traditional religion, through a comprehensive study of Roman Catholic history...

Introduction...

In order to fully understand the concept and foundation of religion and religious belief as a whole, we must firstly understand this one truth... the concept of traditional and structured religion, is man-made at its very core. All religious beliefs and practices have been formed out of traditional, customary, ritualistic beliefs, beliefs that were formulated centuries ago by the early church fathers, whom we know today through research and study, to be the Roman Emperor Constantine and those of the priests and cardinals from the early Roman Catholic Church itself. This alone, is the foundational understanding that we must lay all further understanding upon. The foundation on which to build truth toward a superstition and act of ceremonious and pretentious belief.

When through his visions, the Emperor Constantine converted to a belief in the Christian God and eventually sanctioning the public practice of Christianity, this is the very point in history that the Roman Catholic (Universal) Church began to formulate its practices. Previous to this time the church was hindered under constant persecution, so very little growth, if any at all, took place until after this edict was passed. Throughout the early centuries the Roman Catholic Church, through its growing arm of priests, cardinals, bishops and Popes, began to organize councils in which were determined the framework of today's religious beliefs. However, most people, Christian and non-Christian alike, to include Roman Catholics themselves, do not fully understand the underpinnings of this structure. It isn't until we begin to build upon this foundational understanding that we begin to see the entire man-made picture for what it really is.

This article is a documented and thoroughly researched investigation into the truth behind the misrepresentation and misunderstandings that have been formulated into our belief system in the early centuries following the development of religion. Understand this firstly... Our Saviour did not come into the world to organize any religion or religious system. His main purpose was to bring humanity a clearer and more precise understanding of His Father's love for humanity, and Father Yahuwah's purpose in the future development of a relationship between humanity and his supreme creator.

Unfortunately there is not proper time enough, or room enough, for all the details of this journey within this presentation. However, all the major points will be briefly discussed. You are invited, and furthermore encouraged, to investigate further through your own research. This information contained herein should be used as a guide to your further understanding. Our prayer is that those tied down into a system of religious dogma, Roman Catholics especially, will see the truths in at least some of the statements made in this article. That those individuals would understand enough of what is being said that they would become ever more fervent in their search to uncover further truths. May Father Yahuwah almighty, in the name and strength of the son, Yahushua Messiah, lead and guide you into this truth.

The early years...

Our journey into truth starts in the year 306 to 337 A.D. When the Roman Emperor Constantine began to settle the Roman empire and legalized the open and public practice of Christianity as a true and accepted religion within the empire. Prior to this decree of acceptance, Christianity was thought of as nothing more than a cult, and was vehemently condemned by law throughout the entire empire, known then as the Apostolic Church. However, pagan practices flourished and were encouraged. Moreover, although Constantine legalized the practice of Christianity, Constantine himself was a sun worshiper and he intermixed pagan beliefs and ritualistic practices with the truths of pure Christian understanding. By taking these steps Constantine undertook one of the biggest, and most important, moves of his political career toward the uniting of all Rome, and the entire empire, and by doing so he would obtain favor from his Roman subjects. While Constantine concentrated on solidifying the empire through his intermingling of cults and beliefs, of which he labeled “Christian”, the Roman church, known as the Roman Universal Church arose in greater and continuously mounting strength.

Raphael's The Baptism of Constantine.

Note... all of the following practices and doctrines, employed by the Roman Catholic Church, are man-made. They were contrived by a council of religious men for the sole purpose of adding tradition and customary beliefs into the religious service. Neither Yahushua, in scripture, His apostles or disciples ever spoke of any of these modern man-made contrivances. These newly instituted doctrines were implemented for the sole purpose of making mortal men appear immortal and supremely spiritual in the eyes of the public, even today high ranking statesman, presidents and kings bow down to the Pope as if he were an immortal god as he claims to be the “Vicar of Christ”.

Throughout its earlier history, the Roman Catholic Church convened various councils. Councils in which priests and cardinals from various locations throughout the world would gather to debate new teachings to be instituted into the liturgy of the service. Councils such as at Nicaea one and two (325 and 787 consecutively), Constantinople one, two, three and four (381, 553, 680 and 869 consecutively), Ephesus (431), Calcedon (451), Lateran one, two, three and four (1123, 1179, 1193 and 1215 consecutively), Lyons one and two (1245 and 1274 consecutively), Vienna (1311) etc., various beliefs were established and ordained into the service of the church as being the standard practices by which the church operated. Beliefs such as the development of the Nicaean creed, establishment of the divine nature of Christ, establishment of the date of Easter Sunday, defining the divinity of the Holy Spirit, establishment of the trinity doctrine, declaration of Mary as Mother of God, establishment of Christ's human and divine nature, establishment of prayer to saints, the use of relics in churches (statuary and images), establishment of transubstantiation (bread and wine are actual body and blood of Christ), establishment of the literal belief in Hell and Purgatory, establishment of the act of penance (as apposed to repentance), the use of the Rosary, infant baptism, baptism for the dead, establishment of Indulgences (money paid to the church for the deliverance of the dead from Purgatory), the use of Latin in the Mass, establishment of the Eucharist, the use of bells and incense in the church service, the vestments and ornaments worn by the priesthood, the catechism, first communion and a countless number of other doctrines practiced and formulated by the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church, specifically used for the submission and spiritual intimidation of the laity. Although the daughter churches (those that have been developed proceeding the reformation), do not necessarily practice most of the rituals performed by the Mother church, their basic structure and doctrinal formulation is patterned directly after the Mother church. It is simply not a coincidence that the book of Revelation refers to the “MOTHER” of all harlots.

Episcopal, Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Baptist, Church of God, Assembly of God, Church of Christ, Pentecostal Church, Holiness Church, Seventh Day Adventist Church, Mormon Church, Jehovah's Witness Church and every other assembly, that has been devised by man's religion, follows the formulated outline of the mother church. This alone is a hard fact to swallow, but a hard and sad fact nevertheless.

Lineage of Popes...

Roman Catholics vehemently believe that the Apostle Peter was the first Pope of the church. However, there are no historical records or evidence to be had that Peter himself was ever in Rome at all. Peter was more of a speaker, while James was always seen as the leading apostle. This is just another of the many fabrications of the Roman Catholic Church in piecing together a seemingly disjointed puzzle. A conglomeration of rituals that supposedly makes the Roman Catholic Church appear to be a holy institution. The dates of this misconception are foggy at best, roughly around 32 to somewhere around 65 A.D. The actual first leader, “Pope”, of the Roman church was the Emperor Constantine, who ruled the Roman empire from 306 to 337 A.D.

The title “Pope”, of course, is Latin for “papa” or father. Yahushua plainly declared in Matthew 23:9 that man is not to call any man father. The use of such, of course according to scripture, is blasphemy. However, Roman Catholics do not detect any wrong or harm in this, as the Pope (bishop of Rome) is thought to be the Vicar or standing representative of Christ Himself on earth, in the body of a mortal man. The title “Pope” however is a title given to the head bishop of Rome. Note also that the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church (Pope, priests, bishops, cardinals, monks, clerics, etc.) is another man-made structure within the church that was never spoken of in scripture. The use of the title pope was not given until the reign of Constantine. The long lineage of “lead Bishops” begins with St. Linus, who was elected in 67 and officiated to 76, who was followed by St. Anacletus in 76 to 88 who was in turn followed by St. Clement I in 88 to 97. The long line of lead, or head, Bishops extends from 67 A.D. to after Constantine's reign, when lead Bishops were given the title “Pope” and continued to present day with Frances, who was elected by the College of Cardinals on March 13th, 2013 (3/3/3)x2=666.

Most of the early Popes only served in office for several short months to as little as several days as they were quietly assassinated by fellow cardinals who sought the position of Pope themselves. It was assuredly a brutal and vicious game to jockey for religious and political position as the head of a growing monarchy. This monarchy finally emerged, with its own land and laws, on February 11th, 1929 when Benito Mussolini and Pope Pius XI signed a treaty at the Lateran Palace which compensated the Roman Catholic Church for the loss of the Papal states. This treaty awarded the Roman church with a 108.7 acre parcel of land in the middle of the city of Rome which was to become the independent state of Vatican city. In all actuality, the Pope is the president, ruler and sole dictator, of his own neutral state within the state of Italy.

Financial Security...

Founded in 1942, the Vatican undertook one of its biggest political and financial moves in its long history. With the acquisition of the new lands, provided them by the Lateran Accords, and the constant expansion of the church, the papacy found itself in great need of setting up its own bank to control its enormous income, not only for the income generated by donations to the church, but its dealings with various foreign governments desiring to conceal illegal funds. The most notorious was the Italian Mafia and the Germans of WW II. Historical evidence points out that the Vatican bank has held multiple billions in Mafia related funds and looted goods from Hitler's war time efforts of domination in Europe. Pope Pius XII cooperated with Nazi Germany and signed an agreement with Hitler which granted the Nazi party the ability to place their looted finances in the Vatican bank. Because the Vatican bank was a very clandestine operation, these funds and looted goods would be secretly hidden away and the free world never knew the extent of the finances Hitler and his regime had at their disposal or what war efforts Hitler was involved in. In an interesting side note, history also reveals that Hitler idolized the structure and organization of the Roman Catholic Church so much that he patterned his Nazi regime after it.

As little as thirty years ago, (1989), the Roman Catholic Church had amassed multiple tens of billions of dollars in wealth from its charitable contributions together with its fortunes accumulated from the deposits of money and art treasures from the Mafia and WW II Germany. Yet in 1929, at the signing of the Lateran treaty, the Roman Catholic Church was destitute having lost its power and riches over the papal states across the world. To date the Roman Catholic Church, still very wealthy, is worth only about less than half of what they were originally worth Just thirty short years ago. Due to the recent sex scandals and millions paid out in law suits for the molestation and rape of innocent children, it is more than an understatement to say the Roman Catholic Church has had a tremendous financial setback.

Lateran Treaty Postcard

For decades, and probably much longer, the Popes and other hierarchy of the church have covered up and denied any wrong doings between priests and alter boys and young girls who confided in the church for their spiritual nurture. During WW II, although the Pope at the time (Pius XII) was aware of the Nazi devastation and slaughter of the Jewish people, he said and acted on nothing to prevent this all too horrific atrocity. For the sole reason that the Nazi regime supplied the Roman Catholic Church with untold wealth in gold and artworks, looted from occupied countries, the church played the neutral card by refusing to take sides in any situation against the Nazi party.

Prophesied Devastation...

On February 11th, 2013 Pope Benedict announced his resignation from the Pontificate. Within hours lightning struck the spire atop St. Peter's Basilica. This lightning strike may not necessarily hold any impact with some, but to others who are more attuned to prophecy in scripture, a lightning strike is related to Satan's fall from heaven. Luke 10:18 (Yahushua speaking) “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven”. To many who take this view it is just another indication of Satanic activity directly falling upon the Vatican.

A continued study of WLC's videos on the Pope, and the Roman Catholic Church itself, will broaden your understanding of how the scriptures relate to the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church and its culminating demise. Although the Roman Catholic Church seems to follow the basic tenants of faith, the addition of traditions and ritualistic customs has more than voided its sincerity in the arena of faithful service to Father Yahuwah and His son Yahushua our Messiah. The standards of compulsion in faith and loyalty toward our heavenly Father were, once and for all time, indelibly etched upon the fabric of time through the ministry of Yahushua and the lives amplified by the apostles and disciples of the early faith. These standards were never intended to be added to, yet the construct of the Roman Catholic Church has done just that. By adding to Messiah's direction, the truly fervent Christian whom occupies the pew in the Roman Catholic Church, or any church for that matter, is inevitably swayed from his true allegiance of faith toward Father Yahuwah, and the precepts of Yahushua Messiah, toward following a man and a system of man-made teachings. Which makes the act of worship devoid of any real faith.

The point in this article is not to condemn or malign our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters. Roman Catholics are just as, if not more, faithful than most church going Protestants. Our aim is to reeducate and inform these people who are captive to a system of ritualized religious infrastructure within their church. It is a sad and tragic fact that the Roman Catholic Church has blazed a trail in the opposite direction of spirituality, by instituting misinformation propagated by, so called, “holy men of God”. It is with this understanding in view that we have taken this effort to reeducate our brothers and sisters to the truth of the Roman Catholic system of man-made religion. Just understand this one thing, the priests and other hierarchy of the church are not deliberately leading people astray by instituting these traditions, but they are, most definitely being used by satanically inspired forces bent on the deception and ultimate destruction of millions of Father Yahuwah's children.

It is quite unfortunate, but understandably so, that many Roman Catholic parishioners will never see the truth in these facts and statements. The Roman Catholic Church, through the dedicated work of the Dominicans and Jesuits have extended efforts to no end world wide in shaping society to gradually become subservient to the Roman Catholic Church. Working in and through governments and educational institutions, the Jesuits have held an Iron fist of obedience within the early formation of the church to modern times. It is quite notable here to mention their most infamous efforts. The assassinations of presidents and other heads of states, the development and sustaining of wars and the like have all been carried out by the behest of the Vatican with the aim of preserving the ancient traditional legacy of the church and its monetary worth. The operation of the Roman Catholic Church, and position of pontiff in general, is both religious, which is a man-made system of ritualistic beliefs, as well as political.

Today Christianity is facing an extremely unusual time in history. Never before in the history of the Roman Catholic Church was it “under the microscope” as it has been since March 13th 2013 when Frances was elected the 266th Pope. Millions are watching the developments within the Vatican and the actions taken by Pope Frances in relation to the scriptures of Revelation, relating to the beast powers and the rise of the anti-Christ. Scripture points out some very chilling facts as to the powers of the false prophet, the anti-Christ, the rise of the two beast nations, the two witnesses and the final lineage of the papacy itself. There exists a direct correlation between the man-made religious system that Yahushua predicted in the end times and the formation of the Roman Catholic Church.

The predictions of St. Malachy...

Saint Malachy

Born in Northern Ireland in 1094 and ordained a Roman Catholic Priest at 25 years of age in 1119, Malachy was a renowned student of the scriptures. He was one day returning from a journey to Rome when he is claimed to have received a vision of all the Roman Catholic Popes down to the return of Christ. His visions were concealed in the Vatican archives until published in 1590. Malachy told of a final persecution of the Holy Roman Church and a Petrus Romanus (Peter the Roman) would be reigning at the time of this persecution. Peter the Roman, he records, will feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the seven-hilled city (Vatican city) will be destroyed. Many theories have since arisen within theological circles as to who, exactly, this Peter the Roman is. But in the scope of this prediction it is noteworthy to remember that in the early, or even late, part of the 10th century Vatican city, the seven hilled city, did not exist.

The predictions of St. Francis of Asisi...

Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) has taken his pontifical name from St Francis of Asisi. One of the most astute predictions of St. Francis follows as he is quoted saying,

“There will come an invalidly elected Pope. He will cause great confusion. He will cause Catholics to doubt their faith. He will accept all religions on an equal basis. There will be widespread descent within and without the Roman Catholic Church. He will deceive the very elect.”

Pope Francis seems to have broken Vatican ruling concerning the election of a Pope. According to Vatican ruling and the College of Cardinals, the newly elected Pope is not allowed to make any preconceived deals with the members of the clergy prior to his taking office. It seems Pope Francis had informed others of the changes he would be making within the church prior to his election, which makes him an “invalidly elected Pope”.

Pope Francis does not wear the customary clothing of the papacy. Pope Francis is said to be an anti-Pope and not the true Pope at all. The latest news reflects the fact that Pope Francis is trying to unite the Protestant churches with Roman Catholicism. His efforts at a “one world religion” has left many Catholics and non-Catholics alike disillusioned and many Catholics have defected from the Roman Catholic Church. This points to the fact that he may be the false prophet, who like John the baptist prepared the way for Christ, Francis is preparing the way for the anti-Christ.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen (1895-1979) was the Archbishop of Rochester and was the host of a very popular Emmy award-winning TV program, "Life is Worth Living," between 1951 and 1957. He was once quoted as saying,

“The false prophet will have a religion without a cross, a religion without a world to come, a religion to destroy religions. There will be a counter church, Christ's church will be one, and the false prophet will build the other. The false church will be ecumenical (universal), global and worldly... The mystical body on earth today will have its Judas Iscariot and he will be the false prophet. He will sell the mystical body to the Antichrist.”

Archbishop Fulton Sheen

This seems to echo exactly what Pope Francis is trying to accomplish within the Roman Catholic Church today. Nevertheless, the actions of this final Pope are being scrutinized very closely. We are most certainly at a CRITICAL juncture in history. If you do not heed Father Yahuwah's call to depart and remove yourself from this deception, sadly and inevitably you will suffer under the final tribulations that are ultimately facing the condemnation of “the mother of all harlots”.

Conclusion...

With all the mounting evidence pointing to the facts that the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican in general are, at the very least, suspiciously linked to Revelation's prophetic fulfillment of Antichrist, Satanic and or Demonic activity. We implore you to please look further into this and read the scriptures. Please do not rely on any man's interpretation, but read, with the prayerful guidance of Yahuwah's Holy Spirit, what the scriptures itself teach about this false religious system... Please DO NOT be deceived.

Go out of her my people... Revelation 18:4

While it is said, Today if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the rebellion... Hebrews 3:15

https://www.worldslastchance.com/end-time-prophecy/traditional-religion.html