Catholicism Frequently Asked Questions (No. 8)

1…God

The Blessed Trinity-Why some don’t believe in the Trinity-When was the trinity first adopted

2…Jesus Christ

Place of son in the Godhead-Law of Christ-Christ continutally sacrificed-Are the Son and the Father equal-What does it mean to be one with God-Where did Jesus get his Y chromosome-Devotion to the sacred heart of Jesus

3…The Bible

Biblical law and war-Sunday or Saturday observance-What is the definition of Christian-Should Catholics read the Old Testament-Can the Bible be wrong-Which version of the Bible is older-Who is What is the beast

4…Mary and Mariolatry

Is Mary Queen of Heaven-Is Fatima fulfillment of 1Timothy 4:1-Immaculate Heart of Mary-Did Mary have any other children-Veneration of Virgin Mary-What Medjugorje is/was-Was-Mary born without sin-Bible and assumption of Mary-Is ‘star of the sea’ a pagan concept-Was Mary forever a virgin-Our Lady with the Pomegranate-Mary as perpetual virgin (Mat 1:24-25)-What happened to Joseph-Is September 8th Mary’s birthday

5…Angels

Personal guardian angel-Do Angels really have wings-Where did angels come from

6…The Church

Origins of Roman Catholic Beliefs-The Roman Catholic Church and King Solomon-What does it mean to be a Catholic

Doctrine..What are Apologetics-Has man both the spirit of man and God-Significance of Vatican II-Great schism of the Catholic Church-Non-Roman Catholics and Salvation-Earning salvation by keeping church rules

True Church..Is the Catholic Church the true Church-What authority was Peter given-Was Peter the first pope re Matthew 16:18-19-Are all non RC churches lost-Where and what is the true Church- Does Isaiah 22:15-25 prove Peter was given the keys

Society..Decline in attendance in the Catholic churches- Is Roman Catholicism a cult-Was the year 2000 a Jubilee year-Why do people blindly follow what they are told-Will mainstream Christian religion be overtaken by paganism-The Bible and family planning-Is the Kingdom of God in our heart-Reason Church of England was founded-What does sedevcante mean-What is a Secevantist-Catholic Encyclopedia and Pacifism

7…The Sacraments

The sacraments of the Church

Eucharist..Bread and the wine as body and blood-Footwashing and the Eucharist-Children and first communion

Baptism..Is baptism of desire acceptable-Baptism of illegitimate babies-Catholic Church and baptism by immersion-Why baptise infants

Holy Orders..What does Holy Orders involve

Penance..Authority to forgive sins

Anointing the Sick..Concept of anointing the sick

8…Priesthood

Are priests modern day Pharisees-Men and head-coverings

Pope..Origin of the word pontiff-Was Peter the first pope-Name of Pope-Office of the Pope and the first commandment

Priests..Why are priests called Father

Nuns..Are nuns the bride of Christ

Assistants..Altar boys and the Mass

Ordination of Women..Could ladies become Deacons

Vestments..Significance of the vestments-Why do cardinals dress in red-Is this biblical-Clergy wearing long black cassocks

9…Eternal Life

Resurrection..Catholic belief and resurrection of the flesh

The Soul..Difference between the soul and the spirit

Heaven..Is there really a heaven-Do we go to heaven after death

Hell..Does the Bible speak of heaven and hell

Purgatory..Is there really a purgatory-If purgatory is real why not be sinful

Limbo..What is Limbo

10…Calendar

Passover/Easter dispute-Origin of the advent period-How date for Lent is determined

Sabbath or Sunday..Changed Sabbath to Sunday

Holy Days..Sunday 25 June and Corpus Christi-Why is New Year's Day a holy day

11…Sin

Are there degrees of sin-Will Jesus love a sinner-Is everyone born with original sin

12…Worship

The Mass..Did Christ celebrate a Mass-Origin of Sunday Mass

13…Symbols of Worship

Holy water and genuflecting in church

Stations of the Cross..Origin of the Stations of the Cross

Cross..Is the cross a pagan symbol

Rosary Beads..Origin of Rosary beads

Candles..Origin of candles

Bells..Why are bells used in churches

Altar Steps..Significance of the steps on altars

Brown Scapulars..Practice of wearing brown scapulars

Holy Water..How does water become holy

14…Customs

Stained glass windows-Knights of Columbus-Females and Vatican Swiss Guard- Depictions of halo and pagan art-European custom of name days-People originally buried in pine coffins-The Catholic Church and indulgences-Jeremiah 10:3-5 and the Christmas tree-First Friday devotions-Connection to the Friday crucifixion-Fish instead of meat-Palm Sunday-Kissing a bishop’s ring-House-blessing by priest-First Five Saturdays-Why are crosses made from pine-Worship of Mary and the saints

15…Prayer

Who should I pray to-Can St Jude help find things-Are Hail Marys necessary-Practice of praying to patron saints

Apostles Creed..Any scriptural reference for the 12 apostles writing this prayer

16…Saints

Novena to St Jude-St Patrick's Day

17…Inquisitions

Did the Roman Catholic Church try to silence those who disagreed with them-Sacred Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith-RC Church and the property of heretics

18…Holocaust

Roman Catholic Church and the Holocaust

19…Pagan Idols & Rituals

The Catholic Church and pagan idols-Pagan rituals in Jewish and Christian faiths-Did the Vandals destroy all the icons in Rome-Paganism that infiltrated Christianity

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***Catholicism FAQ***

1…God

Trinity

Can you explain to me the Blessed Trinity?

A. The Trinity did not come into existence until it was defined at the Council of Constantinople in 381. The Council of Nicea formalised Binitarianism as a Father and Son and the Nicene Creed is reconstructed from Constantinople canons. The Trinitarian Church dates from this Council in 381. The Council of Chalcedon in 451 saw a division and the Catholic Church emerge as we understand it in Eastern and Western branches which are now Roman, and Orthodox. The Anglican or British Church was not added until its forced changes from Whitby in 663-4. All the Catholic Church was Unitarian until the Modal structure entered Rome from the worship of Attis in the beginning of the third century. The first mention of a trias was in 180 by Theophilus of Antioch however this was not a Trinity even though it has been translated as Trinity. Trinitarianism did not officially exist in the Church doctrine until 381.

Some people don’t believe in the Trinity, would you explain why?

A: Christianity is made up of various elements. Many people are sincere and devoted Bible students. They want to do what is right and obey God and His laws as revealed in the Bible. The Trinity is not a Bible Doctrine and does not appear in the Bible. In fact no one in the original Catholic Church was Trinitarian for three centuries. The first mention of any threefold system was in 180 when Theophilus of Antioch mentioned a trias, which has been incorrectly translated as Trinity. However the Binitiarian system was not formulated until 325 at the Council of Nicea. The Trinity did not become formulated until 381 at the Council of Constantinople. It became formalised at Chalcedon in 450/1. Thus the Trinity is a product of the Fourth century Church councils. The dispute then has rested on the authority of the Church to make doctrine and in effect change the Nature of God and elevate Christ to the level of God whom we call the Father.

Essentially the people who do not believe in the Trinity say the Church had no right to invent a doctrine on the nature of God which has no Bible sanction. These people have been persecuted for centuries because of this position.

When was the trinity first adopted as the official theology of the Church?

A: The Trinity was not formulated until the year 381 at the Council of Constantinople. At Nicea in 325 the Trinity was not formulated. Only the foundation of the Binitarian Structure was laid down here. The so-called Nicene Creed is actually a reconstruction of the canons of Constantinople in 381. The Holy Spirit had not been designated a third person in the Godhead until the Cappadocians formulated it and on the ascension of the Spanish born Theodosius the Council was convened. The council of Chalcedon more or less formulated the Trinitarian system commencing then from 451. Augustine writing in the beginning of the Fifth century concentrated the relationships at the intradivine level. This was the final theology of the Pagan Triune system. C.M LaCugna the Roman Catholic Theologian explains this process in her work God For Us. It is deficient in a number of areas relating to the early Church. The view of the Church in Rome in the middle of the second century was that Christ was the Great Angel of the OT who gave the Law to Moses. This view is contained in Justin Martyr's First Apology to the emperor in Rome on behalf of the Church at around 150-155 CE. The godhead went from this Unitarian view throughout the Church in the second century to the Modalist structure of the pagans in the third and then the Binitarian views of Nicea and the return of the Unitarians from 327 to the Trinitarian ascension in 381. The Modern Catholic position would have been denounced as idolatrous heresy in the first and second century in Rome itself let alone in the more conservative areas under the schools of the apostles. The history of the doctrinal development is explained in the paper Early Theology of the Godhead (No. 127); and The Development of the Neo-Platonist Model (No. 17); Binitarianism and Trinitarianism (No. 76); and Consubstantial with the Father (No. 81).

What is the Spiration of Bonaventure and what doctrine did it have to do with?

A: The Doctrine of Spiration relates to the Trinity and is held to be a development of the Augustinian doctrines which concentrated relationships on the nature of God at an intradivine level. The term comes from the second ecumenical council of Lyons who produced the following definition (see Denzinger "Enchiridion", (1908), n. 460). "We confess that the Holy Ghost proceeds eternally from The Father and the Son, not as from two principles, but as from one principle, not by two spirations, but by one single spiration." The teaching was again laid down by the Council of Florence (ibid. n. 691) and by Eugene IV in his Bull "Cantate Domino" (ibid (n. 703 sq.) (see also Cath. Encyc. vol. VII, p. 412). In this sense we have the "Filioque" concept from The Council of Toledo in 589. This view was not accepted by the eastern Catholic or Orthodox system. Bonaventure was Cardinal Bishop of Albano and Minister General of the Friars Minor (b. 1221 d. 1274). He was charged by Gregory X to prepare the questions for discussion at the Fourteenth Ecumenical Council, which opened at Lyons on 7 May 1274. The Greeks accepted the union, proposed by his aides of the Friars minor, on 6 July 1274. While the council was still in session Bonaventure died on Sunday 15 July 1274 and the chronicle of Peregrinus of Bologna (ed. 1905) says he was poisoned.

Bonaventure was a faithful devotee of Augustine and his writings reflect that position on the Nature of God and this view of the intradivine relationships. His "Commentary on the Sentences" is the greatest work and in this work we see the subjects of God and the Trinity, The Creation and the Fall of Man, The Incarnation and Redemption, Grace and the Sacraments. The Breviloqium is the superb summary of the Dogma. His teachings were to carry weight at the councils of Viene (1311), Constance (1417), Basle (1431) and Florence (1438). The Council of Trent (1546) saw his writings have critical effect. He also rejected the doctrine of the physical and admits only a moral efficacy in the Sacraments. His views on this aspect and other critical areas of dogma have been misrepresented by other and even modern writers. Thus you should be careful of what is held out as Bonaventure's teachings on a specific subject. He held Philosophy to be prior to Theology and was a quasi mystic. They will explain the development of the Augustinian and theological doctrine of the procession of the Holy Spirit. The early view of the Church in this matter is established from the papers Early Theology of the Godhead (No. 127); The Holy Spirit (No. 117); Consubstantial with the Father (No. 81)

2…Jesus Christ

Catholics say Christ claimed to be divine, to be equal to the Father, to be the word of God, to be God the Son. They then claim this is a mystery and can never be fully understood. Christ is said to be the second person of the (Blessed) Trinity. They claim that the three persons of the trinity are not three gods, but one God, for there is only one divine nature. Now the second person of the trinity as man could pray to the first person calling him 'My Father'. Surely one means one and not 1+1 or 1+2? If God is one then what place has the Son and the Spirit - the so called second and third persons of the Godhead?

A: The Trinity is a fabrication of the Fourth century. It is written “I said ye are gods” and “Scripture cannot be broken” (Jn 10:34-35). So we are all gods. We are co-heirs with Christ as gods and Scripture cannot be broken. The Holy Spirit is the power of God. Look at the paper: The Holy Spirit (No. 117); The Development of the Neo-Platonist Model (No. 17); and Consubstantial with the Father (No. 81). We have examined this argument in the paper Creation: From Anthropomorphic Theology to Theomorphic Anthropology (No. B5).

I was reading through a catechism and they referred to the law of Christ. Is there anything in Scripture referred to as the Law of Christ?

A. Scripture is plain that it is the Law of God. The elect are those who keep the commandment of God and the Testimony or faith of Jesus Christ. The contention that it is the law of Christ has been introduced by the Church so that they do not have to keep God's Law. It comes from the notion that Christ came to do away with the Law of the OT and give us a new law.

He did give us some new laws but they were in addition to, or an explanation of the Law of God. He said: “Til heaven and earth pass away not one jot or tittle will pass from the Law till all is accomplished”. That is fairly plain. The Law of God is covered in the series The Law of God (No. L1).

The Bible says that Jesus gave the apostles the power to forgive sins (John 20:23). If all we need is God why did He give this authority to the apostles?

A: The Holy Spirit was conferred on the Church and the power to forgive and retain was carried with the Church so that those in it may be retained or expelled on the direction of the Church. The capacity to do this rested only on the retention of the Spirit and the doctrine as given to the apostles. The Corinthian fornicator (1Cor. 5:5) was expelled so that his life might be saved at the Day of the Lord i.e. in the First Resurrection. He appears to have repented.

Catholics have to bow their heads and/or genuflect when they enter their churches as the 'body of Jesus Christ' is ever present in the tabernacle on the altar - as a blessed host. How is it that Jesus Christ can be present in that piece of wafer? Also is it not wrong to worship another being other than the One True God?

A: This practice is a variation on the doctrine that the bread and wine is the body and blood of Christ. This was taken once a year at the Lord's Supper on the evening of 14 Nisan, the day he was crucified. After the Quartodeciman disputes of the end of the second century, the division saw this degeneration over the years. Look at the paper The Quartodeciman Disputes (No. 277). This was trivialised into the weekly communion and then the daily sacrifice became the morning mass and the host was then ever present in the monstrance or sun symbol which is actually where it originated from.

Why is it necessary for Christ to continually offer up his sacrifice? Wasn't his death enough? Surely this is the ultimate sacrifice?

A: Christ offered himself once and for all. The rite established was the Lord's Supper which is a yearly event on 14 Abib where we are commanded to wash one another's feet as a symbol of the renewal of our baptism and we partake of the bread and wine as a symbol of our part in the Church which is the Body of Christ.

The weekly Eucharist did not come in until the second century and from Rome. It originally was held at baptisms for the newly baptised members symbolising their introduction to the faith. Normally this was done at Passover. Gradually this happened more often and so did the Eucharist.

The original mass was a bread and water communion in the Mithras system and was in its public form the cult of Sol invictus elagabal or Elagabalism rather than Mithraism which was the private all male sun cult. You will see Justin Martyr condemning the water and bread communion of Mithraism in his First Apology ca 150-154 CE.

In the first century the Passover only was held in 14-21 Abib or Nisan. The pagan Easter system was introduced in the second century in what were termed the Quartodeciman Disputes from the date of 14th Abib. Look at the paper The Quartodeciman Disputes (No. 277).

Catholics believe that Christ claimed to be equal with God the Father by referring to John Chapter 8 where Christ applied to himself the name ‘I AM' which the Jews used for God'. Also referring to the fact that Christ said he had existed before Abraham who by then had been dead for 2000 years. Is this a valid quote for proof that the Son and the Father being equal?

A: By claiming to be I am that I am, Christ was saying I am Yahovah or he causes to be from the concept of 'eyeh 'ahser 'eheh or I will be what I will become. Yahovah is a third person form meaning "he causes to be." This was only fully understood by the priests. That is why the high priest rent his garment. If what this man said was true the priesthood had been torn from Levi. It was forbidden for the high priest to rend his garment. Look at the paper The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243).

I have noted that John chapter 10 is used by Catholics as further proof that Christ is equal to the Father. When threatened with stoning he said "I and the Father are one" and repeated "The Father is in me and I am in the Father" (Jn 10:30-38). Also John chapter 14 Jesus said "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (Jn 14:9). Is this really what these Scriptures are saying? Can you explain what is means to be 'one with God'?

A: If we are to use John chapter 10 then we have to all claim equality with God. It is written "I said ye are gods and Scripture cannot be broken" (Jn. 10:34-35). We are all going to be gods and Scripture cannot be broken.

To understand how we are to become elohim and how Christ is elohim look at the papers: The Elect as Elohim (No. 1); Consubstantial with the Father (No. 81); The Holy Spirit (No. 117); and The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243).

Is Jesus really present in the Tabernacle on the altars in Catholic Churches?

A. Christ is present where he is asked to be by the obedient servants of God who keep the laws of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ (Rev. 12:17; 14:12). Any baptized group of people obeying God and keeping His law will have Christ in their midst. The question then remains will Christ condone the deliberate perversion of God's Law and the answer must be no. The Church founded by Jesus Christ was a sect called: the Way, Christian, the Church of God and the Churches of God. It was called "universal" which is "catholic." The Church is an obedient body of saints who follow God's Laws. This universal Church has shattered into a variety of groups most of whom teach pagan doctrines and have no resemblance to the Original Catholic Church started by Jesus Christ. The Bible is clear as to their position and what happens to them.

As Catholicism asserts that their Lord was conceived and born of a never-impregnated virgin human woman, and that he (Jesus) never had a human father, where did his Y (male) chromosome come from?

A: The answer lies in the question where did Adam's Y or male Chromosome come from and why did not Eve have a Y chromosome as she was taken from the rib of Adam and as such should have had the DNA structure of Adam and not that of a woman.

The fact of the matter is that the basic human genome was a creation of God. In this way also we can see that the original Catholic doctrines of the Church in Rome in 150 CE was that Christ also had pre-existence as the Angel of the Lord who gave the Law to Moses and appeared to the prophets and patriarchs.

This is an even greater problem than the production of a simple XY Chromosome sequence. That can be done by the arrangement of the substructure of quarks and their rotational speed and variation to produce the genomes in the species.

That is mere child's play to the spirit world. How could Christ and the others appear as donkeys and other species? The big test is to get the Angel of God to revert to an idea in the structure of God and then become human and suffer death on the cross. That is a bigger question than where does the Y Chromosome come from.

In that problem lies the true answer to the resurrection of the dead at the end of the age and the correct judgment. Not only does God have to resurrect every individual from his or her DNA map, which He holds in His mind, but also the ideas that made up the personality of the individual in its nephesh.

That is where we see the true power of God and His awesome majesty. Our entire future existence depends entirely on His Omniscience and Omnipotence and on no other thing. That is why they invented the doctrine of the Immortal Soul because they lacked faith in His power and all embracing love and concern.

As Tatian said: “Not immortal is the Soul O Greeks nevertheless it is possible for it not to die”. Look at the papers: The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243); The Angel of YHVH (No. 24); Early Theology of the Godhead (No. 127); The Soul (No. 92); and The Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143).

What is the origin of the devotion to the sacred heart of Jesus? I remember the pictures of the flaming heart on the outside of the body with the five wounds with rays like the sun shining forth.

A: The cult which has stimulated some of the most intense devotion in Catholicism is not directed to the heart as a mere physical heart but to the heart as representing the whole person. The heart is seen in western culture as representing the seat of the emotions and this source of love. In the east it is the liver and so the significance is a bit lost there.

The form of the devotion was sporadic and only occasional and we see it emerge in the works of Bernard and Bonaventure who favoured it. Gertrude (d. 1302) had a vision in which she is said to have rested her head on Christ's wounded side and heard his heart beating. The story goes that the vision occurred on St John’s day and she enquired of the dead apostle whether he had experienced this and he is alleged to have said yes he had but that the revelation had been held over for later ages (Revelationes Gertudae, Paris, 1877 cf. ERE, vol. 6, p. 557).

In the 17th century Margaret Mary Alacoque had a similar vision in which Jesus is alleged to have revealed the wonders of his love and asked her to make them known to the world. Other visions followed and they were published in the journal of Fr. de la Colombiere in 1684 and became widely known.

The devotion became popular and in 1693 certain indulgences were made by Rome to Confraternities of the Sacred Heart. In 1765, Clement XIII permitted the Church in France to have a feast with a special mass and offices. It was not, however, until 1856 that this was permitted or extended to the Church as a whole. In 1889 this feast was made a double of the first class. It was held on the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi.

It is thus a cult that arose in part in the 12th an 13th centuries probably in reaction to the Albigensian crusades. The Bible literate Albigensians were being suppressed and the Bible was suppressed in the Roman Catholic systems among the populace even in the UK. The growth after the Reformation and the Revolution in France is probably a similar reaction.

The fall of the 1260 year Holy Roman Empire in 1850 with the disastrous plebiscite in which the Roman catholic Church received only 1000 odd votes prompted a political and psychological reaction which seems to have substituted this physical and emotional tool on a level aimed at countering a failing system. (See the Jesuit historian Malachi Martin The Decline and Fall of the Roman Church, Secker and Warburg, pp. 250-254 ff for details of the last Inquisition and plebiscite; see also The Role of the Fourth Commandment in the Historical Sabbath-keeping Churches of God (No. 170).

3…The Bible

When I was growing up I remember the references to the Holy War(s). Can a Pope declare a war holy and make it so? What happens with thou shalt not kill? What is the Biblical law relating to war?

A: Wars do not make one Holy. David was not allowed to build the Temple because he was a man of blood. The notion of taking life is under divine sanction according to biblical Law. This aspect is covered in the paper Law and the Sixth Commandment (No. 259).

The Holy War notion is a perversion of the notion that the Bible condones some wars and that the Church has the capacity to declare a war holy. The history of this notion is covered in the paper Theory of the Just War (No. 110).

The structure is based on the bull Unam Sanctam and the faulty theology of Aquinas.

I see nothing in the Bible to indicate that the day of worship should be on Sunday the first day of the week, rather all I find is about the Sabbath which is the seventh day. Where is it written that we should observe Sunday and not Saturday?

A: It is not written in the Bible that Sunday should be observed at all. Paul established an alms collection on Sundays because money could not by law be collected on the Sabbath as a function of Sabbath services. This grew in Rome in the second century to where it was being kept as a service alongside the Sabbath and when the Mystery and Sun cults and the Easter system came in from Rome, Sunday was established to replace the Sabbath. It succeeded in having the Sabbath anathematised from the Council of Laodicea in 366 at canon 29. The history is in the work by S Bacchiocchi, From Sabbath to Sunday, Pontifical Gregorian University Press, Rome, 1975). The history of the Sabbath system is seen in the papers General Distribution of the Sabbath-keeping Churches (No. 122) and The Role of the Fourth Commandment in the Historical Sabbath-keeping Churches of God (No. 170).

I am Catholic and have been told by ‘Christian’ people that we are not Christian. I was always told by my church that we are Christians. What is the definition of Christian?

A: The Bible definition of a Christian Saint is found at Revelation 12:17 and 14:12. These are they that keep the commandments of God and the Testimony or Faith of Jesus Christ. If you do not do that you are not a Christian. Faith without works is dead. Look at the Statement of Beliefs of the Christian Faith (No. A1).

Should Catholics read the Old Testament? Isn't it just a bunch of stories about the history of Israel that really has no bearing to Catholics today?

A: The OT was the Bible when the apostles were teaching. It is referred to as Scripture by Christ and the apostles and Christ says it can not be broken. The apostles said it was “God breathed”. Most of the quotes in the NT come from the OT Septuagint or LXX which was their authorised Greek version. The NT is commentary on the OT and it cannot be understood without the OT. It is like getting an epilogue to a book and trying to understand the book without reading it. The OT and the NT are interlinking documents which must be read and followed to be in the faith.

Genetically speaking, the Bible is wrong in saying the world began with 2. I was raised Catholic, but also attend a Baptist youth group, so sometimes conflicts occur between myself and others. So what I want to know is: is there a right religion? Are all my good friends going to hell because they are not Christian? Can the Bible be wrong because of different cultures?

A. Firstly you will not be going to hell or to heaven for that matter either. Heaven is coming to you. The Roman Catholic Church does not believe now what it believed originally. It has changed things through tradition.

In the first and second centuries in Rome if you said that when you died you went to heaven they would have known immediately that you were not a true Christian, but were a Gnostic impostor in the Church. This doctrine so influenced Christianity that most Christians today teach that view in spite of the fact that it was the test of a true Christian originally. True Christians regarded that as a godless and blasphemous doctrine.

The original position is outlined in the papers The Soul (No. 92); and The Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143). The original Christian beliefs are to be found in the work The Statement of Beliefs of the Christian Faith (No. A1). Most of the things you are taught today stem from pagan doctrines. Christmas and Easter are pagan festivals. Look at the paper The Origins of Christmas and Easter (No. 235).

In the Church in Rome in the second century Christ was understood to be the Angel of the OT that gave the Law to Moses. What you are taught now is vastly different from what the original Church taught. Look at Justin Martyr, First Apology and also the paper Early Theology of the Godhead (No. 127). The vast bulk of the Church that calls itself "Christian" now has very little Christian doctrines left in it.

Which is older the Catholic or non-Catholic version of the Bible?

A: Of the versions we currently have the early Syriac may be the oldest. The codex was not invented until ca 200 so the concept of a single Bible did not exist until then.

They were all scrolls with a basic list of accepted scrolls comprising the canon. As Scripture was the OT at the time of the apostles the oldest Bible in that sense is in Hebrew. The Septuagint was the Greek translation of those Scriptures. The history and timing is found in the paper The Bible (No. 164).

Does the Church have any authority bestowed on it by God or by Jesus Christ to change doctrine? If so, where's that written? Also, is the Bible the ultimate authority, or are Church teachings, writings, and doctrine the ultimate authority?

A: No, the Church has no authority to change the Commandments of God and the Law. Christ said whoever relaxes the least of these Commandments will be the least in the Kingdom of God. Whosoever shall do and teach them shall be great in the kingdom of Heaven (Mat. 5:19). Christ established his Church and there were many administrations and many operations but one Lord. They were given authority to determine the Church by binding and loosing but they had no authority to alter the Law of God or relax its effect.

Why do Catholics have a different version of the Ten Commandments? They combined Commandments #1 and #2 into one, and the tenth commandment is broken into two. This is not what the Bible states?

A: The ten commandments are just that: The first four relate to the love of God and the last six relate to the love of man. The fifth ties them both together. The Catholic Church combined the first two commandments together, namely Thou shall have no other Gods before me and Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image etc. This was because they had adopted the pagan systems of praying to these worthless pieces of masonry and plaster or wood. By combining them they were able to let the second slip out of notice and then in order to get back to ten commandments (because there were ten after all weren't there?) they split the tenth into two; thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife and then thou shalt not covet they neighbors good etc. This was done using the Deuteronomy version. However, the Exodus 20 version places house before wife which shows that this is an impossible rendering. The Jews have never accepted that little twist of logic either. The whole thing rests on the necessity to condone prayer to idols and is false worship.

I read somewhere that the Latin Vicarius Filli Dei…Vicar of the Son of God (in reference to the Pope) adds up to the number 666 which is supposed to be the number of the beast in Revelation. Does this numbering sequence hold any validity in reckoning things in the Bible? How do we know WHO is WHAT is the beast?

A: The number of the false religious system of the god of this world has always been marked by the number 6 (see the paper Symbolism of Numbers (No. 7)).

The sequence of the Vestals for example chosen by the supreme pontiff in pagan Rome was six chosen every year over thirty years. The six were in three groups of ten years, making sixty vestals in each as 60 + 60 + 60 =180.

The groups of three equated to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. Numerology reduces thus to 9 which is 3 x 3 and 3 + 3 + 3 Making each representative of the Triune God. Jupiter and Juno were the representatives of the collective male genii and the female junonese or reproductive and fertility system of the Roman people and Empire. The Minerva was the immaculately conceived virgin goddess of the Middle East, coming in with the Etruscan influence.

The system is found in the numbering of the various facets of the Triune God and this found its way into Christianity in various forms. Fifteen as the number of the council of Pontiffs reduces again to six. That figure is applied to the Mother goddess cult in the so-called Mysteries of the Rosary and in many other examples.

Many people have pointed out the fact that The Vicar of the Son of God is numerically tied to that system as 666. Some ancient texts of Revelation read 612 and this is not always taken into account. The number relates as we said to the Triune God above and also to the Mysteries. The Greek Ch, x, s is 600, 60 and 6. The three letters SSS formed the symbol of Isis and was the secret symbol of the Mystery cults (cf. Bullinger Companion Bible fn. to Rev, 3:18).

Thus the beast system must be based on the ancient mystery cults and that system must therefore have the sun cults and be based on the Easter and Christmas system. The day of the Sun entered as early as 111 CE. Easter entered the Roman Christian Church from 150-192 CE. (see The Quartodeciman Disputes (No. 277)). Christmas entered from Syria in 375 at Antioch and Jerusalem in 386 and spread from there (see the paper The Origins of Christmas and Easter (No. 235).

The mother goddess system entered shortly after as Mariolatry and the Babylonian mysteries took over mainstream Christianity. The Church has to rid itself of these festivals and systems of worship to get rid of the Mark of the Beast.

4…Mary and Mariolatry

Mary is often referred to as the Queen of Heaven. Which scripture supports that belief?

A: The reference to the "queen of heaven" is in Jeremiah 7:18 where the idolaters in the east baked cakes to the Queen of Heaven. Whole families were involved in the Baal-Easter system. They baked the Easter cakes to Easter or Istar or Ashtoreth the consort of Baal. This practice continues today as the hot cross buns of Easter. The practice entered Christianity from Asia Minor in Syria in the fifth century as Mariolatry. The mother goddess began to be referred to as Maria. This name was not the name of the mother of Christ. Her name was Mariam and her sister, the wife of Clophas, was Maria. This is covered in the paper The Virgin Mariam and the Family of Jesus Christ (No. 232). So correctly by usage Maria is the name of the Queen of Heaven as referred to in the Bible, but she was not the Mother of Jesus Christ and she did not enter Christianity until the fifth century.

Many branches of the Catholic Church do not use this term for sound theological reason. It is endemic to Roman Catholicism. She entered Hinduism and Buddhism. She is the Avalokitesvara and the goddess Guanyin or Kuanyin of China.

Would you consider the vision at Fatima in 1917 to be a fulfilment of 1Timothy 4:1? 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? Would you say that vision was one of a seducing spirit?

A: We are probably seeing the effects of 1Timothy 4:1 in almost every branch of Christianity. It is given in the following verses.

The doctrines are:

1. Speaking lies in hypocrisy. This aspect is now almost in every facet of the system denying the laws of God and the testimony of Christ.

2. Forbidding to marry; and

3. Commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving.

There is a consistent attack on Marriage at present from the world systems. These people are now permeating the fringe Christian systems but are drawing people away into paganism. However there was always an attack on marriage from the mystery cults and that is the origin of celibacy in the clergy. It did not take over Christianity completely until the twelfth century.

Another major doctrine of demons is in Vegetarianism. This doctrine is penetrating every Christian Church. It is often accompanied by the temperance lobby that seeks to remove wine from the Lord's Supper. Look at Vegetarianism and the Bible (No. 183) and Wine in the Bible (No. 188).

These doctrines have been at work from the beginning but are now increasing as Christianity is exposed as a religion based on adopted pagan customs. Soon these false systems will collapse of their own accord amid the chaos of the world system as it destroys itself.

Fatima

As it is a fundamental doctrine of the Church that no one except Jesus Christ has ascended to heaven (Jn 3:13) and that includes Mariam (Mary) and the Apostles and every one else then the visions of Fatima have to be delusions of Demons. The Mother goddess visions and the sun systems indicate the same Satanic belief system we saw established at Babylon.

If you said to anyone in the Church in Rome in the second century that you were a Christian and that when you died you went to heaven, they would have denied you were a Christian. They also would have denied that Mariam (called Mary now) had been resurrected and quietly shown you the door as a heretic. Justin Martyr outlined Christian doctrine in his First and Second Apology and warned the people of Rome against these false Christians in his Dialogue with Trypho (80). Justin said they were not to believe they were Christians. The Gnostics inserted this heaven and hell doctrine into the Church after that period. It is a godless and blasphemous doctrine. Look at the paper The Soul (No. 92) and The Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143).

I believe most if not all of my Roman Catholic friends pray to Mary at least sometimes. Is there any biblical reference for doing this?

A: The answer in short is ‘No’. There is no Biblical basis for prayers to Mary or to anyone other than God. The Roman Catholic Theologian Herbert Thurston in his article on the Apostles Creed (Cath. Encyc. Vol. 1, pp, 630-631) has given the original form of the Creed in the earliest known document which is the R document of the second century from Rome.

It shows quite clearly that the Church was NOT known as the Catholic Church in that document. Also they stated categorically that they believed in the Resurrection of the Dead. To assert that Mariam or Mary had gone to heaven, would have had you branded as Gnostic and removed from the Church. Had you prayed to Mary you would have been removed even more quickly.

Mariolatry did not enter the Church until the fifth century from Syria. The creed of the Church in Rome in the second century was as follows:

1. I believe in God the Father Almighty;

2. And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord;

3. Who was born of (de) the Holy Spirit and of (ex) the Virgin Mary;

4. Crucified under Pontius Pilate and buried;

5. The third day he rose again from the dead,

6. He ascended into heaven,

7. Sitteth at the Right hand of the Father;

8. Whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead,

9. And in the Holy Spirit,

10. The Holy Church,

11. The forgiveness of sins;

12 The resurrection of the body.

It was regarded as a fundamental of belief of the Christian faith, a shibboleth, that the resurrection of the body was to take place at the end of the age and that the Bible was emphatic that no one had ascended into heaven save he who had descended from heaven, the son of Man (Jn 3:13).

The quotes and doctrines are examined in the papers The Soul (No. 92) and The Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143).

The Church could not be more emphatic on this doctrine. It was the test of a true Christian. Any one who said that when the saints died they went to heaven showed thereby they were not Christians (cf. Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho (80). This godless and blasphemous doctrine was derived from the Gnostics.

The name catholic was added later for political reasons and the Church from the beginning was simply known as the Church until that title was added to it. In the second century the Church at Rome was known simply as the Church and the saints including Mariam were regarded as being dead and awaiting the resurrection of the dead as they held in their creed. The Church split into two sects in 192 CE over what was termed The Quartodeciman Disputes (No. 277).

There had been divisions in Africa previously (Montanist) but this marked the great division between the Passover and Sabbath-keeping sect and the New Easter worshipping sect which was to later become the Roman Catholic Church. Britain and the churches in the East remained Quartodeciman. The British Church did not come into union with Rome until 663 from the synod of Whitby.

As a child I remember references to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. How is the concept portrayed and from where does this thinking originate?

A: The cult of the Sacred Heart of Mary is analogous to the cult of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In her case the heart is held to symbolise her love to God and to her son. The idea is to have the faithful imitate this devotion.

The cult may also be traced back to the 12th century but papal recognition in a partial form did not occur until 1799. This follows a similar pattern to the post-revolutionary French problems and the Bible illiterate masses that were prevented from genuine and serious Bible study (cf. ERE, Vol. 6, p. 558).

An Office and Mass were appointed by the Congregation of Rites in 1855, but these were not imposed on the whole Church nor was any universal feast granted. The idea of the heart as source of virtue and an object of cult focus, stems from the ancient pagans in Europe and elsewhere.

The Celts kept heads preserved in jars of cedar oil and we see in the Mabinogian that Gwynn forced Kyledi to eat his father’s heart. "The Wends believe that the heart of a maiden or an infant brewed in herbs will cure disease or inspire love. And hence graves are often violated to obtain the heart of a corpse. Possibly the old German belief that 'a dying man's heart could pass into a living man, who would then show twice as much pluck' is derived from this savage custom" (ERE, ibid.).

It seems most probable that this ancient Germanic idea is the basis behind the cults emerging at times of the great crisis of the Church and becoming popular among it's superstitious masses. The hearts of "Mary" and her infant take the place of the maiden or infant in the herbal magic of the pagan past.

Where does the Bible say that Mary ascended into heaven?

A: It does not say that Mary ascended into heaven. In fact it says the opposite.
Writing well after her death the apostle Johngives the definitive word on this matter. No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man (John 3:13). The early Church would have condemned anyone who asserted that Mariam (now called Mary) had gone into heaven as a heretic. Her family who constituted the leaders of the early Church would have laughed anyone to scorn who asserted that she had no other children. More information is available in the papers The Virgin Mariam and the Family of Jesus Christ (No. 232); The Soul (No. 92) and The Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143).

Did Mary have any other children after Jesus? If so, what ever became of them?

A: Her name was actually not Mary it was Mariam. Her sister was named Maria and she was the wife of Clophas. Mariam had four sons after her first child whose name was not Jesus but Joshua. Iesous is the Greek from which the English is derived but it is actually the Greek form of Joshua called Yoshua or Yahoshua in Hebrew.

The Bible records she had four sons and a number of daughters but in accordance with tradition their names are not listed. The sons names were Joseph (Yusef), Jacob (Yakob (called James in the English), Judah (Jude) and Simon. Christ's brother Jacob or James wrote the book of James and was martyred in 63 CE. His brother Judah wrote the book of Jude.

Their descendants ruled the Church with those of the siblings of John the Baptist and the children of Maria and Clophas for three centuries. What happened to them is a remarkable story and an indictment on Christianity. The story is in the paper The Virgin Mariam and the Family of Jesus Christ (No. 232).

Why do Catholics venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary?

A. Roman Catholics do; Anglican and Episcopalian Catholics do not; the Orthodox do. Originally it was not done. The veneration of Mariam which is the real name of Christ’s mother did not enter the Church until the fifth and sixth centuries from Syria. Maria (and hence Mary) was his aunt.

The worship or veneration of Mary was termed Mariolatry and it was originally opposed as blasphemous. It was associated with the cult of the Mother goddess in the east and came in following the Christmas structure, which entered also in Syria at Damascus in 375 CE and Jerusalem in 386 CE.

In the first few centuries the Church regarded anyone who said that any one had died and gone to heaven as Gnostic heretic. After the pagan doctrines had weakened the doctrines of the Church by the fourth century these other ideas could enter and break down the original theology. On 15 August 1950 Pope Pius XII declared the doctrine of the Assumption of the Virgin into heaven. Look at the papers: The Soul (No. 92); The Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143); The Virgin Mariam and the Family of Jesus Christ (No. 232); and The Origins of Christmas and Easter (No. 235).

Would you please explain what Medjugorje is/was?

A: The worship of the Mother Goddess system entered the Church as Mariolatry in the fifth and sixth centuries. It has always been there in the Baal-Easter or Istar systems. The nation of Austria is named from the kingdom of Ostarricchi meaning the kingdom of the Goddess Ostar declared in 996. Europe is rotten with this cult system.

The goddess appears to people under visitations. Satan appears as an angel of light. It was at Fatima earlier this century and then the phenomena in the Balkans of similar type of the female apparition. The Bible is quite clear that no one has ascended into heaven except he who has descended from heaven namely the Son of Man (Jn. 3:13). Thus this apparition cannot be Mariam the Mother of Christ as she has not yet risen with the rest of the elect of the First Resurrection. Look at the papers The Virgin Mariam and the Family of Jesus Christ (No. 232).

Catholics say that the 'Immaculate Conception' refers to Mary being born without sin as she was chosen to be the mother of 'God'. How is this possible? What is your interpretation of the Immaculate Conception?

A: Only Christ was without sin. Only he died sinless and made atonement for us. Only he was the Passover Lamb. Mariam was chosen to be the mother of Joshua the Messiah the son of God. Her conception was a normal result of the fertilization of the female by the male. Her lineage is in Luke chapter 3 (see Genealogy of the Messiah (No. 119)). She was a good wife and mother and died a member of the Church. She is now awaiting the return of her son for the resurrection from the dead. The details of her family are in the paper The Virgin Mariam and the Family of Jesus Christ (No. 232).

Does the Bible talk about the assumption of Mary? Where can I find any scriptures that imply or describe the event?

A: If you want more about this subject or about the teaching of the Catholic Church I would refer you to the following book available on site or for purchase in any mall bookstore: Catechism of the Catholic Church Ligouri Publications ISBN 0-89243-566-6

There is no direct Scripture reference for the Assumption. But the Catholic Church does not base her doctrine on Scripture alone as do most Protestant Churches. Indeed the Bible is absolutely definitive that there has been no assumption of anyone other than Christ. The matter of Enoch and Elijah are examined in the paper The Witnesses (No. 135).

The Roman Church like the Pharisees before them has corrupted Scripture with their traditions. He admits it here. In John 3:13 it says: "No one has ascended up to heaven save he that came down from heaven even the son of Man that is in heaven."

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