POPE'S ELECTION - COLOSSAL RELIGIOUS DECEPTION

   
There is no biblical or historical evidence to support the legitimacy of the claims surrounding the election of the new Roman Catholic pope as the "vicar of Christ" and the "successor of St. Peter". The world media and leaders celebrate the election of a new pope, ignorantly supporting the Catholic claims without question.

It is historically clear that there was no such thing as a Catholic Church with all the characteristics and doctrines of the Catholic Church today, until the 6th century.The roots were planted in the 4th century when Emperor Constantine professed to be a Christian and made a deal with the bishops of Rome to share power in a move to consolidate his power throughout the empire. When the Roman Empire fell in 478 A.D., the politically hungry clerics in Rome emerged claiming imperial power they declared was bestowed by Constantine. As years went on, they claimed the authority and jurisdiction they asserted was given to the apostles and by succession to them.

In the apostolic days, there is no evidence of a pope successor to Peter. There is no trace of a papacy in the New Testament. Not one word of Jesus gives Peter supremacy over the other apostles. Rather, Jesus forbade Peter and the apostles to have authority over the faithful as the kings of the Gentiles. (Luke 22:25-26)  St. Paul declared in Ephesians 2:20 that the Church is built on Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone. He alone is the rock in which Christian faith is anchored. If the papacy was of divine institution, Paul would have said something about it when he listed the offices of the Church of Jesus. (Ephesians 4:11)

There is no more than unsubstantiated legend that Peter was ever in Rome or crucified upside down. From the earliest times, however, the bishop of Rome tried to draw to himself power of jurisdiction over other parts of the Church of Jesus Christ. The learned Augustine, along with the other bishops of Africa at the time, threatened with excommunication those who would appeal to Rome. Despite the resistance to the Roman church's pursuit of universal government of the church, as the years went on, the powers of Rome claimed more and more authority and jurisdiction they asserted was given to the apostles and by succession to them. From the assistance of the King of the Franks in establishing the authority of the pope in Rome in 754 A.D. to the forged "Decretals of Isidore", (a collection of letters of 33 popes written to secure the power of the bishop of Rome), a century later, the temporal power of the Roman church was established. "The Decretals" were even incorporated into the canon law of the Roman Church until the Reformation. The Catholic Church later admitted they were forgeries. (See the Catholic Encyclopedia)

Thus, the corruption of political power and ambition, along with doctrinal contradictions to the Word of God grew to the point that those who did not agree with or opposed oppressive power and heretical teachings were themselves branded as heretics and persecuted for centuries. Thus, the apostate Catholic Church split in the 6th century from the core body of believers who held solely to the Bible and righteous living.

The true Christian Church that traces its roots to the apostles, and has suffered persecution and martyrdom under the Roman Empire and from the Roman Catholic Church, endures to this day as a faithful remnant by the grace of God. Jesus promised His Church that kind endurance "and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18)

With political patronage and support, the Catholic Church has gained a legitimacy and power over the centuries as it has claimed to be the true Church of Jesus, and condescendingly calls the others "separated brethren."

One of the heroic Catholic bishops at the First Vatican Council in Rome in 1870 dared to boldly confront the assembled pope and bishops in opposition to papal infallibility. (There were many in opposition to it)   Josip Strossmayer summed-up his opposition with a powerful biblical and historical analysis of Catholic claims of papal supremacy. Though papal infallibility was defined, Strossmayer maintained his opposition to it long afterward, with other outstanding Catholic historians and leaders. It is worth noting Strossmayer's opposition with his following words:

     " 1. Jesus has given to His apostles the same power that he gave to St. Peter
      2. That the spostles never recognized in St. Peter the vicar of Jesus Christ and the infallible doctor
          of the church.
      3. That St. Peter never thought of being pope, and never acted as if he were pope.
      4. That the Councils of the first four centuries...only accorded to him (the bishop of Rome) a pre-
          eminence of honor, never of power or of jurisdiction.
      5. That the holy fathers in the famous passage , 'Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my 
          church,' never understood that the church was built on Peter (super Petrum) but on the rock
          (super petram), that is, on the confession of the faith of the apostle.

I (Strossmayer)conclude victoriously, with history, with reason, with logic, with good sense, and with a Christian conscience, that Jesus did not confer any supremacy on St. Peter and that the bishops of Rome did not become sovereigns of the church, but only by confiscating one by one all the rights of the episcopate."

(Our thanks to the late Bart Brewer of Mission To Catholics International for his excellent research of Josip Strossmayer's stand in opposition to papal infallibility.)

Where does the phenomenon of the Catholic Church appear in Bible prophecy? Read Revelation, Chapters 17 and 18. God's Word speaks of terrible judgment to come down on that apostate body,  the Catholic Church, for shedding the blood of countless martyrs and deceiving the nations. Along with other major false religions, the final Antichrist one-world government will tolerate the Catholic Church and then be glad at its demise. Religious systems of the world are deciding their destinies as they submit to the global Antichrist economic and political system emerging on the horizon. The Vatican has taken the lead in embracing a network of world religions that support a global economic and political system. Religious and political Babylon are brokering positions of power on the world stage at this very hour.

"Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities."Rev.18:4-5

Please read our book - "From Darkness To Light", Frank and Joan Testa, for more information.