The Myth of the Roman "Catholic" Church

This exposé is under construction

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Here is a quote from an Apostolic Father named Saint Ignatius of Antioch, written about 110 A.D.

". . . wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church."
Saint Ignatius of Antioch's Letter to the Smyrnaeans, chapter 8).

Here is the dictionary definition of MYTH:

Etymology: New Latin mýthus, from Late Latin mýthos, from Greek muthos.

A fiction or half-truth, especially one that forms part of an ideology. An unfounded or false notion. A person or thing having only an imaginary or unverifiable existence. Idle fancy, fable, fiction.

Here is the dictionary definition of Catholic:

Etymology: Middle English catholik, from Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French catholique, from Late Latincatholicus, from Greek katholikos universal.

Often capitalized: of, relating to, or forming the church universal or forming the ancient undivided Christian church or a church claiming historical continuity from it, capitalized: Roman Catholic.

All true Christians—both East and West—originally called themselves CATHOLIC which means UNIVERSAL in contradistinction to the Jewish congregation which was local and restricted to Jews and proselytes only.

Very little of Christian history survived the last great pagan persecution under Emperor Diocletian. The first mention we have of the term Catholic from the writings that survived that persecution is the Christian martyr Ignatius of Antioch (about 50-117 A.D.).

The 3 Dogmatic Creeds of the Roman "Catholic" Church

The Vatican acknowledges 3 dogmatic creeds that are ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL for salvation in the Roman "Catholic" system....Anyone who does not believe them is condemned to a fiery hell forever.... These 3 Creeds are:

1.	The Nicene-Constantinoplian Creed with the addition of the Filioque clause.
2.	The "Apostles' Creed."
3.	The Athanasian Creed.

Here is the condemnatory clause in the Athanasian Creed:

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith. Which Faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. (Athanasian Creed).

Two of the creeds contain an addition called the Filioque clause that never gained acceptance with the Eastern or Orthodox Church . . . and therefore has never been recognized as Catholic or universal.

The "Apostles' Creed" declares that Jesus—the sinless Son of God— went to HELL when He died . . . and therefore would NEVER have gained acceptance with the Orthodox . . . or any sincere Christians.

Emperor Constantine was the founder of both Latin and Orthodox Churches!!

Emperor Constantine was the founder of the Latin Roman Papacy with headquarters at Rome, and the Orthodox Church with headquarters at Constantinople.

The English word CHURCH is translated from the Greek word EKKLESIA... In Acts chapter 19, EKKLESIA is used to describe a meeting place or assembly of the pagan goddess Diana of the Ephesians:

For ye have brought hither these men (Paul and Silas), which are neither robbers of churches (ekklesias), nor yet blasphemers of your goddess. (Acts 19:37).

Statue of Constantine in York, England.

Emperor Constantine divided the Roman Empire into 2 halves when he founded a new capital in the East called Constantinople.

The Western LEG of this divided Empire became known as the Latin Papacy, and around 1000 A.D., arrogated the name CATHOLIC or universal.

The Pope was also called Patriarch of the WEST until 2006!!

Colossal head of Constantine in Rome.

These 2 churches represent the 2 LEGS of the metal image seen in the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

4 world empires of Daniel chapter 2.

The king of Babylon had a dream in which he saw all of world history from his day to the end of time.

Daniel the prophet interpreted the dream as a colossal statue composed of 4 different metals, representing 4 successive world empires.

The legs of iron represented the divided Roman Empire.

The stone or Rock that destroys the image represents Christ at His Second Coming.

4 metals statue of Daniel chapter 2.

According to the inerrant and infallible Word of God, these 2 religions would be DIVIDED—but continue side by side until the end of time.

Obviously you cannot give an organization the appellation Catholic or universal if it is confined to the Western world.

The Filioque finalized the rift between East and West!!

The establishing of another capital of the Roman Empire at Constantinople split the Empire, but doctrinal differences, and later additions to the ecumenical councils by the Latins, finalized the separation or rift.

Filioque, Latin for "and (from) the Son", was added by the Latin church to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed.

At the Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.) presided over by Emperor Constantine, a creed or statement of faith was promulgated which was binding on all the Roman Empire.

The Nicean Creed was further ratified by the Council of Constantinople in 381.

This statement of faith was based on sound Biblical hermeneutics except for one critical error: that water baptism leads to the remission of sins or makes a person a Christian....If water can cleanse from sin, then Christ shed his BLOOD in vain!!

Latin version of the Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered, died, and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Orthodox version of the Nicene Creed

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible:
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all ages, Light of Light, True God of True God, Begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made:
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from the heavens, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man;
And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried;
And rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures;
And ascended into the heavens, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father;
And shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead, Whose kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, Who spake by the Prophets;
In One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
I Confess one Baptism for the remission of sins.
I look for the Resurrection of the dead,
And the life of the age to come, Amen.

The heretical phrase "AND THE SON" was first added by the Latin Third Council of Toledo, Spain, in 589 A.D. This fateful formula was not officially adopted by Old Rome until the year 1014 —over 600 years after the Council of Constantinople:

This mutual agreement between Rome and Constantinople, to say it once more, was maintained until the eleventh century, when, during the coronation of the German emperor Henry II (1014), the fateful formula was finally adopted in Rome as well. As a result of this adoption, the altered creed became standard throughout the West. Inevitably, the scope of the debate widened as well. Before long, Rome was justifying the alteration by its own doctrinal authority. As papal apologists were to argue, it was sufficient that the Roman pontiff had declared it dogma; by virtue of his Petrine power, he was not subject to conciliar judgment (Papadakis, The Christian East and the Rise of the Papacy, pp. 228-229).

It was never accepted by the Orthodox because Jesus stated plainly that the Spirit proceeds from the Father . . . and not from the Son:

But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. (John 15:26).

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever. (John 14:16).

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:26).

The Son and the Holy Spirit are the 2 hands of the Father!!

To try and comprehend the incomprehensible Holy Trinity by our finite minds is impossible; but we see in His creation ample testimony of the triune principle.

Man is composed of a triune nature: body, soul, spirit. Water can exist in 3 states: gas, liquid or solid. Alternating current electricity is composed of 3 phases.

Saint Patrick used the SHAMROCK when describing the Holy Trinity to the Hibernians.

If God wills, we will prove from the Scriptures and the writings of the Christian Fathers, that this DOUBLE PROCESSION of the Spirit from the Father and the Son is heretical.

Here is a quote from one of the most important early Christian writers: Saint Irenaeus of Lyons:

.As regards His greatness, therefore, it is not possible to know God, for it is impossible that the Father can be measured; but as regards His love (for this it is which leads us to God by His Word), when we obey Him, we do always learn that there is so great a God, and that it is He who by Himself has established, and selected, and adorned, and contains all things; and among the all things, both ourselves and this our world. We also then were made, along with those things which are contained by Him. And this is He of whom the Scripture says, And God formed man, taking clay of the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life. Genesis 2:7 It was not angels, therefore, who made us, nor who formed us, neither had angels power to make an image of God, nor any one else, except the Word of the Lord, nor any Power remotely distant from the Father of all things. For God did not stand in need of these [beings], in order to the accomplishing of what He had Himself determined with Himself beforehand should be done, as if He did not possess His own hands. For with Him were always present the Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, by whom and in whom, freely and spontaneously, He made all things, to whom also He speaks, saying, Let Us make man after Our image and likeness; Genesis 1:26 He taking from Himself the substance of the creatures [formed], and the pattern of things made, and the type of all the adornments in the world. (Saint Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 4, ch., 20).

This addition to the 7 ecumenical councils by the Latin church led to the final separation in 1054.

Michael Cerularius (Patriarch from 1043 to 1059).

Rome and Constantinople finally split in 1054 when Pope Leo IX excommunicated Eastern Patriarch Michael Cerularius.

The main doctrinal difference was the addition to the Nicene Creed.

From then on, the East called themselves Orthodox, while the West or Latins called themselves Catholics.

Pope Leo IX (Pope from 1049 - 1054).

This final split is called in the West the Great Schism, or the East-West Schism.

Of course the Orthodox acknowledge no such split or schism:

QUESTION: Is it possible to admit that a split within the Church or among the Churches could ever take place?
ANSWER: Never. Heretics and schismatics have from time to time fallen away from the one indivisible Church, and, by so doing, they ceased to be members of the Church, but the Church itself can never lose its unity according to Christ's promise. (Bishop Kallistos Ware, The Orthodox Way, p. 309).

No amount of military might or political scheming can bring the two together because Christ is ruling history with a rod of IRON:

And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.(Revelation 2:27).

Even if the Vatican had a limitless money supply, and 100 Pentagons at her disposal, she could not change or alter Bible prophecy one iota.

The non-Catholic "Apostles' Creed"

The "Apostles' Creed" is the most frequently used Creed in the Latin church but it is not Catholic or Apostolic.

The Nicene Creed originated in the East, but the "Apostles' Creed" originated in the WEST, and was never approved by the Orthodox and therefore has no claim to catholicity or universality.

The origin of the Creed is obscure, but forgeries were rampant in the Latin chuch at that time. The most infamous being the Donation of Constantine and the Isidorean Descretals.

It was probably a production of the Benedictine monks sometime between 500 and 600 A.D.

Whatever may be the final verdict on the claims of S.W. France to be the birthplace of the textus receptus of the Apostles' Creed, very few will be likely to deny that its origin is to be sought somewhere north of the Alps at some date in the late sixth or seventh century. (J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds, p. 420).

Here is the Latin version of the Creed:

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

Jesus did not descend into HELL when He died on the tree because hell is the abode of the wicked in the Bible.

The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.(Psalm 9:17).

In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus said that the rich man died and went to hell, where he suffered TORMENTS:

And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in TORMENTS, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. (Luke 16:23).

Jesus told one of the thieves who was nailed to the tree with him that he would be with him in PARADISE that very day.

And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in PARADISE. (Luke 22:43).

Paradise (also called Abraham's Bosom) was the abode of the righteous dead prior to the Resurrection of Christ. After his Resurrection, Jesus took all the inhabitants of PARADISE with him to Heaven, so now Christians go straight to Heaven when they die.

In the famous Resurrection chapter in the New Testament, St. Paul gives his credal statement and sums up the Gospel which he preached.....It mentions NOTHING about this so-called descent into hell:

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. (I Corintians 15:1-4).

That CREED would NEVER have gained acceptance in the East because of the horrendous implications that Jesus sinned and went to hell after he died on the tree!!

The Athanasian Creed

Like the "Apostles' Creed" the origin of the Athanasian Creed is obscure, but it became widely used in the West around the time of Charlemagne:

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith. Which Faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholic Faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is all One, the Glory Equal, the Majesty Co-Eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father Uncreate, the Son Uncreate, and the Holy Ghost Uncreate. The Father Incomprehensible, the Son Incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost Incomprehensible. The Father Eternal, the Son Eternal, and the Holy Ghost Eternal and yet they are not Three Eternals but One Eternal. As also there are not Three Uncreated, nor Three Incomprehensibles, but One Uncreated, and One Uncomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not Three Almighties but One Almighty.

So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not Three Gods, but One God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not Three Lords but One Lord. For, like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the Catholic Religion to say, there be Three Gods or Three Lords. The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone; not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father, and of the Son neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is One Father, not Three Fathers; one Son, not Three Sons; One Holy Ghost, not Three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is afore or after Other, None is greater or less than Another, but the whole Three Persons are Co-eternal together, and Co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity is Trinity, and the Trinity is Unity is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved, must thus think of the Trinity.

Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting Salvation, that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man.

God, of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man, of the substance of His mother, born into the world. Perfect God and Perfect Man, of a reasonable Soul and human Flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His Manhood. Who, although He be God and Man, yet He is not two, but One Christ. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into Flesh, but by taking of the Manhood into God. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by Unity of Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one Man, so God and Man is one Christ. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into Hell, rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into Heaven, He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies, and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire. This is the Catholic Faith, which except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved. (Athanasian Creed).

Vital Links

Meet the First Pope!!

Constantine's 6 Major Changes to Christianity.

Rome versus Constantinople

The Antichrist

References

FFoulkes. Rev. E.S. The Athanasian Creed. J.T.Hayes, Covent Garden, London, 1872.

Kelly, J.N.D. Early Christian Creeds. Longman Publishing, New York & London, 1960.

Papadakis, Aristeides. The Christian East and the Rise of the Papacy. St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, Crestwood, New York, 1994.

Ware, Bishop Kallistos. The Orthodox Way. St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, Crestwood, New York, 1994.

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