PART of the message of CETF 43 (March 2008) was criticised as being “an ignorant, fearful and antediluvian stance on the Catholic Church”. Presumably this was a reference to page 28—Roman Catholic Pontiff to visit Australia, and page 29 the martyrdom of Scottish Protestant preacher John Walsh in 1605.
To be fair, it must be said that both Protestants and Roman Catholics have historically been guilty of committing atrocities against each other. We at CWM are not opposed to individual Roman Catholics per se and I personally believe that there are genuine Christians, albeit few, within the Roman Catholic Church (RCC), though I cannot understand how they can remain, long term, within a “church” that engages in idol worship and that promotes so many false unbiblical doctrines, especially about Mary.
Also I must point out that none of us who form what is called “Watchman Ministries” knows of anyone who has come to know Christ within the RCC itself. The message of Roman Catholicism is not the Gospel of Christ, and is antithetical to the Gospel. Those who come to know Christ do so outside of the RCC as a result of hearing the Gospel from another source.
Having made that clear, it must also be pointed out that many Protestant—even so called “Evangelical”—churches are possibly as heretical biblically as the RCC. We oppose the RCC and all religious hierarchical systems and issue warnings about the forthcoming visit of the “pope” to Australia because Bible prophecy indicates that the RCC religious monster will ultimately devour all in its path, including Islam, as part of the great apostasy cf. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. As true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ we MUST be on our guard.
ROME’S EXORCIST GIVES INSIDE LOOK AT DEVIL —Rome, 11 April 2008
Some of the mystery surrounding the devil and exorcism is being unveiled in a television and internet report series, detailing the work of the exorcist of the Diocese of Rome. Society of St Paul Father Gabriele Amorth, Rome’s exorcist for the past 21 years and a specialist in the figure of Mary, explained in the first edition of the series how he performs exorcisms.
I go to one of Rome’s churches, to a par- ish that is closed during the day; there is mass in the morning and then the church is closed. There I perform the difficult ex- orcisms. I always work with seven to ten people who help me, and use a small bed. Sometimes we need to tie people down or simply subdue them.
The devil is an angel, and therefore, a pure spirit created good by God and who perverted himself because he rebelled against God. Therefore, he maintains all the characteristics proper of a pure spirit, such as a very large intelligence, immensely big- ger than ours.
The devil is pleased by the way he is generally represented—with wings and a tail, horns, as a bat, etc—because these images make him seem ridiculous and help people to believe that he does not exist.
Father Amorth suggested that diabolic problems be separated from psychiatric ones; and to do so an exorcist is needed in every diocese to help in discernment.
The exorcist claimed that Satan’s great foe is the Virgin Mary. He explained:
On one occasion an exorcist friend of mine asked the devil what most hurts him about Our Lady, what most annoys him. He responded, “That she is the purest of all creatures and that I am the filthiest; that she is the most obedient of all creatures and that I am the most rebellious; that she is the one who commited no sin and thus always conquers me”.
According to Father Amorth, Mary is a key figure in the fight against the devil’s tricks, especially since she herself was tempted:
Mariology is my field and I have often been asked if Mary was tempted by the devil. Definitely. When? From her birth until her death. But she always triumphed.
(Source: Apostasy Alert—April 12, 2008. Editor: Mike Claydon—apostasyalert@hotkey.net.au )
Part one of a lengthy article in four parts ran in the Winter 1993 issue of the Christian Research Journal (CRJ) entitled, What Think Ye of Rome—an Evangelical Appraisal of Contemporary Catholicism. In this series, the CRJ strongly opposes calling the papal church a cult. It instead states, “Catholicism affirms most of what the cults deny and possesses an orthodox foundation which all cult groups lack.”
A Vatican ecumenist could not have improved on the image of popery created by this CRJ series. The Winter 1993 (Part One) issue states, “From the fourth century to the present, Roman Catholic thought has had a momentous influence ... The Church has wielded great power over the centuries, often spreading enlightenment and benevolence among humanity.”
The Winter 1993 CRJ’s lengthy presentation of popery was a flow of half-truths, distortion, falsehood, and deceit, all staged with the obvious purpose of altering the accusing facts of history. [The Vatican has struggled by deceit, by armies, and by anathema to establish and maintain its Sceptre of the Papal Theocracy. The ecumenism of the Vatican II Council was added in 1965. Sadly, this now involves most of today’s evangelicals—tragically not recognising that Roman Catholicism is indeed the world’s deadliest cult.
(Source: Today's Evangelicals Embracing the World's Deadliest Cult, Wilson Ewin, pp.58-61)
Hanegraaff, in a fundraising letter (6/7/95), offered a pro-Catholic book to contributors. For a gift of $25, the book Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences, by Norman Geisler and Ralph MacKenzie would be sent to contributors. Geisler and MacKenzie state that a “cooperative effort between Roman Catholics and evangelicals could be the greatest social force for good in America”—p.357. In the letter, Hanegraaff describes Roman Catholics and Evangelicals as “must reading” for “thinking Christians who are concerned, not only about sound theology, but also about the future of our nation”.
(The above was supplied by Ed Newby of The Berean Call. )
POPE’S GROUND ZERO STOP EAGERLY AWAITED; A “SIMPLE & INTENSE EVENT” —Vatican City, 10 April 2008 Benedict XVI’s time of prayer at New York’s Ground Zero will be [now past] among “the most emotional and eagerly awaited moments” of his upcoming trip to the United States, says a Vatican spokesman.
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, told journalists that television channels from various continents have expressed their interest in being present at this moment commemorating the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. International interest has affected scheduling for the visit, Father Lombardi explained, saying that the stop at Ground Zero will take place Sunday morning, April 20, “since in that way, Europe can also follow along, due to the interest this has stirred up.”
(Source: Apostasy Alert—April 11, 2008. Editor: Mike Claydon—apostasyalert@hotkey.net.au )
FROM THE BEREAN CALL: Hugh Latimer, most fruitful evangelist in England at the time, preaching to more than 1,000 sitting on the grass at Whitehall, residence of King Edward VI, the “British Josiah”. Latimer, Ridley, and Cranmer were among several hundred Protestants burned at the stake by Edward’s half-sister, “Bloody Mary,” awarded the throne in the place of Lady Jane Grey, the previous queen. Mary had Lady Jane Grey beheaded. She then sought to turn England back to Catholicism.
The last words of Lady Jane Grey, age 16, at her beheading, February 12, 1554, having refused freedom if she embraced Catholicism. From the scaffold she spoke earnestly to the spectators:
Good people, touching the procurement of the crown on my behalf, I do wash my hands thereof before God. I did not desire it....bear me witness...I do look to be saved by no other means, but by the mercy of God in the blood of His only Son Jesus Christ... and I confess when I did know the word of God, I neglected the same, loved myself and the world, and thereby this...punishment is worthily happened to me, and yet I thank God that in His goodness He has thus given me time to repent.
Kneeling down, she asked permission and quoted all of Psalm 57. It begins, “Be merciful to me, O God...for my soul trusts in you: yes, in the shadow of your wings I will make my refuge....”
Laying her head on the block, she said, “Lord, into your hands I commend my spirit.” (The British Josiah, N.A. Woychuk, Gen. Ed., 120-22)
The following is a summary. If you would like the full “article”, which is well worth reading, contact Apostasy Alert—see below.
AIMING TO RE-EVANGELISE ENGLAND ROMAN CATHOLIC FATHER AIDAN NICHOLS TELLS WHY THE REALM IS RIPE FOR CONVERSION
By Annamarie Adkins
CAMBRIDGE, England, April 6, 2008 A great civilisation can only be built on a religious or metaphysical principle, begins the “unfashionable” argument of Father Aidan Nichols in his new book on the re- evangelisation of England. The Dominican priest and theologian is the author of The Realm: An Unfashionable Essay on the Conversion of England (Family Publications), in which he makes the case that in England, that principle is the Roman Catholic Church.
QUESTION: You challenge the assumption that Protestantism is an essential mark of the character of England. In what ways was Catholicism central to the making of England, and what does the church offer today that can remake it?
AIDAN NICHOLS:Protestantism was central to the attempt to remake English identity under Elizabeth Tudor; to the reaction against the Catholicising tendencies of the Stuarts after the Restoration of the monarchy; and to the project of welding England and Scotland together as a united “Britain” over and against France, after the union of Parliaments at the beginning of the 18th century. But the almost 1,000 years of Catholic Christianity that preceded any of that are responsible for the origins of the English literary imagination, for the principles of the common law, for the concept of a covenanted people under God which permeates the induction of a sovereign, and for the range of virtues which have been commended—and sometimes practised—in English culture and society. What the faith of the Catholic Church can offer today is an intellectual, moral, and imaginative framework for the salvaging of these virtues, and their re-energising by sacramental grace.
QUESTION: Perhaps the most interesting part of your book is your explanation why the mixture of demographics within English Catholicism makes it uniquely poised to transform English culture. Could you elaborate?
AIDAN NICHOLS: The example of the conversion of Anglo-Saxon England shows the efficacy of a missionary scheme that combines representatives of the indigenous population with canny outsiders. To convert or re-convert a culture one needs both the long, instinctive familiarity of the native, along with the more detached and objective critical gaze of the newcomer. In contemporary English Catholicism, there is a “native” community consisting of the descendants of recusants, converts and the anglicised Irish, along with a potpourri of recent, or fairly recent, immigrants from many parts of the world. As a reservoir for mission, that recreates the successful Dark Age formula. Contrast the Church of England, for which it is difficult not to follow national trends wherever they may lead. Or contrast the Orthodox Church in England, which remains too bound to other ethnicities to have much inner feel for the English situation.
QUESTION: You argue that the Church needs to right its own ship before attempting to steer England on the proper course, and point to a general apathy among the faithful and clergy as the main problem. Which of your proposed reforms speaks most directly to this issue?
AIDAN NICHOLS: The single most urgent need is the re-launching of an adequate doctrinal catechesis at all levels. Putting anything else first is like trying to make bricks without straw.
QUESTION: It seems that Islam is forging a prominent place in English society—even gaining a few high-profile royal converts and calls for a separate, Sharia-based legal system. Does Christianity have a specific role in standing up to this trend in Britain?
AIDAN NICHOLS: England, or more widely the United Kingdom, has to decide among three possible responses to the growth of the Islamic community, not only in numbers, but also in self-confidence. The first is communitarianism, which allows each faith- community (or non-faith community) its own version of public space, and seems to be the road along which the present Archbishop of Canterbury would travel. But communitarianism means the (further) inner disintegration of the cultural system of the nation as a whole. The second is a secular liberalism that would privatise religious aspiration in order to leave the public square clear of all religious claims. But that means the increasing exhaustion of the moral capital of the historic patrimony of the culture, the shrinking of the metaphysical imagination in public life and a declaration that agnosticism is now the religion of the State. The third is a recovery of the Judeo-Christian tradition as what is most foundationally form- giving of English society and culture, while allowing that, on grounds of conscience, there are individuals and groups who cannot make that tradition fully their own. For obvious reasons, I think that is the way to go. [This must be music to the ears of Tony Blair? Ed—Mike Claydon].
(Source: Apostasy Alert—April 8, 2008. Editor: Mike Claydon—apostasyalert@hotkey.net.au)
Ed: The following two news items are taken from Apostasy Alert 8 April 2008 with the express written permission of Mike Claydon, a co-contender for the faith— apostasyalert@hotkey.net.au
NSW ECONOMY TO RECEIVE $230 MILLION WORLD YOUTH DAY BOOST —Catholic News, 8 April 2008
The New South Wales [Australia] economy will receive a $231 million boost from the hosting of World Youth Day, the Sydney Chamber of Commerce has calculated, but Sydneysiders are also being warned to stay away from the city centre during the event which has been likened to “APEC and the Olympics combined”. Sydney chamber executive director Patricia Forsythe said the event also meant many things, including an economic injection of $231 million to NSW, The Melbourne Age reports.
“Rather than the focus being on inconvenience, it should be on the positive benefits from hosting over 300,000 interstate and overseas visitors,” Ms Forsythe said in a statement. “The key message to take away from today’s announcement is to leave the car at home and jump on public transport if you are coming into the CBD.”
NSW Transport Minister John Watkins and Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione also urged CBD workers to take the week off work or use public transport to access the city. Mr Watkins said World Youth Day would create “a level of disruption that we probably haven’t seen in the city previously”, a report from The Australian newspaper added. He compared the event with six New Year’s Eves in a row and said the CBD would need a reduction in traffic of at least 30 percent to function smoothly.
“It’s clear that Sydney loves to host major events on the world stage,” Mr Watkins said. “This is the biggest event in the world this year outside the Beijing Olympics.
“Sydney simply has never seen anything like this previously. It’s like the Olympics and APEC combined.”
RICK WARREN’S SMALL GROUP CONFERENCE SPEAKER SAYS SMALL GROUPS LEAD TO “CHRIST CONSCIOUSNESS”—Lighthouse Trails Research Project, 7 April 2008
New Age sympathiser Leonard Sweet, who will be training church leaders and pastors at the 2008 Saddleback Small Groups Conference in April, is accepted by Rick Warren as a trustworthy source of Christian leadership. However, Sweet’s view of the value of small groups lines up more with the New Age and Alice Bailey than it does with biblical Christianity. In his book, Quantum Spirituality, Sweet states:
The power of small groups is in their ability to develop the discipline to get people “in- phase” with the Christ consciousness and connected with one another.
What Sweet means by “Christ consciousness” can be determined through his book, Quantum Spirituality. For instance, in the Acknowledgements pages Sweet thanks the “New Light leaders” whom he has followed in his spiritual journey.
He names interspiritualists/universalists such as Matthew Fox (author of The Coming of the Cosmic Christ), Episcopalian priest/ mystic Morton Kelsey, Willis Harman (author of Global Mind Change) and Ken Wilber (one of the major intellectuals in the New Age movement). In the Preface of Sweet’s book (p.3), he (referring to other New Agers such as Gary Zukav) says:
Unfortunately, little of this literature is known or celebrated in the religious community.
Zukav’s book, The Seat of the Soul, teaches people how to get in touch with their spirit guides.
Since the release of Quantum Spirituality in 1991, Sweet has never renounced the spirituality of the book, and in fact offers a free online edition from his current website. This means he still agrees with its contents.
(Source: Apostasy Alert, Editor: Mike Claydon, Sub Editor/Research: Warren Smith— apostasyalert@hotkey.net.au )
To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them (Isaiah 8:20).
