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The Priest, The Woman And The Confessional - Chapter 1 - Charles Chiniquy

The Jesuit Order and The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. : Beware of the First Beast, the Papacy

 

Charles Chiniquy

Charles Paschal Telesphore Chiniquy (30 July 1809 – 16 January 1899) was a Canadian socio-political activist and former Catholic priest who left the Catholic Church and converted to Protestant Christianity, becoming a Presbyterian Evangelical minister.[1] He rode the lecture circuit in the United States denouncing the Catholic Church.[1][2][3] His themes were that Catholicism was Pagan, that Catholics worshipped the Virgin Mary, and that its theology was anti-Christian.[4]

Photograph of Charles Chiniquy

Chiniquy founded the St. Anne Colony, a village located in Kankakee County, Illinois in 1851.[5] Fifty Years in the Church of Rome, an extensive autobiographical account of his life and thoughts as a priest in the Catholic Church, was written by Chiniquy and published in 1886.[4] He warned of plots by the Vatican to take control of the United States by importing Catholic immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and France, and suggested that the Vatican was behind the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.[6]

Biography

Chiniquy was born in 1809 to a French-Canadian family in the village of Kamouraska, Quebec. He lost his father at an early age and was adopted by his uncle. As a young man, Chiniquy studied to become a Catholic priest at the Petit Seminaire (Little Seminary) in Nicolet, Quebec. He was ordained in 1833; after his ordination, he served his church in Quebec.[1] During the 1840s, he led a campaign throughout Quebec against the consumption of alcohol and drunkenness.[1]

Later he immigrated to Illinois in the United States.[1] In 1855, Chiniquy was sued by a prominent Catholic layman named Peter Spink in Kankakee, Illinois. After the fall court term, Spink applied for a change of venue to the court in Urbana, Illinois. Chiniquy hired the then-lawyer Abraham Lincoln, the future 16th President of the United States, to defend him. The spring court action in Urbana was the highest profile libel suit in Lincoln's career.[7] The case was ended in the fall court session by agreement.[8]

Chiniquy clashed with the Bishop of Chicago, Anthony O'Regan, over the bishop's treatment of Catholics in the city, particularly French Canadians. He declared that O'Regan was secretly backing Spink's suit against him. Chiniquy said that in 1856, O'Regan had threatened him with excommunication if he did not go to a new location where the bishop wanted to assign him. Several months later, The New York Times published a pastoral letter from O'Regan in which he stated that he had suspended Chiniquy. Since Chiniquy had continued his normal duties as a priest, the bishop excommunicated him by his letter; he vigorously disputed that he had been excommunicated, saying publicly that the bishop was mistaken. Chiniquy left the Catholic Church in 1858,[7] and subsequently converted to Protestant Christianity, becoming a Presbyterian Evangelical minister in 1860.[1]

He asserted that Catholicism was Pagan, that Catholics worshipped the Virgin Mary, and that its theology was anti-Christian.[9] He warned of plots by the Vatican to take control of the United States by importing Catholic immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and France. This was at a time of high immigration rates from those countries, in response to social and political upheaval (the Great Famine in Ireland and revolutions in Germany and France). Chiniquy claimed that he was falsely accused by his superiors (and that Abraham Lincoln had come to his rescue), that the American Civil War was a plot against the United States of America by the Vatican, and that the Vatican was behind the Confederate cause, and the assassination of U.S. President Lincoln, and that Lincoln's assassins were faithful Catholics ultimately serving Pope Pius IX.

After leaving the Catholic Church, Chiniquy dedicated his life to preach and evangelize among his fellow French Canadians, as well as other people in Canada and the United States, in order to convert them from Catholicism to Protestant Christianity. He wrote a number of books and tracts expressing his criticism and views on the alleged errors in the faith and practices of the Catholic Church.[4] His two most influential literary works are the autobiography Fifty Years in The Church of Rome[10] and the polemical treatise The Priest, The Woman, and The Confessional.[11] These books raised concerns in the United States about the influence of the Catholic Church.[4] According to one Canadian biographer, Chiniquy is Canada's best-selling author of all time.[12] He joined the Orange Order and said of it: "I always found them staunch and true. I consider it a great honour to be an Orangeman. Every time I go on my knees I pray that God may bless them and make them as numerous and bright as the stars of the heaven above."[13] When Chiniquy visited Hobart in 1879, a riot occurred when hundreds of Catholic opponents forced their way into the lecture hall. The meeting was abandoned and more than five hundred law enforcement personnel were employed for the next meeting, with thousands of protestors outside the building.[14]

Chiniquy died in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on January 16, 1899.

To this day, some of Chiniquy's works are still promoted among Protestant Christians and Sola scriptura believers. One of his most well-known modern day followers was the American Fundamentalist cartoonist and comic book writer Jack Chick, notable for being the creator of the "Chick tracts";[15] he also published a comic-form adaptation of Chiniquy's autobiography Fifty Years in The Church of Rome, titled "The Big Betrayal".[16] Chick strongly relied on Chiniquy's claims and books for writing his own anti-Catholic tracts.

Source

Fifty Years in the Church of Rome

Monday, 26 November 2012


FULL PDF BOOK DOWNLOAD CLICK THE TITLE FIFTY YEARS IN THE CHURCH OF ROME

by Charles Chiniquy

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BY
CHARLES CHINIQUY 

CHAPTER 61

Every time I met President Lincoln I wondered how such elevation of thought and such childish
simplicity could be found in the same man. After my interviews with him many times, I said to myself:
"How can this rail-splitter have so easily raised himself to the highest range of human thought and
philosophy?"

The secret of this was, that Lincoln had spent a great part of his life at the school of Christ, and that he
meditated his sublime teachings to an extent unsuspected by the world. I found in him the most perfect
type of Christianity I ever met. Professedly, he was neither a strict Presbyterian, nor a Baptist, nor a
Methodist; but he was the embodiment of all which is more perfect and Christian in them. His religion
was the very essence of what God wants in man. It was from Christ Himself he had learned to love God
and his neighbour, as it was from Christ he had learned the dignity and the value of man. "Ye are all
brethren, the children of God," was his great motto.

It was from the Gospel that he had learned his principles of equality, fraternity, and liberty, as it was
from the Gospel he had learned that sublime, childish simplicity which, alone, and for ever, won the
admiration and affection of all those who approached him. I could cite many facts to illustrate this, but I
will give only one, not to be too long: it was taken from the Memoirs of Mr. Bateman, Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of Illinois.

"Mr. Lincoln paused: for long minutes, his features surcharged with emotion. Then he rose and walked
up and down the reception room, in the effort to retain or regain his self-possession. Stopping at last, he
said, with a trembling voice and his cheeks wet with tears: I know there is a God, and that He hates
injustice and slavery. I see the storm coming and I know that His hand is in it. If He has a place and
work for me, and I think He has, I believe I am ready! I am nothing, but truth is everything! I know I am right, because I know that liberty is right: for Christ teaches it, and Christ is God. I have told them that a house divided against itself cannot stand, and Christ and reason say the same thing, and they will find it so. Douglas does not care whether slavery is voted up or down. But God cares, and humanity cares, and I care. And with God's help, I will not fail. I may not see the end, but it will come, and I shall be vindicated; and those men will see that they have not read their Bible right! Does it not appear strange that men can ignore the moral aspect of this contest? A revelation could not make it plainer to me that slavery, or the Government, must be destroyed. The future would be something awful, as I look at it, but for this ROCK on which I stand (alluding to the Gospel book he still held in his hand). It seems as if God had borne with slavery until the very teachers of religion had come to defend it from the Bible, and to claim for it a Divine character and sanction. And now the cup of iniquity is full, and the vials of wrath will be poured out.'"

Mr. Bateman adds: "After this, the conversation was continued for a long time. Everything he said was
of a very deep, tender, and religious tone, and all was tinged with a touching melancholy. He repeatedly
referred to his conviction 'that the day of wrath was at hand,' and that he was to be an actor in the
struggle which would end in the overthrow of slavery, though he might not live to see the end. After
further reference to a belief in Divine Providence, and the fact of God, in history, the conversation
turned upon prayer. He freely stated his belief in the duty, privilege, and efficacy of prayer; and he
intimated, in no unmistakable terms, that he had sought, in that way, the divine guidance and favour."

The effect of this conversation upon the mind of Mr. Bateman, a Christian gentleman whom Mr. Lincoln profoundly respected, was to convince him that Mr. Lincoln had, in his quiet way, found a path to the Christian standpoint, that he had found God, and rested on the eternal truth of God. As the two men were about to separate, Mr. Bateman remarked: "I had not supposed that you were accustomed to think so much upon this class of subjects; certainly your friends generally are ignorant of the sentiments you have expressed to me."

He quickly replied: "I know they are, but I think more on these subjects than upon all others, and I have
done so for years; and I am willing you should know it."*

More than once I felt as if I were in the presence of an old prophet, when listening to his views about the future destinies of the United States. In one of my last interviews with him, I was filled with an
admiration which it would be difficult to express, when I heard the following views and predictions:

Rome: Implacable Enemy of the United States - Fifty Years In the Church of Rome (Chap. 59)

Abraham Lincoln : "I see a very dark cloud on our horizon"...

“It is with the Southern leaders of this civil war as with the big and small wheels of our railroad cars. Those who ignore the laws of mechanics are apt to think that the large, strong, and noisy wheels they see are the motive power, but they are mistaken. The real motive power is not seen; it is noiseless and well concealed in the dark, behind its iron walls. The motive power are the few well-concealed pails of water heated into steam, which is itself directed by the noiseless, small but unerring engineer’s finger.

“The common people see and hear the big, noisy wheels of the Southern Confederacy’s cars; they call they Jeff Davis, Lee, Toombs, Beauregard, Semmes, ect., and they honestly think that they are the motive power, the first cause of our troubles. But this is a mistake. The true motive power is secreted behind the thick walls of the Vatican, the colleges and schools of the Jesuits, the convents of the nuns, and the confessional boxes of Rome.

“There is a fact which is too much ignored by the American people, and with which I am acquainted only since I became President; it is that the best, the leading families of the South have received their education in great part, if not in whole, from the Jesuits and the nuns. Hence those degrading principles of slavery, pride, cruelty, which are as a second nature among so many of those people. Hence that strange want of fair play, humanity; that implacable hatred against the ideas of equality and liberty as we find them in the Gospel of Christ. You do not ignore that the first settlers of Louisiana, Florida, New Mexico, Texas, South California and Missouri were Roman Catholics, and that their first teachers were Jesuits. It is true that those states have been conquered or bought by us since. But Rome had put the deadly virus of her antisocial and anti-Christian maxims into the veins of the people before they became American citizens. Unfortunately, the Jesuits and the nuns have in great part remained the teachers of those people since. They have continued in a silent, but most efficacious way, to spread their hatred against our institutions, our laws, our schools, our rights and our liberties in such a way that this terrible conflict became unavoidable between the North and the South. As I told you before, it is to Popery that we owe this terrible civil war.

“I would have laughed at the man who would have told me that before I became the President. But Professor Morse has opened my eyes on that subject. And now I see that mystery; I understand that engineering of hell which, though not seen or even suspected by the country, is putting in motion the large, heavy, and noisy wheels of the state cars of the Southern Confederacy. Our people is not yet ready to learn and believe those things, and perhaps it is not the proper time to initiate them to those dark mysteries of hell; it would throw oil on a fire which is already sufficiently destructive.

“You are almost the only one with whom I speak freely on that subject. But sooner or later the nation will know the real origin of those rivers of blood and tears, which are spreading desolation and death everywhere. And then those who have caused those desolations and disasters will be called to give an account of them.

“I do not pretend to be a prophet. But though not a prophet, I see a very dark cloud on our horizon. And that dark cloud is coming from Rome. It is filled with tears of blood. It will rise and increase till its flanks will be torn by a flash of lightning, followed by a fearful peal of thunder. Then a cyclone, such as the world has never seen, will pass over this country, spreading ruin and desolation from north to south. After it is over, there will be long days of peace and prosperity: for Popery, with its Jesuits and merciless Inquisition, will have been for ever swept away from our country. Neither I nor you, but our children, will see those things.”

Find Full Text here: http://books.google.com/books?id=AhU3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA714&lpg=PA714&dq=%22The+true+motive+power+is+secreted+behind+the+thick+walls+of+the+Vatican,+the+colleges+and+schools+of+the+Jesuits,+the+convents+of+the+nuns,+and+the+confessional+boxes+of+Rome%22&source=bl&ots=I_d6fqidD1&sig=ZNpFTL7v2RmLhU3qa3_QHXuvQqw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=70c6UNHVLuiq0AHg-oC4BQ&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=snippet&q=%22It%20is%20with%20the%20southern%20leaders%20of%20this%20civil%20war&f=false(p. 713)

Source

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Blueprint For Catholic America

Chapter Eleven: Blueprint For Catholic America

I questioned Dr. Rivera about the briefings he received in the Vatican when he was a Jesuit priest. I asked him if he was briefed on how the Vatican planned to take over the United States. He told me his indoctrination went back to the time of the Pilgrims. Because of the knowledge of the Inquisition and the slaughter of Christians by the Roman Catholic system, the early immigrants in America began passing laws to keep Jesuits out of this country and to outlaw the mass...to protect themselves from a Vatican take-over. These were Christian communities deeply concerned about the whore of Revelation.

Jesuits began arriving in America as early as the second group of Pilgrims. They used different names with I.D.'s. They were followed years later when the Vatican sent multitudes of Catholic families from England, Ireland and France posing as Protestants, into the colonies. These were plants. They were holding secret masses in defiance of the laws. In those days, no Roman Catholic was to hold any position in civil government. The Jesuits made sure this part of our history was erased and removed.

The next major move by the Jesuits was to destroy or control all the Christian schools across America. Throughout the years, Jesuits, working undercover, have gotten into special committees on school boards to remove the emphasis of the Bible and replace it with psychology as found in the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius de Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Society. Later, Catholic schools and universities sprang up all across the nation under the Jesuits. Today, they probably outnumber all the Christian schools and colleges put together.

The third stage was to move into the courts and legislation, and branches of the judiciary to take over as judges and lawyers, in order to manipulate the Constitution in their favor until it could be changed. Once this was accomplished, the thrust was into politics to capture the political parties. Then the military and the newspapers. Even back in the times of Lincoln over half the newspapers in the United States were controlled by the Vatican.

Dr. Alberto Rivera (ex-Jesuit priest)

I asked Dr. Rivera: What about the military picture today? How Catholic is our military position?

Dr. Rivera said: Horrifying.

I then asked about the political picture.

Dr. Rivera said: It is even worse.

Then I said: What about the Catholic structure in the judiciary?

Dr. Rivera shook his head and said: It is very painful because of the heavy Jesuit penetration in this area. Most of the judicial decisions are distorting and perverting the Constitution of the United States to take away our freedoms, preparing the way for anarchy for the final take-over of the United States.

Then I said: Is this preparing the way for the coming inquisition?

And Dr. Rivera said: That's correct. First for anarchy. We were briefed that after all these years of penetration and infiltration, what was needed was riots and anarchy in order to finally take over. By the time the Roman Catholic Institution is ready to take over politically, militarily, educationally, and religiously, that means they will have some legal basis to do so and this will be through the concordat which has already been prepared and that is being already negotiated. I see happening right now what I was told during those briefings back in the Vatican.

Then I said to him: Is the Vatican behind our present recession and economic situation, and is this leading us towards the coming riots?

Dr. Rivera said: Yes, that's correct, You can see right now that the Vatican is playing certain tricks with the economy. The world is going through an economic crisis and the Vatican would have us to believe that it is affecting them also. This is just a cover-up.

And then I said: What about the possibility of strikes? And how deeply are they involved in the unions?

Dr. Rivera replied: The Roman Catholic Institution has prepared that well, because the unions are led by the Jesuits in this country. What this means is the unions will never rest until they see that every industry in this country collapses.

Then I said: What do you see as a hope for the United States? A revival among the Christians and they actually start exposing Rome and pastors start preaching this from the pulpits, or is it already too late?

Dr Rivera replied: It's never too late because it's in the hands of the Lord. What I believe with all my heart through the study of the scriptures plus my personal experience with the harlot is that, prophetically speaking, God is going to fulfill His prophecy, and He will allow these prophecies to take place in the United States. But it is a matter of time. What we are dealing with here is that God can either shorten or lengthen the time until these events take place. The Roman Catholic Institution is feeling the impact of your publications, and the message that God has given us during these last days in the sense that they themselves know that if they carry out certain actions, people will immediately detect and will recognize what the Vatican is up to.

This is one of the dilemmas they face right now. If it were not for the publications we printed, we would be in a different situation today. What that means is the Lord has granted every Christian, pastor and church in the United States, without them even being aware of it, and even those who are opposing us, they are being preserved and the Lord is giving us more time in order that the Christians may respond.

If we act according to the will of God in these prophetical days against the tricks, programs and actions of the harlot in the United States, we will not be able to destroy her. We will not be able to stop her. But we will be able to do two things: First, to carry the message of the gospel to the lost Roman Catholic people. Second, we will have time enough for the Christian church to realize that her mission is here and now - not tomorrow. And God is just waiting for the church to act in order to restrain the forces of evil, the powers of darkness, the pope, the Jesuits and the Catholic institution from committing the crimes she is about to put into action the minute she completely takes over the United States.

Then I said: Now this is the information you received in the Vatican under the teachings of Augustin Cardinal Bea and the Jesuit General Pedro Arrupe?

And Dr. Rivera said: Yes, and also from the previous Jesuit General.

This excerpt from the tract MACHO (no longer in print) shows how communism ties in with the Vatican plan to take over the U.S.

U.S. News & World Report, Nov. 8, Page 15

Ronald Reagan's defense policy came under assault in late October from opposite directions: The threat of an intensified arms race by Russia's Leonid Brezhnev and a tilt toward antinuclear pacifism by the hierarchy of America's Roman Catholic Church.
Two days after a panel of U.S. Catholic bishops questioned the morality of nuclear weapons, Brezhnev said the Soviet Union must expand its arsenal even more. The U.S., he claimed, is threatening to "push the world into the flames of nuclear war."
One White House official speculated that Brezhnev wanted to do more than assure his generals that Moscow will keep pace in the arms race. The aide said the Soviet chief also hoped to fuel the drive in the U.S. for a freeze on nuclear weapons.
Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger drew a direct link between American advocates of a freeze and Brezhnev's Kremlin speech. Stressing the Soviet leader's call for a stronger capability to wage war, Weinberger declared: "This would underline more than anything we could say the reasons for not entering into a freeze."
Weinberger and other officials tried to make a case for nuclear weapons with Catholic bishops wrestling with theological aspects of the arms race. The appeals had little impact on the bishops' five-man Committee on War and Peace, which on October 25 proposed a statement branding elements of U.S. nuclear strategy immoral. Examples-
First use. The U.S. has argued that nuclear weapons may be needed to halt a conventional attack. Said the bishops: "We find the moral responsibility of beginning nuclear war not justified by rational political objectives."
Civilian targets. America for years has targeted Soviet cities in the event of nuclear war - a policy the bishops said is wrong even if U.S. cities are hit first. Argued the clerics: "No Christian can rightfully carry out orders or policies deliberately aimed at killing noncombatants."
The committee, headed by Chicago's Archbishop Joseph L. Bernardin, said its position was rooted in Genesis. "The destructive potential of the nuclear powers threatens the sovereignty of God over the world He has brought into being," the bishops declared. "We could destroy His work." Whether the document becomes church policy is up to the nearly 300 members of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, which will debate it in mid-November and vote on it next spring. Reagan's aides are expected to keep reminding the bishops that a pacifist stance would weaken America's deterrent forces and undermine arms-control talks with Russia.
More in line with the administration's views was a letter sent months ago by New York's Cardinal Terence Cooke to Catholic chaplains in the military. For 15 centuries, he wrote, the church has taught that Catholics have "the right and the duty to protect its people against unjust aggression."

Then I said: Were they very confident of taking over the United States?

And Dr. Rivera said: Very much so, very confident. They have the necessary influence to control either political party, regardless of whichever party is in power, and they will have their goals accomplished.

Then I said: So they now have the influence to control both political parties?

And Dr. Rivera said: Yes.

Then I said: They control our post office? And the media?

And Dr. Rivera said: Let's put it this way. The word control, I don't think is the proper word right now. I will say this. There is a very strong influence. There is a certain amount of control, but it is not absolute control in any of the areas. This is why we are still blessed by the fact that there are still men in the FBI, there are men in the CIA, men in the Congress, men in the Senate, men in the judicial system, men in every strata of life in the United States that still, many not even being Christians, are still Americans, that are still loyal to the principles of the Constitution as given from the beginning, not as it is now.

And then I said: Okay, who are the Knights of Columbus loyal to? Where does their loyalty stand? With the United States, or with the Vatican?

Dr. Rivera said: The Knights of Columbus have to give their loyalty to the pope. They cannot base it on the constitution of the United States because they would be destroyed by the Vatican if they did so, as others have been destroyed in the past.

Then I said: Will the Knights of Columbus play a vital part in the attack against the Christians when the U.S. falls?

Dr. Rivera said: Oh, yes. In fact, in their oath, you can see how close their alliance is to the pope. They committed themselves to be killed or destroyed if they fail to comply with their oath. They ask the militia of the pope, the Jesuits, to put them to death. They are committed to make America Catholic.





Columbian Squires (the Knights of Columbus branch for high school boys) in New Haven initiate members. Seated youths already belong. Robed officers explain the importance of their Catholic heritage to the new candidates (in white shirts).
Life Magazine, May 27, 1957


Then I said: Thank God we've had the privilege of printing these books.

And Dr. Rivera said: Yes, the privilege and the blessing of the Lord.

And then I thanked Him.


Life Magazine, May 27, 1957

Let me read something to you: "Life" magazine reviewed one phase of Roman Catholic power in America. The leading story of the May 27th, 1957 edition was devoted to the 75th year of the Knights of Columbus. The pictures, many in full color, depicted the kind of pomp and circumstance which goes into Roman strategy. The legions of Rome are awesome. More than one million practicing Catholics make up the ranks of the Knights of Columbus. They are fraternally pledged to the ideal of bringing America under papal rule. They are powerful, wealthy, loyal. Little wonder that the Pope affectionately describes the Knights as "the right lay arm of the Catholic Church in America."

I believe, if we had kept silent, in 5 years it would have been over. The plans for the take-over would have been in full operation. No one would have been able to withstand it. But because we did go ahead with ALBERTO, I believe we knocked back their time-table at least 5 years. And our hope and prayer here is that with the material we're publishing we'll be able to wreck their time-table for at least a generation, that our children can survive before they unleash their holocaust against us.

I can almost hear some of the comments now: "Hey, Chick, that's speculation. You have only Dr. Rivera's word on that. What proof do you have the Vatican wants to destroy or take over the United States?"

Well, most of you have never read the great Christian classic, 50 YEARS IN THE 'CHURCH' OF ROME by Charles Chiniquy. It was out of print, but we reprinted it at Chick Publications, and believe me, the Jesuits hate this book. I would like to quote the words of Abraham Lincoln regarding the Civil War as found in 50 YEARS IN THE 'CHURCH' OF ROME: "This war would never have been possible without the sinister influence of the Jesuits. We owe it to popery that we now see our land reddened with the blood of her noblest sons. Though there were great differences of opinion between the South and the North on the question of slavery, neither Jeff Davis nor anyone of the leading men of the Confederacy would have dared to attack the North, had they not relied on the promises of the Jesuits, that, under the mask of Democracy, the money and the arms of the Roman Catholic, even the arms of France were at their disposal, if they would attack us. I pity the priests, the bishops and monks of Rome in the United States, when the people realize that they are, in great part, responsible for the tears and the blood shed in this war. I conceal what I know, on that subject, from the knowledge of the nation; for if the people knew the whole truth, this war would turn into a religious war, and it would at once, take a tenfold more savage and bloody character. It would become merciless as all religious wars are. It would become a war of extermination on both sides. The Protestants of both the North and the South would surely unite to exterminate the priests and the Jesuits, if they could hear what Professor Morse has said to me of the plots made in the very city of Rome to destroy this Republic, and if they could learn how the priests, the nuns, and the monks, which daily land on our shores, under the pretext of preaching their religion, instructing the people in their schools, taking care of the sick in the hospitals, are nothing else but the emissaries of the Pope, of Napoleon, and the other despots of Europe, to undermine our institutions, alienate the hearts of our people from our constitution, and our laws, destroy our schools, and prepare a reign of anarchy here as they have done in Ireland, in Mexico, in Spain, and wherever there are any people who want to be free."

And then President Abraham Lincoln went on to say: "Is it not an absurdity to give to a man a thing which he is sworn to hate, curse, and destroy? And does not the Church of Rome hate, curse and destroy liberty of conscience whenever she can do it safely? I am for liberty of conscience in its noblest, broadest, highest sense. But I cannot give liberty of conscience to the Pope and to his followers, the Papists, so long as they tell me, through all their councils, theologians, and canon laws, that their conscience orders them to bum my wife, strangle my children, and cut my throat when they find their opportunity! This does not seem to be understood by the people today. But sooner or later, the light of common sense will make it clear to every one that no liberty of conscience can be granted to men who are sworn to obey a Pope, who pretends to have the right to put to death those who differ from him in religion."

That, beloved, was said back at the time of the Civil War, and it completely backs up the information Dr. Rivera has given us.

Did you hear that? Were you really listening? Did it sink in what President Abraham Lincoln said? Now think back to that interview I had with Dr. Rivera that I told you about. You've got to understand that when Dr. Rivera was a Jesuit priest under that awful oath and induction, he was in the deepest area of the Vatican's intelligence. He was in the cloak and dagger business for the whore of Revelation. Isn't it logical that the Vatican must disavow any knowledge of Dr. Rivera's existence? All intelligence agencies do this to their deep agents. It's common knowledge. What you heard on that interview is what Dr. Rivera received in his Vatican briefings given to him by the Jesuit General on how the Roman Catholic Institution plans to take over the United States.

Don't you see that Dr. Rivera is bringing forth the same information, and it completely backs up and coincides with what Abraham Lincoln said, to warn us? And people say that Chick Publications is coming off the wall! While we're sounding the alarm, Rome is pushing as hard as she can in the area of Civil Rights to block our religious freedom and to stop us from calling her the whore of Revelation. Already in Canada, they have banned two of our books, calling them pornography. They'll move heaven and earth to keep this material out of your hands, and to keep it from being broadcast. I thank God Dr. Rivera arrived on the scene when he did because in a few short years we would have all been muzzled.

Is what I'm saying sinking in? Beloved, now when you turn on the evening news, you'll see it in a different light because you're going to see the hand of Rome in world politics.

Let's wake up, beloved. We're not a bunch of little two-year olds anymore. Pastors need to wake up. You deacons and church members need to wake up because your kids are going to be destroyed in a few short years if you don't. I'm referring especially to those pastors who are pushing bubbly love to everyone, and who turn white and break into a cold sweat when anything controversial comes along. Do you think the priests of Rome respect you for that? Let me tell you, pastors, they hate the ground you walk on and hold you in nothing but contempt. They secretly look at you like scum under their feet. I was recently told that in 1949, an ex-Jesuit priest told a Rev. Eubanks in California, that when the Vatican takes control of the United States, every pastor and his family will be shot in the head.

You know, we sent a copy of THE GODFATHERS to 100 local pastors, and do you know how many had the courage, or the courtesy, to respond? Not one. You know the Bible says that judgment begins in the house of God. And unless we wake up, it's going to happen here.

If the pastors are men, then let's act like men of God and start thundering the Word of God from the pulpits. The thin line is in the pulpits holding back the forces of hell. Once that caves in, it will be underground churches for America. And then they're going to hunt us down like rats, And they'll show us as much mercy as they did in Yugoslavia. Remember, the priest said it was not a sin to kill a child of 7. Only this time, there will be no United States to defend you. Where are you going to run? To Mexico? It's gone. Canada? It's almost gone. Ireland? Forget it. They're picking it off now. No place to go, beloved. Only to the Lord, and time is running out. We are on a razor's edge. It's time to get on our knees and stop this fooling around, and putting on the pious act.

If your pastor doesn't have the courage to stand against Rome, you need to make him aware of this information, and that it is his responsibility to make his people aware of it too. And if he won't, then you must make the stand.

You can now expect to see the supporters of the Vatican start blasting Chiniquy for daring to quote Abraham Lincoln in his book, 50 YEARS IN THE 'CHURCH' OF ROME. We're in a war, beloved, and I thank God the Lord has directed us to prepare the ammunition you'll need from Chick Publications to give you back-up and background, and you'll know how to face the lost Roman Catholics after you've gone into prayer. Because, if you don't turn into a soulwinning church, the whore is going to have you and your grandchildren for breakfast. Have you already forgotten the screams that filled the night air in Paris during the St. Bartholomew massacre? Have you forgotten the little pregnant mothers tied to the tree branches, begging for mercy in Ireland while the dogs were fighting underneath for their unborn children? And the bloody knives in the hands of those smirking fanatics driven on by their priests to butcher these Christian ladies? Have you forgotten these bloodbaths that were quoted in Foxe's Book of Martyrs? The Vatican wants you to forget it. Have you forgotten what took place in Yugoslavia ... Catholic priests impaling children on stakes as they screamed in agony in 1940? You better never forget it! And don't forget that it was at a time of peace, love and kindness just before each attack, just like today, beloved. And don't you forget one million Knights of Columbus in the United States have sworn to turn America into a papal state. God help us. You don't think it's coming here? You don't think history repeats itself? It's time to get sober and turn into spiritual soldiers, and start arming yourselves with the helmet of salvation and the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit, realizing the forces of darkness can be held back.




John Paul II, "Pilgrimage of Faith"

Pope John Paul II in Washington D.C.


We have a common enemy, beloved. It's time to get back to Christ, and start showing mercy and compassion to the precious Roman Catholic people who have been betrayed by their leaders. If we don't, their blood will be on our hands. We must make an effort to win them to Christ.


Just before going to press, word was received that the Canadian Protestant League had successfully challenged the Canadian govenment in court and the ban had been lifted.

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Conclusion

Does this mean our fight is with the Roman Catholic people who have been betrayed by their leaders? No. Our battle is with the whore of Revelation, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. God tells us to attack this system. And our job is to rip that mask off her face, and let those poor Roman Catholics see what they're really tied to - the bondage, the fact that they're all going into the lake of fire. They have to be set free. They have to find Christ as the answer. It's not Mary and the rest of the unscriptural garbage they throw on them. It's our job to try to win them to Christ.

Beloved, we're not out to please pastors, or churches, or denominations. We are out to please Christ. We've laid everything on the line. It's His war. It's His battle. He's blessed us. We're doubling the size of our facilities, in faith, because I know God is raising an army, and we're going to win these precious Roman Catholics. And that's what it's all about. WIN these people! Don't throw rocks at them! We're not Nazi's. We're not Ku Klux Klanners. We care about these people. But it's not the selfish, worldly love being taught so much today, that would rather watch them go to hell, than to risk offending them with the truth. We've put everything on the line to try to win them to Christ. And by God's grace, we will. Catholics are being saved all over this country. In fact, it's getting so big, that those in the Vatican are getting worried. Praise God, we now see the light in the tunnel. Catholics are being saved. We hear the rumblings across the country where people are opening their eyes and blinking and saying, "Goodnight, what Chick is saying is true." And they're beginning to read some of these books like THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE JESUITS, and 50 YEARS IN THE 'CHURCH' OF ROME. We're seeing priests and nuns coming to Christ and leaving the Roman system. We've seen the phonies come up, but we've seen the real ones coming out now. There's an upheaval coming, beloved, and it's going to gain momentum. It's time now we got on our knees to be broken before Christ and cry to the Lord that these Roman Catholics get saved, because it's the power of God that's going to move through us. The fields are white unto harvest, and now is the hour to pick up the gospel and go forward and win these precious souls to Christ.

God bless you, and thank you for taking the time to read this book.

P.S.

Remember back when the John Birch Societies were springing up all over the United States, with people screaming "This is it! The communists are coming!" 'They're taking us over. We've only got a few years left." Remember that? ... The excitement and the fervor of Christians rallying to fight this monster, even if it meant joining forces with the Roman Catholics, to stop it? Beloved, it was a great smokescreen to take the eyes of the Christians off the movements of the Vatican and her push for world control.

Lo, and behold! Here it comes again. Only the names have been changed. The newest movement has been called the "New Age Movement," and it's in full force. But who's behind it?

We know this is an abomination, and the Bible tells us that the mother of abominations is the whore of Revelation 17, the Roman Catholic institution. Rest assured, the Jesuits, the Illuminati, the Opus Dei, and Masons are guiding its activities, and the result will be another gigantic smokescreen which is already taking the eyes of the Christians off the Vatican while they secretly use this movement to accomplish their goals.

Bishop Fulton Sheen attacked communism in the past, and although it is a by-product, they will viciously attack it to accomplish their goals. Catholics will try to rally the Christians together to attack "The New Age Movement." The Christians are already steamed up on this, and the Jesuits are laughing their heads off.

Dear Jack,

I grew up in West Germany in a mostly catholic area and learned some of those things you said. I personally remember seeing the steel cages hanging from the steeples of the cathedral in Munster in which Ana-Baptists were starved to death until the birds ate their flesh, These cages could be seen 27 years ago. I don't know if they are still there. I personally believe that the half has not been told.
W. K., Linden, N.J.

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The Jesuit Connection to the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

by Kenneth M. Hoeck Nov.'99

As most Americans know, Abraham Lincoln was an American statesman and the 16th President of the United States (term 1861-1865). He was born in Hardin County, Kentucky and grew up in Indiana. In 1830 his family moved to Illinois, and in 1837, Abe began practicing law in Springfield. His upright moral character had earned him the nickname "Honest Abe." Abraham, an avid reader of the Scriptures who often cited Biblical passages, held no denominational alliances and developed a keen awareness of the dangers posed by the Catholic Church and its dreaded Jesuit Order.

Most Americans do not know about the Jesuit connection to the Lincoln assassination. People who were close to Lincoln, including Samuel Morse (inventor of the telegraph) and several American Ambassadors, knew of the Jesuit hatred toward him and warned him ever increasingly right up to the point of his murder. This article has been written to recover the truth of history which has been omitted and obscured from the public view by the American government, the Catholic influenced writers of history, and even publicly supressed by Lincoln himself, for reasons we will later see.

May all realize that a leopard does not change its spots...and this Romish predator just waits in the grasses for the prey to come unsuspectingly along. You may not see the danger now and when you finally do...it is too late. The modern Catholic Church and the Jesuit Order are outwardly very docile and seemingly benevolent. They have lured society into a deep sleep. As the writers of our history books and as teachers in our schools, they have all but erased the jaded, yea wicked, past which is a testimony to their true character. It is our hope that this publication will wake some from their learned ignorance of the truth.

Much of the quoted testimony against the Jesuit order that we will present here is from Charles Chiniquy, a catholic priest, who befriended Lincoln and warned him of the Jesuit plot to take his life. We will quote heavily from Chiniquy's book entitled "Fifty Years in the Church of Rome" (available as a free download in text format by clicking here). Chiniquy gives us a reason why he wrote his book exposing the wicked deeds of the Catholic Church, a reason which should be even more pertinent to us today:

"Because modern Protestants have not only forgotten what Rome was, what she is, and what she will for ever be; the most irreconcilable and powerful enemy of the Gospel of Christ; but they consider her almost as a branch of the church whose corner stone is Christ."~ Chas. Chiniquy- Fifty Years in the Church of Rome.


Read more

Abraham Lincoln on the Jesuits

On June 8th 1864, President Lincoln told Charles Chiniquy his views on the Jesuits & their involvement in the Civil War: (As Recorded in Father Charles Chiniquy who was a Roman Catholic priest for 25yrs. in his book, "FIFTY YEARS IN THE CHURCH OF ROME." 1886 edition p.699-700)

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Babylon the Great (Part 2)

Babylon the Great (Part 2)Or, The Coming Destruction of the One World Religion


The Reformation and the Church of Rome

"And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH"
(Revelation 17:5).


by Tom Stewart

Preface

In the Apocalypse-- the Book of Revelation-- the Apostle John was directed to align Nimrod's Babylon with the finally destroyed Babylon of Daniel's 70th Week (Daniel 9:27), which indicates a clear line of succession for Babylon the Great. "And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (Revelation 17:5). It has always been, is, and will always be right for those who name "the Name of Christ [to] depart from iniquity" (2Timothy 2:19) by separating themselves from Babylon the Great.

"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the LORD, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you" (2Corinthians 6:17).

Pastor Charles Chiniquy (1809-1899)-- a former Roman Catholic priest, who for 25 years zealously promoted Catholicism in Canada and the United States of America-- offered us this clue to the identity of Babylon the Great in the Dedication of his book, "Fifty Years in the Church of Rome" (1886): "Rome is the great danger ahead for the Church of Christ, and you do not understand it enough... The atmosphere of light, honesty, truth, and holiness in which you are born, and which you have breathed since your infancy, makes it almost impossible for you to realize the dark mysteries of idolatry, immorality, degrading slavery, hatred of the Word of God, concealed behind the walls of that Modern Babylon [WStS emphasis added]... It is that ignorance which paves the way to the triumph of Rome, in a near future, if there is not a complete change in your views on that subject... It is that ignorance which paralyses the arm of the Church of Christ, and makes the glorious word "Protestant" senseless, almost a dead and ridiculous word. For who does really protest against Rome today? where are those who sound the trumpet of alarm?... modern Protestants have not only forgotten what Rome was, what she is, and what she will for ever be; the most irreconcilable and powerful enemy of the Gospel of Christ; but they consider her almost as a branch of the church whose corner stone is Christ." "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:3). "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure" (2Timothy 2:19). And, "I will build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18).


[Read in Chiniquy's substantial work, "Fifty Years in the Church of Rome" ---New Window, his firsthand insights into the workings of the Church of Rome, and see if indeed the "leopard [has changed] his spots" (Jeremiah 13:23).]


History of Babylon the Great: Baal Worship Confronts the Early Church

After the Jews returned from their Babylonian Captivity, Baal worship was not one of the sins with which their rebuffed Messiah would later condemn them. "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD" (Deuteronomy 6:4 and Mark 12:29). Instead, the LORD Jesus Christ cried out against the hypocrisy of a superficially righteous nation. "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation" (Matthew 23:14). But, with Israel's rejection of the Messiaship of the LORD Jesus, the attention of the Church was turned to the conversion of the Gentiles. The Apostle Paul stated well the sentiment. "27 For the heart of this people [Israel] is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it" (Acts 28:27-28).

However, the First Century Church was already dwelling in the midst of a superstitious and idolatrous environment, which also traced much of their religious practices back to Babylon. For example, the Church at Pergamos in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) had a conflict with some adhering to the "doctrine of Balaam" (Revelation 2:14)-- remembering that Balaam introduced Baal worship to Israel. [See the "History of Babylon the Great: Baal Worship Plagues the People of God" ---New Window section of our article, "Babylon the Great (Part 1)" ---New Window, to see Balaam's connection to Israel's Baal worship.] "I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast My Name, and hast not denied My faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth" (2:13).

The Church was never intended by its Head, the LORD Jesus Christ, to coexist with the world's religions as simply part of the scenery of a pagan Mars Hill. Jesus affirmed, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me" (John 14:6). The Great Commission is to convert the world to the Gospel of Jesus Christ by moral persuasion through the influence of the Holy Spirit. "19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen" (Matthew 28:19-20).

Either the Church would convert the world, or the world would convert the Church. "He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad" (Matthew 12:30). It was obvious that the LORD Jesus Christ was intended from antiquity to be the Victor. "7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8 Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the Earth for Thy possession" (Psalm 2:7-8). If the Church would not rely upon the saving and sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, then the battle must necessarily be decided in favor of the enemy, which would still be, Babylon the Great. "12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12-13).

James A. Wylie's "History of Protestantism" (1878) observed how the Church began to neglect the "Light unto [their] path" (Psalm 119:105) and slip into the corruption of Babylon the Great. "From the fourth century the corruptions of the Christian Church continued to make marked and rapid progress. The Bible began to be hidden from the people. And in proportion as the light, which is the surest guarantee of liberty, was withdrawn, the clergy usurped authority over the members of the Church" (Volume 1, Book 1, Chapter 2, p. 16). The Apostle John recorded in the Revelation that the Church at Pergamos, which was infected by the pro-Baal worship policies of Balaam, had those who were also tolerating the "doctrine of the Nicolaitans" (Revelation 2:15). "Nicolaitans" comes from two Greek words, nikao (to conquer) and laos (the people), which denote "conquering the people", i.e., through a system of priestcraft, which elevated the "clergy" above the "laity".

The human builders of the Living Body of the Church, which is the "flock of God" (1Peter 5:2), were inevitably tempted into the old, pagan ways of Babylon the Great. "While the, 'living oracles' [Scripture] were neglected, the zeal of the clergy began to spend itself upon rites and ceremonies borrowed from the pagans. These were multiplied to such a degree, that [even] Augustine complained that they were 'less tolerable than the yoke of the Jews under the law.'" (Wylie, "History of Protestantism", Volume 1, Book 1, Chapter 2, p. 18). Though the "cords of the wicked" (Psalm 129:4), i.e., pagan rites and ceremonies, may be inviting; like "whoredom and wine" (Hosea 4:11), "whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise" (Proverbs 20:1).

As the Roman Empire declined, the power of the Bishop of Rome increased. "The [Roman] emperor saluted him as Father; foreign Churches sustained him as judge in their disputes... till at last the presbyter of Rome... raised his seat above his equals, mounted the throne of the patriarch, and exercised lordship over the heritage of Christ" (Wylie, "History of Protestantism"Volume 1, Book 1, Chapter 2, p. 18). "2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; 3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away" (1Peter 5:2-4).



History of Babylon the Great: John Wycliffe Prepares the Reformation

John Wycliffe (1324-1384) was called by James A. Wylie, the "Forerunner of all the Reformers, and the Father of all the Reformations of Christendom" ("History of Protestantism", Volume 1, Book 2, Chapter 15, p. 206). "A Good Name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold" (Proverbs 22:1). Those who are familiar with the name of Wycliffe, associate him with the translation of the Scriptures into the English tongue. "O Earth, Earth, Earth, hear the Word of the LORD" (Jeremiah 22:29). In a time in which the Church of Rome, dictated dogma and interpretation of the Word of God, the common man had no access to the Scriptures but what the priests of Rome allowed. "Now for a long season Israel hath been without the True God, and without a teaching priest, and without Law" (2Chronicles 15:3).

Though Wycliffe's name is associated with the return to the Scriptures that characterized the Reformation, John Wycliffe's initial renown was as a skilled debater and a philosopher of scholasticism-- the medieval method of thought that applied pagan Aristotelian ideas to the Church of Rome's doctrine. "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth" (2Timothy 3:7). In 1348, God providentially reorganized the affairs of Europe, England, and Wycliffe through the onslaught of the Black Death-- the bubonic plague that arose out of Asia, swept over Europe, killing as much as half the population by 1350. "I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the LORD" (Amos 4:10). "Bradwardine [mathematician and astronomer, who had embraced the study of the Word of God, and Its doctrines of free grace] had already brought him [Wycliffe] to the Bible, the plague brought him to it a second time; and now, doubtless, he searched its page more earnestly than ever. He came to it, not as the theologian, seeking in it a deeper wisdom than any mystery which the scholastic philosophy could open to him; nor as the scholar, to refine his taste by its pure models, and enrich his understanding by the sublimity of its doctrines; nor even as the polemic, in search of weapons wherewith, to assail the dominant superstitions; he now came to the Bible as a lost sinner, seeking how he might be saved. Nearer every day came the messenger of the Almighty. The shadow that messenger cast before him was hourly deepening; and we can hear the young student, who doubtless in that hour felt the barrenness and insufficiency of the philosophy of the schools, lifting up with increasing vehemency the cry, 'Who shall deliver me from the wrath to come?'" (Wylie, "History of Protestantism", Volume 1, Book 2, Chapter 1, p. 104).

In 1205, King John I of England became embroiled with the English representatives of the Church of Rome as to the filling of the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Consequently, both disputants appealed to the Roman pontiff, Innocent III, for resolution. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1Peter 5:8). Pope Innocent III immediately saw the precedent of a secular king appealing to the Papal See for permission to appoint to an ecclesiastical post, a post viewed second in power to only the throne of England. "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (Romans 6:16). The result was that Innocent contradicted all, appointed an entirely different man, and incurred King John's defiance. Innocent responded by interdicting John and thus, the whole of England. To a nation already wrapped in the superstition of Rome, this was unbearable. After 2 years, on May 15th 1213, King John of England promised unreserved submission of himself to the Papal See.

The English barons recognized that they were now pledged to be the vassals or slaves of the Pope, and they revolted. On June 15th 1215, they forced King John I to sign the Magna Carta-- which was the constitutional restriction of government, and a roadblock to Papal absolutism-- at Runnymede. "The Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will" (Daniel 4:25). Predictably, the Pope anathamatized the rebels and declared the Magna Carta to be null and void. This resistance to the Papacy was marked by a rise in the power and wealth of England. "When the wicked rise, men hide themselves: but when they perish, the righteous increase" (Proverbs 28:28).

More than 100 years after the signing of the Magna Carta, John Wycliffe found himself a teacher and mentor of many of those who walked in the tradition of the English barons who stood against the absolutism of King John I and Pope Innocent III at Runnymede. "A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men" (Proverbs 18:16). He was appointed a royal chaplain of King Edward III, and was singled out to reply to the claims of a monk, who defended the claims of Pope Urban V. The monk argued that "as vicar of Christ, the Pope is the feudal superior of monarchs, and the lord paramount of their kingdoms. Thence he deduced the following conclusions: — that all sovereigns owe him obedience and tribute; that vassalage was specially due from the English monarch in consequence of the surrender of the kingdom to the Pope by John" (Wylie, Volume 1, Book 2, Chapter 3, p. 120). Wycliffe responded: "A third and more of England is in the hands of the Pope. There cannot be two temporal sovereigns in one country; either Edward is king or Urban is king. We make our choice. We accept Edward of England and refuse Urban of Rome" (Wylie, Volume 1, Book 2, Chapter 3, p. 121). Though Wycliffe's response did not face the nation of England with the sovereign claim of the Almighty over England, i.e., "all souls are Mine" (Ezekiel 18:4), as opposed to the claims of the Papacy, it did give Wycliffe the platform to later promote the Reformation. And, the foundation of that Reformation was the giving of the Scriptures to the common man in his own language, i.e., the "Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2Timothy 3:15).

The closing chapters of John Wycliffe's life belong to the translation of the Scriptures into the English tongue. Wycliffe's "On the Truth and Meaning of Scripture" advocated "'the supreme authority of Scripture,' 'the right of private judgment,' and that 'Christ's law sufficeth by itself to rule Christ's Church.' This was to discrown the Pope, and to raze the foundations of his kingdom. Here he drops the first hint of his purpose to translate the Bible into the English vernacular — a work which was to be the crown of his labours" (Wylie, Volume 1, Book 2, Chapter 10, p. 174). Today, as the availability of the Scriptures is so common to so much of the world-- and Its value discounted accordingly-- we find it difficult to envision a world without access to the Bible. "Thy Words were found, and I did eat Them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart" (Jeremiah 15:16).

As a good Latin scholar, John Wycliffe set about translating into common English Jerome's Latin Vulgate (c. 400 AD). In four years time, Wycliffe completed his work (1382); but, Johann Gutenberg's printing of the first book-- the Gutenberg Bible (1455)-- was yet to be for 73 years. Enlisting the help of many willing and skilled copyists, Wycliffe's English Bible obtained a wide circulation. "So shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: It shall not return unto Me void, but It shall accomplish that which I please, and It shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent It" (Isaiah 55:11). Though anathematized as a heretic-- to have broken into the sanctuary of God, stolen the sacred jewels, and given them to be trampled under the feet of swine-- Wycliffe lifted the Banner of Truth, which exalts Him Who Is The Truth (John 14:6); and thus, took away from Rome, its monopoly on the Word of God. This enabled the common man to be his own priest. "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him Who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous Light" (1Peter 2:9). Thus, John Wycliffe completed his earthly sojourn on December 31st 1384, "in a good old age, full of days" (1Chronicles 29:28). Only after his death was he condemned by the Council of Constance (1415), and his body was ordered exhumed and burned. But, "they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever" (Daniel 12:3).



History of Babylon the Great: The Conversion of Martin Luther

Though Martin Luther (1483-1546) came from the household of a simple working man; his father, John Luther-- a German miner by trade-- saw to it that Martin had the opportunity of education. With great diligence on the part of the young Luther, he eventually attained graduation from Erfurt University as a Doctor of Philosophy (1505). "A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps" (Proverbs 16:9). Since Luther had taken the opportunity to avail himself of the University's library, he came into his first contact with the Bible-- an all but inaccessible Book to the common man-- still, It is "able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2Timothy 3:15). His attraction and fascination for the Scriptures caused him to be convicted of his own sin. "He was returning to Erfurt, and was now near the city gate, when suddenly black clouds gathered overhead, and it began to thunder and lighten in an awful manner. A bolt fell at his feet. Some accounts say that he was thrown down. The Great Judge, he thought, had descended in this cloud, and he lay momentarily expecting death. In his terror he vowed that should God spare him he would devote his life to His service" (James A. Wylie, "History of Protestantism", Volume 1, Book 5, Chapter 2, p. 365). "The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD" (Proverbs 16:33).

Martin Luther described his life-- prior to his ordination into the priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church (1507)-- as an Augustinian monk (1505-1507), thus: "If ever [a] monk could obtain heaven by his monkish works, I should certainly have been entitled to it" (Wylie, Vol. 1, Book 5, Chapter 3, p. 371). "Therefore by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the Law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). James Wylie described Luther's monkish struggle to find peace with God: "He shrank from the sight of his own vileness... he trembled when he thought of the holiness of God. It was not the sweet promise of mercy, but the fiery threatening of the Law, on which he dwelt. 'Who may abide the day of His Coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth?' [Malachi 3:2]" (Wylie, Vol. 1, Book 5, Chapter 4, p. 374).

John Staupitz, the Vicar-General of the Augustines in Germany, was unique in that he was one who understood God's Simple Plan of Salvation; and providentially, God led him to counsel Luther concerning that "plain path" (Psalm 27:11) of salvation. "'I cannot and dare not come to God,' replied Luther, in effect, 'till I am a better man; I have not yet repented sufficiently.' 'A better man!' would the Vicar-General say in effect; 'Christ came to save not good men, but sinners. ['They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick' (Luke 5:31).] Love God, and you will have repented; there is no real repentance that does not begin in the love of God ['We love Him, because He first loved us' (1John 4:19)]; and there is no love to God that does not take its rise in all apprehension of that mercy which offers to sinners freedom from sin through the blood of Christ.' 'Faith in the mercies of God!' ['Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost' (Titus 3:5).]" (Wylie, Vol. 1, Book 5, Chapter 4, p. 375). Before Staupitz departed from Luther, he gave him the gift of a Bible. Staupitz said, "Let the study of the Scriptures be your favorite occupation" (Wylie, Vol. 1, Book 5, Chapter 4, p. 375). "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).

Wylie continues the account of how Martin Luther came to salvation in "full assurance of faith" (Hebrews 10:22). "Luther's faith was as yet but as a grain of mustard-seed. After Staupitz had taken leave of him he again turned his eye from the Savior to himself; the clouds of despondency and fear that instant gathered; and his old conflicts, though not with the same violence, were renewed. He fell ill, and in his sore sickness he lay at the gates of death. It pleased God on this bed, and by a very humble instrument, to complete the change which the Vicar-General had commenced. An aged brother-monk who, as Luther afterwards said, was doubtless a true Christian though he wore 'the cowl of damnation,' came to his bedside, and began to recite with much simplicity and earnestness the Apostle's Creed, 'I believe in the forgiveness of sins.' Luther repeated after him in feeble accents, 'I believe in the forgiveness of sins.' 'Nay,' said the monk, 'you are to believe not merely in the forgiveness of David's sins, and of Peter's sins; you must believe in the forgiveness of your own sins.'"

"['12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in Light: 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the Kingdom of His Dear Son: 14 In Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins' (Colossians 1:12-14).] The decisive Words had been spoken. A ray of Light had penetrated the darkness that encompassed Luther. He saw it all: the whole Gospel in a single phrase, the forgiveness of sins — not the payment, but the forgiveness" (Wylie, Vol. 1, Book 4, Chapter 5, p. 375-376). "Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger for ever, because He delighteth in mercy" (Micah 7:18). "In this cell at Erfurt died Martin Luther the monk, and in this cell was born Martin Luther the Christian, and the birth of Luther the Christian was the birth of the Reformation in Germany" (Wylie, Vol. 1, Book 4, Chapter 5, p. 376). The Kingdom of God that flowered from that Reformation in Germany "is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it" (Luke 13:19).



History of Babylon the Great: Luther vs. the Church of Rome

In 1517, a "Dominican monk, named John Diezel, or Tetzel, the son of a goldsmith of Leipsic" (Wylie, Volume 1, Book 5, Chapter 8, p. 400) declared: "Indulgences avail not only for the living but for the dead" (Wylie, Volume 1, Book 5, Chapter 8, p. 402). Pope Boniface VIII had enacted this doctrine two centuries before; but, Pope Leo X was now using it and Tetzel to restore the empty coffers of the Vatican. And, Tetzel went on to make particular application of the dogma of indulgences. "Priest, noble, merchant, wife, youth, maiden, do you not hear your parents and your other friends who are dead, and who cry from the bottom of the abyss: 'We are suffering horrible torments! A trifling alms would deliver us; you can give it, and you will not?'" (Wylie, Volume 1, Book 5, Chapter 8, p. 402). Tetzel then delivered these chilling words. "At the very instant that the money rattles at the bottom of the chest, the soul escapes from purgatory, and flies liberated to heaven. Now you can ransom so many souls, stiff-necked and thoughtless man; with twelve groats you can deliver your father from purgatory, and you are ungrateful enough not to save him! I shall be justified in the Day of Judgment; but you — you will be punished so much the more severely for having neglected so great salvation. I declare to you, though you have but a single coat, you ought to strip it off and sell it, in order to obtain this grace... The Lord our God no longer reigns, he has resigned all power to the Pope." (Wylie, Volume 1, Book 5, Chapter 8, p. 402). "And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not" (2Peter 2:3).

These indulgences were sold by Tetzel-- "whose damnation is just" (Romans 3:8)-- in the form of a letter: "May our Lord Jesus Christ have pity on thee, N. N., and absolve thee by the merits of his most holy passion. And I, by virtue of the apostolic power which has been confided to me, do absolve thee from all ecclesiastical censures, judgments, and penalties which thou mayest have merited, and from all excesses, sins, and crimes which thou mayest have committed, however great or enormous they may be, and for whatsoever cause, even though they had been reserved to our most Holy Father the Pope and the Apostolic See. I efface all attainders of unfitness and all marks of infamy thou mayest have drawn on thee on this occasion; I remit the punishment thou shouldest have had to endure in purgatory; I make thee anew a participator in the Sacraments of the Church; I incorporate thee afresh in the communion of the saints; and I reinstate thee in the innocence and purity in which thou wast at the hour of thy baptism; so that, at the hour of thy death, the gate through which is the entrance to the place of torments and punishments shall be closed against thee, and that which leads to the Paradise of joy shall be open. And shouldest thou be spared long, this grace shall remain immutable to the time of thy last end. In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen... Brother John Tetzel, Commissioner, has signed it with his own hand." (Wylie, Volume 1, Book 5, Chapter 8, pp. 403-404).

At that time, Luther was a university professor, preacher, and confessor; since, he still ignorantly held allegiance to the Church of Rome. "One day, as he sat in the confessional, some citizens of Wittemberg came before him, and confessed having committed thefts, adulteries, and other heinous sins. 'You must abandon your evil courses,' said Luther, 'otherwise I cannot absolve you.' To his surprise and grief, they replied that they had no thought of leaving off their sins; that this was not in the least necessary, inasmuch as these sins were already pardoned, and they themselves secured against the punishment of them. The deluded people would thereupon pull out the indulgence papers of Tetzel, and show them in testimony of their innocence. Luther could only tell them that these papers were worthless, that they must repent, and be forgiven of God, otherwise they should perish everlastingly" (Wylie, Volume 1, Book 5, Chapter 9, p. 408). "In Whom [Jesus Christ] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7). In effect, Luther differed more widely with the Church of Rome than he was aware of.

On October 31st 1517, the day before the Festival of All Saints, at noon Luther strode to the castle-church with the throngs of people, and nailed a document to the church's door-- the celebrated 95 Theses on the doctrine of indulgences. "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force" (Matthew 11:12). Luther was beginning to contend with the whole Papal system. Briefly,

Article 6 stated: "The Pope cannot remit any condemnation, but can only declare and confirm the remission that God himself has given", i.e., "I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine Own sake, and will not remember thy sins" (Isaiah 43:25).


Article 8 declared: "The laws of ecclesiastical penance can be imposed only on the living, and in no wise respect the dead", i.e., "There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it" (1John 5:16).


Article 37 announced: "Every true Christian, dead or living, is a partaker of all the blessings of Christ, or of the Church, by the gift of God, and without any letter of indulgence", i.e., "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8).


Article 51 stated: "We should teach Christians that the Pope (as it is his duty) would distribute his own money to the poor, whom the indulgence-sellers are now stripping of their last farthing, even were he compelled to sell the Mother Church of St. Peter", i.e., "I will very gladly spend and be spent for you" (2Corinthians 12:15).


Article 52 remonstrated: "To hope to be saved by indulgences is a lying and an empty hope, although even the commissary of indulgences — nay, further, the Pope himself — should pledge their souls to guarantee it", i.e., "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers" (1Peter 1:18).
On the night before the very day that Martin Luther affixed his 95 Theses to the church door of Wittenburg, the Elector Frederick of Saxony-- where Luther abode-- had a dream, which he related the next morning to his brother, Duke John. Wylie relates that the dream was "recorded by all the chroniclers of the time" (Volume 1, Book 5, Chapter 9, p. 413). "Brother, I must tell you a dream which I had last night, and the meaning of which I should like much to know. It is so deeply impressed on my mind, that I will never forget it, were I to live a thousand years. For I dreamed it thrice, and each time with new circumstances... Having gone to bed last night, fatigued and out of spirits, I fell asleep shortly after my prayer, and slept calmly for about two hours and a half; I then awoke, and continued awake to midnight, all sorts of thoughts passing through my mind. Among other things, I thought how I was to observe the Feast of All Saints. I prayed for the poor souls in purgatory; and supplicated God to guide me, my counsels, and my people according to truth."

"I again fell asleep, and then dreamed that Almighty God sent me a monk, who was a true son of the Apostle Paul. All the saints accompanied him by order of God, in order to bear testimony before me, and to declare that he did not come to contrive any plot, but that all that he did was according to the will of God. They asked me to have the goodness graciously to permit him to write something on the door of the church of the Castle of Wittemberg. This I granted through my chancellor. Thereupon the monk went to the church, and began to write in such large characters that I could read the writing at Schweinitz. The pen which he used was so large that its end reached as far as Rome, where it pierced the ears of a lion that was crouching there, and caused the triple crown upon the head of the Pope to shake. All the cardinals and princes, running hastily up, tried to prevent it from falling. You and I, brother, wished also to assist, and I stretched out my arm; — but at this moment I awoke, with my arm in the air, quite amazed, and very much enraged at the monk for not managing his pen better. I recollected myself a little; it was only a dream."

"I was still half asleep, and once more closed my eyes. The dream returned. The lion, still annoyed by the pen, began to roar with all his might, so much so that the whole city of Rome, and all the States of the Holy Empire, ran to see what the matter was. The Pope requested them to oppose this monk, and applied particularly to me, on account of his being in my country. I again awoke, repeated the Lord's prayer, entreated God to preserve his Holiness, and once more fell asleep. Then I dreamed that all the princes of the Empire, and we among them, hastened to Rome, and strove, one after another, to break the pen; but the more we tried the stiffer it became, sounding as if it had been made of iron. We at length desisted. I then asked the monk (for I was sometimes at Rome, and sometimes at Wittemberg) where he got this pen, and why it was so strong. 'The pen,' replied he, 'belonged to an old goose of Bohemia, a hundred years old. I got it from one of my old schoolmasters. As to its strength, it is owing to the impossibility of depriving it of its pith or marrow; and I am quite astonished at it myself.' Suddenly I heard a loud noise — a large number of other pens had sprung out of the long pen of the monk. I awoke a third time: it was daylight" (Wylie, Volume 1, Book 5, Chapter 9, pp. 413-415). Wylie then added, "The elector has hardly made an end of telling his dream when the monk comes with his hammer to interpret it" (p. 415). "What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh" (Genesis 41:28).

Luther the Reformer began to develop doctrinally as he carefully considered the Word of God. "I am a stranger in the Earth: hide not Thy commandments from me" (Psalm 119:19). As many of Luther's old friends began to melt away, new acquaintances came to his aid. When told that Luther's life was in danger, powerful German barons, i.e., Sylvester of Schaumburg, Francis of Sickingen, and Ulrich of Hutten, offered Luther their sword of protection-- as well as opposition to Papal tyranny. Ulrich even proposed to crush the fury of the devil by the force of arms-- to which Luther recoiled. Luther said, "I will not have recourse to arms and bloodshed in defense of the Gospel. It was by the Word that the Church was founded, and by the Word also it shall be re-established" (Wylie, Volume 1, Book 6, Chapter 1, p. 474). "Jesus answered, My Kingdom is not of this world: if My Kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight" (John 18:36).

On June 15th 1520, a papal bull of excommunication was issued against Martin Luther. Within the space of 60 days, any town where Luther resided would be interdicted. Luther was to be banished by all princes and magistrates, or sent to Rome. "Whom have I in Heaven but Thee? and there is none upon Earth that I desire beside Thee" (Psalm 73:25). Pope Leo X sent a letter to the Elector Frederick of Saxony, hoping to gain his support against Luther; but Frederick had now rejected Romanism and determined to protect Luther. "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will" (Proverbs 21:1).

While waiting for the papal bull to reach him, Luther published "The Babylonish Captivity of the Church" on October 6th 1520. Luther wrote, "I denied that the Papacy was of Divine origin, but I granted that it was of human right. Now, after reading all the subtleties on which these gentry have set up their idol, I know that the Papacy is none other than the kingdom of Babylon, and the violence of Nimrod the mighty hunter [WStS emphasis]. I therefore beseech all my friends and all the booksellers to burn the books that I have written on this subject, and to substitute this one proposition in their place: The Papacy is a general chase led by the Roman bishop to catch and destroy souls" (Wylie, Volume 1, Book 6, Chapter 2, p. 489). Luther understood that Romanism is identified with Babylon the Great. "Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right" (Proverbs 20:11).

About this same time (October 1520), Luther wrote a letter to Pope Leo X. The following are excerpts of that letter: "It is true that I have attacked the court of Rome; but neither yourself nor any man living can deny that there is greater corruption in it than was in Sodom and Gomorrah, and that the impiety that prevails makes cure hopeless. Yes, I have been horrified in seeing how, under your name, the poor followers of Christ were deceived… You know it. Rome has for many years been inundating the world with whatever could destroy both soul and body. The Church of Rome, formerly the first in holiness, has become a den of robbers, a place of prostitution, a kingdom of death and hell; so that Antichrist himself, were he to appear, would be unable to increase the amount of wickedness. All this is as clear as day... You should perish by poison even before you could try any remedy. It is all over with the court of Rome. The wrath of God has overtaken and will consume it. It hates counsel—it fears reform—it will not moderate the fury of its ungodliness; and hence it may be justly said of it as of its mother: We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed—forsake her [Jeremiah 51:9]" (Wylie, Volume 1, Book 6, Chapter 2, pp. 491-492).

Girolamo Aleander, a special envoy of the Papal See, was delegated the task of looking after the affair of Luther. Aleander asked for and received an audience from Frederick of Saxony. Quickly, Aleander pointed out the necessity of the Elector punishing Luther. To this Frederick pointed out that no one had yet refuted Luther, and it would be scandalous to punish a man uncondemned. This was reminiscent of the Apostle Paul's case before Festus, i.e., "It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him" (Acts 25:16). The stage was set for Luther to appear before the Diet of Worms.

Luther was summoned on March 6th 1521 to appear within 21 days before the Diet of Worms, the assemblage that had the power to burn him at the stake. "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). On his journey to Worms, he passed through Erfurt, the place of his conversion at the Augustinian monastery. To give you an idea of how mature this former monk had become, hear an excerpt of a sermon from John 20:19- "Peace be unto you." He states: "Philosophers, doctors, and writers have endeavored to teach men the way to obtain everlasting life, and they have not succeeded. I will now tell it to you. There are two kinds of works—works not of ourselves, and these are good: our own works, they are of little worth. One man builds a church; another goes on a pilgrimage to St. Iago of Compostella, or St. Peter's; a third fasts, takes the cowl, and goes bare-foot; another does something else. All these works are nothingness, and will come to naught, for our own works have no virtue in them. But I am now going to tell you what is the true work. God has raised one Man from the dead, the Lord Jesus Christ, that he might destroy death, expiate sin, and shut the gates of hell. This is the work of salvation. Christ, has vanquished! This is the joyful news! and we are saved by his work, and not by our own... Our Lord Jesus Christ said, 'Peace be unto you! behold my hands'—that is to say, Behold, O man! it is I, I alone, who have taken away thy sins, and ransomed thee; and now thou hast peace, saith the Lord." (Wylie, Volume 1, Book 6, Chapter 5, pp. 519-520). Amen, and Amen!

Luther entered Worms on the 16th of April, 1521. Some say he sang a hymn as he approached the city, a hymn which he composed two days earlier-- "'A strong Tower is our God' ['A Mighty Fortress Is Our God']" (Wylie, Volume 1, Book 6, Chapter 5, p. 521). The next day, Luther was summoned to appear before the Diet. "But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak" (Matthew 10:19). Upon entering the crowded assembly of dignitaries of the states of the Holy Roman Empire, Luther was implored to acknowledge his authorship of some 20 books and retract his opinions. Luther respectfully admitted authorship, but he asked for another day to consider his reply. His opponents felt he was ready to recant, but Luther was desirous of circumstances that would make his reply all the more weighty and irrevocable. "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves" (Matthew 10:16).

On the April 18th 1521, Luther made his final reply to the Diet of Worms. He began by admitting again to the authorship of his books on faith and morals, on the exposure of papal usurpations and degeneracy, and against the defenders of error. He invited all to point him to Scripture that would or could correct him. "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the Common Salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the Faith which was once delivered unto the Saints" (Jude 3). Luther then turned the tables on his judges. "In conclusion, he warned this assembly of monarchs of a judgment to come: a judgment not beyond the grave only, but on this side of it: a judgment in time. They were on their trial. They, their kingdoms, their crowns, their dynasties, stood at a great Bar. It was to them the day of visitation; it was now to be determined whether they were to be planted in the earth, whether their thrones should be stable, and their power should continue to flourish, or whether their houses should be razed, and their thrones swept away in a deluge of wrath, in a flood of present evils, and of eternal desolation" (Wylie, Volume 1, Book 6, Chapter 6, p. 534). Again, like the Apostle Paul, Luther pricked the conscience of his judges. "For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner" (Acts 26:26).

To this, the impatient question returned, Would he, or would he not retract? Luther responded: "'Since your most Serene Majesty, and your High Mightiness, require from me a direct and precise answer, I will give you one, and it is this. I cannot submit my faith either to the Pope or to the Councils, because it is clear as day they have frequently erred and contradicted each other. Unless, therefore, I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture, or on plain and clear grounds of reason, so that conscience shall bind me to make acknowledgment of error, I can and will not retract, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything contrary to conscience.' And then, looking round on the assembly, he said—and the words are among the sublimest in history— 'HERE I STAND. I CAN DO NO OTHER. MAY GOD HELP ME. AMEN'" (James A. Wylie, "History of Protestantism", Volume 1, Book 6, Chapter 6, pp. 535-536). "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the Word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in Truth, the Word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe" (1Thessalonians 2:13).



Conclusion

Historical proofs such as Alexander Hislop's "The Two Babylons: Or, The Papal Worship Proved to be the Worship of Nimrod and His Wife" (1853) demonstrate to the willing mind the certain connection of Ancient Babylon to the final form of the One World Religion ruled by the False Prophet, who "causeth the Earth and them which dwell therein to worship" (Revelation 13:12) the Antichrist. Hislop's classic work focuses on "Rome [i.e., the Roman Catholic Church] as the Apocalyptic Babylon". He concludes, "Let every Christian henceforth and for ever treat it as an outcast from the pale of Christianity. Instead of speaking of it as a Christian Church, let it be recognised and regarded as the Mystery of Iniquity, yea, as the very Synagogue of Satan." "Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (18:4).

However, though Hislop accurately followed the evolution of Babylon the Great through the history of the Roman Catholic Church, his perspective from the mid-1800's did not forsee the modern development of a one world religion in its final form-- the United Religions, a type of spiritual United Nations, whose charter is scheduled to be signed in June 2000. "And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it" (Isaiah 28:18).

To those who can be warned of the coming judgment and destruction of Babylon the Great: "4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts. 5 Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of Hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame" (Nahum 3:4-5). Your professed love for the LORD Jesus Christ should plead for immediate separation from Babylon the Great. "15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. 16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith He, shall be one flesh" (1Corinthians 6:15-16).

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Source: http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Timeline/Babylon.The.Great.Part.2.html

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Related:

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1. http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Timeline/Babylon.The.Great.Part.1.html
2. http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Timeline/Babylon.The.Great.Part.3.html

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