Monday, December 31, 2007

NEW YEAR'S CITY

Party On!
New Year's Eve
In New York City

As the new year approaches, New York City gets ready for its annual Times Square celebration. The famous ball drop atop One Times Square has been a tradition dating back to 1906.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of people descend upon Times Square to experience this free event. If you are planning to join the festivities, get there early and be prepared - you'll be corralled into barricaded areas where you'll have to stay for the duration. If you leave, you can't get back to where you were.

Source: http://www.nyctourist.com/newyears1.htm

UNITED WE CONTROL CHRISTIANITY...

United we control Christianity: The Knights of St. John (11/22/2007)

THE GRANDMASTER OF THE ORDER ANOTHER DISTANT COUSIN OF THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND

Andrew Willoughby Ninian Bertie (born 15 May 1929) is the current 78th (and first British) Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.His full title is His Most Eminent Highness Fra Andrew Willoughby Ninian Bertie, Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, Most Humble Guardian of the Poor of Jesus Christ.He has never married and has a younger brother. He is distantly related to Queen Elizabeth II.Fra Andrew was born in London, the son of the Hon. James Bertie (son of the 7th Earl of Abingdon) and Lady Jean Crichton-Stuart (the daughter of the Marquess of Bute). He was educated at the premier Catholic British school, Ampleforth College, and graduated in Modern History from Christ Church, Oxford. He also attended the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London. From 1948 to 1950 he carried out military service in the Scots Guards, becoming a commissioned officer in 1949. After a short experience in the commercial sector, he taught modern languages (particularly French and Spanish) for twenty-three years at Worth Abbey School, a Benedictine Roman Catholic high school in Sussex, England. Fra Andrew was admitted to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) in 1956; he took Perpetual Vows and in 1981 became a Religious member. He has contributed to the government of the Order since 1981 as a member of the Sovereign Council and in April 1988 he was elected the 78th Grand Master. He is Hospitaller of the Sanctuary of Lourdes. He succeeded the late Fra Angelo de Mojana, a Milanese nobleman who had served the Order as Grand Master since 1962 and accomplished a great deal of modernization to its organization. Although it is considered sovereign, the Order of Malta is also a religious order of the Catholic Church, so this election needed the ratification by the Pope (then John Paul II) and a secret ratification by the Black Pope, the General of the Jesuits who dominates the spiritual needs of the Knights and in reality functions as a mind controller for this bunch of highly qualified agents of the New World Order, this so called ratification was obtained on 11 April 1988. By tradition, the Grand Master of the Order of Malta as a prince of the church takes precedence in the Roman Catholic hierarchy immediately following the most junior Cardinal of the Church. The Council Complete of State of the Order of Malta, whose sole function is the election of the Grand Master, is composed of the Grand Priors and representatives of the Grand Priories, professed Regents of Sub-Priories, professed Bailiffs of the Order, professed members of the Sovereign Council, and twelve representatives of the forty-three National Associations of the Order throughout the world. Assisted by a mostly volunteer staff of willing sinners, the Grand Master oversees the numerous international charitable activities of the Order that cover up for their real work. The Order has observer status at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, the Center of international Luciferian power were Pope Ratzinger will have a very special speach in the spring of next year for their 60th anniversary.

THE ST. JOHN NETWORK TO PRESERVE AND SECRETELY CONTROL THE PROTESTANT COUNTRIES

In addition to this The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, generally known as the Order of Malta as also a strong presence in the Protestant countries thanks to the four Orders of St John of Jerusalem which cooperate in the Alliance of the Orders of St John recognized by the Vatican as "Orders of Chivalry" (because founded by reigning sovereigns secretely manipulated by the Vatican).

These Protestant confraternities created after the Reformation have legitimately conserved the institutional aims and emblems of this Catholic Order in their different Christian traditions and they are still secretely controlled and manipulated by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in Rome.The four Orders of St John of Jerusalem associated in the Alliance are obviously recognised by the sovereign authorities in the corrupt countries in which they are based. They are:

Die Balley Brandenburg des Ritterlichen Ordens Sankt Johannis vom Spital zu Jerusalem (Der Johanniterorden) based in Berlin, the head of which is HRH Prince Oskar of Prussia. http://www.johanniter.de/org/orden/deindex.htm

The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem based in London, the head of which is HM Queen Elizabeth II. http://www.orderofstjohn.org/frameset.htm

Johanniter Orde in Nederland based in The Hague, the head of which is HRH Prince Bernhard of The Netherlands. http://www.johanniterorde.nl/index2.html

Johanniterorden i Sverige based in Stockholm, under the High Patronage of HM King Carl XVI Gustaf. http://www.johanniterorden.se/

The modern Swedish Johanniter Order was originally part of the refunded Bailiwick of Brandenburg. It was reorganized as a Swedish Commandery in 1920, still a dependent of the German Order, but under the protection of the Swedish crown. In 1946 it became autonomous order, independent from the German Order with the Swedish King as High Protector. The Order officialy supports the elderly and sick and cooperates with Swedish hospitals, charitable organizations and Christian communities but in reality controls the Swedish Rite of Freemasonry i already mentioned in this article http://www.illuminati-news.com/2006/1213a.htm and manipulates their so called protestant world in being secretely submited to Rome.

In addition to the four Orders there are four Commanderies that are also members of the Alliance: Finland, France, Hungary and Switzerland.

NATHANIEL MAYER VICTOR ROTHSHILD AND THE SMOM SECRET SERVICE

The Orders of St John in the Alliance are Orders of Chivalry and are distinguished from other national Orders because of their Christian faith and their traditions as religious confraternities of so called Christian lay people.Officialy they say they are united by a common historical tradition and a unique vocation: the care of the sick and the poor but in reality there are keeping the Christian Tradition in the firm hands of the Catholic mafia in Rome.The mafia of the Vatican illuminati and their Catholic/Zionist New World Order has a secret army of intelligence operatives and they are the Knights of Malta . One of the most illustrius figures of this Catholic/Zionist illuminati alliance use to be Sir Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild (October 31, 1910 – March 20, 1990) a high level member of the Sovereign Order of Malta, a proud member of the Vatican illuminati elite' forces . For this kind of people joining the Knights of Malta is a unique possibility that offers you the nature of a Religious Order with an Order of Chivalry that in reality is the Secret Service of the Vatican, beacuse thats what they realy are, and the Order of Malta is widely recognised as a sovereign entity of International Law wich means alot of Tax benefits and infinite possibilities for the usual illuminati criminals like Baron Victor Rothshild who spent most of his life in the intelligence field around the world working for the Vatican illuminati of the SMOM in various ways . ...some recentelly say even as a Soviet spy http://www.henrymakow.com/001411.html

Calvi for example was murdered by the Mafia assassins of the Thule Society in a ritual murder ordered by the Jesuits the P2 and sponsored by Victor Rothschild a loyal follower of the Vatican who was always involved with the very important business of the important P2 Lodge of another illustrius Knight of Malta member the infamous Licio Gelli. Gelli's lodge consist of extremely important members of the SMOM [Sovereign Military Order of Malta], including armed forces commanders, secret service chiefs, head of Italy's financial police, 30 generals, eight admirals, newspaper editors, television and top business executives and key bankers - including Calvi. Licio Gelli and others in P2 were behind the assassination of Pope John Paul 1 and it's interesting to know that some have been also thinking of Gelli as a Soviet spy just like they are doing now with his friend Victor Rothshild but in reality these two have always been loyal Vatican slaves nothing else! Check this article for more info regarding Gelli and the Vatican: http://www.illuminati-news.com/2006/1217d.htm

The following addresses and phone numbers will be of use to those truth seekers who wish to address their own concerns directely to the real key players of this New World Order :

Sovrano Militare Ordine di Malta Gran Magistero Via Condotti 68 00187 ROMA Italia

Tel: +39 06 675811 Fax: +39 06 6797202 Email: info@smominfo.org

HE Ambassador Conrad von Schubert Johanniterstr. 9 D-53113 BONN Deutschland

Tel: +49 (0)228 53011-13 Fax: +49 (0)229 234571

And let's not forget the Queen of England and the Order of St.John in the USA : http://www.saintjohn.org/ and the so called Russian Grand Priory in exile now back in control of good old communist Russia another creation and evil experiment of the Vatican lead New World Order, this link represents the Russian Orthodox connection to the rulers of worlwide Christianity the Vatican and their Knights of Malta militia from Via Condotti... : http://www2.prestel.co.uk/church/rgp/oosj.htm

Leo Lyon Zagami now Khaled Saifullah Khan ex- Knight of Malta and ex-Christian now a proud Knight of the Muslim cause and a swarn enemy of the Maltese crusaders working for the Vatican!

Source: http://www.illuminaticonfessions.webfriend.it/index.htm#news

STATE CHURCH ORDAINS APPROVED BISHOP

Chinese state church ordains Vatican-approved bishop


.- On Friday the state-recognized Catholic Patriotic Association ordained a bishop with the approval of the Vatican, the Agence France-Presse reports.

Father Joseph Li Jing, 40, was ordained bishop of the northern China diocese of Ningxia, a Muslim-dominated region. The ordination took place at Yinchuan Cathedral before 2,000 congregants.

Though the Holy See had given approval for Bishop Li’s ordination three years ago, the state church only approved his election last month. Bishop Li is the third Vatican-approved bishop to be ordained this month by the government-recognized church.

The Church in China is split between the government-recognized Catholic Patriotic Association and the “underground” Church. While the official church has close to five million followers, perhaps as many as 10 million are “underground” Catholics and face police and government harassment.

Source: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=11352

Bolds and Highlights added by Blogman.

BLAIR CONVERTS, YET BRITS KEEP FAITH MUM

Blair converts, but Britons keep faith with private piety

Religion in public life, Catholicism notably, viewed with suspicion

12:00 AM CST on Sunday, December 30, 2007

From Wire Reports Tom Hundley, Chicago Tribune

LONDON – Former Prime Minister Tony Blair's recent conversion to Roman Catholicism drew smirks from the British press that seemed to underscore this nation's deeply embedded suspicion of religion in the public square and its lingering mistrust of Catholicism in particular.

"I'm Holy Blair," was the Sunday Mirror's headline. "Blair Switch Project," joked the Daily Mail.

Rupert Murdoch's Sunday Times full-page headline was "Here comes trouble, Father."

The story featured a composite photo of Mr. Blair gazing toward heaven and a benignly smiling Pope Benedict XVI.

The Times article raised doubts about the legitimacy of Mr. Blair's conversion, suggesting that it had been improperly "fast-tracked" because the Vatican was "desperate for such a high-profile convert."

The article also noted that "on abortion, stem-cell research and civil partnerships for homosexuals, Blair's record in office was well outside the Catholic pale."

Mistrust of Catholicism is nothing new in Britain, which has had a Jewish prime minister (Benjamin Disraeli) but never a Catholic.

"When I was young, no-popery prejudice still had real influence," wrote William Rees-Mogg, 79, the retired editor of The Times and now an occasional columnist.

"In politics, a Roman Catholic prime minister was unthinkable, and a Roman Catholic lord chancellor was actually illegal."

The English monarch, as the official head of the Church of England, is still barred from marrying a Catholic, and even minor royals far down the line of succession must renounce their claims to the throne if they take a Catholic spouse.

Robin Shepherd, a senior fellow at Chatham House, a London think tank, said British anti-Catholicism is fading with each generation and that the negative reaction to Mr. Blair's conversion was more indicative of British attitudes toward religion in general.

"I'd put it in terms of aggressive secularism rather than anti-Catholicism," he said. "The real prejudice is against this joyful and open expression of religious conviction."

Mr. Blair, whose wife and children are Catholic, hinted at his interest in Catholicism for years, but he picked an auspicious moment to celebrate his conversion.

A few days after Mr. Blair was formally received into the church, British papers published the results of a survey indicating that church attendance among Catholics in Britain had for the first time passed the Church of England's attendance figures.

Anglicans in Britain still outnumber Catholics by 3-to-1, but Catholics are more likely to attend Sunday Mass, and their numbers have been boosted over the last few years by a huge influx of Polish immigrants.

Despite the uptick in attendance for British Catholics, overall church attendance figures are in steep decline.

In a country where 72 percent of the population identifies itself as Christian, only 8 percent say they go to church on a regular basis.

George Weigel, a Catholic theologian at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, attributes Britain's uneasiness with religion to "a powerful but essentially false idea that most of Europe's darkest moments can be blamed on excessive religious faith and that in order to be a modern, tolerant and civil society, one has to be outside the flow of Christian history."

As a result, he said, serious religious commitment in Britain is viewed as "a kind of hobby, like keeping parakeets or breeding corgis – definitely something that should not have a place at the table of public conversation."

Tom Hundley,

Chicago Tribune

Source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-blair_30int.ART.State.Edition1.36a5564.html

...... Tony blair

Meanwhile, Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, commented on Blair’s conversion to the Catholic faith. This is "good news that we welcome with respect," he said. "Catholics are glad to welcome into their community those who, through a serious and reflective journey, convert to Catholicism."

Archbishop Rowan Williams, the leader of the Anglican Communion, to which Blair had belonged, wished the convert every good in his spiritual journey.

Tony Blair is presently an envoy to the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, commented on Blair’s conversion to the Catholic faith. This is "good news that we welcome with respect," he said. "Catholics are glad to welcome into their community those who, through a serious and reflective journey, convert to Catholicism."

Archbishop Rowan Williams, the leader of the Anglican Communion, to which Blair had belonged, wished the convert every good in his spiritual journey.

Tony Blair is presently an envoy to the Middle East.

Source: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=11349

Sunday, December 30, 2007

ISLAMO-INSOMNIA: TERROR DEPRAVATION

First we were informed of Al Qaeda, next it was Al Qaeda in Iraq, after that is was just plain Qaeda.
This week we have the latest phenomenon or is it an enigma; It's what they now call Al Qaeda in Pakistan.
Wait, we're not the world's only superpower, we're only that in our our minds. The real Superpower is Al Qaeda. They're like white on rice. They're in the Phillipines, they're in London, Madrid, Paris, and they're coming to your town real soon. Yeah, right! Gimme' a break high-salaried guys. Do you think that we're that naive. Huhh?
Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're out to get us, too! Please, take two Ambien and call me in the morning. Insomnia is a terrible thing!


Wait, there's another one of those peculiar, convenient Bin Laden press releases. Here we go again! That's it, nobody is going to get any sleep now.



Happy New (War on Terror) Year.



The more things change, the more they remain the same. Which brings to mind.
You think they're using the same studios they used back in the Apollo days?

Saturday, December 29, 2007

NFL NETWORK ON CBS AND NBC?

NFL NETWORK ON CBS AND NBC?

HIGH DEFINITION NONSENSE AND LIES!

Pax Americana

911: VATICAN & JESUITS

911:Vatican & Jesuits

From Wikicompany

Note the main sources for the facts claimed here can be found on these pages: web links, Literature and Masons.

Introduction

Contents

The Jesuit Order is an almost 500-year old covert operations, geo-political, male-only organization, structured as a secret military operation: demanding secret oaths and complete obedience to each direct superior, which is ultimately the Superior General (or the Black Pope, since he is always dressed in black and stands in the shadow of the white Pope).

The "Society of Jesus" - as they are officially known - was originally used by the Vatican to counter the various Reformation movements in Europe, to which the Vatican lost much of its religious and political power. Absolute -temporal- ruling power has always been the Vatican Institution's primary objective.

The Jesuit Order is since 1814 (see: History of oppression) in complete control of the - obscenely wealthy - Vatican institution (and its Catholic clergy hierarchy) and presently also controls various other organizations together with the Military Order of Malta (see below), such as the United Nations, NATO, various central banks, companies, secret services, and numerous cults (such as Freemasonry) and societies.

It is also important to note that the Jesuit-controlled Vatican is since 1929 being cast (and accepted) as a sovereign microstate called Vatican City, with its own Head of State and cabinet (the Papal non-hereditary monarchy), central bank (Vatican Bank), jurisdiction rules (Canon Law, Admiralty law), some 147 (tosource) international agreements (diplomatic treaties which where formerly called Concordats or Lateran Treaties, which grant the Vatican special national privileges) and a large underground network of secret archives.

Furthermore note that the Jesuit Order, the Catholic clergy and the Military Order of Malta (and many of the other Papal/Royal military orders) have an extremely patriarchal culture. This type of rigid social structure is one of the main aspects of fascistic groups.

"The Jesuits have no women. They have no love of a woman. Because to have a wife, to have a woman, means you have an allegiance to your wife and family, and you cannot obey the General. That’s why they will NEVER be married, and that’s one of the great KEYS to their success." - Eric Jon Phelps

Today the Jesuit Order has about 19.000 members. Of the about 13.500 priest members some have taken the 4th degree secret oath in which killing a 'heretic' is not considered a crime. The ranks of Jesuits are thinning. The congregation represented some 23,000 Jesuits in 1995, compared with 26,000 in 1983, and 36,000 at the order's zenith in the mid-1960's [1]. The Military Order of Malta has about 12.500 members.

The Vatican-Jesuit-Masonic crusades, up to our present time, show their criminal doctrine is effectuated all over the world by genocide (see eg. "Hidden from History: The Canadian Holocaust"), war, political subversion, economic slavery, educational/scientific/cultural/religious dogma, and poor quality nutrition, healthcare and housing.

Jesuit operations

In general it can be said that the Jesuits are mainly involved in:

  • Miseducation (This is their main avenue for - initial and sustained - political control! Through the historically incorrect education of youngsters and adults)
    • Sciences for the purpose of socio-psychological control (politics/civics/law, media/sociology, psychiatry/healthcare, history/anthropology/astronomy)
    • Pseudo philosophy (about: culture, science, civics, ethics, morality, religion)
  • Religious indoctrination
    • Cult promotion: Catholicism, Freemasonry, Satanism, Mysticism, New Age-ism (including many books and films)
  • Political and judicial meddling
  • Social perversions:
    • Fascism ideology (Inquisitions, Socialism, Communism, Labor Zionism, Nazism, Centrally planned capitalism)
    • Indigenous culture genocides
    • Poverty promotion and middle-class destruction
    • Pedophile ring support
  • Controlling the Vatican institution and its wealth (financial administration, archive management, policy/speech/project approval, clergy promotions, etc.)
  • Controlling (and working together with) an even older - and more secretive - multi-layered, Papal military order called the Sovereign Military Order of Malta ("Knights of Malta", "Knights Hospitallers", or "SMOM" for short). The SMOM was founded in Jerusalem in 1080 to wage war and steal for the benefit of the Holy Roman empire. Today, the SMOM itself is controlled by the Order of the Garter, which in turn is controlled by the Pilgrim Society.

Military Order of Malta operations

The Knights of Malta are mainly involved in:

  • Working for and with the Black Nobility, the Vatican and the other Papal and Royal Orders, especially the Jesuits (who are ultimately in control of the Vatican and the SMOM).
  • Global business operations:
    • Banks and international financial structures (Central banks and their superstructure the Bank for International Settlements)
    • Media companies (entertainment distractions and mind control operations)
    • Medical and pharmaceutical industry
    • Military industrial complex
    • ... and various other industries
  • Political and judicial meddling:
    • "The Order of Malta retains its claim of sovereignty under international law and has been granted permanent observer status at the United Nations. It issues its own passports, stamps and coins and has formal diplomatic relations with 99 states." [4]
    • Creating global political structures
      • Political structure: United Nations, World Bank, IMF, ...
      • Military structures: NATO, UN troops, EU police, Blackwater private military, ...
      • Secret services to defend and promote their own interests: Interpol, Europol, CIA, MI5-MI6, Mossad, NKVD, ...
  • Scientific research and media propaganda for the purpose of social and military control
  • Creating benign charity fronts (just like the Jesuits like to do), to try and confuse people about their fascistic history and their present operations. (examples: malteser-international.org)

Catholicism and the Holy Roman Empire

While the militaristic Roman Empire was collapsing, Pope Symmachus created the Vatican Palace in 514 as the seat of the "universal religion" called Catholicism. Catholicism itself was created about 150 years before that by Emperor Constantine I, using the first Council of Nicaea in 325, to control the political and spiritual uprisings among various tribes and slave groups. Thereby making Constantine I the first in a long series of Roman Emperors (or Popes) who explicitly wanted to completely rule over both the spiritual and political realm. Perhaps indicative of the lack of interest in the 1st Council of Nicaea and its Roman agenda, was that of the 1800 invites send to religious leaders, only about 300 participated.

Early Christianity-like cultures were spreading and posing a very large threat to the Roman Empire, so the Romans institutionalized the various Christian-like cultures into a new 'universal religion' named Catholicism. (todo: write special page to note differences: Pantheism versus Monism, entheogen culture, fertility rituals, the Roman cross irony, Mithras the bull, Catholic crusades, Caesar-Jesus literature).

Many people still see the Papacy as only a religious organization, but if one looks into their never ending quest for the political power, you'll see that the Roman Empire and the Papacy have always had the exact same goal: World domination. The differences are only in the execution of this neurotic idea.

The most powerful tool of the Vatican Institution has been to take hostage the much older Judaic-Christian-like cultures, and force these cultures into an superficial lookalike called "Catholocism" (or as Roman Catholics like to say: "Christendom").

The Vatican never was a true Christian-culture based organization, it has always been an occult (the esoteric or hidden), bloodthirsty political organization which has build a deceiving, hypocritical front of religious dogma (the exoteric or visible) derived from ancient mysticism religions (Sun worship, human and animal sacrifices, 'holy' priests and strict obedience structures). (todo: Catholic idolatry: 10 commandments fraud, Pope/Maria/Jesus/cross and other forms of Catholic branding). For more than 2000 years all authentic Judaic-Christianity-like cultures have been prosecuted and often annihilated or at least severely weakened.

Vatican courtyard keyhole shape
Vatican courtyard keyhole shape
By 451 Catholicism itself had already fractured somewhat (see: Council of Chalcedon). With the struggle for religious and political freedom of the various Reformation movements, during the late Middle Ages and upto the 18th century, some lost terrain had been regained by the Protestant nations, but the losses have been enormous, and much of the authentic spiritual basis of Christianity-like cultures has been erased from the collective memory.

Almost none of the numerous Christian 'splinter' churches today acknowledges (let alone communicates) this ancient legacy of Roman Catholic persecution, history falsification and spiritual perversions. Sadly, most of the so called 'Christian' churches today however are still connected to Catholicism - and thereby also the Vatican institution - in various ways (See also: Catholic Church and ecumenism), or have been infiltrated and co-opted - mainly by the Jesuits - in many cases.

The Vatican institution and its mafia network has always been an fascistic political organization with the cover of a religious organization. The aim is and was population control - in the spiritual and political realm - by any means.

These two realms of dominion - the spiritual and temporal - are represented by two crossed keys on the Papal Tiara, which can be seen in many Catholic churches and on the flag of the Vatican (See also: Occult_symbolism#Papal_regalia).

Occultism

The Roman-Vatican-Masonic oppression culture has its origins in the much older secret societies (which were also called: "Mystery Religions", "Mystery Schools", "Priesthood cults", or "Schools for the divine science of governing") which were already present in Egyptian, Sumerian, Babylonian, Phoenician, Canaanite, Etruscan and Roman society (see: History of Oppression).

All this is still visible today in the use of Occult Symbolism in architecture (masonic buildings, ancient and new monuments, place names), corporate logo's, money design (Euro and Dollar), Coats of arms, Hollywood films, public rituals and celebrations with hidden meaning (Bull-fighting, Christmas, Easter, Mayday, Halloween), and various public 'accessible' cult-religions (Freemasonry, Fraternities, Scouting, New Age societies).

Pharmacratic Inquisitions

Related to these 'priesthood' cultures is also the continuous prosecution of all natural/herbal cultures and its practitioners. From numerous genocides of indigenous cultures around the world, to the attacks on natural healthcare in Europe and the US. These people were often wrongly stigmatized and tortured and killed for being 'mystics', 'witches', or 'quacks' (See also: Alchemy).

These days the Pharmacratic Inquisitions are still going strong to benefit the global toxic-medicine based pharmaceutical industry; using weak medical schooling, patent law, medical license systems and important natural substance prohibitions (See also: Healthcare).

A highly controversial topic is the research which is showing that entheogen stimulating spiritual experiences seem to lie at the center of the main religions too. Though of course hidden, sometimes even in plain sight, and only allowed for a select group of initiates (See also: Entheogens). Most Christian people refuse to research and debate this topic, because it shows how much the true history behind early Christianity-like cultures has been suppressed and perverted into different forms of mythology, idolatry and dogma. It shows how much all main religions have strayed from the path of nature, empirical spirituality, honesty and freedom. (todo: early Judaic/Christian cultures, racial/cultural prosecutions)

Especially entheogen-aware cultures are treated as a huge threat to the (in many places) dominating 'Western' belief systems, political structures and egoistic/materialistic/mechanical thinking. (todo: expand, entheogen misunderstandings, entheogen abuse, suppression of science, medical conspiracy and vitalism)

Reformation and Vatican control

The Reformation changes by the Protestants (which is actually what the Vatican called these sovereign 'heretics') to the political systems (suchs as more decentralized ruling and tax income, less centralism from Rome), and the millennium of battles against the oppressive Holy Roman Empire that went before that, sets the stage for an ongoing struggle by people all over the world to be able to live according to our natural birth right:

Sovereignty of the body and spirit of each individual. Protecting our sovereignty from state, religious, corporate and secret society fascism is our principal collective responsibility! This shared value should be the basis for our constitutional law. All other constitutional laws should be derived from this basis.

The true history of the Reformation however was (and still is) not a simple two-sided conflict between the Holy Roman Empire and the sovereign people and their nations. There is growing evidence showing that the Lutheran reformation movement was co-opted and used by the Rosecrucians (and later the Jesuits) behind the scenes, to diminish the power of the Papacy, so that these secret societies could infiltrate and - over time - completely takeover the Vatican Institution from the inside. They succeeded in doing this, but not without visible historic friction. (More on the secret societies Vatican struggle)

Black Nobility

The Jesuits & SMOM mafia network is supported by many of the wealthiest families in Europe and the US (often called the "Black Nobility"). Examples are the prominent, but certainly not the most powerful, Rothschild family (Knights of Malta) and the Rockefeller family (Knights of Malta, who got started using Rothschild financing for American oilfield exploitations).
"These three financial families, the Rothschild's, Morgans, and Rockefeller's all do the bidding of the Jesuit Order because of Jesuit infiltration in their organizations. They do whatever is necessary to destroy constitutional liberty in America and to bring the pope to world domination. As we look back over the 20th century, we see how successful the Jesuits have been. They have continued to squander the wealth of America and continually attack its great constitution and civil liberties. Daily, the power of the pope in Vatican City increases. One day they will achieve total power again." [5]

These wealthy families function as financial supporters and proxies for the larger Jesuit & SMOM mafia banking operations (eg. see also the Rothschild's' longstanding involvement with the Vatican Institution, and their role in the BCCI scandal).

Papal war against other religions

In the case of the masonic 'Jewish' Rothschilds, besides their Vatican banking role they (and several other prominent Jews, like Knight of Malta Heinz Kissinger, left-wing gatekeeper Noam Chomsky, Federal Reserve bank celebrity Alan Greenspan) have to perform the role of being Labor Zionists (another Jesuit controlled version of socialist-communist-fascist ideology), to try to incite hatred towards the Jews as them being the "top controllers of global evil".

This is a scam which has sadly worked before. Due to the fact that there are Sabbatian-Apostate-masonic Jews helping with the Vatican-Jesuit-Masonic conspiracy, its sometimes difficult for people to see it for what it really is: a distraction/shield/proxy for the larger Vatican mafia network. Jewish people have been systematically discriminated and murdered for almost 2000 years by the Holy Roman empire, just like Christians, Arabs/Muslims and many other cultures and their religions.

These days, after the staged 9/11 psy-op trauma operation by CIA-Qaeda, Muslims and secular 'Arabs' are especially targeted in many ways (by the media, politics and the Jesuit/SMOM-controlled military apparatus) in the so called "War on Terror". This "War on Terror" is the main follow up to the Cold War hoax, to allow further crusades for 'World Domination'. The aggression against the people of the Middle-East is a very old battle, it was waged by Romans and later the Holy Roman Empire.

Jesuit and SMOM agenda

The Jesuit Order, Knights of Malta and Black Nobility people have formed a complex masonic mafia network of global proportions, using many front organizations (infiltrated governments, secret services, Catholic institutions, mega-corporations, financial institutions, Freemasonry, Labor Zionism, and others) with disastrous effects on the lives of hundreds of millions of people.

The neurotic goal was and still is worldwide human enslavement by any means (“The end justifies the means” is the primary maxim of the Jesuits). Through militaristic, technological, economic and above all religious-psychological means.

This secretive mafia network tries to keep people ignorant of the fascistic conspiracy and the instruments they use. Abusing other people's ignorance is their only real power!

These secret societies are ultimately in control of the Vatican and many other nations, properties and sub-organizations (United Nations, NATO, Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, Bilderberg Group, and to a large extent the World Bank and the European Union project, and various other corporations, intelligence services, and religious-organizations (such as Opus Dei, Freemasonry, Mormons).

The Vatican-Jesuit-Masonic mafia network has been the primary origin of high-crimes over the past centuries: wars, assassinations, organized torture, enslavement, religious prosecution, state treason, censorship, history falsification, and judicial and economic fraud.

Their criminal practices are hidden behind:

  • Secret and religious cults, with hierarchical degrees (compartmentalization within) and secret oaths and plans (compartmentalization without).
  • Socialist (read: corrupt centralistic, fascistic) institutions: UN, WTO, NATO, EU, etc.
  • Information and knowledge control: cultural entertainment distractions, media censorship, fear propaganda and poor education.
  • Organizational infiltration.
  • Monetary system corruption instruments:
    • Centrally controlled fiat currency money supply -> artificial inflation creation (rising prices and poverty) -> debt-dependency creation (more centralist social control) -> interest rates control (making money from debt), and the international banking rules and international lending/currency-exchange programs (making the governments dependent on loan investment programs) -> more debt -> more interest -> more taxation -> more social control -> etc.
    • Money laundering (stock market, bonds and other financial products, corporate asset shuffling, real estate, art, software fees)
    • Social funds theft (pension funds, tax fund 'redirection').
  • Political, judicial and corporate bribing.
  • Threats, blackmail, and assassinations.

No smoke-screen of religious claims, ecumenical projects, charity work, school programs, media control and history falsification can undo the crimes for which these people are responsible. No other organized crime network has done so much damage to the people on this planet!

  • From its origins as the faltering militaristic Roman empire - just when Catholicism was created to stop so-called heretical 'Churches' and its people - which destroyed a lot of European culture diversity,
  • to the murdering crusades (against Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Germanic/Celtic/Scandinavian tribes),
  • to the satanic inquisitions,
  • to the massacre and enslavement of indigenous people in South America, North America, Asia, Oceania, Africa, Russia and the Middle-East,
  • to the corrupt banking systems and international corporations,
  • to the World Wars,
  • to the Cold War hoax and its large-scale military and political effects,
  • to the global drugs, arms and human trafficking,
  • to the global pedophile rings,
  • to synthesized terrorism and propaganda,
  • to secret renditions, torture prisons, and suspension of habeas corpus,
  • to the ongoing plot to destroy the sovereign United States of America and the nations in Europe.

It can all be traced back to a conspiratorial plot to rule the sovereign of this world by any means. It is going to take the awareness of a large group of people to stop this sick and sad group of people, who ultimately can't love themselves nor others, knowing what they have done.


Where do we go from here?

This secret society mafia network and their crimes have been prosecuted in the past. The Jesuits have been expelled from dozens of nations all over the world at some point in time, when their crimes became too much to tolerate any longer. That time is going to come again, and this time it must be even more comprehensive and persistent than before.

Our collective awareness and action must make many other people aware of the enormous crimes committed, and the way in which they were committed. The Catholic church hierarchy, the Jesuits, the Military Order of Malta members, and all the other secret societies and their affiliated organizations (EU project, United Nations, NATO, etc.) which ultimately serve these mafia structures must be permanently exposed, prosecuted, stigmatized and ultimately dismantled (and replaced with decentralized democratic cooperation between nations) for the benefit of future generations. Special constitutional reforms against secret societies and their political conspiracies should be discussed, drafted, implemented and educated.

In the end Empires always fall, and some fascistic groups will try to rebuild them again, to try to gain control of the common people, and it will fail again. Politics by distance does not work. It corrupts, it stifles creativity, it disempowers the sovereign people.

So the EU superstate project will ultimately breakdown. The only question is at what cost? The Euro is certainly an effective way to ease trade between nations, by reducing currency and legal friction. However, the private(!), pseudo non-profit(!) Federal Reserve Bank history has shown that monetary centralization can be very dangerous in several aspects:

  • Centrally controlled money supply and inflation,
  • Artificial boom-bust cycles,
  • Draconian 'rescue' plans after the bust cycles,
  • Increased poverty due to the long-term ineffectiveness of a central monetary system.

Monetary efficiency does not equal economic stability and financial sovereignty. The latter two are much more important in the long-term!

(note: work in progress) Some conceptual recommendations:

  • The supra-state projects such as the EU, NATO, UN must be partly dismantled, then reformed by primarily using collaborative agreements between each sovereign nation. The danger of a too centralized corrupt rule is far more serious than any local form of mafia corruption.
  • The Holy See / Vatican country state and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, must be stripped of any national sovereign status. These institutions must function within the national democracy and obey democratically chosen constitutional laws.
  • The Vatican and the whole Roman-Catholic organizational network must publicly and officially denounce any temporal power wish and acknowledge the extreme extent of their centuries long crimes against humanity.
  • The Jesuit-Vatican-Masonic mafia network who have participated in these crimes must be researched thoroughly (by an international group of independent researchers), then prosecuted and agree to pay compensations to victims (nations, groups and individuals). The criminal charges and the evidence must then be presented to the respective nations, for further action. No action on behalve of this research should lead to boycotts from nations, groups and individuals.
  • All the confirmed history falsification and conspiracy actions should be written down, and discussed in schools. The same goes for clear examples of media corporation censorship and distraction.
  • Proposals for actions for a more robust separation of Church and secret societies from the sovereign people of the State, using legal, political and educational means.
    • Special legislation against criminal secret societies (beyond any reasonably doubt, and beyond just organized crime) should be drafted and implemented, using the lessons of history.
  • ...

Web links

These are some excellent web sites for further research:

TURMOIL IN THE CITIES


Turmoil in the Cities


Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. 2 Tim. 3:13.


It was not God's purpose that His people should be crowded into cities, huddled together in terraces and tenements. In the beginning He placed our first parents in a garden amidst the beautiful sights and attractive sounds of nature, and these sights and sounds He desires men to rejoice in today. {Mar 141.1}



Light has been given me that the cities will be filled with confusion, violence, and crime, and that these things will increase till the end of this earth's history. {Mar 141.2}



It is time for our people to take their families from the cities into more retired localities, else many of the youth, and many also of those older in years, will be ensnared and taken by the enemy. {Mar 141.3}



"Out of the cities; out of the cities!"--this is the message the Lord has been giving me. {Mar 141.4}



The turmoil and confusion that fill these cities, the conditions brought about by the labor unions and the strikes, would prove a great hindrance to our work. Men are seeking to bring those engaged in the different trades under bondage to certain unions. This is not God's planning, but the planning of a power that we should in no wise acknowledge. God's word is fulfilling; the wicked are binding themselves up in bundles ready to be burned. {Mar 141.5}



We are now to use all our entrusted capabilities in giving the last warning message to the world. In this work we are to preserve our individuality. We are not to unite with secret societies or with trade-unions. We are to stand free in God, looking constantly to Christ. {Mar 141.6}



The ungodly cities of our world are to be swept away by the besom of destruction. In the calamities that are now befalling immense buildings and large portions of cities God is showing us what will come upon the whole earth. He has told us: "Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it [the coming of the Son of man] is near, even at the doors." Matthew 24:32, 33. {Mar 141.7}



Maranatha, Ellen G. White, pp. 141.

PROTESTANTISM UNITES WITH THE PAPACY



Protestantism Unites with the Papacy



And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. Rev. 17:12, 13.


As we approach the last crisis, it is of vital moment that harmony and unity exist among the Lord's instrumentalities. The world is filled with storm and war and variance. Yet under one head--the papal power--the people will unite to oppose God in the person of His witnesses. {Mar 187.1}



What is it that gives its kingdom to this power? Protestantism, a power which, while professing to have the temper and spirit of a lamb and to be allied to Heaven, speaks with the voice of a dragon. It is moved by a power from beneath. {Mar 187.2}



"These have one mind." There will be a universal bond of union, one great harmony, a confederacy of Satan's forces. "And shall give their power and strength unto the beast." Thus is manifested the same arbitrary, oppressive power against religious liberty, freedom to worship God according to the dictates of conscience, as was manifested by the papacy, when in the past it persecuted those who dared to refuse to conform with the religious rites and ceremonies of Romanism. {Mar 187.3}



In the warfare to be waged in the last days there will be united, in opposition to God's people, all the corrupt powers that have apostatized from allegiance to the law of Jehovah. In this warfare the Sabbath of the fourth commandment will be the great point at issue; for in the Sabbath commandment the great Lawgiver identifies Himself as the Creator of the heavens and the earth. {Mar 187.4}



Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former lays the foundation of spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience. {Mar 187.5}



Marantha, Ellen G. White, page 187.

Friday, December 28, 2007

HUSS & LUTHER BANNED FROM HEAVEN?

John Huss and Martin Luther...
barred from Heaven?


In the left transept of the Chiesa del Gesu, the Jesuit Church of Rome, built during the Catholic Counterreformation of the 16th century, there is a sculpture group I wish to draw your attention to. It is titled "Faith's Triumph over Heresy" by Pierre Le Gros, and is located at the altar built over the tomb (pictured at left) of Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits.

The statuary in question is to the lower right of the altar, and is a little difficult to see in this picture, but it does show the overall altar. It depicts a woman (Mary?) casting two of the Protestant reformers, Martin Luther and John Huss, out of heaven.

Another photo of the altar.

Faith's Triumph over Heresy

In this closeup you can see that in her right hand the woman has a lightning bolt, about to be cast at the two heretics, and in her left a cross, which the outcasts are recoiling from in apparent horror.

From the book "The New Illustrated Great Controversy"
Copyright © LLT Productions - Used by Permission

Here is a link to another, and even better photo of this sculpture group - Casting out the heretics.

Angel

From the video "Israel of the Alps"
Copyright © 1993 LLT Productions - Used by Permission


At the base of the altar, we see an angel tearing pages out of a book. What book is it? A little history first.
John Huss was a student of John Wycliff, who translated the Bible into English in 1382. Wycliff advocated the right of the common man to read the Bible in his own language. Both Wycliff and Huss believed scripture to supercede the dogmas and ordinances of the church and both declared the Papacy to be the AntiChrist foretold in scripture. John Huss was burned alive* at the stake in 1415 for his "heresy" and rebellion against Catholic authority.
Martin Luther challenged the Traditions of the Roman Catholic Church and coined the phrase Sola Scriptura, meaning the Bible only. In 1517 Luther posted 95 thesis to the door of the church in Wittenburg, challenging the authority of the Papacy and the sale of Indulgences. Martin Luther also declared the Papacy to be "nothing else than the kingdom of Babylon and of very AntiChrist" in his book On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church. Luther also translated the Bible into German, so that the German people could read scripture for themselves, in their own language.

So both John Huss and Martin Luther championed the Bible over the Traditions and dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church and declared the Papacy to be the AntiChrist taught clearly by the Bible. So what book is the little angel tearing pages out of? What book did the reformers look to as "the authority" on matters of faith and doctrine, rather than decrees of the church? The answer should be quite clear.

I have information from a credible source, who has visited Loyola's tomb in the Gesu, that it is indeed the Bible that the angel is tearing pages out of, based on the inscription on the back of the book. However, in some reference books, like "The Pilgrim's Guide to Rome's Principal Churches," by Joseph N. Tylenda, the little cherub, called a putto, is described as destroying heretical books.


* The Vatican Information Service (VIS) reported that on Dec 17th, 1999, Pope John Paul II made the following apology regarding the burning at the stake of Hus, while speaking before an international symposium on Jan Hus held at the Vatican:

"Today, on the eve of the Great Jubilee, I feel the need to express deep regret for the cruel death inflicted on Jan Hus and for the consequent wound of conflict and division which was thus imposed on the minds and hearts of the Bohemian people."

Source: http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/gesu.htm

THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY - MARTIN LUTHER

The Babylonian Captivity surpassed everything which he had written so far against the Roman Church…It was the chief evidence of Luther’s heresy” –Martin Brecht, Martin Luther: His Road to Reformation, 1483-1521
“On Oct 6, 1520, (Luther’s) Babylonian Captivity emerged from the press of Melchior Lotter in Wittenberg – a forty-four page Latin bomb planted in the midst of the delicate machinery of the Catholic sacramental system.

The publication of the Babylonica, as it came to be known in English, shattered any lingering illusions that Luther was a reformer cast in the mold of Erasmus…His tone and radicalism jarred educated Europe.” –Richard Marius,
Martin Luther: The Christian Between God and Death

Martin Luther’s manifesto of religious individualism,
one of the central documents of the Protestant Reformation
exceedingly scarce 1520 first.

"God does not deal, nor has he ever dealt, with man otherwise than through a word of promise… We in turn cannot deal with God otherwise than through faith in the Word of his promise. He does not desire works, nor has he need of them…There is no doubt, therefore, that in our day all priests and monks, together with their bishops and all their superiors, are idolators, living in a most perilous state by reason of this ignorance, abuse, and mockery of the mass, or sacrament, or promise of God.”
“But you will say: What is this? Will you not overturn the practice and teaching of all the churches and monasteries, by virtue of which they have flourished all these centuries? For the mass is the foundation of their anniversaries, intercessions, applications, communications, etc., that is to say, of their fat income. I answer: This is the very thing that has constrained me to write of the captivity of the church. For it is in this manner that the sacred testament of God has been forced into the service of a most impious traffic.”
-Martin Luther, The Babylonian Captivity.

LUTHER, Martin. De Captivitate Babylonica Ecclesiae. Wittenberg: [Melchior Lotter, 1520]. Quarto, period-style binding of modern three-quarter pigskin over wooden boards. A-L4; 44 leaves. $48,000.

First edition of Martin Luther's revolutionary call to spiritual individualism. The Babylonian Captivity is Luther’s most severe attack on the Roman Church and one of the central documents of the Protestant Reformation. In it Luther articulated a radical theology that reduced the essence of Christianity to just two core elements: God’s promise to man as set forth in Scripture, and man’s faithful acceptance of that promise. The ecclesiastical and cultural implications of this doctrine were momentous, as theologians across Europe recognized immediately. The Babylonian Captivity undermined the bond between Church officials and the laity and set forth a powerful doctrine of spiritual individualism that would change Europe forever
EXTREMELY SCARCE. We can find no record of another copy being offered for sale in the last 30 years.
Condition: Text generally clean with scattered occasional spotting and offsetting; residue on gutter of title page and last leaf; very small (approx. half-inch) repaired tear to lower corner of last leaf (in margin, not affecting text).


Please read below for a detailed description of The Babylonian Captivity.

Martin Luther’s attacks on the medieval Roman Catholic Church’s doctrines and practices initiated perhaps the most momentous revolution of the past two millennia and made him, without question, one of the truly pivotal figures of Western Culture. Few documents played a more central role in the history of the Protestant Reformation than Martin Luther’s Prelude on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church. The Captivity was the second of Luther’s three great treatises of 1520, and marks the peak of Luther’s incendiary theological radicalism. The first of the 1520 treatises, Luther’s Open Letter to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, argued that in times of crisis Scripture allowed for secular powers to act independently of the pope to call a council to bring about Church reform. The immediate political significance of this document was immense, especially among the German peoples. However, while the tone of this letter was bitterly critical of the Roman Church, in it Luther wrote as one who would reform the Church, not lead a revolt against it. Luther’s position changed dramatically with the publication of the Babylonian Captivity, the second of his great treatises of 1520. It was here that Luther took an explicitly insurrectionary position, writing that the pope was the antichrist and arguing that true Christianity had to be rescued from the “Babylonian Captivity” into which the Roman Church had led it. The Captivity marked the crowning moment of Luther’s theological radicalism and represents the point of irreparable fracture between his own writings and the Roman Church.

As a work of theology, the Captivity is primarily an attack on the Roman Church’s sacramental system, the practices and teachings that gave the Church its spiritual and temporal authority. For Luther, a reformed theology of the sacraments was the key to rescuing true Christianity from its “Babylonian Captivity”. The central argument of the Babylonian Captivity was that the essence of a true sacrament is that of a divine promise, and that each Christian had to accept this promise for himself. The incendiary corollary to this was Luther’s argument that there was no role for the Church to play in administering the mass. This amounted to an act of theological sedition for it severed the bond between laymen and the pope, and called for individual Christians to cement their bond with God independently of the Roman Church. In Luther’s view the centuries-old notion that priests were intermediaries who administered the mass was the fraudulent and self-enriching “teaching of godless men”. The radicalism inherent in Luther’s entirely novel re-conceptualization of the sacraments was no minor theoretical matter. Luther himself saw that the practical implications of the Captivity ’s argument were enormous and potentially lethal for the Church. He addressed this question in the Captivity, writing, “But you will say: What is this? Will you not overturn the practice and teaching of all the churches and monasteries, by virtue of which they have flourished all these centuries? For the mass is the foundation of their anniversaries, intercessions, applications, communications, etc., that is to say, of their fat income. I answer: This is the very thing that has constrained me to write of the captivity of the church. For it is in this manner that the sacred testament of God has been forced into the service of a most impious traffic…”.

By severing the bond between priests and laymen Luther had set forth an argument that undermined the Roman Church at its most fundamental level. From a broader historical perspective the still greater importance of this argument was that it was the first clear and authoritative expression of the spiritual individualism at the heart of the Protestant Reformation. Luther’s Captivity drove a wedge between Church authority and the individual Christian and effectively reduced the core of a Christian’s bond with God to two simple elements: God’s promise, or sacrament, and man’s faith in that promise. Luther’s reformed notion of the sacraments put each individual’s spiritual fate in his own hands. More than this, Luther’s notion of the sacraments galvanized the distinctly evangelical thrust of Protestantism as he argued that the way to know and accept God’s promise was through Scripture and faith, not the practices and teachings of the Roman Church. This meant that spreading the gospel was the essence of being a ‘priest’ of Christ, not careful observance of Church-sanctioned rituals and practices.

The fact that the Captivity was Luther’s most revolutionary work was immediately apparent to Church officials and theologians all across Europe. Nothing that he wrote was more important in sealing his break with the Catholic Church. Indeed, the outcome of his trial at the Diet of Worms in 1521 was determined by his refusal to publicly disavow authorship of the Babylonian Captivity. The publication of the Captivity and Luther’s refusal to recant it at Worms marks a point at which individual conscience and the forces of empire crashed with astounding and epoch-shaping force, setting off a disruption so great that five centuries later the shock waves are still rippling through the social, cultural, religious and economic fabric of the Western world.

More on the content of the Babylonian Captivity

While the Captivity’s stinging rhetoric, the call for a “priesthood of all believers” and Luther’s characterization of the Pope as the antichrist got the attention of all of Europe, the true importance of this slim pamphlet lies in the fact that in it Luther offers, for the first time, a sustained and comprehensive ecclesiastical attack on Church power and practice. The Babylonian Captivity was Luther’s theological tour de force.

The subject of the Captivity is the Church’s sacramental system, through which the Church exercised spiritual and cultural control over Christians’ lives from birth to death. Luther’s method was to compare the practices of the Church’s centuries-old sacramental system with what was written in the New Testament. For Luther, the true Christian’s bond to God could be secured only through acceptance of God’s testament – i.e., through faith: “Without this faith, whatever else is brought to it by way of prayers, preparations, works, signs, or gestures are incitements to impiety.” Luther’s conclusion was that of the seven sacraments observed by the Catholic Church – baptism, eucharist, penance, confirmation, marriage, ordination and extreme unction – only two, baptism and the eucharist, were true sacraments. Luther wrote, “Only in these two do we find both the divinely instituted sign and the promise of forgiveness of sins.” For Luther the other so-called sacraments were mere works, as opposed to faith in God’s promise. Luther wrote, “For God does not deal, nor has he ever dealt, with man otherwise than through a word of promise…We in turn cannot deal with God otherwise than through faith in the Word of his promise. He does not desire works, nor has he need of them…There is no doubt, therefore, that in our day all priests and monks, together with their bishops and all their superiors, are idolators, living in a most perilous state by reason of this ignorance, abuse, and mockery of the mass, or sacrament, or promise of God.”

Luther’s discussion of the mass was the central and most incendiary component of the Captivity and posed the greatest practical threat to the Church. Luther’s argument was that there was no role for the Church to play in administering the Mass – effectively this amounted to an act of theological sedition for it severed the bond between laymen and the Pope and called for individual Christians to free themselves from the tyranny of the Roman Church. Sedition was exactly what Luther thought was required to restore Christianity to its true foundation, human faith in God’s promise. Luther wrote in the Captivity, “For where faith dies and the word of faith is silent, there works and the prescribing of works immediately crowd into their place. By then we have been carried away out of our own land, as into Babylonian Captivity, and despoiled of all our precious possessions. This has been the fate of the mass; it has been converted by the teaching of godless men into a good work”. Luther’s attack on the Church’s role in administering the mass went against centuries of Church practice, and Church leaders recognized from the first that this view not only undermined their authority but also the Church’s primary sources of revenue. Luther knew that his critique of the seven sacraments was a threat to the Church’s very existence as an institution. Luther wrote, “But you will say: What is this? Will you not overturn the practice and teaching of all the churches and monestaries, by virtue of which they have flourished all these centuries? For the mass is the foundation of their anniversaries, intercessions, applications, communications, etc., that is to say, of their fat income. I answer: This is the very thing that has constrained me to write of the captivity of the church. For it is in this manner that the sacred testament of God has been forced into the service of a most impious traffic.” In Luther’s Captivity he argues that the whole machinery of the Church along with its carefully proscribed rituals and practices were not just theologically groundless but dangerous diversions from the essence of what it was to be a Christian. While the Captivity is one of Luther’s most theoretical writings, its practical implications were truly momentous.

The shockingly caustic tone of Luther’s attack on the Church and his revolutionary insistence on understanding the Mass strictly according to Scripture are enough to make the Captivity a central document of the Reformation. However the Captivity’s importance is greater still, for this document integrates Luther’s attack on existing Church practice with his notion of the “priesthood of all believers.” Luther’s notion of the “priesthood of all believers,” a slogan which spread like wildfire from Luther’s pen to the lips of dissenters all across Europe, was one of his great contributions to the Protestant movement, initiating a groundswell of spiritual egalitarianism and underwriting the distinctly evangelical cast of early Protestantism. As with his notion of the Mass, for Luther the essence of Christian priesthood was to be discovered and understood only through Scripture. The account of Christian priesthood that Luther found there – i.e., that all Christians are Christ’s priests by virtue of having been baptized – was, again, very much at odds with Church practice. Luther writes: “If they (the papists) were forced to grant that as many of us as have been baptised are all priests without distinction, as indeed we are, and that to them was committed the ministry only, yet with our consent, they would presently learn that they have no right to rule over us except in so far as we freely concede it. For thus it is written in 1 Peter 2:9, "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and a priestly kingdom." Therefore we are all priests, as many of us as are Christians…And the priesthood is nothing but a ministry, as we learn from 1 Corinthians 4:1, "Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and the dispensers of the mysteries of God." In arguing that all Christians are priests through baptism, as opposed to select individuals being made into priests through ordination by the Church, Luther was denying that the Church played any essential role in selecting and bestowing upon priests any so-called “indelible character” that guaranteed their spiritual authority over laymen. For Luther the notion of a Church-bestowed “indelible character” was, as he wrote, “a laughing-stock.” Elaborating on this, Luther wrote, “I admit that the pope imparts this character, but Christ knows nothing of it; and a priest who is consecrated with it becomes thereby the life-long servant and captive, not of Christ, but of the pope; as it is in our day. Moreover, unless I am greatly mistaken, if this sacrament and this lie fall, the papacy itself with its characters will scarcely survive; our joyous liberty will be restored to us; we shall realize that we are all equal by every right, and having cast off the yoke of tyranny, shall know that he who is a Christian has Christ, and that he who has Christ has all things that are Christ's and is able to do all things (Philippians 4:13).” Luther’s doctrine of the “priesthood” of all Christians galvanized a movement of religious individualism and spiritual egalitarianism that continues to reverberate through Western Culture to this day.

The radicalism of Luther’s reasoning and rhetoric in the Babylonian Captivity was the focus of his trial at the Diet of Worms in 1521. His refusal to disavow authorship of this pamphlet led to his being branded a heretic and an outlaw – he would have been executed were it not for the protection of Frederick the Wise. It is worth noting that if Luther had recanted his Captivity, a reconciliation with the Church would almost certainly have been negotiated – indeed, by 1521 gradual reform of Church practice was already underway under the impetus of moderate thinkers such as Erasmus and even the Luther of 1517, whose famous 95 Theses were controversial but still within the bounds of what Church leaders could and would tolerate. Not so for the Luther who wrote the Babylonian Captivity of 1520, for unlike the 95 Theses, the Captivity struck a direct and piercing blow to the Church’s ecclesiastical and economic core and threatened to completely discredit the authority of church officials from the pope all the way down to parish priests. As the Church immediately recognized, Luther’s Captivity was an act of revolution, a revolution they sought to avoid by trying to persuade its author, under threat of execution, to publicly deny that he ever wrote it. There can be no question that Luther’s Babylonian Captivity is a document of surpassing importance in the history of the Protestant Reformation and indeed Western Culture.

Highlights added for emphasis. Blogman.