Pope denounced as 'anti-Christ' in radio fire and brimstone row

By John Cooney
Wednesday January 23 2008

A new Messiah has risen to save the Protestant people of Ulster from the heretical snares of Rome and to keep the Pope, "the anti-Christ", out of the North.

An unholy row on yesterday's 'Joe Duffy show' began innocently enough, when the chief aide to Nigel Dodds, the North's Enterprise Minister, voiced his objections to the sale of Catholic rosary beads inside St Patrick's Cathedral, in Dublin.

Wallace Thompson challenged the Anglican Dean of St Patrick's, Dr Robert MacCarthy, for selling rosaries not sanctioned in Holy Scripture, in the cathedral gift shop.

The Dean explained that the beads were sold because the shop attracted visitors of all denominations, and revenue from the sales helped finance the cathedral's upkeep.

During an hour-long phone-in, Mr Thompson castigated these misguided papists for adhering to a corrupt church that demanded Protestant partners in a mixed marriage to surrender to their creed.

The temperature became as hot as the fires of hell when Mr Thompson pleaded with Irish Catholics to abandon their idolatrous prayer to the Virgin Mary.

Then Mr Thompson, speaking in a personal capacity, escalated his war of religions when he denounced the Pope as the anti-Christ and announced he would oppose plans to bring Benedict to the North.

"The Pope is the anti-Christ ... a lot of Protestants probably might not hold (that view) but it is still enshrined in the standards," he said.

"It is a strong statement to make, but in expressing those views I am not conflicting with the main teachings of the main churches," Mr Thompson thundered.

Oppose

The 54-year-old married father-of-three, who is a regular preacher across the North, and a member of the Independent Orange, went on to warn that true Protestants would totally oppose a papal visit.

SDLP Assembly member Dolores Kelly said Mr Thompson's fundamentalist language was a throwback to the North's troubled past.

"I don't think he has any right to deprive the people of the north, and in particular the Catholic population,of an opportunity to greet and meet their spiritual leader," she said.

Sinn Fein Assembly group leader, John O'Dowd, described Mr Thompson's comments as "deeply insulting to many, many people across this island".

Last night, a worldly wise DUP official was at pains to emphasise that Mr Thompson was not speaking in a political capacity.

- John Cooney

The God of Your Mind

By Michael Bunker
editor@lazarusunbound.com

All nations before Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him less than nothing, and vanity. To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto Him?” Isaiah 40:17-18

March 01, 2002 — The last days gospel is a man-centered gospel. Surely most of my readers will agree with that. What is strange is that we may all agree that the current pseudo-gospel is man-centered, and still almost ALL of nominal Christendom participates in some form of it.

Here is an interesting quote by A.W. Pink:

"The ‘god’ of this twentieth century no more resembles the Supreme Sovereign of Holy Writ than does the dim flickering of a candle the glory of the midday sun. The ‘god’ who is now talked about in the average pulpit, spoken of in the ordinary Sunday School, mentioned in much of the religious literature of the day, and preached in most of the so-called Bible Conferences is the figment of human imagination, an invention of maudlin sentimentality. The heathen outside the pale of Christendom form ‘gods’ out of wood and stone, while the millions of heathen inside Christendom manufacture a ‘god’ out of their own carnal mind. In reality, they are but atheists, for there is no other possible alternative between an absolute supreme God, and no God at all. A ‘god’ whose will is resisted, whose designs are frustrated, whose purpose is checkmated possesses no title to Deity, and so far from being a fit object of worship, merits nought but contempt.” Pink, The Attributes of God - 1930

I write this article with some sadness because many of even my closest friends and family members have chosen such a “god” to worship. It once was to our credit when we told a heathen man that he knew not God, and it was accounted to us as “evangelism”. Today, since most of those who profess Christianity are certainly not worshippers of the Sovereign God of the universe, but as Pink rightly relates they are nothing more than religious atheists, we are forced to realize that to tell nominal Christians that they neither KNOW God, nor are they known of Him, in their minds makes us outcasts, haters, cultish and mean.

“Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.” (Acts 15:18)

You will notice that what is known unto God are all HIS works. The Christian heathen will operate under a faulty understanding of Foreknowledge. In every case where the word FOREKNOWLEDGE is used of God, the Bible speaks of God’s foreknowledge of PEOPLE and not of events or actions. Surely God foreknows all events and actions, that I firmly assert, but that is not what the term “foreknowledge” means in the bible. God foreknows all events and actions, even the horrible and sinful crucifixion of His Son, not because he is a passive watcher, banned from His creation, but because all events and actions proceed from His creative decrees, and all events and actions are the product of His direct determinative counsel and foreknowledge. We see this in regard to the death of Jesus: “Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23) It is clear that Jesus was foreknown of the Father, and that his death was decreed of the Father. In fact, Jesus claims that it is the Father that sent Him: “I know Him: for I am from Him, and He hath sent me.” (John 7:29) Also, we read: “As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:15) Once again we can see that the life of Jesus was ordered around the ordained and decreed will of the Father. The Old Testament agrees: “and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6) and “it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; he hath put Him to grief” (Isaiah 53:10). It is God that works all things according to the counsel of His own will, even the death of His dear Son.

In the issue of salvation, some will say that God “foreknew” the actions of those who would be receptive to His Spirit, and so He predestined those who He “foreknew” would come to Him. This is utter foolishness and it is at the heart of the rebellion of man-centered “Christianity”. This belief inverts the actor and the one acted upon, and it makes God a mere responder to something “good” found in man. It makes a “god” who is NOT independent and all powerful, but makes his salvation determined by the pre-discovered goodness found in man. But we know that the salvation of God is not determined by what God finds in man. There is nothing good in man and we are altogether born dead in trespasses and sins. Salvation is determined by the determinate counsel of God, based on those that He knew with affection and elected to that salvation before the foundation of the world.

Some will make God a liar. They will say that God knew EVERYONE from the foundation of the world. But God will clearly say in all honesty to almost all of those who were ever to be born on this planet “I NEVER knew you.” Many will squeal and clamor at Him in that day. They will say, “But God, you KNOW everyone and everything”, and His answer will be the Truth proclaimed once again unto them:

“But I never knew YOU.”

This word “know” is not always the mere cognitive understanding of a thing or person. Quite often in scripture it declares the affection for the person, and not merely the cognition of them. Jesus told the Pharisees: “he that sent me is true, whom ye KNOW not” (John 7:28) Surely the Pharisees knew OF God, and were very cognizant of His existence, yet Jesus proclaims to them that they KNOW Him not, showing that they were not only ignorant of His character and His sovereignty, but they had no affection for Him. This can also be said of almost every one of those who claim to be Christians today. Unto those who he has ordained to Salvation, He says, “Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee” (Jer 1:5)

HERE IS THE MAJOR PROBLEM

“Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such as one as thyself” (Psalms 50:21)

The “god” of the Christian religion today is the carnal god created in the mind of man and in the image of man. The average professing Christian creates in his mind an image of God that is altogether unlike the Sovereign God of the bible, but is wholly like THEM (only with sin). In their minds they say, “Here is what God is like”, when they actually are creating a God that thinks like them and acts like they would IF THEY WERE PERFECTLY SINLESS.

Listen to what Jesus said, “If I honor myself, my honor is nothing: it is my Father that honoreth me; of whom ye say that he is your God: Yet ye have not known him; but I know him” (John 8:54-55). Jesus says to the religious people of His day, that they say that He is their God, but they don’t KNOW Him.

One of the oft-repeated sayings of our current religious culture is, “Christianity is about relationship. We want a personal relationship with God.” Who is this ‘god’ of the personal relationship? Can you find for me the scripture that says this? It must be in the same book that has another often repeated saying, “God helps those who help themselves”. Can you find that scripture for me too?

What does the bible say about the REAL God?

God calls Himself the Potter. He says that he fashions one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor (Romans 9:21). Some he will love and “know”, others shall be broken with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed “in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (Psalm 1:9) “All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto Him, What doest thou?” (Daniel 4:35) Modern Christianity has pots going about to try and please God by their actions, making themselves approved by their works and calling themselves “vessels of honor” apart from them being CREATED to be such.

“Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine; Thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and Thou art exalted as Head above all” (1 Chron. 29:11)

He is the “Governer among the nations” (Psalm 22:28)

“O LORD GOD of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? And rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?” (2 Chron. 20:6)

God rules NOW in heaven and on the earth. He will not only rule in the millennium, but He rules NOW and has done all those things in heaven and in earth that he has purposed in Himself for the praise of His glory. His decrees are accomplished. His will is done NOW in heaven and in earth! So why does Jesus pray that things will be done on heaven as they are done on earth? In Heaven His will is done purposefully, joyfully and immediately, while on earth His work is done ignorantly, unwittingly and despite the ornery and contrary will of those who claim to know Him.

Did Judas do the will of the Father? Certainly he did. Jesus said that he only said what He heard the Father say. Jesus decreed to Judas, “That thou doest, do quickly” (John 13:27), showing that it was the decreed will of the Father that Judas was to fulfill the scriptures that foretold of His betrayal. But did Judas do this thing willingly? Was he a free moral agent? Why would he say to Jesus, “Master, is it I?” (Matthew 26:25) Judas did that for which He was created. He was a slave to the decree of God right up to the point where Jesus allowed him to be filled with Satan, whereby he still fulfilled the purpose of God. He, like Pharoah, was a vessel of dishonor created for destruction. Luke said this: “this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus, For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.” It remains for the reader to decide whether or not at the time of this writing by David it was still an unknown thing unto an omniscient and omnipotent God that Judas would absolutely betray Him, or whether it was within the fallen and corrupt Judas to withstand the ordinance and decree of God that he must betray Jesus. If you decide that God only “foreknew” that Judas was to betray Christ, then you do violence to the direct exhortation of the scripture that says that Jesus was delivered by the “determinate counsel” of God. Will you claim that God “foreknew” Judas? What of this scripture: “For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29) Judas was never conformed to the image of Jesus.

God did not just “foreknow” what actions Judas would take. To believe that is foolishness. It not only denies the Sovereignty and Power of God, but it also makes of Judas the creator of His own actions, and of God merely a responder to the vessel created for wrath.

The “god” of the mind is one that can elect some unto salvation (2 Thess. 2:13) but wouldn’t dare elect some unto reprobation. The one who worships the “god” of the mind will have the Father give some unto Christ (John 6:37) but will deny that there are those who were NOT given unto Christ. The heathen “Christian” atheist religionist will deny that there are those that the Lord hardens unto their own destruction. They will deny that “the LORD hath made all things for Himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil” (Prov. 16:4)

So where is this “god” of the “personal relationship”? Who can claim to “know God” other than in the manifold and wonderful ways that He has shown Himself to us in the Scripture? Can the sheep truly say that they “know” the shepherd? Not in a personal way. Do they know much of Him at all? Jesus says, “I am known of mine”, but He does so in the context of us being sheep and Him being the Shepherd. We may know Him and hear His voice and follow Him, but what we Know of Him is only “through a glass darkly” based on what He has allowed us to know of Him.

The heathen Christian “god” of the personal relationship is really the “god” of emotion and personal experience. I meet folks who worship this god every day. Listen to the words that come out of their mouths. They will always tell you of their personal experience with God, whether that experience lines up with Scripture or not. After reading the previous section on God’s willingness to create some people only to eventually destroy them in hell, they will cry “My ‘god’ is not like that!”

Really?

“Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to MAKE one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?” (Romans 9:20-21)

“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” (Isaiah 46:9-10) “The Lord hath made all things for Himself” (Prov. 16:4), and John said that for His “pleasure they were created” (Rev. 4:11)

John Bunyan said, “They that do continue to reject and slight the Word of God are such, for the most part, as are ordained to be damned.” Still, the “god” of the mind is the one worshiped by nearly all those who claim to be Christians. They “know ‘god’” in that they have affection for the mythic creation of their fallen, carnal minds, but the one, true God declares that they do not KNOW HIM, the Sovereign Creator God of the Universe. He says that they will say that they know Him, but they do not know Him.

Those who He has ordained to eternal life know Him, just as a sheep may know His shepherd. But there are so many things about Him that we do not know, for “how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counselor? or who hath first given unto Him, and it shall be recompensed unto Him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:33-36) Do you see that Salvation cannot be compensation for anything that proceeded from, and that has its origins in, man? Which God have you believed?

Most Christians today do not KNOW God, although they claim to know Him. They have no affection for the real God of the Bible, in fact, they have disdain for Him. They would dethrone Him in an instant if they had the power. They use Bibles for manipulation and coercion and to assuage their consciences, but they will scream and yell and howl at this doctrine of God’s Sovereignty, although it is consistent througout all of Scripture. They know the “god” of their minds, and they have affection for him and they have enthroned him in their carnal mental temple, that temple they have constructed to the “god” of their minds “who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2 Thess. 2:4)

In the end you will either believe or disbelieve in God’s Sovereignty, or you will soften its edges with compromises in order to blunt the truth of it. But you will certainly not affect the Glory of God or His Sovereignty by your belief or unbelief, for “when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants” (Luke 17:10) You will not have had an affect on the glory of God one way or the other. All those who read these words will, in the end, come to know the One and True God, or they will continue to worship the God of their minds, and in doing so they will heap unto themselves destruction and damnation for all eternity.

Man-centered religion is the product of “churches” and their foul shepherds. This is their fruit – a false gospel of lies that leads men to worship at the foot of the “god” of the mind.

Rail on ye workers of iniquity who slight the Word of God to your own destruction. Wrestle with the Scriptures while it is daylight. The night comes quickly. Repent from your evil way and go unto the REAL Jesus Christ while there is still time, “casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

I am your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker

The Faith Of The Historic Christian Churches

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This doctrine is written into the Historic Creeds and Confessions of all those Churches which held, in their earliest days, the Bible to be the Sole Rule of Faith and Practice.
Dr. Ian R.K. Paisley

EPISCOPALIAN (Anglican)

The Irish Articles adopted by the Archbishops, Bishops and Convocation of the Irish Episcopal Church and approved by the Viceroy in 1615 state:-

Article 79: The power which the Bishop of Rome now challengeth to be supreme head of the universal Church of Christ, and to be above all emperors, kings, and princes, is a usurped power, contrary to the Scriptures and Word of God, and contrary to the example of the Primitive Church; and therefore is for most just causes taken away and abolished within the King's Majesty's realms and dominions.

Article 80: The Bishop of Rome is so far from being the supreme head of the universal Church of Christ, that his works and doctrine do plainly discover him to be that 'man of sin' foretold in the holy Scriptures, 'whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and abolish with the brightness of His coming.'

PRESBYTERIAN

Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 25 paragraph VI:-

VI. There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ: nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the church against Christ, and all that is called God.

CONGREGATIONAL

Savoy Declaration, Chapter 26 paragraph IV:-

IV. There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ; nor can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof; but it (he) is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition that exalteth himself in the Church against Christ, and all that is called God, whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of His coming.

BAPTIST

The Baptist Confession of 1688, Chapter 26 paragraph 4:-

4. The Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the Church, in whom, by the appointment of the Father, all power for the calling, institution, order or government of the Church is invested in a supreme and sovereign manner; neither can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof, but is no other than Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church against Christ, and all that is called God: whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of His coming.

METHODIST

Notes of John Wesley on the New Testament II Thessalonians 2:3:-

"However, in many respects, the Pope has an indisputable claim to those titles. He is, in an emphatical sense, the man of sin, as he increases all manner of sin above measure. And he is, too, properly styled, the son of perdition, as he has caused the death of numberless multitudes, both of his opposers and followers, destroyed innumerable souls, and will himself perish everlastingly. He it is that opposeth himself to the emperor, once his rightful sovereign; and that exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped. Commanding angels and putting kings under his feet, both of whom are called gods in scripture; claiming the highest power, the highest honour; suffering himself, not once only, to be styled God or vice-God. Indeed no less is implied in his ordinary title, 'Most Holy Lord,' or 'Most Holy Father,' so that he sitteth enthroned in the temple of God, mentioned in Rev. 11:1. Declaring himself that he is God - claiming the prerogatives which belong to God alone."

The Translators who produced the Genevan Version of the Holy Scriptures and the Translators who produced the Authorised Version all believed that the Pope was the Antichrist.

Taken From :

Source

Calvinism and Arminianism

Calvinism

When John Calvin wrote the first edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1535 (at the ripe old age of 27), his intention was to serve the Protestant interests at large, but its influence must have far exceeded his anticipation. It proved to be the most influential work of the Protestant Reformation. Protestants in different countries saw Calvin as a pillar of strength to their cause, a theologian of the highest rank, while Romanists feared his pen as one of their most formidable foes. A Catholic writer had this to say of the Institutes:

"It is the Koran, the Talmud of heresy, the foremost cause of our downfall,... the common arsenal from which the opponents of the old Church borrowed their keenest weapons. No writing of the Reformation era is more feared by Roman Catholics, more zealously fought against, and more hostilely pursued, than Calvin's Institutes".

The Swiss city of Geneva, under Calvin's influence as pastor and reformer, became a refuge to which fugitives might flee from persecution, and a training-school in which missionaries and reformers might be equipped and sent forth for heroic service. It was truly the nerve-center of the Reformation. Emperor Philip II, son of Charles V, expressed the thoughts of many foes of the Reformation when he wrote the following to the King of France regarding Geneva:

"This city is the source of all mischief for France and the most formidable enemy of Rome. At any time I am ready to assist, with all the power of my realm, to overthrow it."

The French government on its part threatened to destroy the city if it did not keep its evangelists at home, and sent an ambassador to give notice to that effect. The evangelists continued to pour forth, in defiance of the French government, after Calvin assured the magistrates of the city of Geneva with these bold words:

"Inasmuch as the city depends upon the omnipotent God alone for protection, the highest prudence consists in the most perfect obedience to His will."

Calvinism in Western Europe:

The city of Geneva was truly the nerve-center of the Reform movement. The congregations founded in Switzerland in the time of Zwingli were united with Geneva in a great sisterhood of churches, which came to be known as the Reformed Church of Switzerland. There were many reformed churches in Germany, and many of the southern provinces of Germany were predominantly of the Reformed faith, (e.g. Hesse, Bremen, and the Palatinate, where in 1563 the famous Heidelberg Catechism was produced). The Church or 'kirk of Scotland' as the Scots called it, was of course thoroughly Calvinistic in theology and in practice, having been modeled in many respects on the church in Geneva. The Puritans of England were Calvinists, of course, but the non-Puritan ministers of the Church of England were predominantly Calvinistic also, until the reign of King Charles II. From the time that the French edition of the Institutes were published in France, Calvin was the intellectual master of the Protestant movement in France, and the Huguenots (French Calvinists) grew rapidly in numbers in the 16th century. As early as 1558, there were no less than 400,000 adherents. Calvinism was also the predominant Faith in the northern part of the Netherlands (modern Holland). Calvin's missionary vitality led to the tremendous spread of Calvinism throughout Europe and by the 17th century it superseded Lutheranism as the most vibrant representative of Protestantism.

The Netherlands (modern Holland and Belgium) was composed of anciently independent provinces, where democracy and freedom of thought had grown since the time of the Middle Ages. Because of its industriousness, it was the richest and most thriving district of Europe. Among a people of such intelligence and independence, the doctrines of the Reformation found an early and earnest acceptance. This land of Thomas � Kempis, and Erasmus was fertile ground for the Reformation. Though the districts in the Netherlands were self-ruled, they were, unfortunately, under the 'protection' of the most unholy Roman emperor, Charles V. As early as 1521, only four years after Luther posted his 95 theses at Wittenburg, Charles V issued a severe edict against the Lutheran heresy. Anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 Netherlanders were burned, strangled, beheaded or buried alive in obedience to the edicts of Charles V for such offenses as reading the Scriptures, refusing to worship graven images, or ridiculing the idea of the actual presence of Christ's body in the wafer.

It was Charles V who presided over the Diet of Worms, and who, at its convening, intended to have Martin Luther burnt at the stake for heresy. Luther escaped in the night and went into hiding, and was later protected by the German magistrates. Charles V's son, Philip II succeeded him and sought to outdo his father in exterminating the heretics from Netherlands. In 1568, he sanctioned a sentence, passed by the Inquisition of Madrid, which included the whole population of the Netherlands in the crime of treason against God and the King. The chief Inquisitor was zealous to carry out the sentence, remarking: "His majesty had rather see all his territories deserted and uncultivated, than to suffer one heretic to remain in them." The inquisition in the Netherlands grew in intensity, as it did in France, but despite this, the number of Protestant Christians grew. Under the leadership of William of Orange, the northern provinces revolted against this bloodthirsty tyranny and gained independence, forming a federation in 1579.

Arminianism

Jacobus Arminius was born in Holland in 1560, and grew up in a land that jealously guarded the faith for which so many had shed their blood. By this time, the majority of the Protestants in the Netherlands were Calvinists. Personal views of Scripture were allowed, but there was little toleration for anything but Calvinist views to be publicly expressed. But this was also a land where humanistic traditions from the Renaissance period had never died out and where Anabaptism was widely spread. Some people felt there needed to be a greater emphasis on the practical aspects of religion, less emphasis on finely distinguished doctrine, and a more tolerant attitude. Arminius, whose relatives were killed in the Netherlands' struggle for independence, was educated through the support of friends, at the University of Leyden.

Later Arminius went to Geneva, where he was greatly influenced by Beza. After Calvin's death, Beza assumed Calvin's mantle and took full leadership of the Academy at Geneva. It was Beza who developed the doctrine of predestination a step further than Calvin, in what is known as the supralapsarian view. This has to do with the order of divine decrees. Did God first "decree" election and reprobation (who would be saved and who would be damned) and then permit the fall as a means by which the decree could be carried out (the supralapsarian position, from Latin supra lapsum literally before the fall), or did he first permit that man would fall and then decree election as the method of saving some (infralapsarian from Latin infra lapsus, after the fall)?

In 1588, Arminius entered a pastorate in Amsterdam, winning distinction as a preacher and pastor. Later he was chosen to succeed Franz Junius as professor of theology in Leyden, where he remained till his death. Dirk Koornhert, a scholarly layman, who wrote against Beza and all strict predestinarians, rejected the notion of predestination, demanding a revision of the Belgic Confession (the Netherlands' own reformed confession, similar to Westminster Confession). Arminius, who was known as a strict Calvinist and an apt scholar, was called to reply to Koornhert and to defend the supralapsarian position. As he studied the problem, Arminius came to doubt the whole doctrine of unconditional predestination and to ascribe to man a freedom which, however congenial to Melanchthon (a disciple of Martin Luther) had no place in pure Calvinism. The essential dispute that Arminius had with Calvinism was regarding the doctrine of predestination. He did not deny predestination altogether, but denied that predestination was unconditional. A bitter controversy sprang up between Arminius and his supralapsarian colleague at the University of Leyden, Franz Gomarus, who was later the leading spokesman for the Calvinists at the Synod of Dort. The conflict between the two men resulted in a schism affecting the whole church of Holland.

One commendable legacy of Arminius was his call for theological perspective. During a period of intolerant dogmatism, when battle lines were drawn over subtle differences in creeds and confessions, Arminius wrote:

"There does not appear any greater evil in the disputes concerning matters of religion, than the persuading ourselves that our salvation or God's glory are lost by every little difference. As for me, I exhort my scholars, not only to distinguish between the true and the false according to Scripture, but also between the essential articles of faith, and the less essential articles, by the same Scripture."

Arminian Articles of Remonstrance

After Arminius' death, his views were championed and further developed and systematized by two men, Simon Episcopius, and Jan Uytenbogaert. Under their leadership the followers of Arminius in 1610 set forth their views in five articles called Arminian Articles of Remonstrance, (a remonstrance is a reproof, to remonstrate is to reprove or correct) which gave them the name 'Remonstrants'. In substance the articles teach as follows:

1. God has decreed to save through Jesus Christ those of the fallen and sinful race who through the grace of the Holy Spirit believe in him, but leaves in sin the incorrigible and unbelieving. (In other words predestination is said to be conditioned by God's foreknowledge of who would respond to the gospel)
2. Christ died for all men (not just for the elect), but no one except the believer has remission of sin.
3. Man can neither of himself nor of his free will do anything truly good until he is born again of God, in Christ, through the Holy Spirit. (Though accused of such, Arminius and his followers were not Pelagians.)
4. All good deeds or movements in the regenerate must be ascribed to the grace of God but his grace is not irresistible.
5. Those who are incorporated into Christ by a true faith have power given them through the assisting grace of the Holy Spirit to persevere in the faith. But it is possible for a believer to fall from grace.

The Synod of Dort

The dispute soon became involved in politics. The Netherlands were divided between the supporters of "states rights", which included the wealthier merchant class (to which most Remonstrants belonged) and the national party (to which most Calvinists belonged). The National Party wished a national synod to decide the controversy. The states-rights party held that each province could decide its own religious affairs and resisted the proposal. By a coup d'etat the states-rights party was overthrown, Oldenbarneveldt was beheaded and Grotius was condemned to life imprisonment, from which he later escaped.

The Synod of Dort was convened to resolve the Arminian/Calvinist controversy. It lasted from November 1618 to May 1619, seven months. It was the largest and, next to the Westminster Assembly, the most imposing of all synods of the Reformed Churches. Besides representatives from the Netherlands, delegates from England, Scotland, the southern provinces of Germany, and Switzerland shared in its proceedings. Episcopius was the chief spokesman for the Remonstrants, the fire-breathing Gomarus led the charge against Arminianism. The Remonstrants requested an opportunity to discuss their views at the Synod, but were denied the opportunity. They soon realized that what they thought would be an open forum for theological discussion was in fact a hearing, and that they were in effect being tried for heresy. They were required to submit in writing statements in defense of the five articles of Remonstrance and points where they disagreed with the Belgic Confession. Finally, when they refused to go on if not given the opportunity to speak against the convictions of their opponents, the Remonstrants were expelled, and commanded not to leave Dort. Arminianism was unanimously rejected and condemned.

The Canon of Dort ("The Five Points of Calvinism")

Five theological points were formulated to answer the Remonstrants in a document known as the Canon of Dort, which declared:

• that fallen man was totally unable to save himself (Total Depravity)
• that God's electing purpose was not conditioned by anything in man (Unconditional Election)
• that Christ's atoning death was sufficient to save all men, but efficient only for the elect (Limited Atonement)
• that the gift of faith, sovereignly given by God's Holy Spirit, cannot be resisted by the elect (Irresistible Grace)
• that those who are regenerated and justified will persevere in the faith (Perseverance of the saints)

These doctrines have been called the five points of Calvinism and are often symbolized by the well known acronym TULIP. However, by themselves they are not a full exposition of Calvin's theology, but a caricature. The Canon of Dort is more properly viewed in its historical context as a theological response to the challenges of seventeenth century Arminianism. These doctrines, together with the Heidelberg Catechism and the Belgic Confession, became the doctrinal basis of the Dutch Church. Not so extreme as some individual Calvinists - it did not adopt Gomarus supralapsarian views - the synod of Dort reached the high-water mark of Calvinistic creed-making.

The Calvinists were rather heavy-handed in their dealings with their 'Arminian' brethren. For refusing to subscribe to the Canon of Dort, some 200 ministers were deprived of their positions, eighty were banished from the country. Those who continued to minister were sentenced to life in prison. In 1621, a Lutheran professor at Wittenberg, in response to an overture of fraternity from the Dutch Reformed, writes these remarks:

"What good there is to be expected from such brethren, may easily be gathered from the Synod of Dort and their proceedings. The Calvinists had several disputes with the Arminians, particularly about the article of grace or election, in which the latter defended our opinion, and the former that of Calvin. In this controversy, the Calvinists showed so much heat, that, by a hasty decree of that synod, they condemned the Arminians and their doctrines, without allowing them to make any defense, depriving them of the exercise of their religion, and banishing their most eminent ministers from their country forever. Was not that a very brotherly proceeding? If they thus treated such who differed from them in one article, namely predestination, what must we expect who differ from them in so many?"

Later Arminianism

A period of persecution followed until 1632. Since then the state has extended toleration to the group. Since 1795, the Remonstrants have been recognized in Holland as an independent church body. The present membership is 21,500. It is thought by many historians that Arminianism was a revival of a humanistic, rational, and moral understanding of Christianity as represented earlier in the Netherlands by Erasmus. As a theological system Arminianism tries to mediate between the supralapsarianism of Beza, who taught that God willed the fall of man in order to accomplish his decrees, and the Pelagian view, which denied original sin, regarding grace as unnecessary for salvation. Arminianism is flawed by a serious contradiction: on the one hand it affirms predestination and grace, while on the other hand denying it or gutting it of any real significance by asserting that it is conditional upon man's free will. The theologian Otto Heick describes Arminianism as an oxymoron, an "absolute conditionalism":

"God in his decrees is conditioned by man's free will -

Man in his search for salvation is conditioned by God's grace".

The real significance of Arminianism lies in the wider field of English and American church history. The evangelical tenets of Arminianism found a forceful expression in the teachings of John Wesley and the Methodists, with its emphasis on the moral responsibility of man, the need of a new birth, and the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit.

Source

The Arminians

"Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.
For our gospel came not unto you in word only,
but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance" (1 Thessalonians 1:4-5).

Arminianism derives its name from Jacobus Arminius, Professor of Divinity at Leyden University in Holland at the turn of the seventeenth century. Arminius had studied theology under Theodore Beza, Calvin's successor. Beza was one of the stronger proponents of the Reformed doctrine of predestination. But Arminius's theology represented a retreat from this position. In some ways, Arminius's theology was actually a return to the position taken by Roman Catholicism at the Council of Trent. Naturally, Arminianism stirred heated controversy in the Reformed churches.

Arminius died in 1609, almost a decade before the controversy over his teachings peaked. That occurred in 1618, when a group of the late professor's followers, known as the Remonstrants, issued a protest in the form of Five Articles to the Reformed Church of Holland. Those articles were condemned by the Synod of Dordt in 1619. The synod's five-point reply was an article-by-article refutation of the Remonstrants. (The position defined by the Synod has come to be known popularly as "the five points of Calvinism," though the five points were actually a response the Arminian Articles. Calvin himself never systematized his doctrine into five points).
The Canons of the Synod of Dordt thus constituted the Reformation's official reply to the Remonstrants. The Remonstrants were expelled from the Reformed Church, and Arminianism was tagged as a deviant doctrine. Far from dealing a crushing blow to the movement, however, the Synod of Dordt merely became the starting point for the underground spread of the doctrine. Today Arminianism is surely the majority view in Protestant churches.

There are many strains of Arminianism. The classic Arminianism of the Remonstrants had much in common with semi-pelagianism (a compromise position between the radical free-will doctrine of Pelagius and the strong predestinarian views of Augustine). The tendencies of the Remonstrants and those who followed them were barely evangelical. In the eighteenth century, John Wesley adopted Arminian doctrine and refined it with a strong evangelical emphasis on the Reformed doctrine of justification by faith. Wesley's variety of evangelical Arminianism survives today in the Churches of the Nazarene and other conservative Wesleyan groups. Less evangelical varieties of Arminianism range all the way from the pietism of the Holiness movement to the Socinianism of liberal denominations.

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Tutu chides Church for gay stance

This man is a heretic - read romans 1 for the judgment of God....

Rom 1:27 -32 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has criticised the Anglican Church and its leadership for its attitudes towards homosexuality.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4, he said the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, had failed to demonstrate that God is "welcoming".

He also repeated accusations that the Church was "obsessed" with the issue of gay priests.

He said it should rather be focusing on global problems such as Aids.

"Our world is facing problems - poverty, HIV and Aids - a devastating pandemic, and conflict," said Archbishop Tutu, 76.

"God must be weeping looking at some of the atrocities that we commit against one another.

"In the face of all of that, our Church, especially the Anglican Church, at this time is almost obsessed with questions of human sexuality."

Criticising Dr Williams, he said: "Why doesn't he demonstrate a particular attribute of God's which is that God is a welcoming God."

'Extraordinarily homophobic'

Archbishop Tutu referred to the debate about whether Gene Robinson, who is openly gay, could serve as the bishop of New Hampshire.

He said the Anglican Church had seemed "extraordinarily homophobic" in its handling of the issue, and that he had felt "saddened" and "ashamed" of his church at the time.

Asked if he still felt ashamed, he said: "If we are going to not welcome or invite people because of sexual orientation, yes.

"If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God."

Dr Williams has been working to limit divisions between liberal and traditionalist Anglicans that came to the fore following Bishop Robinson's consecration in 2003.

Following his plea for compromise, leaders of the Episcopal Church in the US agreed to halt the consecration of gay priests as bishops, to prevent a split in the Anglican Communion.

In the interview, Archbishop Tutu also rebuked religious conservatives who said homosexuality was a choice.

"It is a perversion if you say to me that a person chooses to be homosexual.

"You must be crazy to choose a way of life that exposes you to a kind of hatred.

"It's like saying you choose to be black in a race-infected society."

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"It Is Simply Amazing!"

By Darryl Eberhart, Editor of "Tackling the Tough Topics (TTT)" June 28, 2006 (Updated through: October 20, 2007) ( www.toughissues.org)

What I am about to tell you is "simply amazing!" A sizable portion of the "alternative media" tells us that "the Jews" (i.e., "the [Masonic-Zionist] Jews") RUN the New World Order, to include banking, the current U.S. administration, the U.S. Congress, Hollywood, and the mainstream media. Well, let's first just discuss Hollywood and the mainstream media. For if the Masonic-Zionist Jews do indeed CONTROL Hollywood and the mainstream media, then I am very confused. You may be asking: "Why are you confused?" I am glad you asked.

Dear reader, the greatest murderer of Jews over the past 1000 plus years has been the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. The ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH has also been the biggest murderer of independent Christian groups (e.g., the Albigensian and Waldensian Christians) - the biggest murderer of Protestants ( e.g., French Huguenots, Irish Protestants, and Bohemian Protestants) - and one of the biggest murderers of Orthodox Christians (e.g., the genocide carried out against Serb Orthodox Christians in ROMAN CATHOLIC-controlled Fascist Croatia in the 1940s). If the mainstream media and Hollywood are run by Masonic-Zionist Jews, then WHY aren't they exposing the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH'S extensive support of Fascist states that slaughtered Jews in Europe during World War II?

First, let's examine just a small portion of the well-documented history of ROMAN CATHOLIC mass murder of Jews. Please consider the following quotations:

"Jews were slaughtered by the thousands all across Europe as the [ROMAN] CATHOLIC Crusaders made their way to the 'Holy Land' to recover it from both Jews and Turks for the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH." - Dave Hunt ("A Cup of Trembling"; 1995; Page 159)

"One of history's most malevolent persons died on this day [September 16] in 1498. Tomas de Torquemada, as [ROMAN CATHOLIC] Inquisitor General of Spain, ordered more than 10,000 people to be burned at the stake because they didn't agree with his religious views. He used the Inquisition for religious and political reasons, believing punishment of [Ed. Note: so-called] 'heretics' and non-Christians - chiefly Jews and Muslims - was the only way to achieve political unity in Spain. Greatly feared and hated by millions, he persuaded [Spanish King] Ferdinand and [Queen] Isabella to rid Spain of Jews. More than a MILLION families were driven from Spain during that time. The country never recovered from the resulting decline." - Ron Hembree ("A Daily Joy"; Page 272)

".[ROMAN] CATHOLIC priest, [Monsignor] Fr. Jozef Tiso, ruler of Slovakia's Nazi puppet regime of 1939-45 sent that tiny country's Jewish population of 70,000 to the extermination camps in Poland." - Dave Hunt ("A Cup of Trembling"; 1995; Page 191)

"To a Jew, Hitler and [Italian Fascist dictator] Mussolini were 'Christians'. In fact, they were ROMAN CATHOLICS from birth, and in spite of
their horrendous crimes against humanity they were never excommunicated from their Church. The same was true of [Nazi SS Chief Heinrich] Himmler and many others in the Nazi hierarchy. Indeed, the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH has a long history of persecution, expulsion, and slaughter of Jews, to which Hitler referred in justifying the Holocaust." - Dave Hunt ("A Cup of Trembling"; 1995; Page 158)

Here is some of that historical record of ROMAN CATHOLIC slaughter of Jews:

(1) 1095 A.D. - Pope Urban II (pope: 1088-1099) proclaims the First Crusade. Here is what historian Will Durant has written concerning this PAPACY-instigated murder spree: "When in 1095, Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade, some Christians [ i.e., ROMAN CATHOLICS] thought it desirable to kill the Jews in Europe before proceeding so far to fight Turks in Jerusalem. Godfrey of Bouillon, having accepted the leadership of the crusade, announced that he would avenge the blood of Jesus upon the Jews leaving not one of them alive; and his companions proclaimed their intention to kill all Jews who would not accept Christianity [Ed. Note: i.e., the ROMAN CATHOLIC version of it]."

(2) 1096 A.D. - ROMAN CATHOLIC Crusaders slaughter half the Jews of Worms, Germany on their way through that town.

(3) 1099 A.D. - ROMAN CATHOLIC Crusaders, sent on a "holy" mission by the pope of Rome [ i.e., Pope Urban II], make it to the walls of Jerusalem. Upon capturing the city, the Crusaders herd the Jews into the synagogue, and then set it on fire. These ROMAN CATHOLIC Crusaders butcher almost all of the city's inhabitants - men, women, and children - Jews, Moslems, and probably even a few Christians! (The ROMAN CATHOLIC Crusaders had earlier slaughtered the inhabitants of the city of Antioch [in southern Turkey] - men, women, and children - when they had captured it!)

(4) 1236 A.D. - ROMAN CATHOLIC Crusaders slaughter Jews in the Anjou and Poitou regions of western France. Historian Will Durant tells us: "[ROMAN CATHOLIC Crusaders] invaded the Jewish settlements of Anjou and Poitou. [These ROMAN CATHOLIC Crusaders] bade all Jews be baptized; when the Jews refused, the [ROMAN CATHOLIC] Crusaders trampled 3000 of them to death under their horses' hoofs."

(5) 1243 A.D. - All Jews in Belitz, Germany (near Berlin) are burned alive by ROMAN CATHOLICS. According to historian Will Durant, their alleged crime was that "some of them had defiled a consecrated host".

(6) 1298 A.D. - All Jews in Rottingen are burned to death by ROMAN CATHOLICS. According to historian Will Durant, their alleged crime was: "desecrating a sacramental wafer".

(7) 14th century (1300s) - The ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH blames the Jews for the
"Black Death" (probably the bubonic plague). Here is what author Dave Hunt has written in his book, "A Woman Rides the Beast" (1994), concerning this time in history: "From the time the popes ruled Rome, the Jews' plight was far more grievous than it had ever been at the hands of the pagan rulers. Pagans had blamed every disaster upon Christians. Now the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH blamed all on the Jews. Accused of causing the 'Black Death', Jews were rounded up and hanged, burned, and drowned by the thousands in revenge." (Page 267)

(8) 1481 A.D. - Kickoff of the "Spanish Inquisition". The hierarchy of the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH choreographs an orgy of torture and burning people alive - called the Inquisition. Though it is aimed initially and primarily at Jews and Moslems, the Inquisition also targets those Christians whose beliefs are not completely in line with the Roman Catholic Church's doctrines and practices. In the first two years (1481-1483), at least 2000 individuals are burned alive. Author Dave Hunt, in his book "A Woman Rides the Beast" (1994), states: "In Spain alone the number of condemned exceeded three MILLION, with about 300,000 burned at the stake [during the length of the Spanish Inquisition]." (Page 79; Hunt quoting from R.W. Thompson's book "The Papacy and the Civil Power")

(9) 1941-1945 A.D. - The Jewish holocaust occurs in Nazi-Fascist-controlled Europe. Up to six MILLION Jews are murdered and starved to death. ROMAN CATHOLIC involvement in this holocaust is extensive. Roman Catholic German Knight of Malta Franz von Papen is one of the top players involved in putting Adolf Hitler into power. The German ROMAN CATHOLIC Center Party's endorsement of, and unanimous vote for, the "Enabling Act" of March 1933 is crucial, giving Adolf Hitler the 2/3s majority he needs to assume dictatorial powers in Germany. JESUIT "father" Himmler (uncle to Heinrich Himmler) is a top officer in the Nazi SS (which is admittedly modeled after the JESUIT ORDER). A number of ROMAN CATHOLIC priests put on the black uniforms of the Nazi SS. The VATICAN signs Concordats with Nazi Germany and with Fascist Italy. ROMAN CATHOLICS are installed as puppet dictators in a number of Fascist countries. For example, in Slovakia, the JESUIT priest, Monsignor Tiso, is installed as dictator. Additionally, Roman Catholic Knights of Malta head up three powerful intelligence agencies during World War II (William Donovan heads the American OSS - which later becomes the CIA; German General Reinhard Gehlen heads Nazi Intelligence on the eastern front; and Russian Anton Turkul heads Soviet Intelligence, and uses Jesuit priests for his couriers). By using elements within the warring factions, the VATICAN is able to ensure the slaughter of large numbers of its favorite targets: Jews, Protestants (in northern Germany and in Prussia), and Orthodox Christians. At the end of the war, the VATICAN helps many Nazi and Fascist war criminals to escape via the "Vatican Ratlines", hiding them in convents and monasteries in Europe until they can safely escape to such countries as the USA, Argentina, etc.

(10) 1941-1945 A.D. - The "VATICAN'S holocaust" occurs in Croatia. Though primarily directed against Serb Orthodox Christians, much smaller numbers of Jews and gypsies are also targeted. This monstrous, barbaric, and savage religious genocide is planned, orchestrated, and conducted by ROMAN CATHOLIC clergymen - mainly FRANCISCAN monks, friars, and priests, along with several high-ranking JESUITS. Roman Catholic Croatian Fuehrer Ante Pavelic teams up with high-ranking ROMAN CATHOLIC prelates, such as JESUIT Monsignor Aloysius Stepinac (Archbishop of Zagreb) and JESUIT Monsignor Ivan Saric (Archbishop of Sarajevo), to use ROMAN CATHOLIC Ustashi military units to torture and butcher from 600,000 to 1 MILLION innocent Serb Orthodox Christian men, women, elderly, and children. This religious genocide includes the most brutal forms of torture, forced conversions, burning people alive, raping and murdering girls and women, impaling young children alive on stakes, gouging out the eyes of victims to make necklaces, starving children to death, burying victims alive, crucifying Orthodox priests to wooden doors, and some other atrocities that I do not feel should be written in an article. ROMAN CATHOLIC clergymen not only frequently advise the Roman Catholic Ustashi military units on how to torture and murder, but also actually participate in the savagery. A Franciscan monk, by name of "father" Miroslav Filipovic, serves as the cruel camp commandant at Jasenovac (one of the worst of the concentration camps).

NOTE: The above historical items were taken from my TTT newsletter entitled "Bloody Hands & Wicked Hearts" that is posted on www.toughissues.org.

The ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH has for many decades tried to "WHITEWASH" her involvement in agitating, inspiring, and actually orchestrating and leading, the persecution and slaughter of Jews throughout history, and especially her involvement in such atrocities during World War II. Please consider the following quote by author Dave Hunt, in which he analyzes the Roman Catholic Church's modern "condemnation" of "anti-Semitism" from the Vatican II Council:

"Nothing could be more hypocritical than this statement [by the Roman Catholic Church's Vatican II Council condemning "anti-Semitism"]. The [Roman Catholic] Church strongly condemns 'hatreds, persecutions, anti-Semitism', but only by others, not by herself. No mention is made of the fact that during the many centuries when the [ROMAN] CATHOLIC CHURCH held sway over society, ruling even kings and emperors, she was the inspirer and perpetrator of an anti-Jewish bias as bad as anything the world has ever seen." ("A Cup of Trembling"; 1995; Page 165)

Indeed, ROMAN CATHOLIC involvement in helping to foment World War II (WWII), and then supporting ROMAN CATHOLIC-controlled Fascist regimes in Europe during that time, has been well documented. Please carefully consider the following quotations that show ROMAN CATHOLIC involvement "to the maximum" in WWII - involvement that resulted in the deaths of MILLIONS of both Jews and Christians:

"The public is practically unaware of the overwhelming responsibility carried by the VATICAN and its JESUITS in the starting of two world wars - a situation which may be explained in part by the gigantic finances at the disposition of the VATICAN and its JESUITS, giving them power in so many spheres, especially since the last conflict." - Edmond Paris ("The Secret History of the Jesuits"; 1975; Page 9)

"The JESUITS, in control of [Adolf] Hitler's occultic and homosexual Third Reich installed puppet dictators throughout Europe. They were:

(1) Bavarian Germany and the Third Reich - [Adolf] Hitler [born-died:
1889-1945]

(2) Italy - [Benito] Mussolini [born-died: 1883-1945]

(3) 'Vichy' France - [Henri Philippe] Petain [born-died: 1856-1951]

(4) Spain - [Francisco] Franco [born-died: 1892-1975]

(5) Austria - Seyss-Inquart

(6) Poland - Frank

(7) Slovakia - [Jesuit] Priest [Monsignor] Tiso

(8) Croatia - [Ante] Pavelitch (Ed. Note: alternate spelling: Pavelic)

(9) Belgium - Degrelle.

All these ROMAN CATHOLIC, JESUIT-controlled, Jew-hating dictators were loyal to the greatest war criminal of all, Papal Caesar Pius XII and his master, JESUIT [Superior] General Wlodimir Ledochowski." - Eric Jon Phelps ("Vatican
Assassins"; 2001; Page 478)

"The [Nazi] Third Reich is the first power which not only recognizes, but which puts into practice the high principles of the PAPACY." - Franz von Papen (German Roman Catholic Knight of Malta; January 14, 1934)

"The [ROMAN CATHOLIC] priests and the faithful must unhesitatingly uphold the great German state [i.e., Nazi Germany], and the Fuehrer [i.e., Adolf Hitler] whose struggle to set up [Nazi] Germany's power, honor and prosperity is in accord with the wishes of Providence [ i.e., the VATICAN]." - JESUIT Roman Catholic Cardinal Innitzer (Archbishop of Vienna, Austria)

"The declaration of [ROMAN CATHOLIC JESUIT] Monseigneur [Ed. Note: French spelling of "Monsignor"] Tiso, chief of the Slovakian state, stating his intention to build up Slovakia according to a Christian [sic] plan, has the full approval of the Holy See [ i.e., the PAPACY]." - Radio Vatican (June 1940)

"I have learnt most of all from the JESUIT ORDER. .So far, there has been nothing more imposing on earth than the hierarchical organization of the [ROMAN] CATHOLIC CHURCH. A good part of that organization I have transported direct to my own [Nazi] party. .The [ROMAN] CATHOLIC CHURCH must be held up as an example. I will tell you a secret. I am founding an order [Ed. Note: the Nazi SS]. In [Heinrich] Himmler [who would become head of the Nazi SS] I see our Ignatius de Loyola [Ed. Note: the founder of the Jesuit Order]." - Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; Roman Catholic Nazi leader of Germany from 1933-1945)

((Ed. Comment to the preceding quote: This quotation of Hitler was taken from Edmond Paris' book "The Vatican Against Europe"; 1959; Pages 252, 256.))

"The [ROMAN] CATHOLIC priests [in Fascist Croatia in the 1940s] changed their robes for the uniforms of the dreaded [ROMAN CATHOLIC] Ustashi [militia - and later the army] killer squads, and led the most barbaric, brutal raids upon those [Serb Orthodox Christian] people, and practiced satanic torture never before known in this century. We are not talking about 800 years ago. We are talking 1940." - Jack Chick ("Smokescreens"; 1983; Page 25)

"This [Ed. Note: her booklet "Ravening Wolves"] is the record of torture and murder committed in Europe in 1941-1945 by an army of [ROMAN] CATHOLIC Actionists known as the Ustashi, led by monks and priests, and even participated in by nuns." - Monica Farrell ("Ravening Wolves")

"Most of [Fascist] Croatia's [ROMAN] CATHOLIC clergy were fanatically behind [Croatian "supreme leader" Ante] Pavelic and his unbelievably evil regime. Medals were even given by Pavelic to nuns and priests, thus betraying the fact that many of them played active roles alongside the Ustashi military. FRANCISCAN monks in particular joined Ustashi battalions." - Dave Hunt ("A Woman Rides the Beast"; 1994; Page 301)

"[ROMAN] CATHOLIC religious orders gave total and continuous support to the [ROMAN CATHOLIC] Ustashi [militia - and later the army]. Before the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia (1941) their convents were hiding places for the Ustashi terrorists, [where they] concealed Ustashi presses, and were depositories of Ustashi subversive literature and even of hand grenades, guns and dynamite. The Ustashi carried out their [pre-World War II terrorist] activities screened by members of [ROMAN CATHOLIC] religious orders, male and female. Nuns prepared uniforms, emblems and medical equipment for Ustashi detachments." - Avro Manhattan ("The Vatican's Holocaust"; 1986; Page 99)

"Once [Croatian "supreme leader" Ante] Pavelic took power, [JESUIT] Archbishop [Aloysius] Stepinac issued a Pastoral Letter ordering the Croatian clergy to support the new Ustasha State. The involvement of [ROMAN] CATHOLIC clergy either in active participation or in blessing the Ustashi-run holocaust is well documented. One Franciscan monk, MiroslavFilipovic, headed the Jasenovac concentration camp for two years, during which time he directed the extermination of no less than 100,000 victims, mostly Serbian Orthodox. [JESUIT] Archbishop Stepinac headed the committee which was responsible for forcible 'conversions' to Roman Catholicism under threat of death - and was also the Supreme Military Apostolic Vicar of the Ustashi Army, which effected the slaughter of those who failed to convert [to Roman Catholicism]. [JESUIT Archbishop] Stepinac was known as the 'father-confessor' to the Ustashi, and continually bestowed the blessing of Holy Mother Church upon its members and actions." - Dave Hunt ("A Woman Rides the Beast"; 1994; Page 302)

"Estimates of the number of victims [of the VATICAN'S Holocaust in Croatia in the 1940s] exceed a MILLION. This is probably a realistic figure. Yugoslavia in its war crimes trials estimated that from 700,000 to 900,000 victims were 'tortured and put to death.[in] the two dozen concentration camps' within Croatia, and tens of thousands never reached the camps. Many were Jews, but most were Serbians of Orthodox faith who were give the choice of conversion to Roman Catholicism or death. Both in Yugoslavia and the Ukraine, ROMAN CATHOLIC priests, bishops, and cardinals, with the full knowledge of the VATICAN, participated in and gave their blessing to some of the bloodiest and most barbaric massacres of the war, aimed at giving ROMAN CATHOLICISM control of these regions." - Dave Hunt ("A Woman Rides the Beast"; 1994; Pages 303, 304)

"By a 'providential' synchronism, when [Italian dictator] Mussolini seized power in Italy thanks to don Sturzo, [who was a] JESUIT and chief of the CATHOLIC party, [then it was at that same time that] Monseigneur Seipel, a JESUIT, became chancellor of Austria. He held that position until 1929, with an interregnum of two years, and, during those decisive years, he led the Austrian interior politics on to the reactionary and clerical road; his successors followed him on that road which led to the absorption of that country into the German block. The bloody repression of working-class uprisings earned him [ i.e., JESUIT Seipel] the nickname 'Keine Milde Kardinal' - the 'Cardinal without mercy'." - Edmond Paris ("The Secret History of the Jesuits"; 1975; Page 139)

"It is believed that the Pope [ i.e., Pius XI] will offer these services to Signor [Benito] Mussolini through the JESUIT Father Pietro Tachi-Venturi, who is often consulted by Mussolini on important matters." (Daily Express,
2/9/1935) British United Press

"[Nazi SS Chief Heinrich] Himmler's CATHOLICISM was very important to him. He attended church regularly, took Communion, confessed, and prayed." G.S. Graber ("The History of the SS")

"Adolf Hitler himself was a ROMAN CATHOLIC. Hitler had been reared in a traditional [Roman] Catholic family. As a child and youngster little Adolf had regularly attended Mass, had served as an acolyte during Mass, had hoped to become a priest, and had attended school in a Benedictine monastery at Lambach, Austria. As an adult, Hitler remained a member in good standing in the ROMAN [CATHOLIC] CHURCH-STATE. At no time did officials of the [ROMAN CATHOLIC] CHURCH-STATE excommunicate him. When the German military plotted to assassinate Hitler in 1944, and the plot failed, the ROMAN [CATHOLIC] CHURCH-STATE in Germany offered a 'Te Deum' to thank God for the Fuehrer's escape." - John W. Robbins ("Ecclesiastical Megalomania"; 1999 and 2006; Page 167)

"The SS had been organized by [Heinrich] Himmler according to the principles of the JESUIT ORDER. The rules of service and spiritual exercises prescribed by Ignatius de Loyola [Ed. Note: the founder of the Jesuit Order] constituted a model which [Heinrich] Himmler strove carefully to copy. Absolute obedience was the supreme rule; every order had to be executed without comment." - Walter Shellenberg (Chief of the Nazi Sicherheitdienst)

((Ed. Comment to the preceding quote: ROMAN CATHOLIC priests put on the black uniforms of the Nazi SS, serving especially in the SS Central Security Service.))

"In the early days of May (1936), [German Knight of Malta Franz] von Papen entered into secret negotiations with Dr. Schussnigg (Austrian Chancellor) working on his weak point [ i.e., he was a devout Roman Catholic] and showed him how advantageous a reconciliation with [Nazi leader Adolf] Hitler would be as far as the VATICAN'S interests were concerned; the argument may seem odd, but Schussnigg was very devout, and von Papen was the POPE'S [German] chamberlain [ i.e., a high official in certain royal courts]. Not surprisingly, it was the [POPE'S] secret chamberlain [in Germany - i.e., Knight of Malta Franz von Papen] who led the whole affair, which ended, on the 11th of March 1938, with the resignation of the pious Schussnigg (pupil of the JESUITS), in favor of Seyss-Inquart, chief of the Austrian Nazis. The following day [March 12, 1938], the German troops entered Austria and the puppet government of Seyss-Inquart proclaimed the union of the country to the [Nazi German Third] Reich. The event was welcomed by an enthusiastic declaration of Vienna's archbishop, Cardinal Innitzer (a JESUIT)." - Edmond Paris ("The Secret History of the Jesuits"; 1975; Page 139)

"The German author Walter Hagen gives also this discreet information: 'The JESUITS' [Superior] General, Count Halke von Ledochowski, was ready to organize, on the common basis of anti-communism, some collaboration between the German Secret Service and the JESUIT ORDER.' As a result, within the SS Central Security Service, an organization was created, and most of its main posts were held by [ROMAN] CATHOLIC priests wearing the black uniform of the [Nazi] SS. The JESUIT [priest] 'father' Himmler [uncle of Heinrich Himmler] was one of its superior officers." - Edmond Paris ("The Secret History of the Jesuits"; 1975; Page 168)

".Kurt Heinrich Himmler [was] chief of the Gestapo [i.e., the secret police force of the German Nazi state], which meant he held in his hand the essential reins of power of the [Nazi] regime. Was it his personal merits which earned him such a high position? Did Hitler see in him a superior genius when he compared him [ i.e., Heinrich Himmler] to the creator of the Jesuit Order [i.e., Ignatius of Loyola]? It is certainly not what the testimonies of those who knew him imply, as they saw in him nothing more than mediocrity. Was that 'star' [of Heinrich Himmler] shining with a borrowed 'brightness'? Was it really Kurt Heinrich Himmler, the ostensible [ i.e., apparent] chief, who actually reigned over the Gestapo and the secret services? Who was sending millions of people, deported for political reasons, and Jews to their death? Was it the flat-faced nephew or [was it] the [JESUIT priest] uncle, the former Canon at the Court of Bavaria, one of [JESUIT Superior General] Ledochowski's favorites, a JESUIT 'father' and superior officer of the [Nazi] SS?" - Edmond Paris ("The Secret History of the Jesuits"; 1975; Page 168)

"When thousands of German anti-Nazis were tortured to death in Hitler's concentration camps, when the Polish intelligentsia was slaughtered, when hundreds of thousands of Russians died as the result of being treated as Slavic Untermenschen [subhumans], and when 6,000,000 human beings were murdered for being 'non-Aryan', [ROMAN] CATHOLIC CHURCH officials in Germany bolstered the [Nazi] regime perpetrating these crimes. The Pope in Rome [ i.e., Pius XII], the spiritual head and supreme moral teacher of the Roman Catholic Church, remained silent. In the face of these greatest of moral depravities which mankind has been forced to witness in recent centuries, the moral teachings of a Church [allegedly] dedicated to love and charity, could be heard in no other form but vague generalities." - Guenter Lewy ("The Catholic Church and Nazi Germany"; 1964; Page 341)

"[German] soldiers returning from the Eastern Front were telling horrible stories, how in occupied Russia Jewish civilians - men, women and children - were being lined up and machine-gunned by the thousands. In the spring of 1942 the leaflets of the 'White Rose', composed by a group of students and a professor of philosophy at the University of Munich, told of the murder of 300,000 Jews in Poland and asked why the German people remained so apathetic in the face of these revolting times?" - Guenter Lewy ("The Catholic Church and Nazi Germany"; 1964; Page 287)

"This concealment [of the truth concerning ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH cooperation with the Nazi regime] has been so bold and successful that in Germany.not a single [Roman Catholic] bishop had to resign his office [because of his cooperation with the Nazis during World War II]. Quite the contrary, Bishop Berning, who had served until the downfall of Hitler in Goering's Prussian State Council, in 1949 was given the honorary title of Archbishop. Herr [Franz] von Papen [who helped put Hitler into power and who negotiated the Concordat between the VATICAN and Nazi Germany in 1933] was made Papal Privy Chamberlain in 1959. Such rewards for men deeply involved with the Nazi regime represent a mockery of [the true] heroic figures.who died fighting Hitler." - Guenter Lewy ("The Catholic Church and Nazi Germany"; 1964; Page 321)

"Without the deadening hand of VATICAN control, resistance might have been multiplied across the country [ i.e., Nazi Germany during World War II] from the outset. And had [ROMAN] CATHOLIC officialdom, from the outset, not turned a blind eye to the expanding anti-Semitic propaganda and persecution, the terrible disaster that befell the Jews might never have occurred." - John Cornwell (Roman Catholic historian and journalist; "Hitler's Pope: The
Secret History of Pius XII"; 1999; Page 199)

"Practically every right-wing dictator of the period [i.e., in Europe during World War II] had been born and brought up a [ROMAN] CATHOLIC - notably Hitler, Franco, Petain, Mussolini, Pavelic, and Tiso (who was a CATHOLIC priest)." - John Cornwell ("Hitler's Pope"; 1999; Page 280)

"Fascism is the regime that corresponds most closely to the concepts of the CHURCH OF ROME." - Civilta Cattolica (House organ of the JESUITS)

Well, then, we seem to have a well-documented history that:

(1) The ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH has been slaughtering Jews from at least the time of the early Crusades.

(2) The ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH launched a "holy" INQUISITION that initially targeted many Jews in Spain.

(3) The ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH was heavily involved in supporting Nazi Germany and other Fascist regimes in Europe during World War II - at a time when up to 6 MILLION Jews were being exterminated by these ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH-supported murdering regimes!

Let us remember that much of the "alternative media" tells us that the "Masonic-Zionist Jews" are running the New World Order! Much of the "alternative media" also tells us that these Masonic-Zionist Jews are running Hollywood and the mainstream media. If these Masonic-Zionist Jews are really running Hollywood and the mainstream media, then why in blazes aren't CNN, Fox, ABC, NBC, and CBS telling us the whole story about ROMAN CATHOLIC heavy-duty involvement in fomenting World War II (WWII), helping to bring Hitler to power, filling key positions in the Nazi SS, supporting numerous Fascist regimes in Europe during WWII, orchestrating the "VATICAN'S Holocaust" in Croatia, and helping Fascist war criminals escape at the end of WWII via the VATICAN Ratlines? Why isn't Hollywood producing numerous movies to show us all these facts that tie the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH directly into brutal genocide against Jews and Christians in Europe during WWII? After all, we've seen from the numerous quotations in this article that the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH has been the greatest enemy the Jews have ever seen - especially in the past 1000 plus years! Again I must ask: "If the 'Masonic-Zionist Jews' are controlling the mainstream media and Hollywood in America, then why in blazes aren't they exposing this greatest enemy of the Jews, i.e., the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH? WHY? WHY? WHY?

Let me tell you "WHY" this isn't happening: It is because the "Masonic-Zionist Jews" are NOT "in charge". Oh, yes, they hold some mid-level "management positions" within the New World Order (to include some positions inside Hollywood and America's mainstream media), and even a couple high-level "management positions". However, they are NOT the "top player" in the New World Order. The real "controllers" (who operate "in the shadows" and "behind the scenes") are the "secret societies", such as the JESUIT ORDER, its Knights of Malta, and the top levels of JESUIT-controlled Freemasonry. (They direct and "steer" the mid-level managers.) Some folks in the "alternative media" love to point out that the Jewish B'nai B'rith is a Masonic organization, and it indeed is. But, WHO runs Freemasonry? Please consider the following quotes:

".If you trace up Masonry, through all its Orders, till you come to the grand tip-top, head Mason of the World, you will discover that the dread individual and the Chief of the Society of Jesus [i.e., the BLACK POPE - the Superior General of the JESUIT ORDER] are one and the same person." - James Parton (American historian)

"This inner and invisible Freemasonry is international in extent, and it is within the Inner Circle that the JESUITS conceal themselves, work, and mastermind the projects that suit their goals." - John Daniel ("The Grand Design Exposed"; 1999; Page 170)

"Without exception, every chief actor in the French Revolution [of 1789-1799] was either JESUIT-educated, a [ROMAN] CATHOLIC prelate, or a member of the Illuminati Order [Ed. Note: a JESUIT front organization] where within the Jacobin Club they would come together to conspire and carry out the 'Great Work' - which in the open system of the Jacobins was the reflection of the complete hidden system of the Illuminati - and in back of the Illuminati were the hidden JESUIT 'masters'." - John Daniel ("The Grand Design Exposed"; 1999; Pages 212, 213)

"There are other secret and semi-secret organizations such as the International Bankers, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Bilderberger Group, [the] Club of Rome, the Trilateral Commission, the New Age Movement, the Illuminati, and Freemasonry, who are all deeply involved in global politics, and who actively promote the uniting of the people of our planet under a New World Order. However.these all are but mere 'front' organizations, behind which the true source of power [i.e., the JESUIT ORDER] hides, and uses [them] to distribute and channel its designs. And, as in any conspiracy, secrecy and shifting attention and blame away from itself is paramount to its success." - John Daniel ("The Grand Design Exposed"; 1999; Page 9)

I highly recommend that you read John Daniel's book "The Grand Design Exposed". His 411-page paperback book makes a compelling case that the ROMAN CATHOLIC JESUIT ORDER took over the top levels of British and French Freemasonry. To order his book for $20 postpaid, please make check or postal money order payable to "American Sentry Books", and mail it to: American Sentry Books // P.O. Box 14 // Crawley, WV 24931.

Well, someone may now ask: "Didn't the mainstream media expose some of the horrible pedophilia in the Roman Catholic Church?" Yes, they did - but how could they not help but do so, since so much information was leaking out about it through numerous sources (such as many local newspapers)? They simply reported what was necessary to show that they were aware of the problem, and so that they would not lose total credibility with the American people!

NO, the "Masonic-Zionist Jews" do NOT control Hollywood or the mainstream media in America. They do NOT control international banking (although there are some wealthy Jews involved), the international intelligence community, or the New World Order itself! The JESUIT ORDER (which controls the Vatican, the wealthy and powerful Knights of Malta, and the top levels of Freemasonry) is the TOP PLAYER on the world's geopolitical-financial-religio us "chessboard"!

The following famous men warned us about the JESUIT ORDER:

".They [i.e., the JESUITS] are a secret society, a sort of Masonic order with super added features of revolting odiousness, and a thousand times more dangerous. They are not merely priests, or priests of one religious creed; they are merchants, and lawyers, and editors, and men of any profession, having no outward badge (in this country [ i.e., the USA]) by which to be recognized; they are about in all your society. They [i.e., the JESUITS] are educated men, prepared, and sworn to start at any moment, and in any direction, and for any service, commanded by the general of their order [ i.e., the Jesuit Superior General, the "Black Pope"], bound to NO family, community, or country, by the ordinary ties which bind men; and sold for life to the cause of the ROMAN PONTIFF." -Samuel F.B. Morse (1791-1872; American inventor of the telegraph)

"My history of the JESUITS is not eloquently written, but it is supported by unquestionable authorities, is very particular and very horrible. Their restoration [i.e., the Jesuits' reinstatement as a religious order by Pope Pius VII in 1814] is indeed a step toward darkness, cruelty, perfidy, despotism, [and] death. .I do not like the appearance of the JESUITS. If ever there was a body of men who merited eternal damnation on earth and in hell, it is this Society of Loyola's [ i.e., the Jesuits, the "Company"]." (1816; from a letter to Thomas Jefferson) John Adams (1735-1826; 2nd President of the United States)

"[The JESUITS] are the deadly enemies of civil and religious liberty." - R.W. Thompson (Ex-Secretary, American Navy)

"It is my opinion that if the liberties of this country - the United States of America - are destroyed, it will be by the subtlety of the ROMAN CATHOLIC JESUIT priests, for they are the most crafty, dangerous enemies to civil and religious liberty. They have instigated most of the wars of Europe." -Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834; French statesman and general)

NOTES added on October 20, 2007:

(1) I originally wrote this article on June 28, 2006. I finished this second update early this morning on Oct. 20, 2007. Nothing much has changed with that large section of the so-called "alternative media" that likes to blame "the Jews" for two world wars - and for allegedly running the "New World Order". They continue to ignore "tons" of historical evidence that clearly shows that the Vatican-Papacy-Jesuit-Knights of Malta cabal was the fomenter of those two world wars - and is the "Number One Player" on the New World Order "chessboard".

(2) Please do some research about this wealthy and powerful Vatican-Papacy-Jesuit-Knights of Malta cabal. At the end of a number of my writings posted on www.toughissues.org you will find quite a large number of recommended "informational tools", such as DVDs, audiotapes, and books. Please obtain as many as you can afford, and then share them with others. And here are some other websites that contain important information about the Vatican-Papacy-Jesuit-Knights of Malta cabal (I will try to list as many as I can remember - some of them have articles that deal with this cabal, and others have "broadcast/podcast interviews" of folks who have written about this cabal - and some of them recommend other resources for further research on this wealthy and powerful cabal):

(1) www.ctwilcox.com (Canadian actor and author C.T. Wilcox's website; I highly recommend that you purchase a copy of his 345-page paperback book
"The Transformation of the Republic".)

(2) www.arcticbeacon.com (Broadcast host Greg Szymanski's website)

(3) www.gordoncomstock.com (Podcast host "Gordon Comstock's" website)

(4) www.vyzygoth.com (Broadcast host "Vyzygoth's" website)

(5) www.vaticanassassins.org (Author Eric Jon Phelps' website; I recommend
that you purchase a copy of his CD-ROM "Vatican Assassins".)

(6) www.vaticandesignexposed.com (Author John Daniel's website; I recommend
that you purchase a copy of his 411-page paperback book "The Grand Design
Exposed".)

(7) www.bereanbeacon.org (Author Richard Bennett's website; I recommend that
you purchase a copy of his 58-minute color DVD "The Inquisition".)

(8) www.amazingdiscoveries.org (Seventh Day Adventist website; I recommend
that you purchase copies of Professor Walter J. Veith's DVDs that deal with
the Jesuit Order, secret societies, and Papal Rome.)

(9) www.chick.com (Chick Publications website; I recommend that you buy the
book "The Secret History of the Jesuits" by Edmond Paris, and the book
"Smokescreens" by Jack Chick, from them.)

(10) www.whitehorsemedia.com (Steve Wohlberg's website; I recommend that you
buy his book "End Time DELUSIONS".)

NOTE: The above websites are NOT listed in any particular order - and my inclusion of each of them does NOT mean that I agree necessarily with
EVERYTHING that may be posted on that particular website. If I have forgotten to list a good website of which I am aware that deals with the
Vatican-Papacy-Jesuit-Knights of Malta cabal - or if I do not personally know of a particularly good website that deals with this cabal and thus
failed to list it - then please FORGIVE me! And please do make good use of all the above-listed websites while they are STILL there. Powerful people want desperately to totally CONTROL the Internet, and they will no doubt SOON move to do so!

Lastly, I would like you to consider this following Bible verse - and a request from me:

"Who will rise up for me against the evildoers, or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?" (Psalm 94:16)

REQUEST: Please print off copies of this article and give them to others. The truth about WHO is really running America MUST be told to the American people! If you received this article via E-Mail, then please forward the main text (from "BEGIN TEXT" to "END TEXT") on to others. THANKS!

END TEXT.

I hope that the above information proves helpful. Again, the American people MUST be told WHO really is the TOP PLAYER on the geopolitical and financial scene today!

Psalm 94:16, Ephesians 5:11, and Ezekiel 22:30

In Christ,
Darryl Eberhart