CONSTANTINE ANTICHRIST

The Westminster Confession states the following: “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 exalts himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God” (25:6).

"The Bible says:
The antichrist has been here since the first century  (1John 2:18, 1John 4:3)
The antichrist will still be here when Jesus Christ returns  (2 Thessalonians 2:8)
Therefore…

The antichrist cannot be a single personality because the antichrist has been here almost 2000 years so far.

The antichrist must be an office or a position of authority

The antichrist will not occupy a temple in Jerusalem but will occupy a place amongst what might initially appear to be the body of Christ. The antichrist will sit as the head of this false church. (2 Thessalonians 2:4)

There is only one possibility that can fulfill all these prophesies. And the pope is the only possible position that fulfills all of these scriptural prophesies.

But just as Jesus Christ is the only possible fulfillment of who was to be the Messiah, so too, the pope is the only possible fulfillment of who would be the antichrist. And still millions of people are blind to both

Roman Catholics see the pope as Christ’s vicar, which means, substitute. The pope’s Latin title is Vicarius Filii Dei, which means "Substitute for the Son of God." In the Greek, "antichrist" simply means "in the place of Christ" Thus, by very definition, the pope IS the antichrist.

The word "Pope" means "Father." The word "Father" as a title was forbidden by Jesus Christ:

“And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.” -Matthew 23:9" - extracted from The Bible says The Pope is the Antichrist

 

Is the Pope really the AntiChrist of the Bible?Is the Roman Church the WHORE of Babylon mentioned in the Book of Revelations by John the Beloved? Find out from this post if my findings are true. May His Holy Spirit enlightened you to know the truth and open your eyes of what God is telling His people.

"The Whore of Babylon or Babylon the Great is a symbolic female figure and also place of evil mentioned in the Book of Revelation in the Bible. Her full title is stated in Revelation 17:5 as Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and Abominations of the Earth (Greek: μυστηριον, Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη, ἡ μήτηρ τῶν πορνῶν καὶ τῶν βδελυγμάτων τῆς γῆς;  transliterated Mysteriōn, Babylōn hē megalē, hē mētēr tōn pornōn kai tōn bdelygmatōn tēs gēs)."

"Historicist interpreters commonly used the phrase "Whore of Babylon" to refer to the Roman Catholic Church. Reformation writers from Martin Luther (1483–1546) (who wrote On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church), John Calvin (1509–1564), and John Knox (1510–1572) (who wrote The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regiment of Women) taught this association.^{" - Wikipedia}

Mystery Babylon: The Church Moves From Persecuted To Persecutor.

"Pagan Rome rises and falls. Its history is clearly heralded by many. And as a true child of Babylon it plays its part well. Its hatred of and persecution of both Jews and Christians is well documented. Rome's mysteries I have already mentioned. They coincide with those of the beginner of all the mysteries, ancient Babylon.

Satan has had an unbroken chain of success in deceiving mankind. But even with all of his force, his intoxicating doctrines, his confusion, he sees that instead of defeating the purposes of God, the people on God's side continue to multiply. Through the resurrection of the Christ that Satan tried to avert has come a veritable shower of life, claiming many of Lucifer's followers.
The Roman Empire, aptly described by Daniel(chapters 2 and 7) in the most horrific of terms, has not scared off God's people after all. Quite the opposite, as there is unparalleled growth of the Kingdom of God.

Serious problem here. When you've given it your best shot and you're failing, what next? Shoot again. But with what? If the Empire cannot crush the fledgling church, what can? There is a sinister smile on Satan's face as he decides on a totally different tactic for the Christians: acceptance.
The higher the authority that accepts a human, the better that person feels about himself, and the more beholden he becomes. If Satan's bunch actually "accept" the church, will she yield to those pressures, when the threat of violence and death made no dent at all?
To help answer that question, I introduce now the next player in this drama, would-be Emperor Constantine.

Here again I need your undivided attention. Listen to this scheme of all schemes with the horror due it.

After more than 300 years of burning, torturing, demeaning Christians, there is a lull in history. Constantine allegedly sees a vision of a cross, and is told that he must now conquer in that sign. I say "allegedly" because I was not there, and the witnesses are not of the caliber of Spirit-inspired Bible-writers. I trust you will forgive my hesitancy to accept the standard story.
In fact historians have debated as to

1) whether he even saw a vision
2) exactly what he saw
3) who gave the supposed vision
It's an interesting question, the answer to which has absolutely nothing to do with what follows. What did the vision produce?

Facts agreed upon:
1) After the "vision," the soldiers of Constantine had an emblem that they took to stand for Christ placed on their shields, and with these shields facing their enemy( another would-be emperor) they won.
2) Constantine prayed to his sun-god, Mithras, before the battle.
3) He in fact prayed to that god until the day of his death, on which day he is alleged to have received "baptism".

So, Constantine, a Caesar, pro-Christ but not of-Christ, lifts the church from its obscure dungeons, and brings it to the light of day, at least the Babylonian day of Pagan Rome.
Freedom is sweet to the persecuted church. Had you and I been there, we would have done what that early church now does: honor the man who brings you out of suffering.

Honor and attention are what Constantine thrives on. Many of his subjects are Christians, and the vision is well-timed, whatever its origin. As Pharaoh of Egypt, he does the "smart" thing and averts a potential revolution of a growing people.

And Constantine's bondage of servitude is of a kinder, nobler sort. All he wants for rescuing the Christians from persecution, death, and the other things that the early church has come to accept as normal (after all, didn't Jesus promise all this?), all he wants, I say, is complete control of the church.
It is tempting to say nice things about Constantine. All the books do, you know. He was a great man, after all. He did, like Lincoln, "free the slaves." Oh, our flesh loves him. I mean, can we imagine the great burden of stinking prisons, bloodshed, unequaled torture suddenly removed? Can we not weep with joy with the early believers, as their chains fall off, and say, "THANKS, Constantine "?

Consider, from our present vantage point, what has really happened. Constantine, you have unwittingly wedded your Babylon to the Bride of Christ, purified by hundreds of years of fire. The ultimate act of prostitution is here committed by the Pimp of the ages, Lucifer.

Oh, Satan! Kings and princes of all times you have deceived and lured into your bed, but the Virgin of Christ! How low can your adulterous mind bring you?

Through Constantine, the mother of harlots conceives and bears yet another loathsome offspring. The seed of Satan penetrates the womb of the young church yet again, in a far more harmful way than the false teachers who were, in the main, recognized and expelled. In Constantine, a benefactor, the church is caught unawares, and settles down to be raped." - Extracted fromMystery Babylon: The Church Moves From Persecuted To Persecutor. Series Contributed by Bob Faulkner on Jul 9, 2015 

To be continued

SEMIRAMIS and REINCARNATION

INTRODUCTION
The beliefs in both reincarnation and resurrection are very ancient. The satanic doctrine of reincarnation came through a woman, named Semiramis, who claimed that her husband, Nimrod, who had been executed for hideous crimes, was reborn as her son, Tammuz.  This occurred in the forth generation after Noah and the Great Flood (about 4000 years ago). Prior to this God had personally taught Adam and he had 930 years to ponder the Lord’s teaching before he died.  In turn Adam taught his son, Seth, and Seth taught his son Enos, and so on down to Noah.  Then after the Great Flood in the latter years of Noah’s life, Semiramis began teaching reincarnation in Babel. Not long afterwards Job and Abraham were fully knowledgeable and convinced of the Biblical doctrine of resurrection (Job 19:23-27; Genesis 22:1-18; cf. Hebrews 11:17-19).

God’s holy and infallible Word, the King James Bible, soundly refutes reincarnation, and clearly teaches resurrection.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the single most important event in human history.  The Lord Jesus Christ’s resurrection proved His claim to be God, and His ability to do everything He promised, including raising both all born again believers in Christ to live eternally in Heaven, and all Christ rejecters to stand at the final Judgement to be cast into the Lake of Fire to be tormented forever and ever.  

Reincarnationists would have us believe the clever satanic lie that Jesus was only one incarnation of the Christ spirit along with Adam, Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, and others.  But the Bible says that Christ, the second member of Trinity (I John 5:7), the Creator of all things (John 1:1-3) “was made flesh…the only begotten of the Father” (John 1:14).  The Bible further states that “there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (I Timothy 2:5).  “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”  (Acts 4:12; cf. John 14:6)  Adam is not God, Adam was created by God; Buddha is not the “one mediator between God and men,” he didn’t even believe there is a God; Confucius was not “the only begotten of the Father,” but was just a confused humanistic philosopher; and like wise, Mohammed was not the one and only unique God Man, but just another in a long line of antichrists (I John 2:18, 4:1-3; II John 7, 9).  The Bible makes it absolutely clear that the Lord Jesus Christ became flesh only once, and that in order to offer Himself as a blood sacrifice for “the sins of the world” (John 1:14, 29; Hebrews 9:22-10:14; I John 2:2).  Then on the third day after the Lord gave His life for us on the cross he rose from the dead (Acts 2:23-24, 3:13-16, 4:33, 5:30, 10:39-43, 13:26-37; I Corinthians 15:3-7). The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the heart of the Gospel message of salvation (Romans 10:9-10; I Corinthians 15:1-3: I Peter 1:3-5; John 5:21, 6:40).  

The fact of the matter is that our future life is not determined by our good and bad deeds, which one out weighs the other.  That is called karma in the doctrine of reincarnation. In that false system one’s karma (a balance of good and bad deeds) determines his position in his next incarnation.  The fact of the matter is that every individual’s future is determined by what they do with Christ Jesus in this lifetime.  Whoever receives the Lord Jesus in repentance and faith realizing that it was for his sins that the Lord suffered and died will receive the free gift of eternal life and salvation from Hell, but the one who dies without Christ will suffer the eternal fires of Hell forever.  There will be no second, third, and so on chances to keep coming back until he finally gets it right.  “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the Judgement.” (Hebrews 9:27)  


Reincarnation (also called metempsychosis and transmigration) is one of the “doctrines of devils” that the Bible speaks of (I Timothy 4:1)!  In reincarnation salvation comes by works (building up good karma). But God expressly says that salvation is “by grace … through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  Not of works, lest any man boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9; cf. Titus 3:5)  Reincarnation is a fable, and a lie.  There are only two places that people go to when they die:  Heaven or Hell.  There is no purgatory, no rebirth into another body, no annihilation, and no Nirvana.  Those are also fables and “doctrines of devils” that have their roots in reincarnation. The facts in this study will define reincarnation, examine its origin and history, look at the evidence for and against it, and expose it for what it really is, a lie of Satan.

SCRIPTURAL REFUTATION OF REINCARNATION
The Bible has proven itself over and over again to be the trustworthy, infallible, indestructible, inerrant, and holy Word of God.  The many 100% accurate prophecies that have been fulfilled prove the Bible’s accuracy.  Furthermore, scholars have shown that there are mathematical structures in the original language of the Bible which cannot be duplicated by man. This math structure runs in the very words, sentences, and paragraphs of all 66 books of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.  The letters of the Greek and Hebrew alphabets were also used as numbers when the Bible was written.  The supernatural math structure has to do with multiples of the number 7 that run throughout the Bible in the texts of the Hebrew Old Testament, and the Greek New Testament.  Similarly the theme of the Bible, salvation through the blood of Christ, runs throughout, in spite of the fact that it was written over a period of 1500 years by some 40 men.  Other evidences that prove the Bible to be God’s Word are its scientific and historical accuracy, and its supernatural power to change people’s lives.  These and other evidences prove the trustworthiness of the Bible beyond any reasonable doubt.  But in spite of these facts, that any thinking person can examine for himself, some reincarnationists allege “that the parts of the Bible which clearly taught reincarnation were suppressed … by biased ‘editors.’ The ‘editing’ took place allegedly in the [early] Church Councils. … Such beliefs are notable only for their lack of historical integrity. … [I]t would make no difference what [the] … councils decided, because one can go directly to the most ancient texts [which were written before the councils were held].  … The ancient world was so flooded with copies of the New Testament that it was beyond the power of any [council] to expunge … doctrines from them. … [And these] already contained huge amounts of teaching that deny the premise of reincarnation.” [101]  If God can create the Universe, and He did, then He can certainly preserve His Word for all generations.  The Lord Jesus Christ said:  “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35, cf. 5:17-18; I Peter 1:24-25; Psalm 119:89)  God’s indestructible Word preserves for us today every word and every doctrine that He originally delivered to His servants the prophets (II Peter 1:20-21; I Peter 1:10-12).  There are many verses of Scripture, and many doctrines in the Bible that clearly and soundly refute the false doctrine of reincarnation, settling the question once for all.  Here are some of the Scriptures and Bible doctrines that refute reincarnation:

Job 19: 25-27:  Job is the oldest book of the Bible, written not long after the Great Flood.  Job knew that the Lord Jesus Christ would come to this earth in the end times and that he would see the Lord in his own resurrected body, not someone else’s reincarnated body.  This passage says:

“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:  And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:  Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.”

John 3:13:  Reincarnation, if it were true, should have some people that have reached perfection through countless millions of reincarnations. However, Jesus said no one had been to heaven when He spoke to Nicodemus.  When the Lord Jesus was on earth no one had yet been to Heaven, except the Lord Himself.  After His resurrection He took the souls those in Paradise or Abraham’s Bosom to heaven with Him (Luke 16:22-26; Eph 4:7-9).   In John 3:13 the Lord said:

“And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”

John 3: 3-8:  The Lord Jesus made it unmistakably clear that He was not talking about reincarnation, but spiritual birth when He spoke to Nicodemus.  John 3: 3-8 reads:  

“… Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”
John 9:1-3:  The man born blind was born so not because of his bad karma, but for the glory of God.  John 9:1-3 says:  

“And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.  And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”

Hebrews 9:25-26:   The Bible says that Christ “… hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18); and “… we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10).  Jesus was never reincarnated.  Hebrews 9:25-26 says:

“Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;  For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”

Hebrews 9:27-28:  The Word of God makes it clear that it is appointed unto man once to die and after that he will be judged by God.  Those who have been born twice, physically and spiritually will die only physically; but those who have been born only once will die twice, a second death after his judgment (Revelation 20:11-15).  There is only one death before the judgment.  Hebrews 9:27-28 reads:

“And as it is appointed unto man ONCE to die, But after this the judgment:  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”

The Doctrine of God:  All religions holding to the false doctrine of reincarnation reject Bible truth concerning the personality and works of God.  Some believe there is a Creator, but that he has no personal attributes like memory, love, anger, and so forth; others believe that nature, rather than God are eternal; others believe it is impossible to know if there is a God; and the most absurd of all, some believe there is no God at all.  The Word of God teaches that:

* God has a mind and memory (Jeremiah 29:11, 31:20; Isaiah 43:25; Hosea 8:13; II Timothy 2:19).  In fact God knows everything (I John 3:20; Isaiah 46:9-10).

* God has a will (Matthew 6:10; Hebrews 10:7, 9; I John 2:17).

* God is a personal spirit (John 4:24; Hebrews 1:3).

* God speaks (Exodus 3:12; Matthew 3:17; Luke 17:6).  

* God sees and hears (Genesis 6:5; Exodus 2:24).

* God loves (Romans 5:5, 8; I John 4:8-10; John 3:16).

* God hates (Proverbs 6:16-19, 8:13; Revelation 2:6, 15).

* God created everything (Genesis 1:1; John 1:1-3; Hebrews 11:3; Colossians 1:16; Genesis 1:14-18; Psalm 148:1-5; Isaiah 42:5; Nehemiah 9:6; Genesis 1:11-12, Genesis 1:20-25; Psalm 148:3, 5; Nehemiah 9:6; Colossians 1:16; Genesis 1:26-27, 2:7; Psalm 139:13-16; Isaiah 42:5, 57:16; Zechariah 12:1; Ecclesiastes 12:7; Hebrews 12:9; Isaiah 45:8; Matthew 25:41; John 14:1-6).
   
* God upholds His creation and keeps it in operation (Hebrews 1:3; Colossian 1:17).

* God judges (Exodus 12:12; Romans 3:19; Acts 10:34-43, 17:31; Hebrews 12:23; Ezekiel 18:30; Revelation 20:11-15; Jude 14-15; II Corinthians 5:10).

* That only the fool hath said in his heart, “There is no God.” (Psalm 14:1, 53:1; Romans 1:20-22).

The Doctrine of Christ:  Reincarnationists almost universally deny the Biblical doctrine of Christ.  However the Word of God teaches that Lord Jesus Christ is the second member of the Trinity, the One True God in three persons: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. All three members of the Trinity are totally one in being, plan, purpose, unity, and essence.  All are coequal in power, holiness, and every attribute.  The holy Trinity is uncreated, without beginning, and eternal.  The Bible says:  “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are One.” (I John 5:7)  All three members of the Trinity are spirit and had no body until “the Word was made flesh” and was born of the virgin Mary (John 1:14, 4:24; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-35).  It was at this point that the Word or Christ became a human being names Jesus (meaning saviour).  This is the main thrust of the doctrine of Christ:  “God was manifest in the flesh.” (I Timothy 3:16). Christ, the Word, was incarnate once, not even twice, but just once.  He was not reincarnate, but “incarnate” (meaning in the flesh).  The Word of God says:

  “[W]hen the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His son [Christ, the Word] made of a woman, made under the Law, to redeem them that were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5)  

Christ’s coming into the world had only one main purpose: To provide a perfect and sinless sacrifice who would  offer Himself just once for the salvation of all Hell deserving lost people.  This sacrifice was to satisfy God’s justice, if people would only turn from their sins to Christ and receive the gift of eternal life by faith (I John 3:5; II Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 9:22-10:14; Ephesians 2:8; Romans 3:23-26, 5:1, 8, 6:23; John 3:16).  This was actually done in history, “when the fullness was come,” and it was done “once for all” by Jesus Christ, God incarnate, the only one capable of paying such a price to redeem “whosoever will” believe and receive Him as personal Lord and Saviour.  

This is basically the doctrine of Christ, but contrary to the Word of God on this subject reincarnationists will tell us:

1. “[Christ became aware that he was the Saviour] when He fell, in Eden.” (Edgar Cayce)  This implies that Christ was a reincarnation of Adam.  If this was true, and it isn’t, it would mean Christ was not sinless, but He is (I John 3:5).  

2. “Christ is … the one complete idea of perfect man and divine Mind.  This Christ or perfect man idea existing eternally in divine Mind is the true, spiritual, higher-self of every individual.” (Unity School of Christianity).  That is the oldest satanic lie in the Book!  The Devil told Eve, You are God (Genesis 3:4-5).  

3. “[I]n time all men become christs.” (Theosophy) That’s not the Biblical doctrine of Christ!  The Lord Jesus said that this false teaching would increase in the last days and that we should beware of it when He said, “… Take heed that no man deceive you.  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” (Matthew 24:4-5)

“[Jesus Christ] was a spirit belonging to our human evolution, and so was Gautama Buddha.” (Rosicrucianism) Again, this isn’t the doctrine of Christ! 

Reincarnationists are universally either atheists (believe there is no God), pantheists (believe everything is God), or polytheists (believe there are many gods).  Religions that hold the doctrine of reincarnation all deny the doctrine of Christ.  If you are a born again Christian the Word of God says:

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” (1 John 4:1-3)

“Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.  Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.  If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:  For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” (2 John 8-11)

This does not mean that we do not witness to these precious people for whom Christ Jesus died.  It does mean that the child is not to receive the teachers or teachings of these antichrist religions.

Extracted from Reincarnation In History & In Scripture By John Henry, Th.D May 2, 2005  - YOU CAN READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE by clicking HERE.

JESUS HATES RELIGION!

Many people are deceived and being deceived and lured into a Christless religion by many false Church Leaders, Priests, Pastors, Elders, ETC. People are taught that they should JOIN AND BECOME A MEMBER OF THEIR RELIGION to be SAVED and that their Religion is the true CHURCH whereby you must join to be come righteous and holy... Is this really what the BIBLE is teaching?.... Well, In my country who is a country of many tongues and beliefs and religion... a country named after a Spanish and Portugese King who is called by many as champion of the Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation. For centuries their minds had been conditioned and their hearts had been taught that it is through RELIGION that MAN CAN BE SAVED and NOT THROUGH CHRIST ALONE. A CULTURE KNOWN AS FILIPINO CULTURE... known all over the world as corrupt yet religious.  LET US REMEMBER... RELIGION... IS NOT CHRIST... NOR CHRIST IS RELIGIOUS! WE MUST GET OUT OF HER BEFORE IT IS TO LATE! THERE IS NO RELIGION OR CHURCH THAT CAN SAVE YOU! ONLY CHRIST and IT IS HIM ALONE AND THERE IS NO OTHER!

DOES JESUS HATE RELIGION? KINDA, SORTA, NOT REALLY”  By KEVIN DEYOUNG
Specifically how Jesus hates religion. The video—which in a few days has gone from hundreds of views to thousands to millions—shows Jefferson Bethke, who lives in the Seattle area, delivering a well-crafted, sharply produced, spoken word poem. The point, according to Bethke, is “to highlight the difference between Jesus and false religion.” In the past few days I’ve seen this video pop up all over Facebook. I’ve had people from my church say they like it. Some has asked me what I think. Others have told me there’s something off about the poem, but they can’t quite articulate what it is. I’ll try to explain what that is in a moment. But first watch the video for yourself.
Youtube Vid: Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus 
Before I say anything else, let me say Jefferson Bethke seems like a sincere young man who wants people to know God’s scandalous grace. I’m sure he’s telling the truth when he says on his Facebook page: “I love Jesus, I’m addicted to grace, and I’m just a messed up dude trying to make Him famous.” If I met him face to face, I bet I’d like Jefferson and his honesty and passion. I bet I’d be encouraged by his story and his desire to free people from the snares of self-help, self-righteous religion.

And yet (you knew it was coming), amidst a lot of true things in this poem there is a lot that is unhelpful and misleading.

This video is the sort of thing that many younger Christians love. It sounds good, looks good, and feels good. But is it true? That’s the question we must always ask. And to answer that question, I want to go through this poem slowly, verse by verse. Not because I think this is the worst thing ever. It’s certainly not. Nor because I think this video will launch a worldwide revolution. I want to spend some time on this because Bethke perfectly captures the mood, and in my mind the confusion, of a lot of earnest, young Christians.

Verse 1

What if I told you Jesus came to abolish religion
What if I told you voting republican really wasn’t his mission
What if I told you republican doesn’t automatically mean Christian
And just because you call some people blind
Doesn’t automatically give you vision

Okay, so the line about Republicans is a cheap shot (if you vote GOP) or a prophetic stance (if you like Jim Wallis). While it’s true that “republican doesn’t automatically mean Christian” and in some parts of the country that may be a word churchgoers need to hear, I doubt that putting right-wingers in their place is the most pressing issue in Seattle.

More important is Bethke’s opening line: “Jesus came to abolish religion.” That’s the whole point of the poem. The argument—and most poems are arguing for something—rests on the sharp distinction between religion on one side and Jesus on the other. Whether this argument is fair depends on your definition of religion. Bethke sees religion as a man made attempt to earn God’s favor. Religion equals self-righteousness, moral preening, and hypocrisy. Religion is all law and no gospel. If that’s religion, then Jesus is certainly against it.

But that’s not what religion is. We can say that’s what is has become for some people or what weunderstand it to be. But words still matter and we shouldn’t just define them however we want. “Jesus hates religion” communicates something that “Jesus hates self-righteousness” doesn’t. To say that Jesus hates pride and hypocrisy is old news. To say he hates religion—now, that has a kick to it. People hear “religion” and think of rules, rituals, dogma, pastors, priests, institutions. People love Oprah and the Shack and “spiritual, not religious” bumper stickers because the mood of our country is one that wants God without the strictures that come with traditional Christianity. We love the Jesus that hates religion.

The only problem is, he didn’t. Jesus was a Jew. He went to services at the synagogue. He observed Jewish holy days. He did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them (Matt. 5:17). He founded the church (Matt. 16:18). He established church discipline (Matt. 18:15-20). He instituted a ritual meal (Matt. 26:26-28). He told his disciples to baptize people and to teach others to obey everything he commanded (Matt. 28:19-20). He insisted that people believe in him and believe certain things about him (John 3:16-18; 8:24). If religion is characterized by doctrine, commands, rituals, and structure, then Jesus is not your go-to guy for hating religion. This was the central point behind the book Ted Kluck and I wrote a few years ago.

The word “religion” occurs five times in English Standard Version of the Bible. It is, by itself, an entirely neutral word. Religion can refer to Judaism (Acts 26:5) or the Jewish-Christian faith (Acts 25:19). Religion can be bad when it is self-made (Col. 2:23) or fails to tame the tongue (James 1:26). But religion can also be good when it cares for widows and orphans and practices moral purity (James 1:27). Unless we define the word to suit our purposes, there is simply no biblical grounds for saying Jesus hated religion. What might be gained by using such language will, without a careful explanation and caveats, be outweighed by what is lost when we give the impression that religion is the alloy that corrupts a relationship with Jesus.

Verse 2

I mean if religion is so great, why has it started so many wars
Why does it build huge churches, but fails to feed the poor
Tells single moms God doesn’t love them if they’ve ever had a divorce
But in the old testament God actually calls religious people whores

These claims say very little because they try to say too much. Have there been religious wars in the last two thousand years? Yes. Have there also been wars over money, land, ego, women, slavery, democracy, freedom, communism, fascism, Nazism, terrorism and just about everything else you can imagine? Yes. Furthermore, if you want to blame conflict on religion, you can’t neatly excise Jesus from the equation. You may not like the Crusades, but many of the Crusaders thought they were sincerely fighting for Jesus by trying take back the Holy Land from the Muslims.

More to the point, Christians need to stop perpetuating the myth that we’ve basically been huge failures in the world. That may win us an audience with non-Christians, but it’s not true. We are sinners like everyone else, so our record is mixed. We’ve been stupid and selfish over the years. But we’ve also been the salt of the earth. The evangelical awakening in England in the eighteenth century is widely credited for preventing the sort of bloodbath that swept over France in the “enlightened” French Revolution. Christians (and conservatives in general) give more to charitable causes than their secular counterparts. Christians run countless shelters, pregnancy centers, rescue missions, and food pantries. Christians operate orphanages, staff clinics, dig wells, raise crops, teach children, and fight AIDS around the globe. While we can always do more and may be blind to the needs around us at times, there is no group of people on the planet that do more for the poor than Christians. If you know of a church with a dozen escalators and no money and no heart for the hurting, then blast that church. But we have to stop the self-flagellation and the slander that says Christians do nothing for the poor.

As for divorce, it is often (but not always) wrong. Even when it is wrong, there is forgiveness when people repent. Shame on any church that doesn’t think or demonstrate that there is room at the cross for unwed or divorced moms.

And about the harsh language in the Old Testament—it cuts both ways. All people in the Old Testament, and in the entire ancient near east for that matter, were religious people. Some of them were fakes and hypocrites and whores. Some were idolaters and adulterers. Some performed their rituals and went on to ignore the weightier matters of the law. And some of the religious people were God’s remnant, God’s holy people, and God’s friends. In both Testaments, God has no problem rebuking religious people and no problem loving them either.

Verse 3

Religion might preach grace, but another thing they practice
Tend to ridicule God’s people, they did it to John The Baptist
They can’t fix their problems, and so they just mask it
Not realizing religions like spraying perfume on a casket
See the problem with religion, is it never gets to the core
It’s just behavior modification, like a long list of chores
Like lets dress up the outside make look nice and neat
But it’s funny that’s what they use to do to mummies
While the corpse rots underneath

I’ve already said that I don’t think “religion” is the right term for what Bethke is talking about. But he has done a great job here of describing false religion. Jesus blasted the Pharisees for being “whitewashed tombs,” for looking beautiful on the outside and full of dead people’s bones on the inside, for appearing righteous but being full of hypocrisy and lawlessness (Matt. 23:27-28). It is possible for churches and churchgoers to have the reputation for being alive, but actually be dead (Rev. 3:1). Some churches claim to love grace, but all they give you is legalism. Bethke is hitting on a real problem.

Verse 4

Now I ain’t judgin, I’m just saying quit putting on a fake look
Cause there’s a problem
If people only know you’re a Christian by your Facebook
I mean in every other aspect of life, you know that logic’s unworthy
It’s like saying you play for the Lakers just because you bought a jersey
You see this was me too, but no one seemed to be on to me
Acting like a church kid, while addicted to pornography
See on Sunday I’d go to church, but Saturday getting faded
Acting if I was simply created just to have sex and get wasted
See I spent my whole life building this facade of neatness
But now that I know Jesus, I boast in my weakness

I wish Bethke, and critics like him, would admit that they are “judgin.” He is evaluating Christianity. He is criticizing church as he sees it. The whole poem is a harsh judgment on religious people. Granted, judging is not the same as judgmentalism. After all, I’m judging this poem. So I don’t think what Bethke is doing is wrong. I just wish he wouldn’t try to claim the moral high ground.

Other than that, this is another good verse. Bethke tells his own story to prove that we can be real good at fooling everyone, including ourselves. We need to realize that there are plenty of people in many of our churches who seem to have it all together but don’t. They are kidding themselves and we should not encourage such self-deception.

Verse 5

Because if grace is water, then the church should be an ocean
It’s not a museum for good people, it’s a hospital for the broken
Which means I don’t have to hide my failure, I don’t have to hide my sin
Because it doesn’t depend on me it depends on him
See because when I was God’s enemy and certainly not a fan
He looked down and said I want, that, man
Which is why Jesus hated religion, and for it he called them fools
Don’t you see so much better than just following some rules
Now let me clarify, I love the church, I love the Bible, and yes I believe in sin
But if Jesus came to your church would they actually let him in
See remember he was called a glutton, and a drunkard by religious men
But the Son of God never supports self righteousness not now, not then

There is much that is good and a few things that are confused in this verse. The church should be an ocean of grace. We don’t have to hide our sins before God. It doesn’t depend on us. We should love the church and the Bible and believe that sin exists. Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners. Jesus never supported self-righteousness. All of that is wonderfully and powerfully true.

But let me raise a few other points.

One, we have to remember that the purpose of a hospital is to help sick people get better. I’m sure Bethke would agree with that. But there is no indication in this poem that the grace that forgives is also the grace that transforms. Following Jesus is more than keeping rules, but it’s not less. In one sense, loving Jesus is also all about keeping rules (John 14:15, 21, 23-24). I’m not sure how the Jesus of John 14 fits in the world of Bethke’s poem.

Two, there is no inherent dignity in being broken. Jesus likes the honesty that acknowledges sin, hates it and turns away, but he does not love authenticity for its own sake. We have to be more careful with our language. When Paul boasted of his weakness, he was boasting of his suffering, his lack of impressiveness, and the trials he endured (1 Cor. 2:3; 2 Cor. 11:30; 12:9). He never boasted of his temptations or his sins—past or present. That’s not what he meant by weakness. Being broken is not the point, except to be forgiven and changed.

Three, as I’ve mentioned before, the religious leaders hated Jesus, first and foremost because they thought he was a blasphemer who dared to make himself equal with God (Matt. 26:57-68;Mark 14:53-65; Luke 22:66-71; and less clearly in John 18:19-24). It’s true that many of the religious elite found Jesus too free with his meals and his associations. They called him a “glutton and drunkard” (Luke 7:34), though he wasn’t either. But they also said John the Baptist “has a demon” (Luke 7:33). They were just as opposed to John’s asceticism as they were upset with Jesus’ liberty. More than hating grace, the Jewish leaders hated the truth about Christ and found ways to reject God’s messengers.

Verse 6

Now back to the point, one thing is vital to mention
How Jesus and religion are on opposite spectrums
See one’s the work of God, but one’s a man made invention
See one is the cure, but the other’s the infection
See because religion says do, Jesus says done
Religion says slave, Jesus says son
Religion puts you in bondage, while Jesus sets you free
Religion makes you blind, but Jesus makes you see
And that’s why religion and Jesus are two different clans

I won’t repeat my initial comments about religion and Jesus and whether they are really “on opposite spectrums.” I don’t think they are. That point notwithstanding, Bethke speaks the truth in this section. The differences between slavery and sonship, bondage and freedom, blindness and sight are all biblical themes.

I think the line about “religion says do, Jesus says done” can be misleading. Too many people hear that as “relationship not rules” when we’ve already seen that Jesus wants us to do everything he has commanded (Matt. 28:20). But if “do” means “do this to earn my favor” then the contrast is very appropriate.

Verse 7

Religion is man searching for God, Christianity is God searching for man
Which is why salvation is freely mine, and forgiveness is my own
Not based on my merits but Jesus’s obedience alone
Because he took the crown of thorns, and the blood dripped down his face
He took what we all deserved, I guess that’s why you call it grace
And while being murdered he yelled
“Father forgive them they know not what they do.”
Because when he was dangling on that cross, he was thinking of you
And he absorbed all of your sin, and buried it in the tomb
Which is why I’m kneeling at the cross, saying come on there’s room
So for religion, no I hate it, in fact I literally resent it
Because when Jesus said it is finished, I believe he meant it

There is a lot to like with this final section. Great affirmation of Jesus active obedience. Great focus on the cross. Great invitation for sinners to come to Christ. I think Bethke understands justification by faith alone through grace alone in Christ alone. I would have liked to have heard something about the wrath of God being poured out on the cross as opposed to simply “absorb[ing] all of your sin.” But given Bethke’s previous video criticizing Love Wins, it’s best to give him the benefit of the doubt. Similarly, I’m not sure it’s best to so emphasize that Jesus was thinking of us on the cross. The “joy set before” him in Hebrews 12:2 was the joy of being seated at God’s right hand, not the joy of being with us as Bethke advocates in another video. But these are smaller points that do not negate the strong message of grace and forgiveness.

Conclusion

I know I’ve typed a bunch of words about a You Tube video that no one may be talking about in a month. But, as I said at the beginning, there is so much helpful in this poem mixed with so much unhelpful—and all of it so common—that I felt it worth the effort to examine the theology in detail.

The strengths in this poem are the strengths I see in many young Christians—a passionate faith, a focus on Jesus, a love for grace, and a hatred for anything phony or self-righteous. The weaknesses here can be the weaknesses of my generation (and younger)—not enough talk of repentance and sanctification, a tendency to underestimate the importance of obedience in the Christian life, a one-dimensional view of grace, little awareness that our heavenly Father might ever discipline his children or be grieved by their continued transgression, and a penchant for sloganeering instead of careful nuance.

I know the internet is a big place, but a lot of people are connected to a lot of other people. So who knows, maybe Jefferson Bethke will read this blog. If you do, brother, I want you to know I love what you love in this poem. I watched you give your testimony and give thanks to God for his work in your life. I love the humble desire to be honest about your failings and point people to Christ. I love that you love the church and the Bible. I love that you want people to really get the gospel. You have important things to say and millions of people are listening. So make sure as a teacher you are extra careful and precise (James 3:1). If you haven’t received formal theological training, I encourage you to do so. Your ministry will be made stronger and richer and longer lasting. I encourage you to speak from the Bible before you speak from your own experience. I encourage you to love what Jesus loves without tearing down what he also loves and people are apt to misunderstand. I encourage you to dig deep into the whole counsel of God.

Thanks for reminding us about Jesus. But try to be more careful when talking about religion. After all, there is one religion whose aim is to worship, serve, know, proclaim, believe, obey, and organize around this Jesus. And without all those verbs, there’s not much Jesus left. ( SOURCE: TheGospelCoalition.org )

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The pope of Rome is Antichrist 
(Daniel 7:7-27,2Thessalonians 2:1-12,2Peter 2:1-22,1John 2:18-25, Revelation 13:1-9) and Rome 'Mystery Babylon the Great the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth' (Revelation 17:1-18).I urge every true Christian to come out of her.(Revelation 18:1-8) KJV Bible

During the Reformation this is what most Preachers taught regarding Antichrist
1522 Martin Luther,1536 Jean Calvin,1543 Phillip Melanchthon,1545 Andreas Osiander,1554 Nicolaus von Amsdorf,1558 Johann Funck,1560 Virgil Solis,1570 Georg Nigrinus,1572 David Chytraeus,1530 Johann Oecolampadius,1557 Heinrich Bullinger,1550 William Tyndale,1545 George Joye,1554 Nicholas Ridley,1553 Hugh Latimer,1582 Thomas Cranmer,1550 John Bale,1562 John Jewel,1587 John Foxe,1547 John Knox,1593 John Napier,1614 Thomas Brightman,1618 David Pareus :
-Antichrist,Man of Sin - Pope of Rome
-Book of Revelation Chapter 17 Harlot,Babylon - Roman Catholic Church
-Book of Daniel Chapter 7 the Little Horn -- Papacy

After the Reformation this is what most Preachers taught regarding Antichrist
1798 Richard Valpy,1798 Joseph Galloway,1798 Edward King,1797 David Simpson,1796 Christian Thube,1795 George Bell,1794 Joseph Priestly,1793 James Bicheno,1768 Johann Ph. Petri,1764 John Wesley,1758 John Gill,1754 Thomas Newton,1745 John Willison,1740 Johann Al. Bengel,1735 Thomas Pyle,1729 Th. Crinsox de Bionens,1727 Sir Isaac Newton,1720 Charles Daubux,1712 Heinrich Horch,1706 William Whiston,1703 Daniel Whitby,1701 Robert Fleming, Jr.,1701 Johannes Cocceius,1700 William Lowth
-Antichrist,Man of Sin - Pope of Rome
-Book of Revelation Chapter 17 Harlot,Babylon - Roman Catholic Church
-Book of Daniel Chapter 7 the Little Horn - Papacy
-Book of Revelation Chapter 13 Beast from the sea - Rome,Empire

Before the Reformation, this is what most Preachers taught regarding Antichrist
c. 1310 Dante Alighieri,c. 1331 Michael of Cesena,c. 1350 Francesco Petrarch,
c. 1367 John Milicz,c. 1379 John Wycliffe,c. 1390 John Purvey,c. 1412 John Huss,
c. 1497 Girolamo Savonarola
Book of Revelation 17 Harlot - Roman Church
Antichrist - Pope of Rome
Man of Sin , Abomination of Desolation -- Papacy

After the Reformation,this is what most Preachers taught regarding Antichrist
1689 Drue Cressener,1687 Pierre Jurieu,1685 Jacques Philippot,1684 Thomas Beverley,1681 Johann Alsted,1670 William Sherwin,1664 Henry More,1655 John Tillinghast,1654 Thomas Goodwin,1643 Johannes Gerhard,1631 Joseph Mede,1618 Daniel Cramer,1618 Matthias Hoe,1612 Andreas Helwig,1603 George Downame,1600 James I of England
-Antichrist,Man of Sin - Pope of Rome
-Book of Revelation Chapter 17 Harlot,Babylon - Roman Catholic Church
-Book of Daniel Chapter 7 the Little Horn - Papacy
-Book of Revelation Chapter 13 Beast from the sea -- Rome

Biblical Expositors of the Post-Reformation Era-America:
1639 John Cotton,1644 Roger Williams,1644 Ephraim Huit,1646 Thomas Parker,1653 John Davenport,1658 Edward Holyoke,1669 Increase Mather,1698 Nicholas Noyes,1702 Cotton Mather,1724 William Burnet,1739 Jonathan Edwards,1757? Ezekiel Cheever,1757 Aaron Burr, Sr.,1767 Isaac Backus,1774 Samuel Langdon,1788 Benjamin Gale,1793 Samuel Hopkins,1794 Samuel Osgood,1794 William Linn
-Book of Daniel Chapter 7 the Little Horn - Papacy
-Book of Revelation Chapter 13 Beast from the sea - Rome
-Antichrist,Man of Sin - Pope of Rome

Biblical Expositors of the Early Medieval Period
d. 430 Augustine of Hippo,6th century Andreas of Caesarea,d.735 Bede,12th century Waldensians,d.1105 Rashi,d.1164 Abraham ibn Ezra,c. 1178 Petrus Comestor
-Book of Daniel Chapter 7 the Four Beasts - 1Babylon,2Persia,3Greece,4Rome
-Book of Daniel Chapter 7 the Little Horn -- Antichrist

Biblical Expositors of the Early Church Period
c. 100 Josephus,c. 90 Yochanan ben Zakai,c. 61 Barnabas,c. 165 Justin Martyr,c. 202 Irenaeus,c. 236 Hippolytus of Rome,c. 240 Tertullian,c. 254 Origen,c.304 Victorinus of Pettau,c. 320 Lactantius,c. 339 Eusebius of Caesarea,373 Athanasius of Alexandria,c. 376 Cyril of Alexandria,c.? 407 John Chrysostom,c. 420 Jerome,449 Isidore of Pelusium,457 Theodoret of Cyrus
-Book of Daniel Chapter 7 the Little Horn - Antichrist
-Book of Daniel Chapter 7 the Four Beasts - 1Babylon,2Persia,3Greece,4Rome

Roman Catholicism is the seat of the Anti-Christ. The Whore of Babylon!

Is the Vatican an Evil Organization?
With over a Billion adherents and growing, the Catholic Church is an immensely powerful institution. As an organization that claims to represent God and do good, it has tremendous potential to create positive change. Yet, the Catholic Church has a long history of supporting evil and continues to cause tremendous suffering while doing little real good.

Mass Delusion
Catholics choose to selectively ignore the many past and present sins of the church. They ignore the fact that so many priests are child molesters and that church policy not only enabled abuse of children but consistently protected and even rewarded pedophile priests.

Catholics ignore the fact that the catholic ban on birth control has ensured that tens of millions of unwanted children live unimaginable lives of deprivation and grow up (those that survive) to prey upon the societies that forsake them.

The millions of preventable cases of AIDS caused by Vatican policy of avoiding condoms also goes ignored.

Catholics ignore the financial scandals, the fact that the church supported the Nazi’s and other other fascists and helped smuggle the worst war criminals to safety from justice. They ignore the unforgivable crimes of the holy inquisitors and the fact that the Catholic Church invented some of the most heinous forms of torture that could never be anything but evil.

Catholics never mention their genocide committed against the peoples of the ‘new world’. Books by priests who have witnessed the satanic ceremonies inside the vatican also go ignored. Catholics choose to ignore the fact that much of church doctrine not only has no biblical basis but actually goes against the bible that they claim as the word of God.

One of biggest excuses given by Catholics for the sins of their church is “it all happened a very long time ago” or “those were very different times with different morals”. Yet, many of the church’s worst sins were committed in recent history, not the distant past. Another excuse is that the sins of the church are committed by only a few flawed individuals and the organization as a whole remains good. This is simply not true. The Vatican and Popes have actively condoned and perpetuated the evil committed by the Church. Popes may occasionally make some public utterances of supporting peace and ending poverty but their actions tell the truth.

Catholic Fascism & WW II
In 1929, Pope Pius XI signed the Lateran Treaty with Mussolini’s government, affirming the dictator’s rule and granting him the political clout necessary for a secure Fascist future. In exchange, the church got $90 million in cash, a new tax-exempt papal state on Vatican Hill, government salaries for Italian priests, and the promise of both power and financial security. The deal with Mussolini encouraged Hitler and so he too sought Vatican support and got it.

Germany’s Catholics were against Hitler and he couldn’t muster nearly enough votes to be elected to power without Catholic support. Seeing Hitler as a potentially valuable ally, the Vatican applied pressure to German Catholics and ultimately was able to exert enough force to get Hitler elected. In exchange for placing him in power Hitler signed a ‘concordat’ with the Vatican in 1933 that gave the Church exemption from some laws, state financial support and cash pay-outs amounting to billions of dollars during Hitler’s reign. 

“The fact that the Vatican is concluding a treaty with the new Germany means the acknowledgement of the National Socialist State by the Catholic Church. The treaty shows the whole world clearly and unequivocally that the assertion that National Socialism is hostile to religion is a lie.” – Adolph Hitler in letter to the Nazi party, July 22, 1933

However, not all Catholics could stomach the deal and four years later three German Cardinals and two German Bishops traveled to the Vatican in 1937 to plead with Pope Pius XI to help protect German Catholics from German oppression. In the summer of 1938 the ailing Pope finally wrote an encyclical entitled Humani Generis Unitas (On the Unity of the Human Race) that strongly condemned German oppression. However, his condemnation was not really in support of humanity but rather in defense against Germans shutting down Catholic Churches and schools where the nuns and priests were reported to molest children. The encyclical was suppressed by opponents within the Vatican and the existence of the ‘lost encyclical” wasn’t revealed until 1972. On his deathbed the Pope pleaded with his physicians to keep him alive for a couple more days so he could finally oppose Hitler and Mussolini and avert war. He died under mysterious circumstances and on March 2nd, 1939, Eugenio Pacelli, the architect of the deal with Hitler was made Pope.

“Slovakia became a Nazi puppet state led by the Catholic priest Jozef Tiso. During this period, approximately 70,000 Slovak Jews were sent to concentration camps to perish in the Holocaust.” – US State Department profile of Slovakia

After Hitler invaded Yugoslavia it split off Croatia as a Catholic state to reward the Vatican for its support and named Fascist Ante Pavelic and his Ustashi thugs as leaders. The Catholic Church openly ruled with Pavelic. Archbishop Alojzije Spinac, the primate of Croatia boldly proclaimed:

“God who directs the destiny of nations and controls the hearts of kings has given us Ante Pavelic and moved the leader of a friendly and allied people, Adolph Hitler, to use his victorious troops to disperse our oppressors and enable us to create an independent state of Croatia. Glory be to God, our gratitude to Adolf Hitler and infinite loyalty to chief Ante Pavelic.”

The gift from Hitler of a Catholic Croatian State fulfilled the long held ambition of the Church to realize one of the dreams of the crusades – a Catholic state in the Balkans as a bulwark against Islam. Pavelic named the Archbishop Supreme Military Apostolic Vicar of the Ustashi Army.

When Pavelic was praised by the Vatican he was already a convicted murderer and had been sentenced to death in absentia by Yugoslav and French courts for the assassination of King Alexander of Yugoslavia and Louis Barthou, the French Foreign Minister, yet his crimes were only about to begin. Pavelic, his goons and Catholic priests butchered anyone who was not Aryan or Catholic or couldn’t afford to buy special high-priced ‘certificates of conversion’. The degree of horror unleashed was unmatched by any of Hitler’s troops. Children, women, men and the aged were butchered alive in death camps, in their homes and in public displays. Some of the most heinous acts were organized and carried out by Catholic priests and monks.

“The worst atrocities are being committed in the environs of Archbishop of Zagreb. The blood of brothers is flowing in streams. The Orthodox are being forcibly converted to Catholicism and we do not hear the Archbishop’s voice preaching revolt. Instead it is reported that he is taking part in Nazi and Fascist parades.” – BBC Radio, February 16, 1942

Eight days before the broadcast the former minister of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Prvislav Grizogono, sent a letter to Pope Pius XII stating:

“In all these unprecedented crimes, worse than pagan, our Catholic Church has also participated in two ways. First a large number of priests, clerics, friars, and organized Catholic youth actively participated in all these crimes, but more terrible, even Catholic priests became camp and group commanders, and, as such, ordered or tolerated the horrible tortures, murders and massacres of baptized people. None of this could have been done without the permission of the bishops…”

Yet, the Pope continued the slaughter. In a mere four years an estimated 600,000 people were killed, about 10% of the total population. Per capita this was the greatest mass murder of people in the twentieth century. Tens of millions of dollars were also looted from the Croatian people and flowed into Vatican coffers.

After the liberation of Croatia from the Vatican, the Archbishop was sentenced to sixteen years in prison as a war criminal. The Pope was outraged and ordered the excommunication of anyone who participated in the trial. Stepinac was released early in 1951 and returned to the Vatican where his atrocities were rewarded with a Cardinalship. In 1998 Pope John Paul II traveled to blood-stained Croatia to announce the beatification of war criminal Stepinac, the first step in granting Sainthood.

Pavelic and the worst of his Ustashi demons were sheltered from justice in the Vatican with their offerings of tons of gold and silver. Pavelic had been previously been captured and was on trial in Nueremburg but the trial was mysteriously brought to a halt and he was transferred to the Vatican.

“Pavelic’s contacts are so high and his present position so compromising to the Vatican that any extradition of the subject would deal a staggering blow to the Roman Catholic Church.” – William Gowen & Louis Caniglia, US Army Counterintelligence Corps, September 12, 1947

Vatican support for Fascism was the direct and greatest cause of World War II. Mussolini and Hitler could simply not have risen to power without direct Vatican support and assistance. Had the Catholic Church not supported the Fascists war simply wouldn’t have happened and tens of millions of lives would have been spared.

Perhaps the greatest villain of WW II wasn’t Hilter, it was Pope Pius XII, the Catholic Church and all the Catholics that actively and silently supported the horrific crimes against humanity.

Nazi Protectionism – The Ratline
Eager to protect its Nazi friends, the Church ran a massive ratline out of Europe to secret some of the worst war criminals to South America. In Vatican City it housed and protected not only the Ustashi mass murders but other Fascist war criminals. Many were shipped to other countries disguised as priests.

Even after the war the Church continued to support fascism in Italy, Spain and Yugoslavia in the name of ‘fighting communism’. In cooperation with western intelligence agencies the church ran clandestine groups of fascist thugs who engaged in terrorism, arson, murder and rape.

Catholic Fascist Argentina
The Nazis smuggled into Argentina by the Vatican were welcomed with open arms by Argentina’s Catholics. Argentina had been an ardent supporter or Nazi Germany but officially remained neutral throughout the war and then officially joined the allied side just as the war was ending as a PR stunt to help protect the Nazi war criminals it would host.

As a result of the Catholic fascist influence, Argentina became an oppressive country that tortured and murdered anyone suspected of being subversive or possibly opposed to the government or the Church.

Just like in Croatia, the Church was deeply involved in the crimes against humanity. Catholic priests actively worked inside the military, worked as intelligence agents and approved the crimes.

Journalist Horace Verbitsky published a book on the Catholic Church’s involvement with the military dictatorship. In his book, El Silencio (The Silence), he details how the Catholic Church actively participated in the 1976-1983 dictatorship that murdered over 30,000 people.

Marine captain Adolfo Scilingo who was convicted by a Spanish court and sentenced to 645 years testified that that the Catholic hierarchy approved drugging dissidents, slicing open their bellies and dropping them from planes into the Atlantic Ocean during the “flights of death” as a Christian form of death. It is hard for even ardent Catholics to imagine Jesus torturing people, gutting them and throwing them alive out of airplanes over the ocean because they might oppose a brutal military dictatorship.
 

Catholic Chaplin Christian Von Wernich officially worked inside torture centers to encourage prisoners to tell all they knew during torture sessions and then ‘counseled’ the victim’s family members in an effort to obtain further information about the accused associates, so that more people could be tortured and murdered.

As investigators closed in on Von Wernich, the Vatican continued its participation in the crimes by relocating Von Wernich to a church in El Quisco, Chile in 1996 and even gave him a new identity of “Christian González” to help him evade arrest.

Von Wernich was eventually apprehended, tried and convicted for involvement in 7 murders, 42 abductions and 31 cases of torture. He was given a life sentence. No church officials have not been indicted for their roles. Archbishop Paraná Adolfo Tortolo and Monsignor Victorio Bonamín at the Catholic Church’s Vicariato Castrense headquarters both actively supported and blessed the military’s actions. Without their approval it is likely that some restraint would be been exercised and thousands of lives saved. Both acted under direct authority of the Vatican. Human rights representatives have demanded that the Catholic Church issue an apology for the many victims but the Church has refused and continues efforts to conceal its role and shield its henchmen from justice.

In Bed With the Mafia

The Vatican had long had cozy ties with the mafia and after the war it was involved in a number of criminal conspiracies. Its secretive Vatican bank is beyond the reach of anyone except the Pope and is used for laundering billions of dollars each year in criminal funds. The infamous BCCI scandal exposed a money laundering operation conducted by the mafia, the CIA and the Catholic Church.

Pedophile Priests

Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of children have been sexually abused by Catholic priests. The abuse has been an integral part of church culture and has actively been encouraged and supported by the Vatican, Cardinals and Bishops.

Auditors for the Roman Catholic Church reported that in 2004 there were 1,092 new sexual abuse charges filed involving 756 priests, most all involved children. This brought the total to 11,750 US cases for the period of 1950 through 2004, still a fraction of the number of actual cases since most of the victims have never come forward. The auditors only covered US churches and only got voluntarily submitted information.

The Franklin Coverup case brought to light the participation of the Catholic Church in the abuse and prostitution of children from Boys Town as part of a CIA-satanic mind control program that reached all the way to the highest levels of government and the Vatican.

The 11,750 documented US cases are shocking and unfathomable. The number of unreported cases in the US and cases in other countries, where the Church still has substantial influence in schools, among police and in the courts, is indubitably much higher and likely amounts to hundreds of thousands or even millions of children molested by people who are supposed to represent God.

How could such a massive criminal conspiracy have gone on so long? What kind of God would permit such a thing? Why does it continue to be tolerated and even encouraged by the Vatican?

Car-Bomber Catholic Priest

On July 31 1972, an 8 year old girl and 8 others were killed when car bombs ripped through the village of Claudy in Northern Ireland. It is widely believed that the bombs were placed by Catholic priest James Chesney, who was known as a regional “Director of Operations” for the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The Church knew of his involvement and quickly relocated him out of the reach of justice to the Republic of Ireland where he kept hidden away from authorities. Despite the presence of explosives residue in the back of his car, British authorities did not pursue the case due to pressure from higher levels.

Chesney died a few years later before he could be brought to justice for the car bombing murders.

Quebec Catholic Nightmare

Children born to single mothers in the province of Quebec, Canada were forcibly taken from their mothers from the 1940′s up till the early 60′s. Some were adopted out to families but most were locked up in Catholic run facilities masquerading as orphanages. The policy of stealing children from unwed mothers was created by the Catholic Church so it could gain control over thousands of children.

When the Church found that it could nearly double the amount of money it got from the Canadian government for mentally disabled children over regular ‘orphans’ it suddenly declared all of the children in its charge as mental patients and orphanages were converted to psychiatric hospitals overnight. No evaluations were conducted to determine the true mental state of the orphans and no beneficial therapy or education was ever offered to the children. Over 20,000 children were locked away to suffer unimaginable horror in Catholic run facilities. Not satisfied with the emotional damage to the children caused by labeling them as ‘retarded’, the Nuns who ran the orphanages abused the children in ways beyond comprehension. Children were whipped with chains, sexually assaulted, tortured, held in straight-jackets and subjected to needless lobotomies and electro-shocks. Many were rented to Catholic-owned businesses to be used as slave labor. Hundreds of children died from the abuse and many committed suicide. The bodies of children killed by the nun’s abuse were sold to medical facilities for $10, if not claimed by a family member.

Many of the children were used as human lab rats in sadistic experiments. Some of the children imprisoned at St. Jean-de-Dieu hospital were treated by the infamous Ewen Cameron, the psychopath psychiatrist who conducted lethal experiments on patients at Allan Memorial Institute of McGill University for the CIA as part of their MK-ULTRA mind control research program.

In 2004, some of the surviving children asked the government to open the mass graves where children were buried to support their claims which were being denied by the church and the  government, but the government refused.Other children were used to test dangerous drugs under contract to criminal pharmaceutical firms and sadistic psychiatrists.

The children were unleashed from their tortuous prisons upon reaching the age of 18, with no education, no means of support and so badly damaged that they were unable to function in society.

To shield the church from bankruptcy from the many lawsuits and further cover-up its partnership in crime with the CIA, the Quebec government agreed to pay surviving victims of the orphanages $26 million in compensation, provided that they agree to never sue anyone for the abuse. Taxpayers did not consent to the government spending their money to coverup the crimes and deny justice to the evil doers.

In 2001 another 1,000 orphans settled with the Quebec government for about $25 million for wrongfully placing them in the ‘mental’ institutions. Thousands of other abused orphans have not received any compensation and have been continually denied any measure of justice.

The Catholic War on Natives
Throughout its history, the Catholic Church has been in bed with government and commercial enterprises. For over 500 years it either supported or directly waged genocide against native populations for commercial purposes in the Americas. The impact of catholics and others on the new world was an estimated 80% population reduction in the span of 200 years.

In 1909, Dr. Peter Bryce of the Indian Affairs department in Ottawa, Canada claimed that churches were deliberately exposing native children to smallpox and tuberculosis in residential schools across Canada, and letting them die untreated. Thousands of children died as a result. The abuse of native children in Canadian residential schools continued up into the 1970′s. Researchers estimate that 50,000 native children in Canada died as a result of the abuse, neglect and murder in ‘ residential’ schools run by the Catholic and Anglican churches.

In many other countries Native children were forcibly sent to church boarding schools where they were horribly abused and even murdered. Natives continue to struggle with the immense damage done to them by the catholic church and other religious organizations.

Nun Abuse
A survey conducted in 1999 revealed that 34,000 U.S. Catholic nuns, or about 40 percent of all nuns in the United States, have suffered some form of sexual trauma. The survey was conducted researchers at the St. Louis University and was partially funded by Nuns. 20% of the Nuns said they had been sexually assaulted as a child. In 2001, the Vatican admitted that it had received reports of the sexual abuse of nuns by priests and other nuns in 23 different countries. This is likely a tiny fraction of the actual cases since most are never reported.

Opus Dei – Fascist Catholic Cult

Made famous in the book and movie “The DaVinci Code”, the secretive catholic cult, Opus Dei, uses scientology like tactics to recruit and enslave young catholics into a cult-like organization that is used to promote a fascist agenda. Infamous Opus Dei members include Tyco Looter Mark Belnick, former FBI Director Louis Freeh, convicted spy Robert Philip Hanssen, New York cop & mafia thug Al Carone and many other criminals. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei was widely acknowledged as a ferocious woman hater, supporter of fascists such as Franco and Pinochet, yet was canonized by the church.

“Woman are so sinful…that they have been dislodged from the Garden of Eden. And the only possibility for them to lessen their guilt is by subordinating themselves… ‘You should be like a carpet where people can step onto.’” – from the Opus Dei in Austria

Manufacturing Suffering
Throughout the Catholic world the practice of birth control is deemed a mortal sin and many prostitutes and drug addicts will not practice safe sex for fear of going to hell. The lack of birth control results in tens of millions of unplanned and unwanted pregnancies each year and the needless spread of HIV and other venereal diseases. In countries with high HIV infections the church tells people that condoms can’t prevent the spread of HIV, greatly increasing the number of new infections. Under Vatican influence the US bribed the govt. of Uganda to not distribute millions of condoms it already had.

The resulting overpopulation is the primary cause of poverty, crime and disease that grips so many Catholic countries. The poverty cheats entire nations of the hope for a better future and ensures the destruction of vital eco-systems.

In Brazil there are so many unwanted and homeless children that they run wild and are hunted down and killed by death squads paid by shop-keepers who are tired of getting robbed by the starving packs of kids. Many of the unwanted children throughout Catholic countries end up in the clutches of pedophiles. A study in Guatemala found that nearly every brothel there had children working as prostitutes. Children are sold throughout Latin America for prostitution, pornography and to satanists for torture and sacrifice.

Popes
Some of the most perverse, violent and twisted people in history have been Catholic Popes. Most were gluttons and alcoholics and many were sexual deviants. Pedophilia is an ancient Catholic tradition going all the way back to the Roman emporers.

According to Catholic historian Peter de Rosa in his book “Vicars of Christ”:
“Popes had mistresses as young as fifteen years of age, were guilty of incest and sexual perversions of every sort, had innumerable children, were murdered in the very act of adultery.”
Pope Sergius III – 904 – 911, Obtained his office by murder and fathered several illegitimate children by Marozia, who assassinated Pope Leo VI (928 – 929), and put her own teenage son (John XI) as Pope.
Benedict V – 964, Raped a young girl and absconded to Constantinople with the papal treasury only to reappear when the money ran out. Church historian Gerbert called Benedict ‘the most iniquitous of all the monsters of ungodliness.’ The pontiff was eventually slain by a jealous husband. His corpse, bearing a hundred dagger wounds, was dragged through the streets before being tossed into a cesspit.
Pope Benedict IX – 1033 – 1045, Committed murders and adulteries in broad daylight, robbed pilgrims, and was regarded as a hideous criminal. The people drove him out of Rome: The Catholic encyclopedia says, “He was a disgrace to the chair of Peter.”
Pope Innocent III – 1198 – 1216, Promoted the Inquisition, surpassing all his predecessors in torturing and murdering.
Pope Boniface VIII – 1294 – 1303, One of the worst of all Popes. Dante visited Rome and described the Vatican as a “sewer of corruption” and assigned Boniface VII, Nicholas III and Clement V to the “lowest parts of hell.”
Rodrigo Borgia – Pope Alexander VI – 1492 – 1503, Under his reign the “Vatican was again a brothel” (The Records of Rome, 1868, British Library) and his debauched papal court was compared to the ancient “fleshpots” of Caesarea in which St Augustine (d. 430) revelled. He was well known as a sexual pervert and was reported to have fathered children with his daughter.

Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti – Pius IX – 1846 – 1878, Was famous the kidnapping of a 6-year-old jewish boy and oppression of jews yet was deemed a Saint by Pope John Paul II. His beatification was questioned due to rumors that he sexually molested the boy.

Karol Wojtyla – John Paul II – 1978 – 2005, While Karol did apologize for many of the church’s sins he also was a staunch supporter of catholic monsters such as Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legion of Christ and known pedophile. Karol beatified and canonized more individuals than all his predecessors put together, many of the individuals were notorious pedophiles and other criminals yet Karol thought them all to be great catholics and saints.

Joseph Ratzinger – Pope Benedict XVI – 2005 to present, a member of Hitler Youth and member of the German army during WW II. He manned anti-aircraft guns at the BMW factory that used slave labor. As a former Nazi he is responsible for war crimes and the men he killed. In the early 80′s he was made Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), formerly called Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition (aka “the Inquisition”). He has actively protected and supported known pedophiles and blocked investigations into the church’s abuse of children.

Inquisition
The Catholic Church is infamous for its ‘Inquisition’ whereby it tortured and murdered millions of people. The Inquisitions started in the 1200s and didn’t end until the late 1800s.
In his book, “History of the Inquisition”, Canon Llorente, who was Secretary of the Inquisition in Madrid from 1790-92 estimated the number of condemned in Spain alone to have exceeded 3 million, with 300,000 burned at the stake.

A Catholic historian comments on the events leading up to the suppression of the Spanish Inquisition:

“When Napoleon conquered Spain in 1808, a Polish officer in his army, Col. Lemanouski, reported that the Dominicans (in charge of the Inquisition) blockaded themselves in their monastery in Madrid. When Lemanouski’s troops forced an entry, the inquisitors denied the existence of any torture chambers. The soldiers searched the monastery and discovered them under the floors. The chambers were full of prisoners, all naked, many insane. The French troops, used to cruelty and blood, could not stomach the sight. They emptied the torture chambers, laid gunpowder to the monastery and blew the place up.”

Mother Teresa
Perhaps the greatest icon of Catholic charity, Mother Teresa (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) was not at all who she pretended to be or who the media portrayed her as. In reality she spent her life opposing cures to poverty such as birth control and empowerment of women. She took in vast sums of money for the poor and used it mostly to expand her religious order to 500 convents around the world.

She was a supporter of criminals such as Charles Keating and mass murderers such as the Haitian Dictator François (Papa Doc) Duvalier who looted the country and killed over 30,000 people. For her loyal support of his family, Baby Doc Duvalier presented her with a Legion d’Honneur in 1981, which she graciously accepted from the mass murderer.

In 1989, Agnes traveled back to her native Albania to pay her respects to communist dictator Enver Hoxha and lay a wreath on his grave. Hoxha was one of the most repressive rulers of the 20th century. Under his reign of terror Albania was a virtual prison camp and almost every citizen had either been interrogated, tortured or imprisoned by the dreaded Sigurimi secret police. The country was impoverished by the lunatic policies of Hoxha and his rampant military spending.

Charles Keating was a good catholic who stole in excess of $252 million as part of an organized fraud in the Savings and Loan scandal of the 1980s. He gave $1.25 million of his loot to Mother Teresa. When Keating was facing prosecution she interceded on his behalf and wrote a letter to the court urging leniency. When the district attorney informed her that the money she had received was stolen money and needed to be returned, she refused to return the money and evaded the courts attempts to recover the money. Keating only spent a total of 4.5 years in prison.

Mother Teresa did care for the poor, sick and dying but at the same time she promoted policies that cause poverty and disease and supported an institution that preys upon the poor and engages in wholesale abuse of children. Her legacy is an organization that feeds a few people while taking in vast sums of money and promotes the very causes of poverty.

Catholic Satanism
A book published several years ago by retired catholic priest, Luigi Marinelli, detailed the misdeeds of greedy bishops, money-laundering prelates, sexual abuse and satanic rituals within the Vatican. Marinelli was no lone dissenter, the book was written by a group of Vatican prelates called the Millenari who seek to expose the corruption and satanism within the Vatican. (ISBN 1552631427)

“The smoke of Satan has entered the Sanctuary”- Pope Paul IV – 1963
“The cultic acts of Satanic pedophilia in the Catholic Church are considered by professionals to be the culmination of the rites of ‘The Enthronement of the Fallen Archangel Lucifer’ in the Vatican.” – Fr. Malachi Martin – 1990

Given the Church’s tremendous support of the most horrific forms of torture during the middle ages, its genocide against non-Catholics, its active participation in WW II, its manufacture of poverty and its wholesale sexual abuse of children around the world, how can the organization be anything but satanic?

Reviving European Fascism
Mad-dog Archbishop Jan Sokol, former communist agent, avid supporter of fascists.
The Church is once again taking over the country of Slovakia to create a new fascist stronghold. Despite the fact that they the Catholic party has few seats in Parliament they have been able to gain strategic control over key institutions.

They have mandated Catholic ‘religious’ education in all public schools, banned many competing religions as ‘cults’ while supporting mind control cults such as the Unification Church, Hare Chrisna, and Church of Scientology. The Slovak taxpayers are required to pay the salaries of priests. The largest land owner in the country, it pays zero taxes. In a special pact with the Vatican, Slovakia all but ceded its sovereignty over to the Church.

The Church has not used its new power to help the poor or improve living conditions for the masses. Under Vatican rule the rich are getting richer and the poor are becoming more desperately poor. Schools and hospitals are forced to shut their doors as funding is cut. Food prices are skyrocketing and crime is flourishing. Many Slovaks feel they were better off under the Soviets and indeed many of them were.
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In March, 2005 the Slovak Archbishop, Jan Sokol, publicly blessed Marian Kotleba, the leader of the Slovak neo-Nazi organization Pospolitosti. The organization is- the resurrection of the Catholic fascist militia that rounded up Jews & Gypsies for Catholic priest Jozef Tiso to send to Hitler’s death camps. So far their actions are mostly limited to distributing flyers promoting hatred against non-Catholics. Archbishop Jan Sokol doesn’t care which type of thug he supports, state archives reveal that he was an agent for the Slovak secret police during communism.

Vatican Participation in World War 3?
Excess wealth creates lust for power. The more power a person has the more they want. The billionaires that currently control events want more power and have no loyalty to any nation. Their aspirations are global and they seek to establish a global corporate police state. In order to create such a state national boundaries must be dissolved. Just as the last two world wars were used to change national boundaries the next world war will be used to dissolve national boundaries and create corporate super-states. Just as war made it possible to create the UN and NATO, the upcoming war will be used to consolidate power further and unite more countries under the control of a single entity. Corporations are rapidly becoming the new governing force and will replace nations.

War is almost always about power and money, even though religion is usually used as the driving force. The first large regional wars in Europe were funded by the Rothschild family and they have been involved in most every major conflict since. Many of the wealthiest families own stock in the Carlyle Group, which in turn owns stock in various military contractors. The rich stand to make more money in the event of a war – regardless of who wins or loses. Wars cause currencies to deflate and inflate and property to be devalued. In wartime the wealthy can more easily manipulate events to their advantage and then buy up the spoils for almost nothing once the dust has cleared and the blood has soaked into the ground.

A world war isn’t possible without the active support of the Vatican. While the new Pope has issued the standard bogus ‘peace’ messages, the real intentions of the church can be surmised by its past and present actions. With the appointment of a new Pope who was a member of Hitler Youth, the head of the modern inquisition and known supporter of pedophiles, it is most likely that the Vatican is gearing up to support a return to dark times. Another world war will require religious zealots on two sides. Without religious insanity, most people simply won’t kill each other with enough gusto to keep a war going for long.

One one side there are muslims. Saudi Arabia’s CIA designed mind control Wahabi religious schools have produced enough muslim zealots to keep a war going for awhile and with the resurgence of ‘christian’ fascism courtesy of the Vatican, there may be enough for another side.

Religious Insanity
Most Catholics never think of these aforementioned facts, just as most other religious followers rarely allow logic to penetrate into their minds. Religion was invented long ago by dark forces as a form of spiritual enslavement. It keeps humans from thinking and keeps them at each other’s throats. The concept of worshipping some invisible entity is silly enough. The notion that a superior entity would even want to be worshipped is even more ludicrous. The idea that we are paying for the disobedience of someone who lived thousands of years ago is also silly. Even more nutty is the idea that God would send his only son (aren’t we also his children?) to Earth to suffer a horrible death so that we pathetic humans might somehow be forgiven for something that we didn’t even do.

One needn’t be religious to be an honest and compassionate person. It doesn’t take a stinking old pedophile to convince us that it is better to love than to hate. We don’t need some invisible deity to keep us from making mistakes. Catholics share in the sins of their church and the blood of its many victims is on their hands. If you are Catholic, please listen to your soul, follow your heart and do the right thing by not supporting evil. (Taken from Highstrangeness.tv )

Get out of Romanism before it is too late! Repent from your sins and turn to the True and Living God of the Bible! Flee from Idolatry and  Believe on the LORD Jesus Christ and find a congregation where Jesus Christ is worshipped as Son of the Living God. Get out of the Anti-Christ system of Roman Catholicism! Jesus is the Only Way, the Truth and the Life.
“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” – Rev. 18:4 KJV.