This writer will now begin the journey of wading through in my heart, what is the greatest heretical fallacy and misrepresentation of true Christendom that has infiltrated the true church of Jesus Christ. The ecclesiastical organization known as the Papacy has self-indulged and put yokes of slavery around God’s people from its inception in the early 400’s to the 1500’s.
The truth as being uncovered from past till know depicts the Roman Catholic machine as Satan’s agent that oppresses the hungry (spiritual and physical), enslaves the seeker(yoke of legalism), and falsely worships the virgin-Mary, angels, saints of old, and false medial confession designated only for Christ (idolatry). This is an affront for the kingdom of Satan.
As we will see on this brief journey, ‘true’ saints of God have set themselves apart from this heretical organization and thus, we see the cry of the righteous in the much needed Age of the Reformation and its soldiers of the true church of Jesus Christ standing for (Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura, Solo Christo, and Soli Deo Gloria). Now, let us look at how and why the Papacy in Rome became the center of power, and the factors that contributed to this venomous money-driven organization attempting to change the course of Christ-centered soteriology.
First, let us examine what would warrant the need or preconceived idea of an ecclesiastical hierarchy within the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Church necessitates a divinely held belief in the ‘papacy’ because of the Scriptures found in (Matthew 16:18-19; Luke 22:31-32; John 15-17) and is thus, regarded, as a divine mandate for ecclesiastical obedience. So, we see the rise of the papacy in line with Benedictine Monasticism which constituted the terminology of “orthodox” or the ‘catholic’ belief system.
I will add here, if one is so vague to hinge all Christological doctrine on three separate verses found within the Holy Scriptures, we must turn away from such shallow interpretation of the living Word of God. When proper hermeneutics are grounded in sound exegesis, we see (Matthew 16:18-19) as giving the “Petros” small stone, Peter, being a play on words from “Petra” meaning a foundation boulder in reference to Peter.
Sound hermeneutics will always be the antidote for Scriptural fallacy. These trained men of the Scriptures were blinded by their insatiable appetite for power and money. Now that we have answered the how and why of the ‘papacy,’ let us move forward in our quest to the progression and ultimately the dismantling to some degree of the Roman Catholic machine, known as the Papacy. Secondly, now our attention will be focused on examining what the ‘papacy’ is and its origins as revealed in pinned history. The term Pope (papatus), is a Greek word meaning ‘father’ and was virtually never consulted in the Eastern Empire, however, the Western Empire relegated a certain primacy of honor to the “vicar of St. Peter.
We see in church history the title “first Pope” to be designated to Leo “the Great” who would later be involved with the controversy of the human and divine natures of our Messiah Jesus Christ. Before Leo’s rise to papal authority status, we see six other ‘Popes” who were influenced heavily by Leo’s dominating governing prominence. Pope Leo had a profound impact on the previous Popes and would later appropriate the old pagan title of pontifex maximus (the highest priest in Roman religion) this was done in order to institute orthodox Christology.
The early Middle Ages (600-1050) so a decline in papal authority. We see in this period one Gregory also later to be known as “the Great” not so much for ruling but his impeccable writing skills that were honed under the tutelage of bishop of Hippo. As we see in Church history, the heretical theology and perversion of Orthodox Christology by Gregory, would lead to his demise. We see in this age, the foundational laying of heretical venom as the Papacy would implement the ban on clerical marriage, this was done by Gregory in 1079.
This was done so that complete allegiance could be given to him. Now, we will look briefly at the crusades and their attempt to free Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim control. The first was the crusade to conquer the Seljuk Turks. This crusade was headed by Pope Urban who would reach Jerusalem in 1099. The result was a ‘blood bath’ as many of the crusades were. This particular crusade is the only one to be considered a success, for it achieved it principle goal of liberating Jerusalem from Muslim occupation. The following five crusades were disasters and Muslim control would be retained until 1917. Let us turn our examination glass to the era of (1227-1241).
We see in this time period Gregory the 9th and the Inquisition implemented to pull the reigns of repentance in tightly so that the unhindered rule of the Papacy in Roman providence would be unquestionable. One would think that this was done for conversion, wrong this vile and ungodly atrocity was committed by the ones who were ‘supposedly’ God’s ambassadors. We see the influence of the Roman rule instituting its muscle on the secular rulers, thus, allowing the permission to trial, torture, and kill those who did not repent of unconfessed sin.
This was another avenue in which the Roman Papacy retained complete ecclesiastical dominance over those they most often viewed as less worthy of forgiveness. Also, in this height of Papacy rule, we see the lifestyle of Monasticism, which deferred from the Eastern Empire and the Western empire. The predominant role of Monasticism was prayer under the order of Benedictine. Benedictine saw the need for the copying of the books of the Bible and other classical literature. The two main opposing views were paganism and Arianism.
We have here the height of Papacy domination with predominant submission and limited resistance to the ecclesiastical demon that had been spawned from greed and arrogance. By the time of (1305-1517) we see Pope Boniface declaring complete and total surrender to the papal regime and its man-centered soteriology. We see many outbreaks of rebellion from the rulers and people that simply wanted for some of the wealth to be shared. With a machine driven by greed and corruption, it’s no surprise of the selling of indulgences, which would shorten the time an individual would spend in purgatory.
We see at the height of the decline of Papal authority, the Papal Schism of (1378-1417) which at the death of Pope Gregory in 1379, the masses elected an Italian; the French elected Clement VII who the returned to Avignon. The Council of Pisa then elected another Pope, thus bringing the total Popery to three Pope’s.
This brings us to the brink of total revolt or a much needed call to reformation for the Papacy and its heretical puppets. The dawn of the reformation surely cried out from every heart that saw the brutal massacre of the authority of Scripture by so-called ‘priests’ of Jesus Christ.
Listen, I concur with J. C. Ryle when he said, “It’s a huge organized idolatry. ” We see the religion of Popery as man-centered (exalting), self-atoning (works justifiying), and self-glorification (pride magnified). Surely the Master and Head of the Church shall not let this great blasphemy go unpunished in “that day. ” We see from the inception of the Papacy, the continual jockeying for preeminence, prestige, and power for the purpose of self-exaltation; surely this is the kingdom of Satan with its crowning jewel.
