Catholicism wonky 2

In a discussion about the timeline of errors around when heresy crept into the church, one topic was on end times, because of that view some grabbed hold of, a sect broke out and became known as the Roman Catholic Church.  Most historians, looking at church history, date the beginnings of RCC around late 500s to 606 AD. 

During a Bible study on the history of end times error, RCC was brought up and we learn a bit more about that apostate religion.

"There's a book called Israel and the Church by Ronald Diprose. This is a fascinating book and exceptionally well done. First printed in Italian; in 2004 it was translated into English. It shows the effects of this idea that the church was the new Israel and Israel was out. It had a very, very profound effect on the church in the Middle Ages on the church in the Dark Ages. Here’s how.

Israel had altars, right? Worship in the Old Testament, Israel, altars, sacrifices, a sign at birth, a priesthood, a jubilee year. Israel had rituals, rather than preaching. Where do you think Roman Catholicism came from? 👉It came right out of that concept. "If the church is the new Israel, we need an altar."

You’ll never see an altar in a Christian church. We don’t offer sacrifices, even a repeated supposed sacrifice of Jesus Christ, horror of horrors. We don’t have a priesthood. We don’t have a Jubilee year. We’re not caught up in symbols and ceremonies and ritual. But all of that got imported out of the worship of the Old Testament into quasi-Christianity in the medieval church [RCC]. From the formation of the church in those early centuries through to the present day, Roman Catholicism is Judaism recast. 

All its trappings demonstrate an Old Testament system of shadows and symbols. Priests who are the intermediaries, ceremonies. The Roman Catholic Church is sacramental; you commune with God through rituals, sacraments.

It is sacerdotal, that is it is in the hands of priests. It is hierarchical, as Old Testament Judaism was with a high priest and descending orders of priests. Judaism & RCC is institutional, it is not personal. It is not a spiritual organism. It is not centered on the proclamation of the Word of God, and it doesn’t deal with spiritual reality; it deals with symbol and shadow.

These are the effects of [re]designing the church to be "the new Israel", and justifying the transition of all those components of Old Testament shadowy worship into this new quasi-Christianity. 

👉It is a recast kind of [apostate] Judaism where it’s more important to have an altar and somebody die every time you meet than to celebrate 👉a risen Christ 👉who died once."

He noted the Pre-Nicene fathers pre 325 didnt hold that false end times view nor replacement theory where the church took Israel's place. That wasnt introduced until  Augustine 🙃🙄 and picked up not long after by what is now the religion of Roman Catholicism. 

In the discussion that pointed this out, also further discussed the end times, saying...

“The most striking point in the eschatology of the Ante-Nicene Age is the prominent millenarianism; that is the belief of a visible reign of Christ in glory on earth with the risen saints for a thousand years before the general resurrection and the judgment. It is the widely-held opinion of distinguished teachers such as Barnabas, Papias, Justin, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Methodius, Lactantius, and on and on and on. Couldn’t believe anything else because the Bible was clear: there would be a kingdom." And 

"Many of the church fathers who interpreted the Scripture, of course, accurately all came to the same conclusion: there will be a kingdom, and there will be a future salvation of Israel. Unless you change the meaning of Israel so Israel doesn’t mean Israel, or unless you come up with some wild, allegorical interpretation of what is otherwise simple and straight-forward language [of Scripture], you can’t have the church replacing Israel and receiving some spiritual fulfillment."

The most notable contributor to making the church into the new Israel [which was nowhere in Scripture nor in early church fathers preaching] was Augustine in the 5th century. And it did come from – as we talked about a few weeks ago – a growing resentment toward Jews related to the fact that they had rejected Christ.

It was because of growing anti semitism that the false end times view took hold, and was  the reason Roman Catholicism began to exist.

Investigate Catholicism

Look into the case against Amillenialism 

What is the Gospel ?