IDOLATRY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC EUCHARIST~AN OPEN LETTER TO ROMAN CATHOLICS
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
The
Eucharist is a ritual loosely based on and bearing some outward
resemblance to the Last Supper of Jesus and His Apostles in Scripture
which has been perverted into an idolatrous form of worship and the
object of worship becomes the bread and the wine itself. According to
Roman Catholic doctrine, a Catholic priest has the power to summon
Christ from his throne in Heaven, where he sits at the right hand of the
Majesty on High (Hebrews 1:3), and change the bread and the wine into the literal body and blood of Jesus Himself.
In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1376 and 1413 respectively state,
The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by
declaring: “Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body
that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the
conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares
again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a
change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the
body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the
substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has
fittingly and properly called transubstantiation.
By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into
the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated
species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is
present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood,
with his soul and his divinity [cf. Council of Trent: DS 1640; 1651.].
Of
course, as with all traditions of men and doctrines of demons found
within Romanism, this too finds its origins not in Christianity, but in
Paganism. Theophagy, or the practice of eating the flesh and blood of
one’s god through a sacramental meal, was a practice that was highly
prevalent in the prominent religion known as Mithraism throughout Rome
in the first few centuries A.D. and is interesting to note that the
practice is nearly identical to the Roman Catholic doctrine of
Transubstantiation. The meal was sacramental in that the god, Osiris,
would grant salvation upon the ingestion of the transubstantiated bread
that was believed to be a reborn presence of the Roman god.
This practice, upon the “Christianization” of Rome under
Emperor Constantine then began to slowly work its way into the Roman
Catholic Church and was contested by many bishops and priests. However,
in 1215 at the Fourth Council of the Lateran, transubstantiation became
official Roman Catholic doctrine and a mandatory practice of the Church.
Today, the practice is largely unquestioned by Roman Catholics and
accepted as dogmatic, and attempts have been made to validate the Pagan
ritual eisegetically with Scripture.
No sane person without pre-conceived notions on the practice and
supposed authority of the Roman Catholic Church could read any passage
in Scripture in reference to the Last Supper, including the one above,
and walk away with the doctrine of transubstantiation. It simply does
not happen. The context of these passages is clear that Christ is
speaking of this ordinance as symbolic of the true sacrifice He was
making on the cross. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (ESV) sheds further light on the context, Paul states,
also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was
betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and
said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you
drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and
drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Clearly, he was speaking of the Lord’s Supper as a way to remember
the true sacrifice in a corporate setting and as a way to make a
corporate proclamation of Christ’s death. Yet, the Roman Catholic Church
does not view Christ’s sacrificial death as a historical event that
happened and accomplished its purpose. It is viewed as perpetual and in
need of perpetual offering to God for efficacy. Paragraph 1382 of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church states,
The Mass is at the same time, and inseparably, the
sacrificial memorial in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated
and the sacred banquet of communion with the Lord’s body and blood. But
the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice is wholly directed toward
the intimate union of the faithful with Christ through communion. To
receive communion is to receive Christ himself who has offered himself
for us.
This false doctrine clearly contradicts Scripture since Jesus has
been raised from the dead and now sits at the right hand of the
Father who is interceding for the saints (Romans 8:34).
Jesus cannot be both dead in the Eucharist and alive in Heaven. John
Wycliffe, the first to translate the Bible into English, writes
regarding the doctrine of Transubstantiation in Patriot and Reformer, 1884, p. 162,
I maintain that among all the heresies which have ever
appeared in the Church, there never was one which was more cunningly
smuggled in by hypocrites than this, or which in more ways deceives the
people; for it plunders the people, leads them astray into idolatry,
denies the teaching of Scripture, and by this unbelief provokes the
Truth Himself oftentimes to anger.
Finally, the Eucharist is to be worshiped and adored as Christ
Himself. Literally, the wafer and the wine are to be bowed to and
worshiped as if it were itself, Jesus. The Catechism of the Catholic
Church in paragraph 1878 states,
Worship of the Eucharist. In the liturgy of the
Mass we express our faith in the real presence of Christ under the
species of bread and wine by, among other ways, genuflecting or bowing
deeply as a sign of adoration of the Lord. “The Catholic Church has
always offered and still offers to the sacrament of the Eucharist the
cult of adoration, not only during Mass, but also outside of it,
reserving the consecrated hosts with the utmost care, exposing them to
the solemn veneration of the faithful, and carrying them in procession.”
The Roman Catholic Eucharist ritual is idolatrous in that worship is
offered not to Christ Himself, but to the ordinance given to His people
as an act of worship to remember Him by. In other words, the act of
worship itself is being worshiped. These traditions of men and doctrines
of demons are not products of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but
of the fallible and errant wisdom of men. Romans 1 calls Roman Catholics and adherents to other false religions and forms of false worship fools, it says,
they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served
the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. –Romans 1:22-25 (ESV)
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republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research
purposes:
To those who count themselves as Roman Catholics,
I fear for your eternities. Though you use the moniker “Roman
Catholic”, I am concerned that you are all Roman and no catholic. Your
rules of doctrine have made you susceptible to all kinds of destructive
heresies by placing your own traditions and the Vatican above Scripture.
In your denial of the Word of God, you have embraced the Papacy. This
Papacy – which Christians have been calling the Antichrist since A.D. 1120 – blasphemes God by claiming to be the “Vicar of Christ“,
which means “substitute for Christ”. By elevating the Pope to that
level, you take part in that blasphemy. Though you appeal to history to
defend this, even history is against you when you go as far back as the 6th Canon of Nicaea.
Your elevation of tradition is equally disturbing. Do you not know
that Scripture is the only infallible rule of faith? Do you not know
that by your traditions, you have made void the word of God? Did you not
know that all Scripture is given so that man might be complete and
trained for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17)?
If you won’t trust me, trust Hippolytus, who your own religion
venerates on August 13th. He is a part of your tradition and he
proclaimed, “There is, brethren, one God, the knowledge of whom we gain
from the Holy Scriptures, and from no other source.” (Against Heresies, emphasis added)
Furthermore, in your veneration of saints, you have actually begun to
worship them. Though you distinguish between worship and veneration,
that has truly become a distinction without a difference. You pray to
them for mediation, even though there is but one mediator between
God and man (1 Timothy 2:5).
Neither Mary nor the saints can mediate for you. Even if you see this
as merely asking them to pray for you, how is this not necromancy? How
are you not one who inquires of the dead (Deuteronomy 18:10-12)?
The Bible says that no one who blasphemes Him will be held guiltless (Exodus 20:7), all idolaters will have their portion in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 21:8) and that your necromancy is an abomination (Deuteronomy 18:12). These are not the only places in which you stand condemned. All liars will also have their part in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 21:8). If you are greedy, you will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Though you may not have committed murder, those who hate are murderers, and no murderer has eternal life abiding in him (1 John 3:15). You may not have committed adultery, but anyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery of the heart (Matthew 5:27-28).
Though you may appeal to penance, indulgences, purgatory, or
confession, know that none of this is Biblical. You already stand
condemned by your wicked works, and no good works can save you. All of
your works are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6),
entirely unable to clean you and totally repulsive in the sight of God.
By the works of the law, no one will be declared righteous in God’s
sight (Romans 3:20). To one who works, his wages are not a gift but his due (Romans 4:4), and our due for sin is death (Romans 3:23).
The law can only condemn, and trying to be justified by obeying the law
through penance and confession will only further sever you from
Christ (Galatians 5:4).
There is good news. We do not have to keep the law, as there was One
who perfectly kept the law. God the Son came down to Earth in the person
of Jesus Christ. He was fully God and fully man, and He lived a perfect
life that never violated God’s law at any point. We are not able to
perfectly keep even the smallest jot of the law, but Jesus perfectly
obeyed the law for His entire life. At the end of this life, Jesus
voluntarily went to the cross and died on our behalf. His righteousness
was accredited to us and our sin was placed upon Him. He who knew no sin
became sin that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 2:51). He bore our sins upon that cross (1 Peter 2:24). Three days after He died, Jesus rose from the grave, being eternally victorious over sin and death.
It is by having faith in His accomplished work that we might be
saved. For it is by grace we have been saved, through faith. It is not
your own doing; it is the gift of God and not of works (Ephesians 2:8-9). A man will not be justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Christ (Galatians 2:16). We must be justified by faith apart from the works of the law (Romans 3:28). Just note what John Chrysostom, who your religion venerates on September 13th, has to say about Ephesians 2:10.
He claimed, “What then is Paul saying? Not that God has forbidden works
but that he has forbidden us to be justified by works. No one, Paul
says, is justified by works, precisely in order that the grace and
benevolence of God may become apparent.” Even your own tradition should
steer you towards this idea of salvation by faith alone (as it should
the idea of Sola Scriptura).
I do not write this to you out of anger or malice but sincerely hope
that you will heed my words. I pray that you may repent and put your
faith in Christ alone – not in your works – for your salvation. The
Roman Catholic Church has no power to save, but if you turn from it and
place your faith in Christ you will be pardoned, not because of your
works but because of Christ’s works on your behalf.
In Christ with love, hope, and concern,
Brandon C. Hines