28.september 2009, Pope Benedict kneeled and prayed before the skull of saint Wenceslaus, patron saint of the Czech nation.
The Roman Catholic Church honors Saint Wenceslaus, a Central European ruler who died at the hands of his brother while seeking to strengthen the Catholic faith in his native Bohemia.
During his 2009 visit to the Czech Republic, Pope Benedict XVI called the country’s patron saint “a martyr for Christ” who “had the courage to prefer the kingdom of heaven to the enticement of worldly power.”
St. Wenceslaus was born around the year 903. His father Duke Wratislaw was a Catholic, but his mother Princess Dragomir practiced the native pagan religion. She would later arrange the murders of both Wenceslaus and his grandmother Ludmilla, who is also a canonized saint.
Source: Catholic News Agency (CNA).
My comment:
You might never get a better photographical evidence than this, confirming that the Roman Catholic church is a cult. Not only a cult, but a death cult. Honoring, praying to, and worshipping the dead.
Here are some more photos:
Those Christians who accept and promote this cult as a part of the Christian family, needs to watch these pictures. You have to demand an answer from them. Also you local pastor or priest:
– How can any follower of Jesus accept the Pope as a Christian leader?
– Could all the reformers of the church be wrong, when they branded the pope as an antichrist?
The Vatican II council of 1965 called protestants “separated brethren”. The council aimed for their return to Rome, by their acceptance of the pope as the leader of the largest Christian denomination and Church. The accept of this kind of invitation is a mortal error.
Revelation 18:4
And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.
The truth is the radical opposite. The Vatican is the mysterious Babylon, the epic center of idol worship in the name of “Christ”. If you want to escape the coming judgment and wrath of God, you need to escape from this religious movement. Need need to come out of her. Completely. And rather expose her evils, like the blasphemies of Pope Benedict and his cardinals and bishops.
Be wise. Repent or perish.
May Jesus the Messiah have mercy on all deceived souls.
Published by Ivar
Enter a caption
ivarfjeld.com 
Jeremiah 8 comes to mind when seeing this worship of skulls and bones,
At that time, saith the Lord, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:
2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
3 And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts.
4 Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?
5 Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
6 I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.
7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord.
“2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.”
This is the key verse. It specifically states “…they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped…”
You’re assuming that the Catholic Church worships the sun, the moon, & the stars; it doesn’t. So your quotes from Scripture do not apply. You need to recite Scripture in context.
The Catholic Church worships God the Holy Trinity alone. The saints (holy ones) are made holy by God alone.
Thank you for beautiful pictures on this page in good resolution! But your comment is crab.
I think the word is CRAP…..That is what so many people think that Catholics Pray to the Saints/bones/Mary – etc…… WE don’t……. NEWS THAT MATTERS (hahaha) learn something before you make posts about something you know nothing about….. you make yourselves look so stupid…… but, yes, thank you for the pictures
Un-F—ing-Believeable!
Straight out of hell!
In fact Satan could take a few pointers from these guys.
Dear william Bennet
Shalom, and love in Jesus.
We can not blame secular media in the West, for not printing such images.
But what about Christian newspapers, weekly magazines and periodicals?
Where are the warnings issues by pastors, who still stand on the lessons of the Reformation?
Where are their comments in social media?
After the Vatican II council, a lot of Protestant Christians have been decived by their pastors and priests to accept the papacy as a seat of a Christian leader. Their Church has agreed to accept Catholics as saved, and promised not to evangelize them.
This is a spritual error with mortal consequences. Such apostate Christians are expected to be taken back on the path to Rome, and accept anti-Christianity as the truth.
If you love Roman Catholics, images of the Pope bowing before, and praying to a skull, should have been published on all Facebook accounts of evangelical Christians. But the carnal, wordly or scared Christian, rather chose to not comment, overlook these images, and hope for the best!….
Ivar thank you for you good work, I am no one special just a simple pilgrim on a journey like you in search of truth and enlightenment. I am starting to see an emerging trend not only towards occult practices but also to a fundamental difference between good and evil that I find to be very important. It is said that God gave man free will and that we were cast out of Eden for our disobedience to God. I think God always knew this would happen and that it is not a “fall” as we have been taught but simply a natural step on our spiritual evolution as a species, like a baby bird leaving its nest before it is ready to fly. I see throughout history and emerging trend of “squashing any movement towards unity” between the human race, you see this in ancient middle east, communism in the USSR, the socialist Ba’ath party in the middle east, 1st century christianity as well as the Cathar movement and there are many many more. It seems to me that this is the fundamental difference, EVIL WANTS TO RULE AND ACIEVE “PEACE” THROUGH FEAR, INTIMIDATION AND SUBJUGATION… THROUGH ULTIMATE CONTROL WITH A KING AT THE HEAD (LUCIFER/ANTICHRIST) AND GOD/FORCED OF GOOD ONLY WANT TO ACHIEVE THIS THROUGH THE ACT OF FREE WILL!!!
I would love to talk to you further, I am one of the few people who is able to have intelligent challenging discussions with a sense of humility and understanding of anothers perspective
No need for your stupid profanity. Learn how to control yourself or be considered a moral degenerate.
“Un-F—ing-Believeable!
Straight out of hell!
In fact Satan could take a few pointers from these guys.”
You mean like your language above…?
The author of this propaganda is purely anticatholic.. out to tarnish the Church and with a very misplaced ideology as far as the Catholic doctrine is concerned.. May God forgive him..
The more they keep trying to tarnish the image of the church, the stronger the church becomes. The world would have been a better place if people face their religion/church and work hard to make them better, other than sit behind the keyboard and tarnish the image of others for no just cause.
Yes, the author needs to PLEASE look up and come out of your ignorance the difference between “worship” and “venerate.” No Catholic worships statues, saint relics, or even non-divine people (like the Blessed Virgin).
When you attend sports events and clap and scream your heart out, are you worshiping athletes?? It certainly looks like it. Do you worship a flag when you salute and sing (worship?) songs to the country? Colin Kapernick even goes down on his knees on the field when he sees a flag!
Very the true, the pope is pulling the wool over the eyes over the true believers in God of the Christianity faith. The pope is a devil worshiper and the common people are too blind and deaf to make right what is wrong. Now you know why, the true Christ is coming back, to make right what is wrong and to lead humanity away from all falsehood and into the true path of God.
FR Khan ( Islamic Principals )
tW0 many sexual misconduct in the church, which they coverup when they can!
Yes, it is true that there has been a lot of sexual misconduct/abuse, & it should be brought to light. My belief is that God is cleaning house. All that is evil will be exposed & removed. It’ll be like shining a bright light on an area where roaches hide & watching the roaches scatter to prevent being exposed.
On that note, it’s important to note that sexual misconduct/abuse occurs across denominational lines as well – in fact, it knows no religious, socioeconomic, nor ethnic boundaries. It is not something that is exclusive to Catholics. If you doubt, do an online search of Protestant sexual abuse reported, & see how many stories come up.
The bones of Elisha had the power to bring dead men to life. That’s the supernatural part, but the main reason behind veneration of relics is to remember the person and what he did. A picture would do, but the actual relics have a stronger memory-stirring effect. It points to Jesus and tells you, hey, this guy was killed by his own family for the faith. You see this skull? It’s all dressed up here on earth, but that’s nothing compared to the glory he shares with Christ. Be faithful. Then you are encouraged and thank God for that saint. Simple as that.
So, “Indiana Jones and the temple of the Skulls” was a movie made from true events? LOL
This is crazy garbage! I cannot believe people fall for this insanity! Very sad…
Keith.
Shalom, and love in Jesus.
Yes, the Vatican priesthood is governing the true temple of skulls. The successors of the temple of Dagon.
@ivarfjeld
“Yes, the Vatican priesthood is governing the true temple of skulls. The successors of the temple of Dagon.”
Based on what? What is your evidence of this? Where does a Philistine deity have anything to do with this at all?
On a different note, what exactly is your denomination since I can’t find what affiliation it is on your blog?
@Keith
This is quite a stretch. How did you go from the holy relics of a saint, whose body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, to crystal skulls used by aliens in a fictitious movie?
Work for salvation not ? jesus is the only way not praying to skulls,read the book of
Martyrs this is a cult evil beyond words
@freddie
Where is working for salvation even mentioned in this? Did I overlook a comment?
No one is doubting that Jesus is the way to salvation. Praying to saints is in fact Biblical. If you doubt, look at Revelation 5:8, & see how the elders in heaven lift up the prayers of the the saints as incense before God & the Lamb of God.
The Book of Martyrs is evil? Really? How does this compare with reading Foxe’s Book of Martyrs then?
Catholics do not worship skulls and bones of saints. We may honor them and pray in their presence, but we only worship God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Get things right before you publish such anti-Catholic garbage.
Dear Dan.
Shalom, and love in Jesus.
You wrote:
Catholics do not worship skulls and bones of saints. We may honor them and pray in their presence, but we only worship God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
My comment:
It is possible to fool a lot of people, for a lomg time. But it is difficult to fool all of us, all the time. In particular after seeing pictures that expose all the lies. Told a million times. Please be honest. What you see is worship of corpses, skulls and bones. Even a child can acknowledge this. Your priests, bishops, cardinals and popes offer incense to these rotten obejcts. They bow before them, the objects being elevated, carried on your shoulders as ancient kings and queens, and brough to the altar of religious shrines.
no, what i see is praying for intercession and remembering someone to look up to as a role model.
you wanna see worship?
take one look at catholic Eucharistic mass. Thats how catholics worship. by bowing repeatedly, by literally saying the words worship.
why dont you buy yourself a catechism that has all of this info in a nice organized fashion, and do some research before publishing this poor perspective anti catholic bs.
Angelica,
Your comment: no, what I see is praying for intercession and remembering someone to look up to as a role model.
My comment: What can a person who is dead can do for you?
Deuteronomy 18:11 Or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead,
1 Timothy 2:5 For there is ONE GOD, and there is ONE mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
What can a statue do for you?
Leviticus 26:1 “You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God.
Dear ivarfjeld:
You have been fooled by anti-Catholic hatred and clueless what’s happening. Do you know what is being said? When Colin Kapernick “takes a knee” on a football field, is he worshiping the football? Incense is a purification– not a “worship.” When people put their hand over their hearts or salute your country’s flag, are they worshiping the flag? The Jews light a candle and pray around it, are they praying TO the menorah?
Is it “worship” for someone to ask a friend to “pray for me”?
Dear Dan … you either see what you want to see or you interpret what you see in ways that you have been trained to interpret them by mentors/pastors with their own agendas in mind. Nonetheless, priests, bishops, cardinals and popes offer incense only to God. It is the traditional symbol of prayers ascending to the throne of God. The gesture of “incensing” in a gesture of blessing or honoring … not of adoration or worshiping corpses, skulls and bones. All that has been created is to give honor and glory to God alone. Many cultures use similar gestures in very different ways. Be assured, there is nothing in the almost 2000 years of Roman Catholic spirituality that justifies or gives credence to your interpretation of our use of incense. I know what it might look like to some … perhaps to many … but I know what is actually meant when we use this powerful symbol and spiritual gesture.
Dear Priest Ron. Shalom and love in Jesus. When a Catholic priest bow before a skull or a corpse, pray before it, the priest worship the dead. It is a grave sin, and blapemeny against Jesus the Messiah. A Christian will never pray to anything else than the living God, in the name if Jesus. Praying, using any other name, makes you a son of the devil. Please repent, or you will surely perish and have to spend eternity in Hell. Please remember that I loved you enough to warn you.
“What you see is worship of corpses, skulls and bones. Even a child can acknowledge this. Your priests, bishops, cardinals and popes offer incense to these rotten obejcts. They bow before them, the objects being elevated, carried on your shoulders as ancient kings and queens, and brough to the altar of religious shrines.”
A saint is…
1. someone who has been baptized & sealed by the Holy Spirit.
2. one who is made holy in the Lord
3. a person who is in God’s presence in heaven.
4. one of whom, Jesus Christ said this: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. (Jn 11:25,26)
5. one who has lived his/her life in obedience to Christ out of love for Him.
6. is one who is connected as a branch to Jesus Christ, the Vine.
7. who believes that to be out of the body is to be before the Lord.
See 2 Corinthians 5:1-10:
1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling,
3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.
4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight.
8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
8. is one to whom all of the saints can come to because of Jesus Christ because they are part of the Body of Christ, which lives:
See Hebrews 12:
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us…
The “cloud of witnesses” in the original Greek is a “crowd of martyrs” who surround us…Why would a crowd of martyrs surround us? Some of them gave living witness with their testimonies, & some of them witnessed to Christ with their very lives giving up their lives unto death for Christ.
22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,
23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
9. is someone who has been conformed to Christ, who shares in His glory.
10. is someone who has partaken of the Divine Nature of Christ to unite himself/herself to Him.
11. is someone who intercedes for us in heaven in accordance with the Book of Revelation.
See Ch. 5:
7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne.
8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. 9And they sang a new song…
11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.
12 In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
12. & finally, one who awaits the Second Coming for the bodily resurrection of all who believe in Him: See 1 Corinthians 15: https://biblehub.com/niv/1_corinthians/15.htm
◄ 2 Kings 13:21 ►
Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.
*IS THIS WITCHCRAFT ACCORDING TO THIS WOMAN BY THE NAME OF JANE DOUGH?*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
◄ Acts 5:15 ►
As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.
*IS THIS ALSO WITCHCRAFT ACCORDING TO THIS WOMAN ON YOUTUBE. HER NAME IS JANE DOUGH.*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
◄ Acts 5:15 ►
As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.
*WHAT ABOUT THIS MADAM PROTESTANT, JANE DOUGH?*
*WITCHCRAFT ALSO?*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2 Maccabees
It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, …
*WHAT ABOUT THIS, MR PROTESTANT PASTOR OF JANE DOUGH?*
*WOULD YOU TELL JANE DOUGH THAT IT IS WITCHCRAFT TO PRAY FOR THE DEAD?*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
◄ Matthew 22:32 ►
“I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
*DOESN’T THIS TELL US THAT THE DEAD ARE ALIVE IN GOD?*
*GO AND DO YOUR HOMEWORK WITH ANOTHER PASTOR. HE WILL TELL YOU A DIFFERENT STORY. THERE ARE 45,000 TO GO AROUND AND THERE ARE 600 NEW ONES EVERY YEAR FOR MORE STORIES.*
Dear Peter Na.
Shalom, and love in Jesus.
2. Kings 13:21.
If you make this example of Elisha as an universal message to us all, go to your grave yard. Immideately. Exhume all corpses. Bring them to the hospials, and heal all the sick.
To be little bit blunt. If you have pain in your stomack, please eat some of the bones. Do not only dow before them and pray to them.
If you would like, NOT to add to scriptures. Think about all that is not written there? They did not bring Elisha’s bones up from the grave. They did not carry them away on their shoulders, and into their religious shrines. They did not put the bones on their altars, and started to adore them……
In Acts 5:15, the people do not adore, veneral and worship the bones of the dead. So your explanation is irrelevant.
2 Maccabees is an apocryff book written in Greek, and not inspired by the Holy Spirit. Therefore not to be found in non-Catholic bible translations. Translated into Hebrew, its considered a journal of Jewish history.
Peter ………….. JaneDough here – and no matter how you try to twist God’s Holy Written Word, it isn’t changing God’s Holy Written Word. But more so – you are in danger of judgement from God – for trying to twist His Words in defense of a known antichrist.
.
Period.
.
Signed,
JaneDough
He has done no such thing. If anything, the very people accusing him are guilty of the very things they accuse him of.
Kneeling respect – not worshiping.
Hello Sampo,
You said: Kneeling in respect-not worshipping.
My comment: The fact that you bow down to statues, dead bodies, and pray for them is a huge insult to Jesus Christ. These things cannot save you, cannot heal, cannot speak. Isaiah 8:19 And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?
Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.
1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
“You said: Kneeling in respect-not worshipping.
My comment: The fact that you bow down to statues, dead bodies, and pray for them is a huge insult to Jesus Christ. These things cannot save you, cannot heal, cannot speak. Isaiah 8:19 And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?”
When the people bowed down before the Ark of the Covenant, & when people were struck down for touching or even looking at the Ark of the Covenant because they were not authorized to do so, consider this:
* Didn’t the Ark have cherubim atop of it by God’s command?
* How about the Temple of Jerusalem – didn’t it have images of bulls, trees, more cherubim, pomegranates, & the like – all approved by God?
* What about the serpent on the staff that Moses was commanded to make to save the people when they’d been bitten by seraphs in the desert?
* What was the difference?
* On the charge of necromancy, was Jesus guilty of necromancy when He transfigured on Mt. Tabor & Moses & Elijah appeared before Him & the 3 Apostles – talking to Jesus?
* Are those who believed in Jesus Christ who have died dead or alive? Please justify your answer with Scripture.
“Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.”
And the key words here are “under the sun”. If this were true that they know nothing, then you need to explain why Jesus (Who is Lord, God the Son, the 2nd Person of the Holy Trinity) when speaking to the religious leaders of His day said the following in John 8:
51 Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”
52 At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death.
53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”
54 Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me.
55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word.
56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
57 “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.
“1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”
This is true & correct. However, the topic here is saints as intercessors, not Christ as the mediator of a New Covenant.
Christians intercede for one another through prayer. When you have a prayer need, & someone says they’ll pray for you, or you offer to pray for someone, that’s intercession. You are interceding on their behalf or they for you. Catholics believe in the communion of saints. We believe that when we abide in Christ, just as He said, if we believe in Him – even if we die – we will live forever. The saints therefore can indeed pray for us because they live in Jesus Christ! Their bodies may be in the ground awaiting His Second Coming for the bodily resurrection where our bodies will be raised imperishable in accordance with 1 Corinthians 15, but when we die, Scripture tells us that we are in the presence of the Lord: our spirits go to Him because we are sealed in the Holy Spirit. We belong to Him. We are connected as branches to Jesus Christ, the Vine. So they live, & we can indeed pray for their intercession because they are part of the Body of Christ & we can’t say to one part of the Body that we don’t need it. That is Scriptural.
For further reading, I invite you to read the following article on the Intercession of Saints:
https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/the-bible-supports-praying-to-the-saints
Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
Dear Brok.
Shalom, and love in Jesus.
“Judge not, thay ye be not judged”. There is a short circut in how both liberal theologicans and Roman Catholics use this verse. Either to promote lawlessness, or as a bid to define Catholicism as true Christianity. The correct understanding of this Biblical lesson, is that we shall not act as the final judge. Only Jesus is the final judge. But we are in need of the ability to call right from wrong.
“The correct understanding of this Biblical lesson, is that we shall not act as the final judge. Only Jesus is the final judge. But we are in need of the ability to call right from wrong.”
But Jesus also states the following in John 7:24: “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”
I think there is a difference in judging & discerning.
Regarding your interpretation, how do I know it’s the correct one?
Let me tell you something that really happened to me years ago. I used to attend classes at my local nondenominational church for a Ministry Apprenticeship Program. It was for people wanting to serve in some ministry or for personal enrichment. Something that I started to notice was this: we had written assignments where we were supposed to discuss Scripture topics & use the Scriptures & Bible Study Tools for our research on the papers. Here’s the thing: I kept waiting for someone to give the authoritative interpretation on the various Scripture passages. You know what? No one ever did. Apparently everyone’s interpretations were ok – even great according to the instructor giving the class! So by that standard anything goes! Your interpretation is about as valid as any one of those, but I am more discerning.
Jesus didn’t say that the Old Testament was to be interpreted any old way. He clarified what Scripture really meant because He was the Only One Who honestly knew it from cover to cover because He is God, & it’s His written Word. But Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh. St. John the Evangelist had must to say about Him in the 1st chapter of the Gospel of St. John.
I know you’ll likely say that 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the servant of Goda may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3). Catholics do not deny this: in fact we affirm it, however, we also believe that the Scriptures do not in any way say that this means that the Scriptures are the sole rule of faith. Nowhere is this taught in the Scriptures. In fact, it is the CHURCH, that takes that role:
From 1 Timothy 3:14,15: Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these things so that, if I am delayed, you will know how each one must conduct himself in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
Cool Aztec Style! All GrecoRoman or Sumer-Babylon-Assyrian !
Once again, modern media gets things wrong. Catholics (including Popes) do not “pray to a skull”! We respect, honor and venerate relics of the deceased, be they declared saints or otherwise … in perhaps an even more intimate way than families carefully hang pictures of their deceased loved ones in their homes. “Praying to a skull” is ridiculous. Remembering the virtuous of and asking the deceased to pray with us that God’s graces be magnified in our lives … now that’s another thing entirely. Most people (whether asked to do so or not) pray for one another here and now … seeking God’s powerful and healing love that can heal what has been damaged by evil and/or sin. Together we seek God’s help which, through the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, has been restored to us and is both abundant and gratuitously available to one and all. And since death changes nothing as far as God is concerned, we regularly ask those who have died to continue whatever can be done to facilitate the flow of God’s graces in our lives.
Dear priest Ron. Shalom, and love in Jesus. I understand that Roman Catholic priest, and comitted to defend the pope. But it is an impossible task, when you are confronted with photograpical evidenes of a Pope bowing before a skull, folding his hands and praying. Even a child can understand that the Pope is no Christian, put a pagan who claim to be one. A fake, and a dangerous deciever of the flock. Repent or perish.
“…when you are confronted with photograpical evidenes of a Pope bowing before a skull, folding his hands and praying.”
If you bow before a cross & fold your hands in prayer, does that mean that you are worshipping the cross?
“Even a child can understand that the Pope is no Christian, put a pagan who claim to be one. A fake, and a dangerous deciever of the flock. Repent or perish.”
Please provide evidence from Scripture & history of any paganism on the Pope’s part or of any deception on his part.
Dear ashiraladonai
Shalom and love in Jesus.
I understand that Roman Catholics gets frustrated by looking at pictures of the Pope, cardinals, bishops and priests praying before skulls, bones and corpses. There is no other way than to repent, and leave this house of of the wicked. The fruts of religious falsehood would be terrible. Do not join this movement towards the wide gates of Hell. I loved you enough to warn you.
I am astounded that a whole Fr can write something like this. You ask dead people to intercede for you? This is beyond astounding. How can the dead hear you my friend?
[And since death changes nothing as far as God is concerned, we regularly ask those who have died to continue whatever can be done to facilitate the flow of God’s graces in our lives.]
I too was a dedicated Catholic for over ten years. I believed everything the Church taught. But in the Holy Bible, Jesus said to worship theFather in Spirit and truth. Not a piece of bread or a gobblet of wine. The doctrine of transubstantiation is totally rediculous. Thank God for Martin Luther. I’m still protesting!!!
What a shame. You deny the very words of Christ by your words when He stated the following in John 6:25-69:
https://biblehub.com/niv/john/6.htm
27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered.
44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.
45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.
46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.
47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.
48 I am the bread of life.
49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.
50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die.
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, ***unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you*** .
54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.
55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.
57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.
58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?
62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!
63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirite and life.
64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.
65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Please show me in the Scriptures & using the original Greek where Jesus said He was speaking symbolically.
Please also show me where St. Paul did likewise in 1 Corinthians 11:
17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.
18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.
19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.
20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat,
21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk.
22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,
24 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.”
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.
29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.
30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment.
32 Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.
33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together.
34 Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.
* Why doe St. Paul repeat the words of Christ when He said, “This is My Body” ?
* Why does he state that “whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord”?
* Are these mere symbols he’s speaking of?
* Why would Christ followers who don’t discern the body & blood of Christ “eat and drink judgment on themselves?”
* Why does St. Paul say that many who have not done this have gotten weak, sick, & a number have died? Does this sound like it’s merely symbolic?
[ Why doe St. Paul repeat the words of Christ when He said, “This is My Body” ?] your quote
Christ also says [ John 10:7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.]
Do you mean to say, by your logic, that he a physical gate?
Please also show me Book, Chapter, & Verse where we are commanded in the Scriptures to rebel against the very Church He’d established. I think you will find the exact opposite. He did say CHURCH, not various sects/denominations of churches in rebellion to His Church – His Body. That’s like someone amputating a foot & saying they don’t need it. Not only will be severed from the main Body from which it receives its life & sustenance, but it will die.
Dear ashiraladonai
Shalom and love in Jesus.
I understand that thise images is disturbing, and that religious people feel they have to put up a defence for the papacy. But you do not have to be a rocket scientist to understand that this is a morbid, distastfull and quit spooky form of faith. Not in God of the Bible, but in Lucifer and his falen dark angles.
“I understand that Roman Catholics gets frustrated by looking at pictures of the Pope, cardinals, bishops and priests praying before skulls, bones and corpses. There is no other way than to repent, and leave this house of of the wicked. The fruts of religious falsehood would be terrible. Do not join this movement towards the wide gates of Hell. I loved you enough to warn you.”
There is no need to repent when one has come home to the Church established by Jesus Christ Himself, sir. As Jesus Christ Himself had said, the gates of hell would not overcome it. I appreciate your sentiment towards me, but you speak just as many of my Protestant brethren who had been abusive to my family had spoken – not out of love – but out of feelings of moral superiority.
“I understand that thise images is disturbing, and that religious people feel they have to put up a defence for the papacy. But you do not have to be a rocket scientist to understand that this is a morbid, distastfull and quit spooky form of faith. Not in God of the Bible, but in Lucifer and his falen dark angles.”
What the Pope demonstrates is that the holy ones of God are reverenced. They are now holy in His Presence, & those in His Presence are made holy for nothing unholy can be in His Presence. They share in His glory in accordance with the Scriptures, & they reign with Him because they abide in Him: that is Scriptural.
@ivarfjeld
“Not in God of the Bible, but in Lucifer and his falen dark angles.”
Aren’t the bodies of the saints considered temples of the Holy Spirit? If they are so holy as to be called temples of the Holy Spirit, why wouldn’t they be treated with reverence?
On Relics: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12734a.htm
the act of abomination in the eyes of God and the rest of the creations
people of God come out from the satanic gathering in the name of church
@Petrus
Please show me how this is abominable when it is in fact Scriptural:
Rev 6:9
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.
2 Kings 13:21
And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulcher of Elisha. And when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood up on his feet.
From “Relics” (Catholic Answers”:
“No Veneration?
Finally, Brewer claims that “there is nothing in the Bible that supports the veneration of relics, even if they are genuine.” Again, not so.
One of the most moving accounts of the veneration of relics is that of the very body of Christ itself. Rather than leaving his body on the cross, to be taken down and disposed of by the Romans (as was the customary practice), Joseph of Arimathea courageously interceded with Pilate for Christ’s body (Mark 15:43, John 19:38). He donated his own, newly hewn tomb as Christ’s resting place (Matt. 27:60). Nicodemus came and donated over a hundred pounds of spices to wrap inside Jesus’ grave clothes (John 19:39), that amount of spices being used only for the most honored dead. And after he was buried, the women went to reverently visit the tomb (Matt. 28:1) and to further anoint Christ’s body with spices even though it had already been sealed inside the tomb (Mark 16:1, Luke 24:1). These acts of reverence were more than just the usual courtesy shown to the remains of the dead; they were special respect shown to the body of a most holy man—in this case, the holiest man who has ever lived, for he was God Incarnate.
Relics in Early Christianity
The veneration of relics is seen explicitly as early as the account of Polycarp’s martyrdom written by the Smyrnaeans in A.D. 156. In it, the Christians describe the events following his burning at the stake: “We took up his bones, which are more valuable than precious stones and finer than refined gold, and laid them in a suitable place, where the Lord will permit us to gather ourselves together, as we are able, in gladness and joy and to celebrate the birthday of his martyrdom.”
In speaking of the veneration of relics in the early Church, the anti-Catholic historian Adolph Harnack writes, “[N]o Church doctor of repute restricted it. All of them rather, even the Cappadocians, countenanced it. The numerous miracles which were wrought by bones and relics seemed to confirm their worship. The Church therefore would not give up the practice, although a violent attack was made upon it by a few cultured heathens and besides by the Manichaeans” (Harnack, History of Dogma, tr., IV, 313).
In the fourth century the great biblical scholar, Jerome, declared, “We do not worship, we do not adore, for fear that we should bow down to the creature rather than to the creator, but we venerate the relics of the martyrs in order the better to adore him whose martyrs they are” (Ad Riparium, i, P.L., XXII, 907). `
Relics in Scripture
Keep in mind what the Church says about relics. It doesn’t say there is some magical power in them. There is nothing in the relic itself, whether a bone of the apostle Peter or water from Lourdes, that has any curative ability. The Church just says that relics may be the occasion of God’s miracles, and in this the Church follows Scripture.
The use of the bones of Elisha brought a dead man to life: “So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. And as a man was being buried, lo, a marauding band was seen and the man was cast into the grave of Elisha; and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood on his feet” (2 Kgs. 13:20-21). This is an unequivocal biblical example of a miracle being performed by God through contact with the relics of a saint!
Similar are the cases of the woman cured of a hemorrhage by touching the hem of Christ’s cloak (Matt. 9:20-22) and the sick who were healed when Peter’s shadow passed over them (Acts 5:14-16). “And God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them” (Acts 19:11-12).”
“When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord , and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you.
Deuteronomy 18:9-14 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/deu.18.9-14.NKJV
There is nothing in the article about soothsaying or any such practices, so why condemn on an assumption? Clearly you do not understand what Pope Benedict was doing. If you have credible support for your conclusion, please provide it.