Religious Doctrine – The Church Propagating Mistruths

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

The earliest known mention of the term ‘Apostles’ Creed’ occurs in a letter from an assembly of clergy in Milan which has been associated with the belief, that each of the Twelve Apostles contributed a phrase to the twelve articles of the Creed which only emerged in the 4th century, long after the Apostles had all passed. The term itself suggests that the 12 Apostles created it, recited it, and endorsed it, when in fact they didn’t. The ‘Creed’ lacks specificity and clarity.

There is no reference to Scripture. The first and most important fact of the gospel Paul preached was that “…Christ died for our sins” 1 Corinthians 15:3-8). The reality and purpose of Christ’s death are stated repeatedly in scripture. The Creed was supposedly intended to derive its authority from Scripture but it doesn’t even mention it. Belief in Scripture is omitted, but belief in the ‘Holy Catholic Church’ is included. This is Heresy.

There is no reference to the inspiration, authority, sufficiency, necessity, clarity and infallibility of Scripture. The Creed describes the ‘Catholic Church’ as ‘Holy’, but not the Word of God. This is Heresy.

It makes no reference to the method and means of salvation. Salvation by God’s grace alone, is not mentioned, nor is there any mention of justification by faith in Christ alone.

There is no mention on the purpose of Christ’s death, it is only mentioned as a historical event. The absence of an explanation of its meaning, is not a Christian confession. Christians need to confess that, ‘Christ died for our sins.’

This statement references Pontius Pilate as the 5th Prefect, of the Roman Emperor Tiberius, as being responsible for condemning Jesus Christ to the suffrage of crucifixion – this is a deliberate mistruth, as can be evidenced from the following excerpt from the bible’s book of Luke, Chapter 23, where Pontius Pilate states that he is willing to release Jesus but …“they cried, saying crucify him, crucify him”… Pontius Pilate actually states …“then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man”. (Luke 23:4)

The reference ‘they’ specifically refers to the Jewish Religious leaders who created a public protest enlisting the support of the locals to cry out loud, demanding that Pontius Pilate crucify Jesus. These religious leaders, similar to the Rabbis (plural of Rabbi) of today, feeling threatened by the doctrine that Jesus espoused and who had performed countless miracles whilst preaching love, compassion, righteousness, being humble, helping the poor, forgiveness and the repentance of sins, rallied the crowds to chant “crucify him”.

In those days, the ruling Roman government offered a customary pardon for the release of one selected prisoner before the Jewish Feast of Passover. Pontius Pilate stated that he would punish Jesus before releasing him, but the religious leaders insisted that Jesus be crucified and demanded that ‘Barabbas’ (a notorious thief who had committed multiple murders) be released instead of Jesus “…and Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, said unto them, ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him: No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him”. Luke 23:13

I will therefore chastise him, and release him, for of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast, and they cried out all at once, saying, away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas, (who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison). Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them, but they cried, saying, crucify him, crucify him, and he said unto them the third time, why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him, I will therefore chastise him, and let him go, and they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified, and the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed, and Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required… KJV Bible Luke 23 13:24

In referencing Jesus’ suffrage under Pontius Pilate, the Catholic Church is covering up the fact that the Jewish Rabbis were responsible for energising the crowd to denounce Jesus which ultimately led to his crucifixion. In so doing, the Catholic Church is responsible for having deceived billions of followers over the past 1,600 years.

The Catholic Church preaches that it is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christ’s apostles, and that the Pope is the successor to Saint Peter to whom primacy was conferred by Jesus Christ.

Holiness is generally the term used in relation to persons and relationship, while sacredness is used in relation to objects, places, or happenings. Thus a saint may be considered as holy, but would not be viewed as sacred. However, there are things that are both holy and sacred such as the holy bible which contains God’s and Jesus’ spoken words in written form. The word ‘Holy’ cannot be included as a reference in church prayer, because, by its very constituency, it is flawed, in that the actions and inactions of successive Popes and Clergy over many centuries since its adoption in the 4th century have been the complete opposite.

The Pope is a man Catholics have claimed to be the mediator between God and mankind. This is Heresy.
Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and mankind …For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5).

Papal supremacy is the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church stating that the Pope, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ and as the visible foundation and source of unity, as pastor of the entire Christian Church, has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered, by divine institution, supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls. This is Heresy.

Bible Scripture states that Jesus is head of the Church …For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. (Colossians 2:9-10).

It is typically believed among Catholics that priests, have the power and authority to forgive sins. So sins must be confessed to priests. This is Heresy.

Bible scripture instructs us to ask God, ourselves, for forgiveness, with a promise given to forgive us and cleanse us,
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

The apostle Peter also states in the Bible, that through Jesus name, whoever believes in Him will receive forgiveness of their sins …All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name (Acts 10:43).

The Catholic clergy have propagated the belief amongst their followers that sin generates spiritual penalties, and not all of these penalties are removed even if the guilt of a sin has been forgiven (by clergy members). Church instruction conveys the belief that these remaining penalties can be removed or reduced by penance, which involves doing good works which will be determined and assigned by priests. This is Heresy.

There is no reference to Penance in Bible Scripture. God does not instruct believers in Christ to do such things for the forgiveness of sins. “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:22-24).

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:8-10).

In the mid-15th century, the Catholic church instituted the doctrine of Purgatory, a special place between paradise and hell, wherein are found the souls of those who died with repentance for their sins, but who did not succeed on earth in offering satisfaction to God for the forgiveness of their sins. Catholic clergy have over the past 5 centuries, preached the doctrine of Purgatory to their congregations by stating that after death, unpaid penalties (sins) could cause believers to be punished in this life also, in various forms of sufferings and what remains unpaid by suffering on earth will be paid in purgatory. This is a false doctrine which is also Heresy.

Over long periods of time, Catholics have been fooled into believing if they die with unpaid penalties that they will pay for their penalties by suffering. This imaginary place keeps many believers in fear all their life, because they can never be sure of how long they will spend there. A fear of purgatory causes many Catholics to miss out on the joy and peace that comes from knowing Jesus has paid the full price for sin.

However nothing about purgatory can be found in the Bible. Jesus said in the Bible, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life”. John 5:24.
The Bible also says God does not remember sins that have been forgiven “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” (Hebrews 10:17).

Catholics have been brainwashed into believing that these penalties can be reduced by Indulgences, which involve doing good works (charity), saying certain prayers, going to confession and going to communion. The whole concept of Indulgences conflicts with Bible Scripture in that it challenges the word of God, where, by his grace we have been forgiven for all of our sins …“And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”. (Hebrews 10:10).

In what was a seriously incredulous statement made by Pope Francis on July 22nd 2013, when he stated that the church would grant indulgences to reduce the time Catholics would have to spend in purgatory simply by following the events of World Youth day ‘live’ on their Twitter feeds. This is a false message to the billions of followers around the world.

Prior indulgences granted by the Church included the climbing of the Sacred Steps, in Rome (reportedly brought from Pontius Pilate’s house after Jesus scaled them before his crucifixion), a feat that supposedly earnt believers seven years off purgatory. Purgatory is a False Doctrine propagated by the Catholic Church but not taught by Orthodox Churches.

A common Orthodox tradition involves the kissing and bowing down to images and statues of Mary, Jesus, dead people and angels. The Bible says that this practise is wrong, and such objects should not even be made “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; (Exodus 20:4-5).

Generally Church services involve intricate rituals and ceremonies that are not found in the Bible, but have been invented by ordinary people that have eventually ended up being indoctrinated into church practices. God has said in the Bible, that he is more interested in what’s in people’s hearts than rituals and ceremonies.

God opposes those who do things outwardly while the heart is far from him. Jesus spoke against the Pharisees of his day, “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me’” (Matthew 15:7-8). A heart that is ‘far’ from God cannot really please him and cannot truly obey him in the outward actions that he requires. The scribes and Pharisees didn’t understand this at all. Jesus warned them, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matt. 23:27-28).

The Catholic belief system has complicated the simple Gospel message – that we have eternal life when we put our faith in Jesus, as the Scripture says: “He that believes on the Son has everlasting life” (John 3:36)

Infant baptism arose from the teachings of some early second and third century church leaders that baptism washed away sin. The misconstrued thinking at the time was that if people died without being baptised then they died without their sins being forgiven and thus would go to Hell. Given the high infant mortality rate in the early centuries, the concept of baptising babies as soon as possible came into trend.

The purpose of baptism is to give visual testimony of our commitment to Christ.
Baptism signifies three things:

1) Baptism is a picture of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. As we stand in the water we are representing Christ on the cross. As we are dipped underwater we illustrate the burial of Christ. As we come out of the water we demonstrate the resurrection of Christ.

2) Baptism is a personal testimony to us of the washing away of our sins. As we go under the water we reconfirm that our sins are forgiven and as we come out of the water we are resurrected to live a new life in Christ.

3) Baptism represents our personal identification with Christ. Being sprinkled or having water poured over your head when you were an infant, or too young to understand, misses the point of baptism on all three levels. This is because the Bible teaches that commitment to Christ always precedes baptism. In fact, baptism is one’s testimony of surrendering his/her life to Christ.

The New Testament order is not to be baptised and then receive Christ. It’s always, first you receive Christ and then you get baptised. If you were not aware of submitting to the Lordship of Christ then it’s impossible to think of your baptism as a personal commitment to Christ. This means that as adults, we need to be baptised again by full immersion in water. Paul stated … We were buried with Christ in baptism and we are raised to walk in a new life…(Romans 6:3-4).

The Greek translation of the Hebrew word for ‘baptism’ is ‘baptidzo’ (English Lettering) – this word does not mean ‘sprinkle’ or ‘pour’. The Greek word ‘baptidzo’ literally means to ‘dip’ or to ‘immerse’. So, instead of translating the word, the early translators transliterated (Definition: to write or print (a letter or word) using the closest corresponding letters of a different alphabet or language) the word by taking the Greek letters and transposing them into English.

The early translators of the Bible from Latin into English faced a problem on how to translate ‘baptidzo’. If they translated it as ‘immerse’ it would have caused conflict because the church practiced sprinkling and not full immersion.

The Ethiopian eunuch surrendered his life to Christ as he was riding in the desert reading the scroll of Isaiah. He didn’t choose to be baptized by sand. He waited until he found a body of water large enough for immersion …As they travelled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, …“Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” and he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. (Acts 8 36:37). There is no record that any babies/children were ever baptized in this manner, they were all adults.

The Church considers its bishops to be the successors to Jesus’s apostles and the Church’s leader, the Bishop of Rome (also known as the Pope) to be the sole successor to Saint Peter, who ministered in Rome in the first century AD, after his appointment by Jesus as head of the church.

There is no evidence in biblical scripture to support the notion that the thousands of Catholic Bishops who have been found to have repeatedly forced their penises into the anuses of young boys, raping and molesting young girls and nuns whilst covering up their crimes, burning individuals on stakes and instigating ‘Holy Wars’ are in any way successors of Christ’s Apostles. This is reflective of the destructive nature and impure influence within the Church that has corrupted the minds of clergy members over the past 16 centuries.

In the book of acts written by the apostle Luke early in the 1st century it records the “…acts of the Apostles through the work of the Holy Spirit”…(Acts 1:2) Luke recorded how believers, empowered by the Holy Spirit, worked to spread the Gospel of Christ, and how they developed a model for the future church. It also records the transition of the Church from being almost exclusively a Jewish institution into an international faith. The Gospel of salvation is for all the people on earth, because Jesus Christ is Lord of all. Everything they espoused and preached was about sincerity, compassion, love and faith, forgiveness of sins, resisting temptations to judge others and to live their lives through the understanding of bible scripture. This is the polar opposite of what modern day bishops have been practising. The church that evolved from Roman bureaucracy cannot be revered to the same sanctity that was practised by the 12* apostles, following the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
(*the Apostle Judas who hung himself after betraying Jesus was replaced by Matthias, thereby restoring the number of apostles to 12)

Priests under vows of chastity, forced nuns into having sex and professed the power to ‘absolve’ the sins of the nuns they tempted. Sometimes the love affairs of a nun were ignored or even aided by fellow sisters who didn’t want their convent to receive an evil reputation. Children that were born as a result of the liaisons seldom survived as infant mortality was high during that era and many babies and young children either died or were left to die to eliminate any evidence, but their skeletal remains have been found buried under convents throughout Europe.

Since the beginning of the 20th century there has been a systematic cover up of abuse, molestation, and rape at the hands of priests, bishops, cardinals and popes. As victims began raising their complaints to the church, typically after 10-20 years because they didn’t have the courage or conviction as minors, the offending members of the clergy were often transferred out of dioceses, rather than held to account. The extent of their actions will be, for the most part, never fully understood, because of the decades of cover up and ultimate deaths of victims.

Despite Pope Francis’ ‘window dressing’ attempt to convince the world that he hopes to fix this problem through the set-up of a ‘sex abuse prevention summit’ intended to hold the bishops who facilitated decades of cover up to account, the molestation of children is still happening at the hands of priests, bishops and cardinals all around the world. Irrespective of any proposed action plan that might eventuate as a facade, nothing is likely to change significantly whilst governments around the world continue to sit on the sidelines, ‘talking the talk’ but doing nothing.

The recorded sexual abuse crisis perpetrated by priests, bishops, cardinals and successive popes over the past 120 years becomes visibly apparent as reports of abuse by religious clergy abound all over the world as the following incomplete uncomprehensive summary highlights:

Kenya
Since 2009, eleven cases of sexual molestation reported. In all cases the police and Church authorities did nothing.
Tanzania
Four priests exposed as paedophiles. A group of former pupils have filed a civil suit to pursue legal action.
Philippines
In 2003 Catholic Church apologised for child sex abuse by 200 priests over the previous 20 years.
India
In 2014, 6 priests charged over the raping minors.
Austria
In the period from the 1970s to the late 1990s there were 24 documented cases of child abuse and sexual violence.
Belgium
Evidence of 476 instances of child abuse by priests and bishops dating back 50 years
Croatia
A priest convicted of the sexual abuse of 37 young girls, was sentenced to 18 months in prison – this is pathetic
France
Cardinals covered up 533 cases of sexual abuse against minors by 34 priests over the past 50 years
Germany
Reports that 3,677 children, were sexually abused by 1,670 clergy members over the past seven decades.
Ireland
Revelations that over 1,300 Catholic clergy in Ireland had been accused of sexual 769 abuse cases since 1975
Malta
Reports that 84 allegations of sexual abuse of children had been made as of April 2010.
Netherlands
Catholic Church widespread child abuse with 1,800 instances reported to have occurred since 1945.
Norway
Revelations of 41 sexual abuse cases by clergy members since 2016 amid reports of a nationwide wide cover up.
Poland
In 2013, the church admitted that nearly 400 clergy had sexually abused children over the last three decades.
Slovenia
A civil initiative started in February 2019 uncovered 25 sexual abuse cases by 15 priests
Sweden
Sexual abuse cases of children by priests since the late 1950s were kept quiet by the church
United Kingdom – England
In 2016, the Church of England was dealing with 3,300 complaints of sexual abuse.
United Kingdom – Scotland
Bishops knew of 126 abuse cases from 1979 to 1995 but refused to act.
United Kingdom – Wales
Cases of 3 priests and a bishop perpetrating sexual abuse. Numbers obscured by combined England & Wales data.
Canada
Over 190 cases of sexual abuse reported involving 23 abuser priests.
Mexico
A sex abuse scandal investigation identified 152 priests for sexually molesting children in 101 cases
United States
Reports that 4,392 priests sexually abused 10,667 minors from 1950 to 2002.
Australia
Over 1,000 priests identified as having perpetrated 4,756 cases of sexual abuse against minors from 1980 to 2015.
New Zealand
Clerical abuse by 5 priests for 41 cases of sexual abuse
Argentina
Amid decades of cover up by the Church and the government very little information exists in the public domain
Brazil
Limited public data exists due to a nationwide cover up by the Church and government inaction.
Chile
Amidst a nationwide cover up by the Church only 8 priests have been charged for molestation of minors
Peru
Decades of sex abuse cover up by the church and government inaction implicate just 4 bishops and 3 priests
Italy
The Italian Government has a treaty with the Vatican that guarantees areas of immunity to Vatican officials, including bishops and priests. This has made it difficult to get accurate figures as to how many clergy members have committed sexual abuse. How convenient for the Catholic Church, zero accountability for the crimes of its clergy members.

Is it possible that this will change following the Pope’s ‘sex abuse prevention summit’? Not a chance, after all, it’s only a ‘window dressing’ exercise intended to appease (deceive) the billions of parishioners and people in general around the globe into thinking that there will be significant change for the betterment of human society – There won’t be.

The Roman Catholic Church needs to amend its celibacy law and revert back to early Christian tradition when it allowed married men to become priests. In its formative years, the early Christian Church allowed priests to have families, even the first pope, St Peter, was a married man. According to the church, celibacy is an act of self-sacrifice a Catholic priest must make, forgoing marriage, having children and sexual fulfilment for his relationship with parishioners and God.

In the Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law, celibacy is a ‘special gift of God’ which allows clergy members to follow more closely the example of Christ, who was chaste. Another reason is that when a priest enters into service to God, the church becomes his highest calling. If he were to have a family there would be the potential for conflict between his spiritual and familial duties. What about the potential conflict of raping young boys and girls, despite hundreds of thousands of these crimes being committed over the centuries, successive Popes have remained silent.

The church needs to change its celibacy law and allow married men to become priests. What the world needs is a Pope that takes a stand for God’s people, not one that talks of change but changes nothing. Successive Popes have denigrated the very core of the ‘religious institution that they espouse to serve. Pope Francis cannot be trusted to care and protect the world’s catholic parishioners. Whilst he stands idly by, and you are reading this article, thousands of children around the world are being raped by his cohorts.

The 6th Commandment – “Thou Shalt Not Kill”
There are over 126 recorded killings by the Church that were perpetrated from 1314 – 1710 AD. The following are just a few that have been summarised to illustrate evidentiary existence of the impure influence that has plagued the church.

Burning at the Stake
54 x Knights Templars (1314), Jan Hus in Constance (1415), Joan of Arc (1431), Thomas Hawkes (1555)
Lynched
Ramihrdus of Cambrai (1077), Peter of Bruys (1130)
Executed
John Rogers (1555), Botulf Botulfsson (1311)
Initiating 43 ‘Holy Wars’
The Knights’ Revolt (1522–1523), the Nine Years’ War (1593–1603), the Eighty Years’ War 1568–1648

The church will continue to market itself as being infallible. The propagation of Mistruths will continue to deceive new and existing believers and so the church’s crimes against humanity will continue. We must always stop to reflect on what the church is conveying and be guided by bible scripture. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me” (John 14:6).

As believers, we’ve been taught that church attendance is important so that we can all come together to worship, be encouraged, and learn from God’s words for spiritual growth. Church goers, believe and trust that Priests and Bishops act as intermediaries to provide us with a special connection to God. It’s important to note that this isn’t what Bible Scripture reveals and that a priest, rabbi, minister or pastor are there to help by providing a regular meeting place where believers can congregate.

That said, today’s westernised society demands a lot more from individuals than previous generations. Some people work excessively long hours, others have multiple part-time jobs to make ends meet, a growing number of parents are committed to ferrying their children to sporting activities each week and then there are the pressures of managing the household and extended family.

All of these things, along with social media and a myriad of other distractions, deduct available time, so attending church regularly, intermittently or just a couple of times a year, helps us reconnect with our beliefs, but we must also make time to read the bible, whether it be a physical version or in electronic form. Only then, can we understand more about what God & Jesus intended for us to know which is not limited to the same specific verses that are repeated every week during church services.