From Israel To Italy

This is the final, fantastic close of Mr. Scudder’s testimony. We apologize for the long absence this summer, but we’ve had to do a lot of travel and take care of many personal obligations. Getting back to this post, while I may not fully follow Mr. Scudder in the area of “modern tongues”, I would say that his understanding is excellent about the deception of a mixed and/or common faith. Please take a couple minutes to read through his closing and then leave us a comment or two!

Catholics no longer a mission field?

Some Evangelicals are now saying that Roman Catholics are no longer considered to be a mission field since they are ‘Christians’, as evidenced in the document ECT, (Evangelicals and Catholics together).

What a sad commentary to our brothers and sisters in Latin countries, and others who have laid down their lives for the Gospel, and have seen millions of Roman Catholics believe the Gospel. The future of evangelism hangs in the balance.

In my eight years of working with Charismatic Catholics, I have come to the following conclusions.

I had been naive and had neglected to really look into the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church to see what they really believed about the doctrine of Salvation by Grace alone through faith alone on account of Christ alone. I took it for granted that they believed the Gospel of the Bible. I had not prepared and made serious mistakes. After study I found that historically, and conversely, the Roman Catholic Church teaches as dogma, that justification is conferred through her sacraments, and that it consists of inner righteousness whereby a man, it is stated, becomes ‘just within himself.’ The Church of Rome condemns the Biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone. (Council of Trent)

Any non-Catholic Church that held the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church would be considered a ‘Cult’ by many of the same people who are seeking unity with the Catholics.

I have discovered that most Protestants do not know what the Gospel is ‘according to Rome’! And are easy prey for Roman Catholic apologists because they do not know how to defend sola scriptura or because of their extreme arminianism. Do we once again need a reformation in the ‘Protestant’ Evangelical Churches?

It was the standard practice of the FGBMFI to tell Roman Catholics to stay in the Catholic Church so that they could witness to others and I find this to be true also in many Protestant/Pentecostal churches. I believe this was a very dangerous attitude in that I found those who stayed eventually were lost to the Roman Church once again for various reasons or because they had not been truly born again. I believe most of the ones who had trusted in Christ alone for salvation came out of the Roman Catholic Church.

You cannot stay in a Church, without consequences, that denies we are saved by what Christ did outside of us, and not what we can do to become worthy inside.

“Solo Christo”

“Solo Christo” was one of the cries of the Protestant Reformation. Translated from the Latin, it means “Christ Alone.”

In these times, the growing tendency to emphasize feelings and experiences at the expense of sound doctrine is presenting the world with a ‘feel-good’ religious community, the boundaries of which grow more ephemeral with every new ecumenical pronouncement. This is especially true among Roman Catholics and some Evangelical and some Charismatic Christians. I want to emphasize that not all Evangelicals and Pentecostals are being deceived but some are.

And the lines become more blurred, so that now in some ecumenical meetings, New Agers, Universalists, Roman Catholic as well as “some” true born again Christians such as Evangelicals and Pentecostals are coming together to celebrate their oneness in a quote, ‘Common Experience.’ This is the great deception.

Although speaking in tongues can be valid experience from God it is not always of the Holy Spirit. It can be counterfeited. Satan has counterfeits of every Gift of God. You can receive an experience without being saved, and when this happens it leads to many problems. The major problem is a false sense of security that you are saved, and leads you further away from the true Gospel and many times into the occult. It has been documented that most spiritualists are former Catholics.

If we accept everybody as brothers and sisters because they speak in tongues, then we are heading down a slippery slope, Catholic or otherwise.
(Spiritual experience ALONE can never be the basis for unity. Unity must be based on sound DOCTRINE.)

Some may have a legitimate question about laying hands on unbelievers. Some bitterly regret having prayed for and laid hands on these Catholics who have, according to some Pentecostal testimony, received an alien spirit as a result. Does this mean that “we” transmitted an evil spirit from us to them? NO - in our ignorance God would not allow us to transmit the Holy Spirit or an unclean spirit to a unregenerated person but we have been guilty of helping that person open-up to an unclean spirit.

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“If anyone comes with another doctrine, do not receive him….for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.”
Holy Bible 2 John 10-11 KJV.

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
Galatians 5:1. KJV

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Bill Scudder

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We touch on the idea of ecumenism in this post. Since I have arrived in Italy, I regularly hear for the call to “unite” through ecumenism. I was once asked to teach in the religion class at the local high school on ecumenism. I did. I said it doesn’t work. I showed why it doesn’t work. I told them this with as much love and charm as I could muster. I wasn’t invited back.

Here are a few of the pitfalls of ecumenism as I see it:

1. Culture is king. If you’re sincere enough in your religious culture, then you can have salvation too.
2. Culture = Religion. Your culture is just as valid as mine and if you obey the dictates of your culture then we’re all serving the same god.
3. Ancient texts = Sacred texts. Every time you refer to Scripture with a person who is “ecumenical” they constantly refer back to old documents that were discoverd here or there. Aged does not equal Holy.
4. Lack of definition. Ecumenism survives on muddy terms.
5. No Judgment. Hot-potato-topic. God won’t punish us because we’re all good to go anyway.
6. Sincerity = Salvation. If you just feel deeply about what you’re doing (right or wrong), you’re good to go my man. Therefore, we can all work together because we’re all sincere about our religions.

Well, let’s continue on with Mr. Scudder’s testimony about how he encountered Universalism (Ecumenism).

Universalism

A Catholic Priest who was a sought after speaker in the Catholic Charismatic movement and spoke at many FGBMFI chapters, was speaking one night to a large group during one of our FGBMFI conventions. After his talk he gave an altar call to come and be ‘born again.’ I had an uneasy feeling, and after the service was over, I approached to ask him some questions. I asked him if Jesus was the only way to be saved, and he said very plainly, ‘NO.’ I asked, ‘Do you have to be born again and believe in Jesus Christ to be saved and he said ‘NO.’ What did he mean by ‘born again’?

It was obvious he meant that if you received tongues or any kind of subjective feeling, that this was proof of being born again, having nothing to do with being born from above by the Spirit of God or believing in Christ alone for salvation.

At that point I rebuked him for what he said and he got very angry and began to shake. I reported him to FGBMFI but nothing came of it. There are several kinds of Roman Catholics. The Catholic church is not as united as they would like everyone to believe. There is the liberal that believes God is the Father of all and no-one is lost. Then there’s the one that believes that if you do good works and are baptised you will be saved. And another traditional pre-Vatican 2 Catholic that believes that only through the Roman Catholic church can you be saved. Then there are all those in between.

The Roman Catholic religion in its quest for ecumenism is now playing both sides as is seen in Vatican II.

An article published by the Dallas Morning News on Saturday March 20th, 1999 of an ecumenical meeting held in Dallas, Thanksgiving World Assembly, shows the other side.

What is important about this meeting is that it was attended by a Nigerian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic religion named Francis Arinze.

His comments are chilling and revealing. An illustration of Roman Catholic ecumenism, which ices out the Gospel and makes mockery of the ministry of Jesus Christ, is found in Arinze’s answer to the question, “Can you still get to heaven without accepting Jesus?” His answer, not surprising, but chilling and ominous, is: “Expressly, yes!”

He says, “God’s grant of salvation includes not only Christians but Jews, Muslims, Hindus and people of good will.”

WHAT DOES THE POPE HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS?

Note the following quote (Dallas Morning News, 12-09-00):

By Peggy Polk
and Robert Nowell

VATICAN CITY, Dec. 6 (RNS)–Tempering a controversial Vatican declaration on salvation, Pope John Paul II said Wednesday that all who live a just life will be saved even if they do not believe in Jesus Christ and the Roman Catholic Church.

The Pope blatantly contradicts the Bible

© 2000 Discerning the Times Digest and NewsBytes
On March 26, 2000.
The popular Catholic Pope John Paul II blatantly contradicted the Bible on December 7 when he proclaimed “Heaven is open to all as long as they are good,” even for “those who ignore Christ and his Church.”
The Bible clearly teaches only those who have accepted Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation will be saved.
The December 8, Electronic Telegraph reported the Pope as saying that “Heaven is open to all as long as they are good.”

POPE’S WORDS BEFORE THE “ANGELUS”, VATICAN CITY, OCT. 1, 2000 (ZENIT.org)

3. The Holy Spirit is not only present in other religions through authentic expressions of prayer. “The Spirit’s presence and activity”, as I wrote in the Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio, “affect not only individuals but also society and history, peoples, cultures and religions” (n. 28).Normally, “it will be in the sincere practice of what is good in their own religious traditions and by following the dictates of their own conscience that the members of other religions respond positively to God’s invitation and receive salvation in Jesus Christ, even while they do not recognize or acknowledge him as their Saviour (cf. Ad gentes, nn. 3, 9, 11)” (Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue)

As you read this portion of the testimony, you’ll notice a very common practice that we see permeated all through Italy. That practice is taking both sides of an argument when it’s convenient to do so. You stay in control that way.

Purgatory was a way to do this. It was a ready-made tool to make money through indulgences. To the question, “Are you going to heaven or hell?” purgatory provided a great answer, “BOTH.”

Well, purgatorio has too much historical baggage now. So, today, it’s being conveniently disgarded, ignored, or downplayed. It was once a stalwart dogma. What happened? Universalism came on the scene all shiny with lasers & smoke. It cleaned out the old, dirty laundry and made room for all kinds of fun new icons and gadgets from the neighbor kids. It’s the new Universalism 2.0. “Are you going to heaven or hell?” U-2.0 answers, “Yes. Heaven. Everybody.” It’s all the rage.

Beware Bible believer! Ecumenism is nothing more than a way for Romanism to wrap its cloak around your Church.

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My home internet has been down for three weeks now (How did I survive such an ordeal? Ninja Skills). So, part 2 took a little longer than anticipated. Thank you dear precious readers for not abandoning us during the dog-days of summer.

This article-testimonial is getting very interesting. In this next section, Mr. Scudder writes about the Mary of Rome visiting the States. In other words, Mr. Scudder identifies the seduction of the Roman Mary and deviation from the Scriptures that “she” brings. Read on:

MARY BECOMES THE FOCUS

Many Catholic Charismatics have migrated to Mary, whom they see as the Holy Spirit’s more interesting spouse¹ The Catholic Charismatic fellowship at Dayton University reported to the news media that since their ‘experience’ they have been giving more devotion to Mary. In the statement nothing was said about Christ.

That does not mean that we do not honor Mary at all for her physical part in the birth of
Christ but we cannot venerate her more than the Scriptures allow or make her in any way spiritually responsible for our salvation.

Contrary to popular expectations, the sign of tongues that Catholics recieved brought back to Catholicism those who had fallen away, reviving their idolatrous practices. Some typical comments from Catholic charismatics illustrate this:

“Our devotion to Mary was filled with sanctification.”

“The sacramental life of the church has become richer in meaning.”

“I came to a better understanding of the eucharist as a sacrifice, and I came back to frequent confession.”

“At that time I discovered a profound devotion to Mary.”

Is the spirit that is active in the Roman Church, the Holy Spirit? In speaking of Him, Jesus said, “He will guide you into all truth”. This is the particular characteristic of the Holy Spirit. It is characteristic of an evil spirit to lead one into only part of the truth.

Now, one of the most marked effects of the Catholic charismatic movement is to lead its followers into part-truth, part-error as, for example: spontaneous prayer AND the rosary; the adoration of Christ AND the Holy Sacrament; reading the Bible AND the veneration of Mary.²

There are several testimonies from people who had been baptised by the “Holy Spirit”, one while reciting his rosary, another while singing a hymn at mass, and yet another while on her knees praying to the Holy Virgin. These testimonies are quite sufficient to prove that the spirit who baptised these people is in contradiction with the Scriptures and cannot, in any way, be the Holy Spirit. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit consists, not of doubting His work, but of attributing such error and such dreadful idolatry to His divine person. To quote Charles Foster, “When the experience of the Holy Spirit is put before doctrine and salvation, seduction is certain…”

Read the above portion of his article twice. This is a well-written evaluation with very little to argue with…

Part 3 (Universalism) in a few days…

1. At first, my (Rob’s) experience was that the Romans had added Mary as a 4th person of the Godhead to make a Quadernity. However, the more I looked into this “addition” the more I realized that it was a “substitution” where the Holy Spirit was fully replaced. [back]
2. This is an excellent point! I wouldn’t qualify this solely among Catholic Charismatics but among Catholics in general. The spontaneous prayer part wouldn’t be allowed “outside” the sacred building called the Church. [back]

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I’ll be taking a few posts¹ to share the experience of a charismatic businessman² from Ohio. I do not know the author personally but a relative of mine is acquainted with him. The story shares Mr. Scudder’s “cooperation” with an ever-popular group called Catholic Charismatics. I do agree with a number of the conclusions³ that Mr. Scudder has come to as a result of these encounters, and I wanted to share them with you. I believe if you know the Truth that you will find this interesting as well.

The Slippery Rise of Ecumenism⁴

It started when I was voted in as President of a local chapter of the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship International. We had a dinner meeting once a month and a breakfast meeting once a month. At the dinner meeting we would usually invite a Christian businessman to give his testimony. I also held a Bible study and prayer meeting in my home.

Catholics began to come to my home prayer and Bible study meeting, including a priest. The first thing this priest did was kneel in front of me, as if I could impart something to him. Later I knew that he wanted me to pray that he would receive tongues. Later that night I sat down with him and the scriptures and tried to explain to him the plan of salvation. My words and scriptures seemed to address deaf ears. His “religion” seemed to have a shield around him so the “Gospel” could not be heard.

I became a friend with this Priest and we began to attend other meetings together. More Catholics started coming to all of our meetings and I invited a Catholic professor from Ball State University to come and speak to our fellowship.

It wasn’t long until many of these Catholics were seeking and receiving tongues. At the time I just took it for granted that they were already saved and were receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Priests, nuns, and others were beginning to receive tongues. I was guilty of believing that tongues was an indication that we shared the same Holy Spirit experience, and the same Jesus. This was due to my ignorance of the ‘Gospel according to Rome,’ for which I have no excuse.

I was invited to teach a course one night a week for six weeks in a Roman Catholic Parish, St. Monica In East Peoria, Illinois. Priests, nuns, and others were present. I taught on the gift of Salvation. At the time I was not prepared for what I was confronting and because all present at the meetings deemed themselves already saved because of the Roman Catholic religion. I don’t believe I addressed the subject in the right way. There was a spirit of bondage given to them by Rome and they had a dependence on their infant baptism and other doctrines of Rome which nullify the Gospel.

I was invited to attend Catholic Charismatic prayer meetings at Bradley University as the only non-Catholic present.

One of the Catholic prayer groups were speaking in tongues and receiving unbiblical interpretations of a sinful nature, supposedly coming direct from Mary, ‘the mother
of Jesus’. Which was further proof that the unsaved were receiving ‘tongues’ from a spirit other than God. Charismatic Catholics often become more devoted to Mary after receiving a tongue that was not from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit only glorifies Christ.

One of the common declarations of Marian worshippers is that Mary is actively giving new revelations (extra-biblical), new signs, & new miracles. In my experience with thousands of devoted Marians - not one time has a person hungered after and followed Christ Jesus more after any “encounter” or hearing of an encounter of Maria. Whether you’re a cessationist or continuationist - all believers must pose the question on some kind of tongue or spiritual manifestation to see its veracity and authenticity — Is Christ glorified? 1 John 5:6

Part 2 in a few days…

1. The goal here is to raise an awareness to what is out there & how Rome works in the Western world. Please remember that Rome’s pattern has been to umbrella –> imitate –> absorb and that’s what I’m striving for through these posts. [back]
2. Bill Scudder, Dayton, Ohio, USA Azusa755@sbcglobal.net Permission is given by the author to copy this testimony to be used in any way provided it is reproduced in its entirety including my e-mail address without change and that the following disclaimer be included. This testimony may be pasted on any other site but does not mean I agree with all other documents or links listed there. [back]
3. I will list-out the conclusions that I agree with and add some commentary on them after each post. [back]
4. A movement promoting worldwide unity among religions through greater cooperation and improved understanding. [back]

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