From Israel To Italy

While travelling in the States this summer, a number of people have asked my opinion about the Pope’s re-assertion that the Church of Rome is the only true Church. What this means is that nobody can have salvation outside of the Roman Church and the papacy. This is ancient Rome rising again. Read my last post for insight into Rome’s claim on eternity and power.

This is nothing new. JP2 (previous pope) said the same thing about six years ago in one of his encyclicles. Dr. Al Mohler Jr. wrote a good article in response. I’ve quoted a portion of it here for you:

I appreciate the document’s clarity on this issue. It all comes down to this - the claim of the Roman Catholic Church to the primacy of the Bishop of Rome and the Pope as the universal monarch of the church is the defining issue. Roman Catholics and evangelicals should together recognize the importance of that claim. We should together realize and admit that this is an issue worthy of division. The Roman Catholic Church is willing to go so far as to assert that any church that denies the papacy is no true church. Evangelicals should be equally candid in asserting that any church defined by the claims of the papacy is no true church. This is not a theological game for children; it is the honest recognition of the importance of the question.

The Reformers and their heirs put their lives on the line in order to stake this claim. In this era of confusion and theological laxity we often forget that this was one of the defining issues of the Reformation itself. Both the Reformers and the Roman Catholic Church staked their claim to be the true church—and both revealed their most essential convictions in making their argument. As Martin Luther and John Calvin both made clear, the first mark of the true Church is the ministry of the Word—the preaching of the Gospel. The Reformers indicted the Roman Catholic Church for failing to exhibit this mark, and thus failing to be a true church. The Catholic church returned the favor, defining the church in terms of the papacy and magisterial authority. Those claims have not changed.

I also appreciate the spiritual concern reflected in this document. The artificial and deadly dangerous game of ecumenical confusion has obscured issues of grave concern for our souls. I truly believe that Pope Benedict and the Congregation for the Defense of the Faith are concerned for our evangelical souls and our evangelical congregations. Pope Benedict is not playing a game. He is not asserting a claim to primacy on the playground. He, along with the Magisterium of his church, believes that Protestant churches are gravely defective and that our souls are in danger. His sacramental theology plays a large role in this concern, for he believes and teaches that a church without submission to the papacy has no guaranteed efficacy for its sacraments. (This point, by the way, explains why the Protestant churches that claim a sacramental theology are more concerned about this Vatican statement - it denies the basic validity of their sacraments.)

I actually appreciate the Pope’s concern. If he is right, we are endangering our souls and the souls of our church members. Of course, I am convinced that he is not right—not right on the papacy, not right on the sacraments, not right on the priesthood, not right on the Gospel, not right on the church.

Source: Florida Baptist Witness: Publishing Good News since 1884

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I came across some fascinating insights into the Roman Culture during the period of the Roman Empire. These insights became like puzzle pieces that once two of the pieces come together, the thrill begins as each piece quickly moves into position to form the bigger picture. If you, the reader, will take a few moments and look at how these pieces come together, I believe it will give you a broader picture into Italian thinking and culture. And once you have a better understanding of Roman culture, you will be able to relate to the 1 billion current adherents to Rome.

The Mistress of the World

In the period of the building & conquest of the Roman Empire, Rome was in all her glory.

“All the Mediterranean countries lay at her feet…It was the ambition of her rulers to express the splendor of their age by adorning with public monuments every province of the empire. Rome herself towered in her glory as the city on which ‘the looks of men and gods were turned’. The Colosseum with its overwhelming massiveness, the Pantheon with its lofty vaulting, and particularly the Forum of Trajan, a building of unparalleled magnificence and ‘admired even by the gods,’ seemed to proclaim that the Empire and eternity were one. The ancient man was inclined to believe that monuments will last for ever.”¹

Heaven is Now on Earth - Immortalize-Me

This mistress fed upon the attention of her paramours. She welcomed their money, affection, wonder, and deities while she conquested and subjugated their cities and regions. As the mistress aged, she prostituted. She, as a city, took on the attribute of eternity in the eyes of the world. Her buildings would “last forever” — and the men inscribed on those monuments would receive glory and be immortalized. Rome in its power and Heaven in its eternity were wed. There was no place higher; no place would be more glorious.  Therefore, it would be quite understandable for the Ceasar to proclaim himself as god and the people to believe it wholeheartedly. Heaven is now on Earth and the chief, glorified ”person” is obviously the divinity of the city.

It was, therefore, fit to bestow the most precious epithet on Rome and to call it: The Eternal City. The state became an object of worship, a divinity; and the Emporer embodied its divinity as he embodied its sovereignty.

Immortality meant either fame or cleaving to one’s home, to one’s earthly abode even after death…The Romans had no conviction that there was any after-life at all, certainly no conviction of an immortal felicity or retribution…The term immortality became a metaphor, signifying one’s being remembered by the people. Cicero said: ‘in exchange for life’s mortal state, you will have gained for yourself immortality…the entire people of Rome accorded to me, not a vote of thanks which would pass with the day, but eternity and immortality’.”²

Emporer + Vicar = Pope

So, we see that Rome afforded itself the prestige of Heaven by abandoning the after-life and glorifying men through memorials and monuments. In that system came the great mix — The Ceasar (a man) became god himself above all other gods. The city, Rome (on Earth), became the desire and abode of all — in life or in death. The glory and fame granted by the people was guaranteed peace and tranquility while following the emporer was promised salvation. Is it any wonder why there was so much bloodshed, intrigue, espionage, and psychological madness around the throne of Rome with that kind of power and belief at stake?

Would it then be that far of a jump for Constantine to wed the ideas of bishop and ruler around the glory of Rome and himself? I find it quite interesting that the title Vicar is used to portray a person in place of God-incarnate on the Earth. And that we would so happen to find this Vicar today — residing in Rome of all places.

What is also fascinating is how much more the Vicar plays emporer rather than pastor if he is a true representative of Christ. He has a monument-temple, outlandish empirical clothing & hatwear, sceptre-staff, ring to kiss when you bow down before him, private and elite palace guards, heads of state for guests, carried around on a throne, a bullet-proof Pope-mobile, a separate “country” called Vatican City, billions of dollars at his disposal, and much more.

Don’t forget the critical theological ramifications where the Pope declares he has the power to forgive sins and to declare who will or will not be a saint through his system. In fact, many popes even to the late JP2 have written that no one can have full salvation outside of submission to the Pope and his declaration. Is this not eerily similar to the Ceasars of old?

Yet, Italy has never renounced the worship of man, the emporer. We know that Rome has not repented of it. Therefore, the nation, accompanied by the peoples of its religious-cultural export ³ remains to this day resistant at best and rebellious as normative. Italy does not want to change rulers. It is still infatuated with being the mistress of the world rather than the faithful and exclusive bride of Heaven.

Biblical Saints vs. Roman Heroes

In Ephesians 1:1 Paul writes to the saints of Ephesus — the living believers. And how do we know they were living? Because Paul says that they “are currently and continually faithful in Christ Jesus.” This is here & now language. In 1 Corinthians 1:2 Paul continues to say that all of those who are found in the Church and are truly believers (the sanctified) because of Christ Jesus are called together by God to be saints. There are at least 40 other references in the New Testament to saints who are all saved & living believers at the time of the letters written to them.

However, Rome set up a system which is much more a carry-over to the ancient gods & practices of its empirical past than obedience to the Scriptures. The glorification of man in the Ceasar’s day was to “secure a person’s eternity” and bring glory to Rome, the eternal city. The ancient Romans would build monuments and shrines to their beloved and inscribe their names to seal their hero-worship status. The hero would be enshrined in Rome and take on a godlike status because they were granted immortality.

The worship of saints that comes from Rome today is very similar:

• To be named a saint is to secure Heaven for you through an earthly decree.
• a Roman saint had to manifest supernatural miracles both while alive — and after death.
• a Pope and council of Rome must approve your sainthood.
• Sainthood takes on a god-like quality – they can do miracles, perform blessings, and hear & answer prayers of others.
• Monuments, shrines, inscriptions, pictures, icons, candles, and more are sold for profit in their names into the millions if not billions of dollars. In fact, there was quite a fuss in Italy when they recognized Padre Pio as a saint and the Vatican (Rome) moved into his home town and set up shop for the expected millions of visitors who were about to throng to the town for prayer to Pio and the purchase of officially blessed relics and icons.
• A saint is set much higher than a common practitioner — Rome respects persons and earthly status but God shows no partiality to these things. ⁴  On this point, we have a very vivid and recent example. After John Paul 2 died, the hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Rome chanted “Santo, Santo, Santo” for days. This means that they were crying for “sainthood” to be granted to JP2. Many people from cardinals on down remarked that they had already begun praying to JP2. And now, JP2 is on the “fast-track” to immortality & intercession hotlines.
• a Roman saint is a glorified hero of a certain area — in other words, you can have a saint to idolize for every function, disease, machine, and house pet under the sun.

Rome is refreshing its heroes. They used to have a calendar here in Italy where every day was devoted to a saint. But they had to discontinue the calendar because there are now too many saints to remember and categorize. So every day must be pick-a-saint day.

In Closing

All worship belongs to Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. And He is the King of the heavenly City, New Jerusalem, the only eternal city which is coming in power and glory. You can only stake your citizenship in one or the other.

Look at these powerful words and promises of Jesus:

Revelation 3:11-12:
I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.

Revelation 21:2:
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

~ not as a mistress for her lovers.

In what city will your name be found? Will your future fade with time or flourish with Eternity? Does your King come from the New Jerusalem or the fallen Rome?

1. Heschel, Abraham, The Sabbath, c. 1951, Shambhala Publications, Boston.,  pages 30-31 [back]
2. ibid., page 31-33 [back]
3. what I mean by this phrase is in reference to the hundreds of millions of people around the world who have also imported the Roman doctrines, traditions, and culture - who also need to turn from the papal belief system. [back]
4. Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11 [back]

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Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is
one LORD:
5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy
God with all thine heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy might. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)

These reflections may seem out of date already as John Paul II has been dead and buried 4 months now. However, as I have only recently started blogging, I appreciate the opportunity to share my views to a wider audience.

Considering the fact that I am Italian, born-again Christian and living in Italy, I have an advantage in insight to what goes on here.
Beppe Severgnini in his book “La Testa degli Italiani (the Italian Mind) - Are you ready for the Italian jungle? ” makes some interesting comments towards the end of the book when describing Italians and religion.

“Let’s put it this way: why huge crowds besieged Saint Peter’s- first to say goodbye to John Paul II, then to welcome Benedict XVI- and the Italian churches are emptying? Enthusiasm for the Pope contrasts with the difficulties experienced by many parishes, that on Sundays resemble the Confraternity of the Gray Hairs: the youngest is 40 years old and is often there to accompany the daughter to the children’s mass. The torrid participation seen in Rome seems distant to the tepid habits of many catholics : nine out of ten Italians declare themselves believers, but the weekly attendance to the mass is declining : one out of three in 1985, one out of four today.”

Severgnini goes on and says:

“Those interested may not respond. Or they could say: one can love the Pope and not go to church. Objection: John Paul II had a “rock star quality “as they say in America, but he did not compromise on certain things. Sunday Mass for him was not an optional but an obligation.”

This is the crux of the matter. Italians especially, and I suspect, many catholics worldwide were enraptured or enamored with a person rather that with the Lord. As with Israel of old who clamoured for a visible king they want now a visible leader. The fact that John Paul II had a certain charisma, reinforced this.

Every Sunday, the national TV channels would show the Pope at Saint Peter’s Square giving his weekly benediction. Thousand upon thousands would be there. But not in church.
What really struck me and many of my saved brethren, was the unbelievable crowd that was present at his funeral. We were shocked to see this outpouring of worship and adoration towards a mere human being. The millions of Euro spent both by the Vatican and the city of Rome to host the visitors frustrated us, because this money, in part, comes from the forced religious tax imposed on Italian taxpayers. (A separate blog -Otto per mille- will deal with this).

Image courtesy of the Australian Broadcast Corporation

All this for someone who had dedicated his whole life to Maria, “the mother of Jesus”. I put it in quotation marks because we Italian born-again believers do not believe that the Maria he worshipped is truly the mother of our Lord, but a repackaged pagan goddess. His coffin had a big “M” under the cross and the wording “totus tuus” - Latin for “all yours”.

But there were two things that really struck me, and it was as if the Lord had opened my mind to understand a bit more of the end times and the Book of Revelation.

The first was how one man could, at his funeral, gather heads of state from almost every country on earth and bring religious leaders from totally different religions together. This suddenly made me understand that it will definitely be possible for one man, in the end times to do this. It was so real, being here and watching the scene played out live, like the Israeli delegation shaking hands with the Iranian delegation.

The second was the absence of any representation from Russia and China. This had such a profound prophetic significance for me. Gog and Magog and the Kings of the East, spoken of by Ezekiel and John in Revelation. We now read that these two countries are holding joint military manouevres!

My heart goes out to our Jewish friends. May the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob grant you grace to understand the times and turn with teshuva to Yeshua Hamashiac, before Jacob’s troubles. We are living in exciting times and we encourage each other with the glorious hope of the return of Yeshua.

Grace and shalom

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