Artificial Contraception - Why Is It Wrong?

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: It's one of the more 'inconvenient' teachings of the Catholic Church, but all Christians would be wise to remember that prior to 1930, every single Christian denomination in the world taught that artificial contraception was immoral and a sin. It just so happens that the Catholic Church is the only one that didn't change. One by one, all the Protestant denominations caved in, and here are the results...

How Homosexuals Are Taking Over Schools And How To Counter Them

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Like most things in history, public opinion is shaped by rhetoric. The words we use, and how we use them, are important in shaping the way society views things, especially when those words are repeated unceasingly in today's popular media. The radical Homosexual Left understood this all too well during the 1990s, and so it is time we take a lesson from them to turn the tables....

(LifesiteNews) - In the early 90’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered (GLBT) activists in Massachusetts sought to indoctrinate school children with homosexual values. GLBT activist Kevin Jennings, who was later appointed by President Obama as the assistant deputy secretary of the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools inside the Department of Education, masterminded the scheme of gay anti-bullying programs as a perfect inroad into the otherwise resistant classrooms of the nation.

“If the Radical Right can succeed in portraying us as preying on children, we will lose,” warned Jennings in a 1995 speech to fellow GLBT activists outlining his strategy. “Their language–‘promoting homosexuality’–is laced with subtle and not-so-subtle innuendo that we are ‘after their kids.’”

Jennings argued that the key to success lay in “framing” the issue in another way, to the advantage of the GLBT cause.

The strategy consists in linking the GLBT cause to “universal values” that everyone in the community has in common, such as “safety.” One then builds on this universal value the idea that “homophobia” represents a “threat” to students’ safety since it creates a “climate where violence, name-calling, health problems, and suicide are common.” From this point, one simply promotes legislation and programs for schools that frames the GLBT agenda in the language of these universal values.

“This framing short-circuited their arguments and left them back-pedalling from day one,” boasted Jennings. “[N]o one could speak up against our frame and say, ‘Why, yes, I do think students should kill themselves:’ This allowed us to set the terms for debate....

read full story here

So that's how they got us. It was a very clever move, but it is flawed. To regain control we must reframe the debate (as they did) focusing on the issues of "religious and cultural sensitivities." After all, we all want to live in a free society - right? We don't want people being oppressed or ostracized for their religious beliefs - right? We certainly can't have people feeling "uncomfortable" or "alienated" because of their culture - right? So what this really comes back to is tolerance, specifically tolerance for Christians, Jews and Muslims. Even more specifically, we have to recognize that certain expressions of Christianity, like Catholicism for example, have not now, nor ever, viewed homosexuality positively. Asking a good practicing Catholic to accept homosexuality as "normal" is the equivalent of asking a practicing Hindu to eat beef, or a practicing Muslim to eat pork. It is offensive and demeaning, especially for a child. Thus people of the Catholic persuasion simply MUST be allowed to express their beliefs on the subject, or else it falls under "religious discrimination" and "cultural intolerance." This too is a health and safety issue, because if students feel their religion and culture is not respected, they could become target to bullying, which in turn results in stress, eating disorders, poor sleeping patterns, low self-esteem and ultimately depression and suicide. We certainly can't have that in our schools now can we?

I think if parents, and Christian ministries of various types, would ally together to push this cause through the schools, using similar demands for "public awareness" and "cultural safety training" for public school officials, as well as other similar demands for a "safe environment" for people of faith, I believe it would go a long way toward undoing some of the damage done to schools by the radical homosexual Left, or at least neutralize some of the damage done.

I think a good place to start would be with a short 15 minute video (and perhaps some 30 second commercials) depicting various Christian children with eating disorders, depression and suicidal tendencies; all because they feel rejected by their teachers and peers because of their religious faith. We can start with something a bit more exotic, such as Muslim and Hindu children, then gradually move into Catholic and Evangelical children. Mixing them together, and making no distinction between them, other than it is the DUTY of all educators to understand their various religious and cultural sensitivities, so they may respect them and make the child feel "positive" about them.

This type of strategy is a way of turning Multiculturalism and Political Correctness against itself using concerns about "health and safety" as the driving force. It worked for the sodomites, it should work for us too. Let's give it a try. If you agree, please share this article.

New Statistics Show US Episcopal Church Is Crumbling

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: The numbers don't lie. The Episcopal Church in the United States is crumbling. As many as a third of all U.S. Episcopal parishes will be closed within 5 years....

(Virtue Online) - A month long investigation by Virtueonline into the numerical state of The Episcopal Church reveals that more than one third of all 6825 Episcopal parishes in the U.S. have an average Sunday attendance (ASA) of 40 or less.

VOL believes that the figure of 2.3 million Episcopalians, regularly stated by TEC leaders and officials, does not reveal the true state of church attendance. More than two-thirds of this figure have either died, left the church, or attend twice a year, along with tens of thousands still on church rolls who have never been (and should be) removed. The only true standard to gauge the Episcopal Church’s health is Average Sunday Attendance (ASA).

The study undertaken by VOL staff reveals a church in sharp decline with 2219 churches having congregations of aging parishioners in their mid 60s with little or no chance of turnaround in the foreseeable future. There are virtually no young people coming forward to fill the gap. Those being trained in TEC’s liberal seminaries will have no message that is discernibly different from the prevailing culture.

What this foreshadows is that within the next 3 to 5 years more than 2,000 churches across the country will be forced to close, merge or be sold regardless of cash reserves or endowment because there will simply not be enough people in them to keep the doors open. Hundreds of clergy will be forced into early retirement; many will have to take secondary employment in an attempt to keep the doors open to a handful of aging congregants....

read full story here

There are lessons to be learned from this.  The U.S. Episcopal Church is a socially liberal organization, and probably the most liberal of all the Anglican bodies worldwide.  It's message is virtually indistinguishable from popular liberalism espoused at universities and by mainstream media elites.  In other words...

1. Liberalism and Christianity don't mix.


2. Liberalism guts Christianity and leaves it empty.


3. Those parishes that embrace Liberalism will consign themselves to empty pews and eventual parish closure.

The debate has long since been over.  The statistics speak for themselves.  U.S. Catholics would be wise to take heed.  For if Catholic parishes, priests and bishops adopt the same social Liberal stand as the Episcopal Church, than our fate will be the same.

Please pass this article on to all Catholics, especially those with a "liberal" point of view.

England Is The Key To Save Europe (and the West)

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: We are all familiar with the Fatima prophecies concerning the conversion of Russia, and the necessity of this in the restoration of the world after the godless hell of Marxist atheism and Secular humanism. However, Our Lady of Fatima specifically stated that the conversion of Russia is contingent upon the actions of the pope. Russia must be consecrated to Mary's Immaculate Heart, in union with all the bishops of the world, and then Russia will be converted. By "converted" it is generally assumed to mean the Russian Orthodox Church (and the state as well) will be reconciled to Rome. We do not know when, or exactly how, this will happen, but it is an action reserved almost exclusively for the pope. As for the rest of us, all we can do is pray, considering Our Lady's message to live holy and chaste lives. To show our love and obedience, we may practice the devotion of "the First Saturday" as well as pray the Fatima prayers of the Holy Rosary frequently. This however is all we can do for Russia at this time.

Our Lady of Walsingham

However, many Catholic mystics across the generations have pointed to another crusade much closer to home, and one in which we can do a whole lot more. The Nation of England, Great Britain, otherwise known as the United Kingdom (U.K.) is pointed out by the Catholic seers and mystics across multiple generations as the "key" or the "linchpin" to the reconversion of Europe (and the West) after the great Western apostasy of the 20th century. Once considered "Mary's Dowry" this great Catholic nation fell into the Protestant Reformation, quite unwillingly and brutally, due to the apostasy of a king who could no longer see beyond his own political assumptions. Because of this, England fell into a 500 year spiritual death spiral. Today it is barely recognizable as a Christian nation, ruled by godless secularism and moral relativism, while Islam threatens to become the dominant religion on the island. England is spiritually dead now. It has reached the end of it's long death spiral. Now it faces a striking and painful choice. Shall it rebuild it's Catholic heritage? Or give up! allowing the Muslims to rebuild England for them into an Islamic state? Yes, it really has come to that, and yes, now is the time for decision.

I will leave you with the following video in two parts. They are stirring to say the least. If you want to help, you can! If you speak English as your native tongue, than you are connected to the restoration of Catholic England by virtue of your heritage. I will leave links for you to explore just below the video...




THE WALSINGHAM PROJECT (website)
THE WALSINGHAM PROJECT (pdf download)
PRAYERS FOR ENGLAND OUTSIDE THE UK (pdf download)
PRAYERS FOR ENGLAND INSIDE THE UK (pdf download)
HENRY VIII's BOOK "Defense of the Sacraments" (website)
JOIN THE WALSINGHAM PRAYER CRUSADE (website)
.

Michele Bachmann Rejects Anti-Catholicism

2012 Presidential Candidate Michele Bachmann

(The Christian Post) - Michele Bachmann has received a much-needed endorsement from Catholics following media reports saying she quit her Lutheran church, which believes the Pope is the Antichrist.

“We find no evidence of any bigotry on the part of Rep. Michele Bachmann,” Catholic News Agency quoted Bill Donohue, president of America’s largest Catholic civil rights organization Catholic League, as saying Friday. Donohue, however, also said it was “regrettable that there are still strains of anti-Catholicism in some Protestant circles.”

Donohue was responding to Thursday’s report in The Atlantic that said the Minnesota Republican was likely to face controversy over her affiliation with Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church in Stillwater, a member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, which says the Roman Catholic Pope is the Antichrist.

Rep. Bachmann has “condemned anti-Catholicism” and “just as President Barack Obama is not responsible for the views of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Rep. Bachmann must be judged on the basis of her own record,” the League president said, referring to Obama’s former pastor’s statements in 2008 that the U.S. government may have spread AIDS among the black community and that some American wartime activities constituted terrorism.

According to the director of communications of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, Joel Hochmuth, the 55-year-old congresswoman was released from her family’s membership on June 21, six days before she formally announced her candidacy for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination...

read full story here

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: I need to point out here that this is a really big deal.  Many Republican presidential candidates have had ties to anti-Catholic Protestant groups in the past.  The list includes John McCain, Mike Huckabee and George W. Bush.  In each case, the candidate has distanced himself from the anti-Catholic views of the person or group in question, but none have ever cut themselves off from that person or group completely, until now.  What we have in the case of Michele Bachmann is a clean break from not only her former Lutheran parish, but her entire Lutheran denomination as well, in addition to a public statement that categorically rejects the teachings of her former religious affiliation.  "I love Catholics, I’m a Christian, and my church does not believe that the Pope is the Antichrist" Bachmann said, in complete opposition to her former denomination's official stand...

We reject the idea that the teaching that the Papacy is the Antichrist rests on a merely human interpretation of history or is an open question. We hold rather that this teaching rests on the revelation of God in Scripture which finds its fulfillment in history. The Holy Spirit reveals this fulfillment to the eyes of faith (cf. The Abiding Word, Vol. 2, p. 764). Since Scripture teaches that the Antichrist would be revealed and gives the marks by which the Antichrist is to be recognized (2 Th 2:6,8), and since this prophecy has been clearly fulfilled in the history and development of the Roman Papacy, it is Scripture which reveals that the Papacy is the Antichrist.

source

Statement of Faith

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS)

We do not know what Michele Bachmann's personal interpretation of her previous church's doctrine was. We do now know if she ever even accepted it at all. At present, we still do not know what nondenominational church she currently attends, though it appears there are only about a half-dozen of them in the Stillwater area. There is only one thing we do know. Based on Michele Bachmann's personal words and actions, she clearly DOES NOT believe the pope is the Antichrist. Furthermore, based on her few comments on the matter, it would appear the very idea of such a thing is repulsive to her, and this may have possibly contributed to her decision to leave the WELS denomination.

Now as a Catholic (born Lutheran and descended from a man who helped form the WELS) I've got to say this was a pretty gutsy move on Bachmann's part.  She went above and beyond the typical Republican response to this problem.  She backed her words with action, and that's just something you don't see every day.   Good for her!

Anglicanism Implodes While Anglican Catholicism Rises

Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams
No, I don't know what he's doing. 

(Telegraph) - Here’s the reality. The Anglican Communion has disintegrated on Rowan Williams’s watch, partly thanks to his habit of saying one thing to fundamentalist Africans and quite another to liberal Americans. His own bench of bishops is hopelessly divided on key moral issues, and Rowan’s hand-wringing isn’t uniting them.

Out of four bishops commissioned to look after traditionalist congregations, three have left the C of E to become Catholic monsignors. Over fifty Anglican ministers are being ordained RC priests this month.
You may or may not sympathise with their decision. But one thing’s for sure. When Pope Benedict is confronted by a major crisis in his Church, he doesn’t take time off to guest edit a secular magazine in the hope of impressing his mates...

read full story first

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Yes, Anglicanism is imploding around the world, not just in England, but the Anglican Communion is in good company. Lutheranism is on it's last leg too, as well as Methodism, Presbyterianism, etc. In fact, the only two Christian denominations that are growing right now are the Catholic Church and Evangelical/Pentecostal communities. Everything else is in decline. So Anglicans shouldn't feel too bad about that. It's nothing specific to their brand of Christianity. That being said however, Anglicanism does present an interesting microcosm of what is happening in the entire Protestant world.

Before I go on, let me say what this is NOT about. This is not about English Christianity or English Christians in general. It certainly has nothing to do with English heritage. So this is not an attack on Anglicanism in particular. What this is about is Protestantism in general, and specifically, it is about the very premise of what Protestantism is built on. It's taken about five-hundred years, but in that time we have witness the complete and total erosion of the Christian faith.

The problem goes right back to the Protestant Reformation itself (AD 1517 - 1648). It really begins with Martin Luther actually, and believe it or not, his Ninety-Five Thesis has little to do with it. It actually begins in 1520 with a declaration made by Martin Luther of Sola Scriptura or "Scripture Alone" which teaches that the Bible is the ONLY inspired word of God, that it is the ONLY source of Christian doctrine, and that the Bible requires no interpretation outside of itself, meaning that anyone may interpret it authoritatively. This is in direct contradiction to the historic teaching of Christianity that the Bible can only be authentically interpreted in the context of Apostolic Tradition and by the successors of the Apostles themselves. This idea of Sola Scriptura was later adopted by the Church of England in the Westminster Confession of Faith in 1646...

VII. All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed, for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them.

So began a "hermeneutic of rupture" with historic Christianity in the Protestant world that began with Martin Luther, spread across all of Europe, and found it's way into the Church of England. Now the Church of England, and the broader Anglican Communion, has undergone many transformations over the centuries, and I don't propose to suggest the Westminster Confession captures the heart and soul of Anglicanism today. I simply mean to say this was one of the seeds that started it all.  By adopting Sola Scriptura, the Anglicans set themselves up for a train wreck in slow motion that would take hundreds of years to see it's final devastation.   If scripture, tradition and reason are all anyone needs, than by one man's reason, Scripture can be reinterpreted anyway one wants based on the tradition one chooses.  So began the formula of Anglicanism's demise.  In the Oxford Movement the Anglicans saw a brief reprieve of hope, in which for a moment, it looked as if things might turn around, but this hope was soon lost in the twentieth century with the Anglican adoption of artificial contraception, followed by liberal attitudes toward abortion, feminism and homosexuality.  The only thing the Oxford Movement provided was a way out for those Anglicans who wanted it -- a way to step off the train wreck before the final crunch -- a way that is seeing it's completion in Pope Benedict's personal ordinariate for Anglicans.

With the rise of the Anglican ordinariate in the UK, English Christians are now faced with a crystal clear choice.  Pope Benedict has effectively adopted the Anglican Book of Common Prayer (or 98% of it anyway) as an authentic Catholic liturgy.  He has created a means for Anglo-Catholics to govern themselves within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.  He has given English Christians everything that could possibly be given, and now the ball is squarely in their court.  Aesthetically, the ordinariates are in every way English.  They fully embrace the Anglican Patrimony of the last five-hundred years and beyond. The clergy of these ordinariates are autonomous, in the sense that they cannot be absorbed by the larger Roman Rite.  It is everything the Oxford Fathers could have imagined and then some.  So now, with that being said, what will English Christians choose?  That is a matter for history to decide.  The choice is no longer between English and Roman.  Rome has retreated, shall we say, at least liturgically, but it has done so with dignity, and the English ethos now permanently rules through the ordinariate.  Of course the general Roman Rite will always be available for those who want it, but no more will English Christians have to choose between Rome and their Anglican heritage.  Now, if they want it, they can have both.

The choice is no longer between Rome and Canterbury, but it is now simply a choice between Catholicism and Protestantism.  All the Church of England, and the broader Anglican Communion, has to offer now is a difference in doctrine.  Anglicans can no longer boast of a unique Christian culture, heritage and ethos.  All of this now exists in the ordinariates.  So the real choice is simply between doctrine and nothing more.  Is Scripture subject to one's own private interpretations, or is it part of a broader Christian Tradition that should be interpreted by the successors to the apostles?  Is Christ only spiritually present in the Eucharist, or is he really truly there in a physical sense?  Does moral relativism rule Christianity, or is there really such a thing as absolute right and wrong?  These are the questions that face English Christians now.  This is the choice they must now make.  It is no longer an issue of "being English."  That can be done within the ordinariates.  The question is now one of being Christian.  What would the apostles do?

As for the Church of England, and the broader Anglican Communion, I think we all know what it's future holds.  The Communion is now in the process of being shattered.  The Africans and Asians will go the way of the Evangelicals, breaking communion with Canterbury and England just as they already have with The Episcopal Church in the United States.  These Anglo-Evangelicals will follow the rest of the world's Evangelicals into their own discovery of the inadequacies of Sola Scriptura.  As for what remains of Anglo-Catholicism in England, North America, Australia and New Zealand, it will continue to follow the path of Liberal Modernism to it's ultimate conclusion -- which is total relativism and final apostasy -- creating an anti-church that in every way looks and sounds Catholic but in reality teaches an entirely different gospel.  Like all liberal churches, it will eventually shrink to practically nothing, and then rely on inter-communion with other liberal churches to shore up it's lost numbers.  The irony of the whole thing is this.  Liberal Anglicans make the accusation that Rome will eventually absorb the ordinariates into the Roman Rite, leaving nothing of the Anglican patrimony behind, even though Rome has already made such action impossible though canon law.  While at the same time, the Canterbury communion has itself consigned itself to it's own absorption of relativist syncretism through denominational inter-communion. 

The Lutherans Are Coming!

Shield of the Anglo-Lutherans

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT:  A quick look at the Anglican Ordinariate Google Map reveals an interesting trend.  It looks like some Lutherans are availing themselves of the opportunity to join the pope's emerging Anglican Catholic Ordinariate here in the United States.  The trend can be verified on The Anglo-Catholic blog. The development signifies something startling. The Anglican Ordinariates are beginning to cross denominational lines - specifically Protestant denominational lines. No longer are traditional Anglican congregations the only one's interested in entering the Catholic Church through the pope's personal ordinariate. Now we see traditional Lutherans following through as well. This is not a separate ordinariate mind you, it's the SAME ordinariate! It would appear the Traditional Anglicans and Traditional Lutherans are patching things up between them as they head toward Rome...



View Emerging Anglican Catholic Ordinariates in a larger map
What was an unexpected development for 'The Catholic Knight' was apparently anticipated by the Holy Father. At the end of his historic visit to England last year, the pope referred to the Apostolic Constitution and the creation of the first ordinariates as a "prophetic gesture." In this phrase one can only wonder if the Holy Father had an inkling of what might occur. That inkling is starting to unfold before our very eyes now. Many Protestants in the original denominations, after 500 years of experimentation, are beginning to realize the futility of it all. It has been half a millennium of one epic failure after another, resulting in schism after schism, culminating in the virtual apostasy of modern denominations that accept abortion, contraception, homosexual priests and sodomite marriages. Though the failures of modern Protestantism have been broadcast loudly on the television, radio and Internet, a quiet phenomenon has been going on behind the scenes.

Small factions of conservative and traditional Protestants (mainly Anglicans and Lutherans so far) have realized the futility of endless schism to preserve the moral teachings of the gospel. They've come to understand that the only way to beat the 'tyranny of relativism' is to get back to their ancient Christian roots, and that can't happen without an honest evaluation of Catholic Christianity. Drawing upon the Catholic remnants in their own traditions, they began to move back toward Rome, and now we are beginning to see the results. Indeed, the Apostolic Constitution creating the Anglican Ordinariates is a "prophetic gesture," an open embrace, for all Protestants willing to accept historic doctrinal orthodoxy and come home to Rome.

U.S. Anglican Ordinariate Surpasses The Episcopal Church USA

View Emerging Anglican Catholic Ordinariates in a larger map

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Br. Stephen Treat has made an interesting observation over at "The Anglo-Catholic" blog. According to his calculation, even in a worst case scenario, assuming that there would be no further interest in the Anglican Ordinariate in the United States other than what already exists (an assumption that runs against all observations and expectations so far), the average Sunday attendance (ASA) of the emerging Anglican ordinariate already surpasses that of The Episcopal Church U.S.A. ever so slightly. Now let me be perfectly clear. Br. Treat is not claiming the emerging U.S. Ordinariate will be larger than The Episcopal Church, not yet anyway, he's just saying that the estimated ASA is larger. The average national ASA of the emerging U.S. Anglican ordinariate currently ranks at about 69. While the average national ASA of The Episcopal Church U.S.A. currently ranks at about 66. This of course assumes zero growth of the emerging U.S. Anglican ordinariate, and zero interest in ordinariate parishes by Catholics of the general Roman Rite.

Of course the last thirty years of observation of the Anglican Use in the United States tells a different story. Anglican Use parishes have grown, some gradually, some rapidly and one explosively! (The presence of a parochial school helps explain the explosive growth in that one case.) Regardless of the cause, virtually all of the Anglican Use parishes have grown somewhat, and that is in spite of virtual obscurity.

What does this mean? It means that regardless of the rate of growth of the U.S. Anglican Ordinariate, it's size in average Sunday attendance (ASA) will surpass that of The Episcopal Church U.S.A. within a very short period of time, if indeed it hasn't already surpassed it!

The Episcopal Church U.S.A. is the official U.S. branch of the worldwide Protestant Anglican Communion.

Capilla Calvario es anti-católico?

EL CABALLERO CATÓLICO: En una palabra, "Sí". Calvary Chapel (www.CalvaryChapel.com) es anti-católico. Ahora la gente buena no lo negaría. Ellos dicen que aman a los católicos, pero odian el "sistema católico romano religioso." Todo eso está muy bien, pero ser anti-católica no se trata de odio, o aversión a la gente católica. Ser anti-católica, por su propia definición, significa estar en contra de la religión del catolicismo romano. Hagan lo que puedan para esquivar la cuestión, Calvary Chapel es una organización anti-católica.

En sentido amplio, podríamos argumentar que todas las iglesias protestantes son anti-católicas en algún pequeño grado, por el simple hecho de que ellos son protestantes. Históricamente, esto sería cierto. Sin embargo, aunque la mayoría de los grupos protestantes y evangélicos no tratan de enfatizar esto, algunas organizaciones han surgido en los últimos años que son mucho más anti-católicas que otros. Creo que Calvary Chapel definitivamente entra en esta categoría. Aunque no estoy al tanto de toda la documentación oficial de las posiciones anti-católicas de la Capilla del Calvario, uno puede encontrar fácilmente que la mayoría de los sermones de Domingo llenos de anti-catolicismo. Un buen ejemplo de esto viene del pastor Chuck Smith, fundador de la afiliación de Calvary Chapel. Lo bueno de Calvary Chapel es que la mayoría de los sermones son grabados y archivados, así que si uno tiene el tiempo para hacer la “pesca”, la evidencia de un flagrante anti-catolicismo no es demasiado difícil de encontrar. Ahora recuerde, estos son los sermones de un pastor a su congregación. Uno pensaría que un pastor debe de ocuparse de la predicación del evangelio, y la aplicación de las enseñanzas del Nuevo Testamento para la vida cotidiana de su congregación. En cambio, este es el tipo de cosas que uno puede encontrar fácilmente en los sermones del Calvery Chapel...

En la cinta de grabaciones numero 5176,, el Pastor Chuck Smith dijo:

El dogma que se desarrolló en la iglesia católica de la virginidad perpetua de María, es pura tontería. Es la invención de los hombres que han pensado para elevar a María a un lugar de deidad. El hecho evidente es aquí ", y no la conocía 'hasta…'" Está claro que después, que tenía las relaciones normales entre esposos, entre sí, o que los hijos e hijas que han nacido de María, también nacieron de una virgen, y que eso arrojaría toda la historia en desorden. El evangelio de Marcos ofrece nombres de los hermanos de Jesús, Jacobo, José y Simón, y menciona a sus hermanas, para declarar que la virginidad perpetua de María no es una verdad bíblica. Se trata de un dogma católico, sin fundamento bíblico, al igual que la mayoría de los dogmas. Pablo dijo: "Guardaos de los perros" (Fil. 3:02), yo digo: "Tengan cuidado con los dogmas!"

En la cinta 5189, Smith dijo:

Porque uno es vuestro padre, que está en los cielos. "Así que el título de padre fue prohibido por Jesús. En mis asociaciones, entre mis amigos he conocido muchos ministros en la Iglesia Episcopal, y también dentro de la Iglesia Católica. Y tengo una extrema dificultad en saber cómo hacer frente a eso. Porque por mi vida no puedo llamarlos padre fulano de tal. Porque Jesús dijo que no, y eso me crea una cosa difícil, en cuanto a la manera de resolverlos, porque suelen ser introducido, "este es el padre de fulano de tal, y sólo tengo la opción de no tratar con un hombre que se llama “padre” en un sentido espiritual. No sé, hagan lo que quieran, pero yo tengo problemas.

En la cinta 5209, Smith dijo:

La Reforma Protestante fue una protesta contra las malas prácticas que han surgido dentro de la Iglesia Católica. Especialmente la venta de indulgencias. El Papa deseaba construir la gran catedral en Roma, San Pedro, y el dinero no venía, lo suficientemente rápido como para construir este monumento glorioso, que estaba deseando poner, como un símbolo para el cristianismo. Y porque a alguien en el consejo se le ocurrió una idea brillante. Todo el mundo le gusta el pecado, ¿por qué no vender el perdón de pecado?. Y se puede comprar una indulgencia, antes de que se entregara al pecado. Así que a medida que entregarse al pecado, está cubierto, porque ya han comprado su perdón. ¿Así es que quieres una pequeña escapada a un lado?. ¿Quieres salir y emborracharse? Bien. Bajar y comprar su indulgencia “borracho”. ¿Usted quiere tener una aventura? Baje y obtenga una indulgencia “adulterio”. Y comenzó a vender las indulgencias a la gente. Y esto enfureció a Martín Lutero, que tuvo en sus 95 tesis, sus objeciones a las prácticas que se habían desarrollado dentro de la iglesia, y los puso en una puerta, y protestó. Y así el nombre de protestante viene de la reforma protestante.

En la misma cinta, Smith también dijo:

Es un triste error de la Iglesia Católica para declarar que Pedro es el fundamento sobre el cual se construyó la iglesia.

En la cinta 5202, Smith dijo:

A veces se produce dentro de los círculos protestantes tal vez una reacción a la posición de que los católicos han puesto a María en el lugar como la intercesora, e incluso algunos hoy en día como la “co-redentora”, y la reacción entre los protestantes es que muchas veces atacan a María para ponerla mas abajo.

En la cinta 5315, Smith dijo:

Y lo vemos en la Iglesia Católica, donde el sacerdote dice: "Tú vienes a confesar tus pecados a mí, y me voy al Padre para remitir tus pecados, y yo me haré cargo de las cosas para ti. Se trata de poner a un hombre entre tu y Dios. Vamos a ver que el sistema se desarrollara cuando llegamos a la iglesia de Tiatira, pero por lo menos en la iglesia de Éfeso dice: “lo odio”, y el Señor dice: “Yo lo odio también”.

Más tarde en la misma cinta, Smith dijo:

Estos son los temas dominantes de la Iglesia Católica: su amor, su servicio, su fe, su paciencia y su trabajo, y la Iglesia tiene muchas buenas obras, y hay gente maravillosa en la Iglesia Católica, muy admirada: Madre Teresa, como una persona poco común. Maravillosa. No está diciendo cosas en contra de las personas, porque Dios tiene sus vencedores. Es simplemente hablar sobre el sistema.

Más tarde, Smith dijo:

“Y a ella he dado tiempo para arrepentirse de su fornicación, y no se ha arrepentido. He aquí, yo la arrojo en cama, y los que con ella adulteran, en muy grande tribulación, si no se arrepienten de sus actos." Aquí está en primer lugar, la indicación de que la Iglesia Católica va a existir hasta la venida de Jesucristo y el rapto de la iglesia, porque Dios habla de los que les permitirá entrar a la gran tribulación.

Estos son ejemplos típicos de los sermones de la Capilla Calvario que fácilmente pueden ser encontrados en cualquier lugar, entre varios pastores de Calvary Chapel en todo el país. En la última cita anterior, Smith compara la Iglesia Católica a la peor forma de iglesia que se encuentra en el Libro de la Revelación. Aunque, por supuesto, los pastores suelen comparar el Calvary Chapel a lo mejor del cristianismo y a algunas de las iglesias mejores que se encuentran en el Libro de la Revelación. En mi propia experiencia, en una capilla del Calvario dirigida por uno de los discípulos directos de Smith, parecía que había por lo menos un pequeño ataque al catolicismo cada semana.

También se pueden encontrar libros especiales y una “serie de audio”, hecha por pastores de Calvary Chapel, diseñada específicamente con el propósito de atacar a la religión católica. En parte, creo que esto se debe a un número inusual de pastores de Calvary Chapel que sí son ex-católicos. La afiliación se inició en el sur de California, una región muy católica de los Estados Unidos, y como resultado, sus bancos están regularmente llenos de ex-católicos que se han convertido al "Evangelio según Calvary Chapel". Un pequeño porcentaje de estos conversos desafectos pasaron a convertirse en pastores de la afiliación.

Usted se estará preguntando por qué estoy tratando con este grupo evangélico-protestante. Hay después de todo, cientos de diferentes organizaciones anti-católicas en Estados Unidos. Entonces, ¿qué tiene de especial este? Bueno, te diré. Yo fui un "miembro" de Calvary Chapel. De hecho, incluso me convirtió en uno de sus maestros. Todo esto fue antes de mi conversión al catolicismo, por supuesto. Personalmente puedo testificar que he escuchado con regularidad, con mis propios oídos, grandes volúmenes de la retórica anti-católica. Como maestro en la “Capilla del Calvario”, he sido testigo de un muy popular pastor de la “Capilla del Calvario” en el sur de California, en realidad llamar a la Iglesia Católica la "Ramera de Babilonia", y al Papa el "Anticristo" en más de una ocasión. Estos sucedieron ante una numerosa cantidad de gente, muchos de los cuales eran ex- católicos. Personalmente puedo testificar que las doctrinas católicas son tomadas fuera del contexto, y representadas falsamente, y difamadas en forma regular en “Calvary Chapel” en toda América. A veces parece que es raro no oir durante una semana determinada, incluso en un solo semon, al menos un pequeño pinchazo en contra del catolicismo.

Como ex maestro de Capilla del Calvario, tengo sentimientos mixtos acerca de esta organización. Por un lado, tengo que dar crédito donde el crédito es debido. Habiendo sido criado en un hogar de protestante no practicantes, “Calvary Chapel” me ayudó mucho cuando yo estaba luchando con mi fe como una persona joven. “Calvary Chapel” me ayudó a comprender mejor las doctrinas básicas de la fe cristiana. “Calvary Chapel” también me ayudó a resolver los hábitos de pecado en mi vida, y me puso en una senda de mayor obediencia al Evangelio de Jesucristo. Además de eso, fue a través de mis estudios pastorales en “Calvary Chapel” que llegue a un conocimiento de la historia de la Iglesia, un conocimiento que eventualmente llevaría a mi conversión católica. Así, por una parte, agradezco a Calvary Chapel, porque sin ella, probablemente nunca podria haber encontrado a Cristo y más tarde haber entrado en su única, santa, católica y apostólica Iglesia. Por otro lado, me siento frustrado con esta organización, porque engaña a la gente sobre la Iglesia Católica de Cristo. Los que no toman el tiempo para hacer el estudio, y de esos hay muchos, que se ven obligados a confiar en lo que simplemente los pastores de Calvary Chapel les enseñan de la Iglesia Católica. Un buen número de esas cosas están mal, y la mayor parte ni siquiera se originan dentro de Calvary Chapel. De hecho, la mayoría del material anti-católico, usado por pastores de Calvary Chapel, no proviene de la propia organización, sino de fuentes externas que se especializan en el anti-catolicismo.

Si usted es un católico que asiste a la Capilla del Calvario, o ha sido contactado por alguien de Calvary Chapel, como un ex profesor de Calvary Chapel, tengo un buen consejo para ti. Parar y hacer la tarea! Hay un montón de cosas que los pastores de Calvary Chapel dicen sobre el catolicismo que simplemente no son ciertas. Muchos de estos pastores son ex-católicos, ellos mismos, y uno pensaría que debería saber mejor. Sin embargo, usted se sorprendería al descubrir lo poco que estos supuestamente hombres "educados" realmente saben acerca de las creencias católicas y la Iglesia Católica. Yo sugiero que hagas un poco de lectura sobre esta lista de temas HERE, donde se encuentra uno de los más exhaustivos recursos de la apologética católica en Internet. Si por el contrario, eres un no-católico que asiste a la Capilla del Calvario, anímate a hacer lo mismo, de modo que tu puedas tener una mejor comprensión del catolicismo directamente de la Iglesia, en lugar de confiar en la información de segunda mano distribuida por algunos católicos descontentos, que más tarde se convirtieron en pastores de Calvary Chapel. Muchos de los cuales obtuvieron su información de fuentes ni siquiera afiliadas a Calvary Chapel. También me animo a tomar el desafío del “Ultimo Protestante”. Creo que es un buen consejo, y usted debe de escuchar a ambas partes de la historia, valorar las pruebas, y aprender la verdad.

********** ********** Actualización 01/12/2010

EL CABALLERO CATOLICO: Así que ha sido más de tres años desde que escribí esta entrada del blog original en contra de Calvary Chapel-catolicismo, y nada ha cambiado. De camino a casa después de hacer unas compras en la ciudad hoy, decidí oír una emisora de radio local de Calvary Chapel transmitido a través de la sindicación vía satélite. (No estoy seguro de lo que me hizo hacerlo.) De todos modos, el administrador de la estación acababa de invitar a Chuck Smith en el aire para contestar algunas preguntas de los oyentes. Una persona que llamó mencionó que su novia es católica, y de vez en cuando asiste a misa con ella. Había una pregunta sobre la aparición de "Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe". No era de mas de cinco minutos en el show, cuando Chuck Smith tenia mucho que decir.

En primer lugar, proclamó que "Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe" no es más que un espíritu demoníaco, y la propia aparición es un engaño del diablo. Aconsejó a la persona que llamaba evitar tener algo que ver con ella. En segundo lugar, , como si eso fuera poco, comenzó a acusar a la Iglesia Católica de la idolatría y la apostasía. Lo hizo en su forma habitual: con voz suave, (que casi se podía oír la sonrisa en su rostro), que yo solía pensar que era la caridad. Doce años después de haber dejado Calvary Chapel, ahora empieza a sonar un poco espeluznante. De todos modos, utilizó un argumento clásico pero muy falso. Él, evidentemente cambiando la enseñanza católica, alegó que la Iglesia pone a María por encima de Cristo. Luego procedió a derribar este falso argumento en contra de la Iglesia que el presento (como si fuera la verdad), diciendo que cada vez que alguien (es decir, la Iglesia Católica) pone a alguien o algo por encima de Cristo, sabemos que no puede ser de Dios. Por supuesto, la persona que llamaba se expreso lleno de gratitud por la “pontificación” del Pastor Smith, y el administrador de la estación a continuación, procedió a aconsejar la radio oyente, mientras tocaba música, que se mantenga alejado de la Misa Católica y, en su lugar, ir a la Capilla del Calvario.

Cuanto más cambian las cosas, más permanecen igual, sobre todo cuando se trata de la lucha contra el catolicismo que sale de Calvary Chapel. Me complace que estas injurias en contra la Iglesia en particular, procedían de la parte superior – del pastor de Calvary Chapel mismo - Chuck Smith - el hombre que comenzó toda la cadena. Demuestra lo que he estado diciendo todo el tiempo en esta entrada del blog. El fundador de Calvary Chapel es un loco anti-católico, y la manzana nunca cae lejos del árbol. La forma en que el fundador se va, también lo hacen los seguidores. Este tipo de anti-catolicismo se puede encontrar entre los pastores de Calvary Chapel de costa a costa. Algunos son más virulentos que otros, pero casi todos ellos buscan al Pastor Chuck Smith como su ejemplo y maestro. Él es, después de todo, lo más parecido a un "papa" que se puede encontrar en la red de Calvary Chapel.

La manera en que el Pastor Chuck Smith trata de tanta deshonestidad con la doctrina católica es inexcusable. Él es un hombre culto que ha estado en el ministerio desde hace décadas. Él es la virtual "cabeza" de una organización internacional sin denominación-afiliación. Tiene misioneros en América Latina y en Roma. Usted no me puede decir que este hombre es ignorante de la auténtica doctrina de la Iglesia Católica. Él sabe muy bien que la Iglesia Católica NO pone el lugar de María por encima de Cristo de ninguna manera. Él sabe que la Iglesia enseña que María está subordinada a Cristo, y que todo lo que ella es viene directamente de Cristo. Sus opiniones sobre las apariciones marianas son sus negocios, pero, decirle a la gente que son demoníacas es, por lo menos, ser ingenuo. Ningún espíritu demoníaco lleva a la gente a Cristo, y si "Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe" se suponía que era un engaño satánico, fue un fracaso por parte del diablo, ya que resultó en más de un millón de personas (nativos americanos) aceptaron a Jesucristo como su Señor y Salvador. Desde entonces se ha inspirado en la fe cristiana de decenas de millones. Si se supone que es una mentira del diablo, seguro es que le salió a favor de Jesucristo. Por supuesto sabemos la verdad. María se le apareció a San Juan Diego para llevar su pueblo a su Hijo - Jesús Cristo - y que ella lo hizo de la manera más sorprendente y milagrosa.

¿Entonces por qué usa la falacia del “hombre de paja” (es decir – describir a una persona con argumentos falsos, para atacarla )? ¿Por qué un hombre culto, que sin duda sabe lo que la Iglesia enseña con respecto a María, se pone a distorsionar deliberadamente la doctrina de la Iglesia, de tal forma que fácilmente podría derribar el argumento falso que desarrolla en contra de la Iglesia Católica que él creó? Bueno, no puedo entender lo que se encuentra en la cabeza de Chuck Smith, así que realmente no lo sé con absoluta certeza por qué lo hizo. Pero sí tengo una opinión, y creo que es un ser bastante educado con algo de información en el interior. Mi opinión es que Calvary Chapel comenzó en el sur de California, que es una parte muy católica de los Estados Unidos. La mayoría de las personas que asisten a Calvary Chapel son ex-católicos. No tengo un porcentaje exacto, pero yo diría que al menos la mitad sería una suposición razonable. La mayoría de ellos abandonaron la Iglesia Católica durante los tiempos turbulentos de la década de 1970 hasta 1990. Fue durante este tiempo que Chuck Smith, y sus discípulos comenzaron su ministerio de propaganda anti-católica, y WOW, como creció! Ellos trajeron a decenas de ex-católicos a ser "miembros" en sus afiliaciones con esta tontería, junto con sus enseñanzas apocalípticas sobre la actualidad y sus invitaciones de “venir al altar” para recibir la salvación instantánea. Fue (y sigue siendo) una fórmula que funciona. Cada domingo en el sur de California, Calvary Chapel esta llena de gente parada, y los platos que se pasan entre estas personas se llenan de dinero. Smith y sus discípulos en su “ministerio” han traído su falso "Evangelio según Calvary Chapel" a América Latina, e incluso, hayan sido tan descarados para llevarlo a Roma, hasta abajo de la sombra del Vaticano. La fórmula funciona. Se alejan católicos, y los convierte en contra de Roma de la forma más virulenta. También llena las bancas en Calvary Chapel, así como los platos de colección. En mi opinión, la razón por la cual Chuck Smith no cambia es porque él no puede cambiar. Si alguna vez admite que estaba equivocado acerca de algo que la Iglesia Católica enseña, eso pondría en peligro su organización. En el sur de California, por lo menos la mitad de su ministerio es con ex-católicos. Una admisión de un error, sobre todo después de haber predicado estas cosas durante tanto tiempo, haría que los fieles de Calvary Chapel van a comenzar a cuestionar la totalidad del sistema “Capilla del Calvario”, y eso es algo que ni Chuck Smith ni sus discípulos en su “ministerio” no quieren arriesgar..

Church of England Disowns Traditional Anglo-Catholics

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: The Church of England today dispelled all doubt that it is thoroughly 100% Protestant...

(The Australian) - Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the leader of the world's Anglicans, and Archbishop of York John Sentamu, his No 2 in the Church of England, had put forward safeguards for objectors.

They received the backing of a majority of the houses of bishops and laity of the General Synod, but the concessions did not win a majority of the House of Clergy, meaning that the proposals were lost.

The archbishops proposed a scheme where a male bishop would share the role and responsibilities of a female bishop, to cater for objectors.

The vote almost guarantees the success of the Anglican Ordinariate, the new body announced this year by the Pope to allow disaffected Anglicans to convert to Rome while retaining key aspects of Anglican heritage...

read full story here

So another half baked idea by the Archdruid of Canterbury bites the dust, and as a result it now becomes perfectly clear Rowan Williams has lost control of not only the worldwide Anglican Communion, but of his own national province, the Church of England itself. Rome has made it clear, time and time again, that the consecration of female "bishops" will hamper ecumenical relations beyond repair. Rome has also made it clear that it will regard any Anglican church that does this as a totally Protestant organization without any connection to the historic Catholic faith. It's not just the pope who holds to this position, but every patriarch of every Orthodox Church as well. The Church of England is finished in the Catholic sense. It is now no better than the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. Today it's female bishops. Tomorrow it's gay bishops. That seems to be the established pattern. Any traditional Anglo-Catholic who rejects the pope's ordinariate offer now is either insane or else hopelessly in denial. The message of this last synod is perfectly clear. The Church of England is moving ahead with it's liberal modernist agenda, traditionalists be dammed, and Anglo-Catholics had better either shut up and take it, or else get the hell out of the way!

Meanwhile the pope waits with open arms, ready to establish an ordinariate system that will FOREVER preserve the historic Anglo-Catholic patrimony, fully reunited with Rome but not absorbed into the Roman Rite. When you think about it, this all makes sense from a historical and spiritual perspective. Once called "Mary's Dowry" it is completely unnatural for English Christians to be separated from the Roman Catholic Church. Before the schism of 1534 Rome had always made special provision for the British Isles. The Sarum Use is one such example of this. It only makes sense for Rome to once again offer the same type of provisions it has always historically done, only this time on a much grander scale. The ordinariate plan is designed to last indefinitely. It is not only designed for a particular church, but for an entire communion of churches spanning the globe. It is in every sense a church within the Church, and it will be thoroughly Anglican as well as Catholic.

It is time for Anglo-Catholics within the Church of England, and around the world, to wake up and smell the coffee. The entire Christian world is under assault by the new value system of the modernist world, who's agents within our churches are hell bent on conforming Christianity to their modernist immorality. It begins subtly with the rejection of historic Christian standards (such as an all male priesthood) and once Christians have compromised on this by ordaining women, they move in with the real agenda. Sexual values are skewed. Fornication becomes a matter of "private conscience." Contraception and abortion become a "personal choice." Homosexuality becomes a matter of "genetic inheritance" and of course if that's the case, any discrimination against it becomes a form of "racism." Once the initial compromise is made, the downward spiral is inevitable. The ONLY WAY to combat this modernist agenda is for Christians to unite behind the barque of Peter as he navigates this storm at sea. If your raft is sinking, and he throws you a life line, why on earth would you say "no thanks?" God has just provided a way out, a means of living to fight another day, how will you answer His "why" should you decide to refuse it?

This is it England! In a spiritual sense, this is the Battle of Dunkirk. You can either get on the flotilla the pope has sent you, to survive and fight another day, or you can stay behind and face extinction from the unstoppable force taking over your national Church. What will it be England? The ball is now in your court, the choice is yours.

Church of England 2010 = Episcopal Church USA 1989

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Need I say anything more? In 2010, The Church of England has finally caught up with The Episcopal Church USA in regards to the consecration of women bishops. The Episcopal Church USA began consecrating women bishops in 1989. If anyone wonders what the future holds for The Church of England now, he only need look across the pond.

Zionism Prepares To Trump Christianity

(WND) - The International Temple Mount Awareness Day is being planned by a coalition of Jewish groups, including The Temple Institute, the Organization for the Renewal of the Temple (ORT), Women in Green, the Temple Mount Heritage Foundation and Israel National Radio.

"We call on Jews and Gentiles around the world to mark March 16th as a day of solidarity with the Temple Mount and the prophetic vision of 'a house of prayer for all nations,'" reads a statement from the organizers of the event...

read full story here

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: This is how it's being sold to us. Christians are being told it's a human rights issue, and that it's not just about the Jews. We're being told the Temple Mount is for all of us, and that everyone (particularly Jews and Christian) should be able to pray there 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. We're being told that it's "unfair" that Muslims are allowed to pray there almost 24/7 and people of other religions are not.

What we're not being told is that it is the Israeli government that has made this arrangement, that it is the Israeli government that backs it, and it is the Israeli government that helps to enforce it. The policy that is so "unfair" to the Jews is in fact put upon them by their own supposed "Jewish" government. True, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Israeli police must make provision for public Jewish prayer on the site. However, the policy of banning all non-Muslims from the site on certain days originally came out of the Ariel Sharon administration. Israeli police continue to refuse to abide by the Supreme Court ruling due to safety concerns. Notice however, the Supreme Court ruling doesn't necessarily deal with Christian or adherents of other religions. Rather, it deals specifically with Jews and their supposed "right" to organize public prayer on the Temple Mount site.

What we have here is a covert attempt by certain Zionists to co-opt Christians (and others) into pressuring their own government into implementing a Supreme Court ruling that primarily deals with not only letting Jews onto the Temple Mount 24/7 but also organize public prayer there. One of the reasons why Palestinian Muslims are so hostile toward letting non-Muslims (particularly Jews) pray on the Temple Mount during Jewish holy days (Sabbath, Passover, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles, Hanukkah, etc.) is the fear that over time the Jews will co-opt the site and pave the way for the rebuilding of the Temple itself. Of course Muslims don't want this for fear of how that might interfere with Islamic worship on the site, and how it further stakes the Jewish claim on the Temple Mount, Jerusalem and the Palestinian West Bank. What the Muslims see in this, coupled with expanded Jewish settlements in the Palestinian West Bank, is a Zionist strategy of relentless incrementalism.

Now 'The Catholic Knight' is not taking the side of the Muslims here. I could care less about their silly mosque on that arid hilltop and what goes on inside there. It is built on the site that God judged and destroyed nearly 2,000 years ago, using a Pagan Roman army as punishment upon the Jewish leaders of that time, for the rejection of their Messiah, HIS Only Begotten Son, and the gospel preached by his apostles. Upon the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Temple ceased to be a place of authentic worship of God. While the Jews of that time attempted to worship God in that Temple, God himself was actually hanging on a cross outside the city walls - despised and rejected. God gave the Jewish leaders forty years (one Biblical generation) to repent of this. They failed to do so. Instead they rebelled against their Roman occupiers demanding independence. Convinced that God would rise up to help them as he did for the Maccabeans centuries before, they believed themselves capable of defeating the Roman army. God rose up all right, on the side of the Pagan Romans, and revisited his people once again in the form of judgment and destruction. The purpose was to put an end, once and for all, to the sacrificial system set up under the Old Covenant, so as to chide future generations of Jews into accepting the permenant sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Rebuilding the Temple Mount into another symbol of rejection of the true Messiah has always been the goal of many Jewish leaders throughout history, and history tells us they have been willing to collaborate with literally ANYONE to make it happen. Perhaps one of their greatest allies was the Pagan Roman emperor "Julian the Apostate." In AD 363, Julian agreed to help the Jews rebuild the Temple because he (as a Pagan) understood how it's very presence undermined the Christian gospel message, and created confusion about the legitimacy of Jesus Christ's claim to be the Jewish Messiah - and therefore by extension anybody's Messiah! Interestingly enough, God had other plans. As work on the foundation began, strange "balls of fire" (probably methane gas eruptions from seismic activity) continually burst forth from the rocks, scorching workers and bringing construction to a stand still. Eventually the work was abandoned. Some 1,500 years later another emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, agreed to help the Jews rebuild their Temple for similar reasons as Julian the Apostate. However, a little military defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in June of 1815 put an end to that plan. Of course the rabbis have a saying that "coincidence is not a kosher word" and for Christians there ought to be a lesson in these historical events. What is that lesson? It's simple really. God DOES NOT want the Jewish Temple rebuilt! God knows it will be used as a means to undermine the Gospel message and ultimately create a false religion that claims to worship HIM, but in reality rejects HIS Only Begotten Son, and therefore rejects HIM by extension.

In the video above, and the story cited as well, please pay special attention to the pitch line. Worship on the Temple Mount, and later of course the rebuilt Temple itself, is not just a "Jewish thing." According to the Zionist pitch men, it's for ALL PEOPLE - everyone - to become a central place a worship and a conduit if you will, between the human and the divine. Stop and think about that for a second. Exactly what are they saying? They're saying the Temple Mount and their rebuilt Temple (not Jesus Christ) is to become the conduit (or mediator) between God and man. Is this not the ultimate heresy for a Christian? Can this be anything else but apostasy?

As if that were not bad enough, there is more. Already the ancient Jewish Sanhedrin has been reformed (learn more here), and with it a new extension of Judaism has been created for Gentiles called Noahidism (learn more here). It's based on the Biblical account of the covenant between God and Noah after the Great Flood. The gist of this new religion is simple. Noahidism is for Gentiles, while Judaism is for Jews. Of course Jews have the more difficult covenant to keep with 613 commandments. While Gentiles (under Noahidism) need only keep 7 commandments. Of course, this makes it easier for Gentiles to be accepted and categorized in a purely Jewish context. Under Noahidism, a Muslim could theoretically be accepted as a Noahide. The same could be said for Deists or Theists, which is what most non-religious Westerners espouse as their most common belief in divinity. Of course Noahidism would also be very compatible with Freemasonry. However, a doctrinally orthodox Christian could not be accepted as a Noahide because of his belief in the Trinity, which allegedly violates the Noahide command to worship only God, and of course God is defined by the rabbinical Talmud. Theoretically, a Jehovah's Witness could be a Noahide, but not a Catholic or a Protestant. All that aside, what is really interesting is how this plays out once the Temple is rebuilt, because you see there would have to be different courtyards on the Temple Mount separating Jews from Noahides. Can you see a religious caste system developing here? It's similar to what existed during Jesus' time, and in the centuries before, wherein practicing Jews held a more privileged position in the Temple than God fearing Gentiles, no matter how devout they were.

Christian prophecy makes it clear that the Jewish Temple will not be successfully rebuilt until the last days of the end times just before the bodily Return of Jesus Christ. Historically speaking, every previous attempt to rebuild the Temple has resulted in disaster, postponement or cancellation for various reasons. Christian prophecy also indicates that when the Temple is rebuilt, it will be used by the final Antichrist (a Jewish messianic figure) to lead the world into total rejection of Jesus Christ and outright rebellion against God's plan. Unless we are to believe the coming of Antichrist is right around the corner, we can only conclude that this latest Zionist attempt, to reclaim the Temple Mount and rebuild the Temple, will only result in disaster. While we may now have the framework for the final last days scenario, there are still some key end times prophecies that must be fulfilled first...

1. The world's economic and political power base must shift to the middle east.
2. The Gospel must be preached to every corner of the world and made widely available for anyone to accept. Nations all over the whole world must be converted.
   
3. Sometime after this, there must be a worldwide apostasy of Gentile Christians. (What we have right now is only a regional apostasy in the western world, as Christian missionary work in Africa and Asia is booming!)

For this reason, 'The Catholic Knight' believes we are not yet in the time of the last days, even though we have been living in the end times for centuries. Rather, what we can expect to befall the Zionists is the same thing that befell others who tried to rebuild the Temple. At the very least this is a delay or cancellation due to political reasons. Or else we can expect calamity to befall those who live in Israel. In fact, based on current political and regional news, it's probably safe to assume that Israel will soon be plunged into massive war. I'm guessing that Jerusalem as we know it will be destroyed, and perhaps even the Dome of the Rock as well. Don't assume however that the destruction of the Dome of the Rock will automatically spell the rebuilding of the Temple. As I said, this WILL NOT happen until God is ready to close the book on human history.

So we should keep in mind that ANY Christian cooperation with Jews on the Temple Mount project will only result in cooperating with an anti-Christian agenda. Right now the Zionists are preparing to fool the world into believing the situation on Jerusalem is a human rights issue that affects people of all religions. It does not. There is no religious reason for Christians to worship on the Temple Mount on any day of the year. Likewise, the rabbis have created a religious system in the Talmud that allows Judaism to function as a religion even without the Temple Mount, or even the Temple itself. Their innability to worship there when they want to is not our problem, nor is it any kind of priority for Christians to get involved in. The Israeli Jews are contending with THEIR OWN government on this issue. In other words, it's an internal problem within the Jewish world, and Christians should stay out of it.

As a general rule of thumb, Christians should avoid all matters relating to Zionism, as it is by definition a movement against the Spirit of God. Evangelical Protestants in the United States are quick to point to Israeli military victories, such as the Six-Day War an the Yom Kippur War, as "signs" of God's blessing on the Israeli state and an indication that God wants Christians to support Zionism. However, they fail to point out that Israel has been in a state of perpetual war against Muslim regimes and sects for almost the entire duration of it's existence, and did not have such golden success in the Israeli-Lebanon War in recent years. To claim that military victory is tantamount to God's blessing is arrogant and stupid. So was God blessing the Pagan Roman Empire when he allowed it to destroy the Jewish nation in 70 AD? Was God blessing Russia when he allowed it victory over the tiny nation of Georgia recently? Was God blessing Germany when he allowed it to take over Bravaria? Was God blessing England when he allowed it to take over Northern Ireland? Was God blessing Vietnam when he allowed the Communists to defeat the Americans? Was God blessig North Korea when he allowed the Communists to keep American forces in the South? The list goes on and on, and I think I've made my point. Military victory does not equate God's blessing on a regime. What it means is that God has allowed that regime to survive for now (either to his liking or not) for reasons related to this providencial plan.

Zionism, in all it's forms, leads to an anti-Christian gospel, because it's ultimate design is to rebuild a Jewish nation and the Jewish Temple against the will of God. If you're a Christian, especially a Catholic Christian, then you're supposed to believe salvation comes through Jesus Christ for all people, especially the Jews. If you're a Christian, especially a Catholic Christian, then you should understand why God has been dealing with his people (the Jews) the way he has for the last 2000 years. He is trying to chide them into understanding that Jesus of Nazereth is their Messiah. If you're a Christian, especially a Catholic Christian, then you should understand that any effort to restore the ancient Temple and it's ceremonies is counterproductive to that end. If you're a Christian, especially a Catholic Christian, then you should know that if the Zionists are successful in obtainig their goals, it will only serve to confuse many Christians regarding the nature of Christ's sacrifice, and will become a counterpoint to Christian missionary work if potential converts think their is another (seemingly simplier) way of approaching the God of Israel through Noahidism and the restored Temple. If you're a Christian, especially a Catholic Christian, then you must understand that any support of Zionist goals is counterproductive to the missionary work of the Church and may possibly be a mortal sin.

So what should be the Christian attitude toward Zionism, the Temple Mount campaigns, and the Nation of Israel itself? Well, probably the best thing Christians can do is just be Christians. We should be indifferent toward Zionist political goals, and Muslim counter resistence to them. Rather we should simply recognize that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the ONLY real solution to all of these problems, and we should show love and respect toward both Muslims and Jews without endorsing or supporting their political agendas.

As Anglicans Move Toward Rome - Devils Move In For The Kill

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: The enemies of the pope have reared their ugly heads (yet again) as Anglicans move toward Rome...

(Telegraph) - Revealed: Anglo-Catholic bishop in talks with CDF to stop English bishops 'smothering' Pope's Anglican plan

...But the important point is this. Although of course Bishop Burnham wouldn’t want his private correspondence revealed in this way, it does show that he has been doing the sensible thing, which is to deal directly with the CDF to stop the Magic Circle (the name of a certain monsignor comes to mind) putting a spanner in the works. He’d be neglecting his duty to his flock if he wasn’t doing so.

This email was leaked by an enemy of the Pope who timed it to throw Anglo-Catholics into confusion just before their day of prayer on Monday. They mustn’t let that happen....

read full story here

Clearly this is a Satanic attack, orchestrated by literal "spies" embedded deep within Catholic chanceries orchestrating leaks of sensitive emails to their bosses printing the liberal newspapers. How they got a hold of this email we may never know, but one thing is for sure. It's an inside job.

Simultaneously, this positive news came out....

(Telegraph) - Australia's traditional Anglicans vote to convert to Catholicism

Forward in Faith Australia, part of the Anglo-Catholic group that also has members in Britain and America, is setting up a working party guided by a Catholic bishop to work out how its followers can cross over to Rome.

It is believed to be the first group within the Anglican church to accept Pope Benedict XVI’s unprecedented offer for disaffected members of the Communion to convert en masse while retaining parts of their spiritual heritage.

So far only the Traditional Anglican Communion, which has already broken away from the 70 million-strong Anglican Communion, has declared that its members will become Catholics under the Apostolic Constitution.

The Rt Rev David Robarts OAM, chairman of FIF Australia, said members of the association felt excluded by the Anglican Church in Australia, which had not provided them with a bishop to champion their conservative views on homosexuality and women bishops.

"In Australia we have tried for a quarter of a decade to get some form of episcopal oversight but we have failed," he told The Daily Telegraph.

"We're not really wanted any more, our conscience is not being respected."

Bishop Robarts, 77, said it had become clear that Anglicans who did not believe in same-sex partnerships or allowing women to be ordained as bishops had no place in the "broader Anglican spectrum".

"We're not shifting the furniture, we're simply saying that we have been faithful Anglicans upholding what Anglicans have always believed and we're not wanting to change anything, but we have been marginalised by people who want to introduce innovations.

"We need to have bishops that believe what we believe."

Crossing over to Rome under the new scheme would give the group the chance to retain their Anglican culture without sacrificing their beliefs, he said....

read full story here

It's no coincidence that these two stories came out at virtually the same time. It is but a foretaste of things to come. As more and more Anglicans move toward Rome, we can expect the Liberals within the Protestant Anglican Communion to get more and more nasty about it. It starts with hatchet jobs in the press, and it will soon lead to public insults, displays of hatred, and before long lawsuits and legal action. That's how the Liberals in the Protestant Anglican Communion work these days. It's just how they roll. I suppose it's no wonder the Traditional Anglicans are bolting. Is there anyone who can blame them?

If I may be so bold as to make a suggestion to both Traditional Anglican leaders and officials within the Vatican. There is a wonderful little program on the Internet called "Pretty Good Privacy" which is designed to prevent email leaks like this from ever happening. Outside of government decryption software run on supercomputers, it's pretty hard to crack the encryption method used by this program. I would suggest officials at the Vatican, and leaders within the Traditional Anglican groups consider using this software ASAP. Here's the link: http://www.pgp.com/

I trust somebody reading this will forward this article to those concerned.

Married Christians Less Likely To Divorce If They Practice Catholicism

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Most statistics indicate that the overall divorce rate in the United States, among all people, religious or non-religious, is about 40% to 60%. The range is based on an average between first marriages, second marriages and third marriages. A first marriage has about a 50% chance at survival in the United States. Chances of survival go down with each consecutive marriage.

Now based on this information, and the statistical graph above, we can instantly see that the practice of any Christian religion does significantly help the survival chances for a marriage. Case in point; if the married Christian couple practices Catholic or Lutheran Christianity, the divorce rate is about 21%, which indicates the marriage has about a 79% chance at survival. If the married Christian couple practices Baptist Christianity, the divorce rate is about 29%, which indicates the marriage has about a 71% chance at survival. If the married Christian couple practices one of the new trendy "nondenominational" forms of Christianity, the divorce rate is about 34%, which indicates the marriage has about a 66% chance at survival.

What I find interesting about these statistics is that the more "ancient" and "traditional" the form of Christianity, the more likely a marriage is to survive. Granted, these are statistics, and based on an overall picture. We cannot apply them to each and every individual couple, and of course, there are always exceptions to every statistical rule. However, when we're looking at odds alone, we find that the best chance a marriage has at survival, in our incredibly decadent culture, is for the couple to practice some form of Christianity. However, of all the different forms of Christianity, Catholicism is one of two that is MOST LIKELY to increase the chances of a marriage survival. The only Protestant form of Christianity that compares is Lutheranism.

Anglican Roundup - Liberals Get Smug While Conservatives Move Toward Rome

(First Things) - Such an event was Benedict XVI’s landmark announcement in October 2009 offering members of the Anglican Communion a fast track into the Catholic Church. Although commentators quickly dubbed this unexpected overture a “gambit,” what it truly exhibits are the characteristics of a move known in chess as a “brilliancy,” an unforeseen bold stroke that stunningly transforms the game. In the short run, knowledgeable people agree, this brilliancy of Benedict’s may not seem to amount to much. Some 1000 Church of England priests may convert and some 300 parishes turn over to Rome—figures that, while significant when measured against the dwindling numbers of practicing Anglicans there, are nonetheless mere drops in the Vatican’s bucket.

But in the longer run—say, over the coming decades—Rome’s move looks consequential in another way. It is the latest and most dramatic example of how orthodoxy, rather than dissent, seems once again to have taken the driver’s seat of Christianity. Every traditionalist who joins the long and already illustrious history of reconversion to the Catholic Church just tips the religious balance more toward Rome. This further weakens a religious communion battered from within by decades of intra-Anglican culture wars. Meanwhile, the progressives left behind may well find the exodus of their adversaries a Pyrrhic victory. How will they possibly make peace with the real majority of Anglicans today—the churches in Africa, whose leaders have repeatedly denounced the Communion’s abandonment of traditional teachings? Questions like these are why a few commentators now speak seriously about something that only recently seemed unthinkable: whether the end of the Anglican Communion itself might now be in sight....

read full story here

----------

(Telegraph) - [Anglican] Archbishop Sentamu: “If people genuinely realise that they want to be Roman Catholic, they should convert properly, and go through catechesis and be made proper Catholics. This kind of creation [the Apostolic Constitution] — well, all I can say is, we wish them every blessing and may the Lord encourage them. But as far as I am concerned, if I was really, genuinely wanting to convert, I wouldn’t go into an ordinariate. I would actually go into catechesis and become a truly converted Roman Catholic and be accepted.”

William Crawley: “So those Anglicans who take advantage of the Apostolic Constitution, you’re saying, would not be ‘proper Catholics’?”

Archbishop Sentamu: “Well, I mean, I’d be very surprised –”

William Crawley: “What would they be if they are not ‘proper Catholics’?”

Archbishop Sentamu: “They would be what they are: an ordinariate of the Vatican.”

read full story here

----------

(Telegraph) - Ruth Gledhill has been leaked the Bishop of Manchester’s statement to the General Synod today, in which he will reveal that the Synod committee revising the legislation is not offering opponents of women bishops alternative oversight. If they behave themselves, they can keep women bishops out of their churches but, er, that’s it. At least, that’s how I read his long statement, though in the C of E you can never be sure of anything. The Anglo-Catholics were shafted by the full Synod last summer; the revision committee has now confirmed this, apparently; and any last-minute rescue by the full Synod seems jolly unlikely...

read full story here

----------

(The Montreal Gazette) - All of the 104 archbishops of Canterbury throughout history have been men, beginning more than 1,400 years ago with Saint Augustine.

Bishop Williams said Monday many Church of England members "maybe felt alienated or grieved" by the vote to permit female bishops, but others "felt elated by the step forward that had been taken."

In her comments, the 54-year-old Bishop Matthews said "it would be difficult to say the timeline" for when a woman might become the archbishop of Canterbury, but noted one-third of Anglican provinces have now given permission for women to become bishops.

Archdeacon Michael Pollesel, general secretary of the Anglican Church of Canada, said yesterday it's conceivable a Canadian woman -- perhaps even Bishop Matthews -- could become archbishop of Canterbury one day.

"It would be possible for a female Canadian Anglican to be appointed to a bishop's post in England, since the Church of England has recently voted to ordain female bishops," he said...

read full story here

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: I realize there are some conservatives within the Anglican Communion who still have some fight left in them, and won't jump ship until they know they've done everything that can possibly be done to prevent it's sinking. That being said the bow of the ship is already under water, so now might be a good time to to get into a lifeboat. I admire the valiant effort of those who won't give up until the last moment, but please, why drag this out any longer than it needs to be? The HMS Canterbury is sinking, and there's nothing anyone can do to save her now.

Sola Scriptura Leads To Moral Relativism

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Okay it's time for "The Catholic Knight" to stir the pot again, so here it goes. I'm going to make the assertion that Martin Luther's heretical doctrine of Sola Scriptura is largely responsible for the moral relativism we see in the secular world today.

Here is the problem. Go to any Protestant church, particularly one of the newer Evangelical nondenominational types. There you will be taught that there is no religious authority outside of the Bible. Now aside from the fact that this assertion is not only unscriptural, but also illogical, it is nevertheless the foundation of most Protestant organizations in the world today. Now the premise that there is no religious authority outside of the Bible inevitably leads people to believe that the Holy Spirit of God is directly responsible for their own interpretation of the Bible. Talk to a good number of Evangelicals and that is exactly what they'll tell you. They'll say they don't need the Catholic Church, or any church organization, to tell them what the Scriptures mean, because they can read the Scriptures for themselves, and the Holy Spirit will automatically lead them to the right interpretation. If we go through Protestant history, we will see that this kind of attitude has been present since the very beginning - even with Martin Luther himself.

Now as we span the panorama of Protestant history, we quickly see where this attitude has led. It's led to division after division after division. What happens is this. Two Protestant pastors come up with mutually contradiction interpretations of some Scripture passage(s). Both believe they are inspired by the Holy Spirit to the correct interpretation and the other is wrong. They can't both be right, and because they both believe there is no religious authority outside the Bible, there is no one to judge between them. So they end up going their separate ways, each taking part of their congregation with them. This is how denominations and affiliations are created. In the 16th century, there were only a few Protestant denominations which could be counted on one hand. Today there are literally thousands. Some say tens of thousands.

Now once we have accepted the notion that the Holy Spirit leads people to contradicting theology because there is no religious authority outside the Bible, it's only a small step to say that the Holy Spirit leads people to contradicting morality for the same reason. Indeed, this is EXACTLY what has happened. In the early 20th century, all Christian denominations agreed that artificial contraception (birth control) was morally wrong and sinful. That changed in 1930 when the Protestant Anglican Communion challenged this Christian moral standard. That was the first major crack in the dam. It wasn't long before others developed. By the end of the 20th century, less than 500 years after Luther's Sola Scriptura revolution, nearly all Christian denominations accepted artificial contraception as morally licit. That's not all though. Many of them accepted divorce too. It gets worse. Some even accepted homosexuality as "part of God's plan" even going to the point of celebrating homosexuality, blessing gay-marriages and ordaining homosexuals to the clergy. Though it seems inconceivable, some of these Protestant denominations even went so far as to say that abortion (a type of infanticide) was morally acceptable under certain circumstances.

Western Christianity had long been divided on theological issues, but now for the first time in modern history, it was divided on moral issues as well. This opened the door of Pandora's Box. With Western Christianity divided on moral issues, it became increasingly easy for morally destructive groups (militant feminists and homosexuals) to begin taking over society, each one insisting that morality is relative, and some of them using Sola Scriptura is their religious excuse.

Catholics need to understand this. One thing really does lead to another, even if it takes centuries. Luther's heresy has played a huge role in bringing Western civilization to its present point of moral decay. Protestants are stuck in a quandary. Those who are honest with themselves will have to reexamine Sola Scriptura in light of what's happened over these last 500 years, and in context with the ancient Christian tradition of episcopal authority. Sadly, most will not. Most will ignore the last 500 years of history, and the moral disaster that has resulted from it. Most will continue to repeat the mantra that there is no religious authority outside the Bible. They will treat Sola Scriptura as the highest authority. There is of course a small problem with that. Sola Scriptura is not found in the Bible. Nowhere in the Bible does it actually say the Bible is the only religious authority. Therefore Sola Scriptura is itself an extra-Biblical tradition! Which means that when Protestants fall back on it, they are falling back on a man-made tradition that is not found in the Bible. So when they say there is no authority outside the Bible, that very notion itself is an authority outside of the Bible. It's a contradiction and an oxymoron. Sadly, few of them will ever see that.

As we approach the 500th anniversary of Sola Scriptura (2020), let us reflect on the doctrinal chaos and moral relativism it has made a significant contribution toward. Granted, I will concede that a large portion of our moral decay has been the product of Godless atheism and Marxism. Some of it has been the result of Humanism, both secular and religious. Nevertheless, Sola Scriptura has taken it's toll and made it's contribution - a significant contribution I might add.