It is DAMNABLE heresy to teach that Joshua went to HELL or that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.

The Latin Church cannot be Catholic or UNIVERSAL because HERESY would then be universal....If heresy was universal, this would make void the promise of Joshua that the gates of Hades would not prevail against His Congregation:

And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And Joshua answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my congregation; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:16-18).

The Christian Congregation is built upon Christ the ROCK . . . not Peter the STONE:

And he brought him (Peter) to Joshua. And when Joshua beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A STONE. ( John 142).

Here is the dictionary definition of MYTH:

Etymology: New Latin mýthus, from Late Latin mýthos, from Greek muthos.

A fiction or half-truth, especially one that forms part of an ideology. An unfounded or false notion. A person or thing having only an imaginary or unverifiable existence. Idle fancy, fable, fiction.

Here is the dictionary definition of Catholic:

Etymology: Middle English catholik, from Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French catholique, from Late Latincatholicus, from Greek katholikos universal.

Often capitalized: of, relating to, or forming the church universal or forming the ancient undivided Christian church or a church claiming historical continuity from it, capitalized: Roman Catholic.

All true Christians—both East and West—originally called themselves CATHOLIC which means UNIVERSAL in contradistinction to the Jewish congregation which was local and restricted to Jews and proselytes only.

The decree of Roman Emperor Theodosius linked Rome with Saint Peter!!

Emperor Theodosius was the first to officially decree that only those who believed in the myth of Saint Peter at Rome would now be considered Catholic or Universal.

On January 19, 379, the emperor Gratian raised Theodosius to the rank of emperor and gave him charge of the eastern half of the empire. Theodosius was a general from Spain and a convinced partisan of Nicene orthodoxy. He did not wait long to show his colors. On February 28, 380, Theodosius issued an edict saying that anyone who did not follow the faith of Pope Damasus of Rome and Peter of Alexandria was a heretic. (The Church of the Ancient Councils, p. 104).

It is our desire that all the various nations which are subject to our Clemency and Moderation, should continue in the profession of that religion which was delivered to the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter, as it hath been preserved by faithful tradition; and which is now professed by the Pontiff Damasus and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic holiness. According to the apostolic teaching and the doctrine of the Gospel, let us believe the one deity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, in equal majesty and in a holy Trinity.

We authorize the followers of this law to assume the title of Catholic Christians; but as for the others, since, in our judgement, they are foolish madmen, we decree that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics, and shall not presume: to give to their conventicles the name of churches. They will suffer in the first place the chastisement of the divine condemnation, and in the second the punishment which our authority, in accordance with the will of Heaven, shall decide to inflict. (Theodosius, Edictum de fide catholica).

It is a MIRACLE indeed that the Lord would reveal the presence of St. Peter in Rome to a Roman Emperor . . . and keep it a secret from the rest of the Christians....It seems that Theodosius had the same secret insider information as Emperor Constantine:

You will, it may be, also detail to us those particulars of his favor which are secret to us, but known to you alone, and treasured in your royal memory as in secret storehouses.(Eusebius, Oration to Constantine, XVIII).

The 3 Dogmatic Creeds of the Roman "Catholic" Church contain heresy!!

The Vatican acknowledges 3 dogmatic creeds that are ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL for salvation in the Roman "Catholic" system....Anyone who does not believe them is condemned to a fiery hell forever.... These 3 Creeds are:

Here is the condemnatory clause in the Athanasian Creed:

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith. Which Faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. (Athanasian Creed).

Two of the creeds contain an addition called the Filioque clause that never gained acceptance with the Eastern or Orthodox Church . . . and therefore has never been recognized as Catholic or universal.

The "Apostles' Creed" declares that Joshua—the sinless Son of God—went to HELL when He died . . . and therefore would NEVER have gained acceptance with the Orthodox . . . or any sincere Christians.

Emperor Constantine was the founder of both Latin and Orthodox Churches!!

Emperor Constantine was the founder of the Latin Roman Papacy with headquarters at Rome, and the Orthodox Church with headquarters at Constantinople.

The English word CHURCH is translated from the Greek word EKKLESIA... In Acts chapter 19, EKKLESIA is used to describe a meeting place or assembly of the pagan goddess Diana of the Ephesians:

For ye have brought hither these men (Paul and Silas), which are neither robbers of churches (ekklesias), nor yet blasphemers of your goddess. (Acts 19:37). 

These 2 churches represent the 2 LEGS of the metal image seen in the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

The stone or Rock that destroys the image represents Christ at His Second Coming.

According to the inerrant and infallible Word of God, these 2 religions would be DIVIDED—but continue side by side until the end of time.

Obviously you cannot give an organization the appellation Catholic or universal if it is confined to the Western world.

The Filioque finalized the rift between East and West!!

The establishing of another capital of the Roman Empire at Constantinople split the Empire, but doctrinal differences, and later additions to the ecumenical councils by the Latins, finalized the separation or rift.

Filioque, Latin for "and (from) the Son", was added by the Latin church to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed.

At the Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.) presided over by Emperor Constantine, a creed or statement of faith was promulgated which was binding on all the Roman Empire.

The Nicean Creed was further ratified by the Council of Constantinople in 381.

This statement of faith was based on sound Biblical hermeneutics except for one critical error: that water baptism leads to the remission of sins or makes a person a Christian....If water can cleanse from sin, then Christ shed his BLOOD in vain!!

The heretical phrase "AND THE SON" was first added by the Latin Third Council of Toledo, Spain, in 589 A.D. This fateful formula was not officially adopted by Old Rome until the year 1014 —over 600 years after the Council of Constantinople:

This mutual agreement between Rome and Constantinople, to say it once more, was maintained until the eleventh century, when, during the coronation of the German emperor Henry II (1014), the fateful formula was finally adopted in Rome as well. As a result of this adoption, the altered creed became standard throughout the West. Inevitably, the scope of the debate widened as well. Before long, Rome was justifying the alteration by its own doctrinal authority. As papal apologists were to argue, it was sufficient that the Roman pontiff had declared it dogma; by virtue of his Petrine power, he was not subject to conciliar judgment (Papadakis, The Christian East and the Rise of the Papacy, pp. 228-229).

It was never accepted by the Orthodox because Jesus stated plainly that the Spirit proceeds from the Father . . . and not from the Son:

But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. (John 15:26).

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever. (John 14:16).

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:26).

The Son and the Holy Spirit are the 2 hands of the Father!!

To try and comprehend the incomprehensible Holy Trinity by our finite minds is impossible; but we see in His creation ample testimony of the triune principle.

Man is composed of a triune nature: body, soul, spirit. Water can exist in 3 states: gas, liquid or solid. Alternating current electricity is composed of 3 phases.

Saint Patrick used the SHAMROCK when describing the Holy Trinity to the Hibernians.

If God wills, we will prove from the Scriptures and the writings of the Christian Fathers, that this DOUBLE PROCESSION of the Spirit from the Father and the Son is heretical.

Here is a quote from one of the most important early Christian writers: Saint Irenaeus of Lyons:

As regards His greatness, therefore, it is not possible to know God, for it is impossible that the Father can be measured; but as regards His love (for this it is which leads us to God by His Word), when we obey Him, we do always learn that there is so great a God, and that it is He who by Himself has established, and selected, and adorned, and contains all things; and among the all things, both ourselves and this our world. We also then were made, along with those things which are contained by Him. And this is He of whom the Scripture says, And God formed man, taking clay of the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life. Genesis 2:7 It was not angels, therefore, who made us, nor who formed us, neither had angels power to make an image of God, nor any one else, except the Word of the Lord, nor any Power remotely distant from the Father of all things. For God did not stand in need of these [beings], in order to the accomplishing of what He had Himself determined with Himself beforehand should be done, as if He did not possess His own hands. For with Him were always present the Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, by whom and in whom, freely and spontaneously, He made all things, to whom also He speaks, saying, Let Us make man after Our image and likeness; Genesis 1:26 He taking from Himself the substance of the creatures [formed], and the pattern of things made, and the type of all the adornments in the world. (Saint Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 4, ch., 20).

This addition to the 7 ecumenical councils by the Latin church led to the final separation in 1054.

This final split is called in the West the Great Schism, or the East-West Schism.

Of course the Orthodox acknowledge no such split or schism:

QUESTION: Is it possible to admit that a split within the Church or among the Churches could ever take place?
ANSWER: Never. Heretics and schismatics have from time to time fallen away from the one indivisible Church, and, by so doing, they ceased to be members of the Church, but the Church itself can never lose its unity according to Christ's promise. (Bishop Kallistos Ware, The Orthodox Way, p. 309).

No amount of military might or political scheming can bring the two together because Christ is ruling history with a rod of IRON:

And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.(Revelation 2:27).

Even if the Vatican had a limitless money supply, and 100 Pentagons and German Reichs at her disposal, she could not change or alter Bible prophecy one iota.

The non-Catholic "Apostles' Creed"

The "Apostles' Creed" is the most frequently used Creed in the Latin church but it is not Catholic or Apostolic.

The Nicene Creed originated in the East, but the "Apostles' Creed" originated in the WEST, and was never approved by the Orthodox and therefore has no claim to catholicity or universality.

The origin of the Creed is obscure, but forgeries were rampant in the Latin chuch at that time. The most infamous being the Donation of Constantine and the Isidorean Descretals.

It was probably a production of the Benedictine monks sometime between 500 and 600 A.D.

Whatever may be the final verdict on the claims of S.W. France to be the birthplace of the textus receptus of the Apostles' Creed, very few will be likely to deny that its origin is to be sought somewhere north of the Alps at some date in the late sixth or seventh century. (J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds, p. 420).

Here is the Latin version of the Creed:

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

Jesus did not descend into HELL when He died on the tree because hell (Gehenna in Greek) is the final eternal abode of the wicked. Nobody is in hell right now but that dreadful place will receive its first occupants at the end of time:

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and Hades delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
And death and HADES were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.(Revelation 20:13-15).

In the famous Resurrection chapter in the New Testament, St. Paul gives his credal statement and sums up the Gospel which he preached.....It mentions NOTHING about this so-called descent into hell:

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. (I Corintians 15:1-4).

That CREED would NEVER have gained acceptance in the East because of the horrendous implications that Jesus sinnedand went to hell after he died on the tree!!

The Athanasian Creed

Like the "Apostles' Creed" the origin of the Athanasian Creed is obscure, but it became widely used in the West around the time of Charlemagne:

Vital Links

Meet the First Pope!!

Constantine's 6 Major Changes to Christianity.

Rome versus Constantinople

References

FFoulkes. Rev. E.S. The Athanasian Creed. J.T.Hayes, Covent Garden, London, 1872.

Kelly, J.N.D. Early Christian Creeds. Longman Publishing, New York & London, 1960.

Papadakis, Aristeides. The Christian East and the Rise of the Papacy. St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, Crestwood, New York, 1994.

Ware, Bishop Kallistos. The Orthodox Way. St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, Crestwood, New York, 1994.

Copyright © 2013 by Patrick Scrivener

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