A short note to the liberals and the members of the Jewish community who are members of our

The following material is very hard-hitting with regard to the Catholic
Church.  We make no apologies for it - you see, we really are
evangelicals; we really are Biblical literalists;  we really do believe in
the salvation message of our Lord Jesus Christ; and we really do believe
that the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church are in total opposition to
the plain truths of the New Testament.

You may, thus, feel somewhat uncomfortable reading what we have to say
here - but you should read it anyway.  You should try to understand the
theological differences between evangelicals and Catholics.  Ignorance is
no virtue - and what we are discussing here will - in the end - have a
great impact on you, regardless of your religious affiliations, or lack of
such.

Over the years, theologians have gone to great lengths to define the
church, to model it in a particular fashion, and to impose their concepts
on other people (and other cultures); but it's interesting to note that
the Bible itself is rather vague on the subject of how the church should
meet - whether in buildings or in homes, whether formally or informally.
But it's vague on purpose!  Why? - because the church is universal and was
structured to adapt itself to different cultures, different times, and
different situations. Indeed, it's precisely this adaptability that has
been one of the great secrets of the church's success through the ages -
it's ability to adapt to differing cultures and differing situations!!
There is, therefore, no point in arguing which way is right or which way
is wrong.  There are pros and cons to each form.  The important thing for
the church is to follow the Lord and adapt to the circumstances and time
in which it is living. The only question before us now, therefore, is if
these are the “end times,” which form of "church life" should we adopt to
best enable us to get through the coming persecution (which will break out
against us not only as the result of state persecution, but also as the
result of the persecution of the "Apostate Church").   In other words,
which form of "church life" should we embrace which will enhance our
ability to be witnesses to the unmerited favor and Grace of our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ, in a situation characterized by severe, unmitigated
and unrelenting persecution? Again, remember what prophecy is all about! -
prophecy is like a road sign which warns of dangers to come BEFORE they
come, because if we wait to do anything about the danger until it finally
presents itself, it will be too late to act.

“I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names,
having seven heads and ten horns.  And the woman was clothed in purple and
scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, have in her
hand a gold cup full of abominations and full of the unclean things of her
immorality, and upon her forehead a name was written, a mystery, ‘BABYLON
THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.’  And
I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of
the witnesses of Jesus.  And when I saw her, I wondered greatly.  And the
angel said to me, ‘Why do you wonder?  I shall tell you the mystery of the
woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the
ten horns... Here is the mind which has wisdom.  The seven heads are seven
mountains on which the woman sit.  (Revelation 17:3-7, 9,14)

There is only one church that so proudly traces its origins back to the
beginning and only one church that fits the description of Revelation -
the Roman Catholic Church!  Historically, Bible scholars have agreed that
the Harlot is the Roman Catholic Church, a church that is a mixture of
pagan religion, that to this day holds to the same heretical teachings it
has promulgated for the last 1900 years.  It has not changed!  However, as
we shall see, there are some historical revisionists who would whitewash
the image of the church whose hands are stained with the blood of martyrs.

There are some who argue that Revelation 17 does not refer to the Roman
Catholic Church.  This stand is decidedly “politically incorrect and even
some nationally syndicated radio programs such as the Bible Answer Man
will not take a stand.  They don’t say what Revelation 17 refers to, but
that it is not the Roman Church.  Why are there so few Christian leaders
willing to take a stand?  The Catholic Church is the only church that fits
the geographic description and that has embassies in countries throughout
the world, that fits the historic description and is drunk with the blood
of the saints, and that is today the focal point for the unity movement.

The Roman Catholic Church is described as the Mother of Harlots which
includes those “denominations” that split off from her and will come back
under her wing in the “last days.”  There never was a doubt that the
liberal Protestant churches who belong to the World Council of Churches
would come back to the Catholic fold.  But until recent years, there was
absolutely no thought that the conservative evangelical would ever
consider a rapprochement with the Catholic Church.  Historically most
conservative evangelicals understood what Roman Catholicism practice
stands for.  There was no way a Bible believing Christian could ever
condone what it believes and does.  In order to become acceptable,
something would have to be done to clean up her image or history would
have to be rewritten.

This is exactly what has happened.  Today, the Roman Catholic Church is
emerging as the leader of divided Christendom and evangelical churches.
The liberal churches are seen as morally bankrupt, the evangelical
churches are divided on issues, but the Catholic Church supposedly takes
the moral high ground on questions such as  divorce, abortion, and
homosexuality.  It is seen as the only institution that could possibly
unite divided Christendom.

The softening of attitude is going so far that Paul Crouch, president of
Trinity Broadcast Network declared that he does not want to be called a
“because he has nothing to protest."  Pat Robertson is sharing the pulpit
with archbishops and priests in various forums co-sponsored by the
Christian Coalition and the Catholic Church.  Christianity Today came out
with a series of articles in the December 1994 written by such well known
scholars as J.I. Packer and Charles Swindall.  One article claims that the
Reformation was just a semantic misunderstanding and that the Catholic
Church always believed in salvation by grace.  What a travesty to twist
history in such a way!

On March 29, 1994 evangelicals and Catholics signed a joint declaration
titled Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the
Third Millennium. This paper is signed by forty notable Christian leaders
such as Chuck Colson, John Neuhaus, Dr. Richard Land of the Southern
Baptist Convention, Dr. Jesse Miranda of the Assemblies of God, J.I.
Packer, John White of the National Association of Evangelicals, Monsignor
William Murphy, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Boston, Archbishop
Francis Stafford with endorsements from such as Bill Bright of Campus
Crusade for Christ, Pat Robertson of CBN and many, many more.  The
declaration minimizes the differences between the two.

They made an attempt to come up with a common definition of salvation, but
even those who developed the statement said it meant different things to
each group.  For example, although they may all agree that salvation comes
from God alone, Mormons, Catholics and Evangelicals use many of the same
terms but they mean something completely different to each.  They all say
they believe in Jesus Christ.  Yet, a Mormon derives salvation as a
process through works in the Mormon church that will lead to the
deification of the believer.  A Catholic derives initial salvation from
infant baptism - salvation which is conferred on the infant by the church
(not by personal faith in Jesus Christ).  A Catholic is saved once and for
all by infant baptism because they believe the church has the authority to
grant that salvation.  He is then continuously saved by the sacraments of
the Catholic Church as dispensed by the priest.  There is no such thing as
a personal relationship with Jesus Christ - only the “salvation”
continually dispensed by the Church.  The evangelical is saved by the once
and for all time offering made by Jesus Christ on the cross.