Rome's Counter-Reformation Tactics #3 Intransigence - The Council of Trent

Over the centuries, since 1517, Rome has employed many different tactics and strategies. Sometimes she has been like a ravenous wild beast devouring all before her. At other times she has been as subtle as the devil himself in administering the wine of her fornication to deceive gullible Protestants. All with the aim of destroying and reversing the Protestant Reformation.

The tactics and strategies which Rome has employed over the centuries are:

#3. Intransigence

Pope Paul III initiated The Council of Trent as an act of intransigence and defiance to the teaching of the Reformers. The Council of Trent [depicted] has been described as the embodiment of the Counter-Reformation. It met over the years 1545 - 1563. It actually sat in session during the years 1545-1547, 1551-1552, 1562-1563.

Its purpose was to reaffirm Catholic teaching. In doing so the Council of Trent issued condemnations of what it defined to be ‘heresies’ committed by Protestantism. In addition key statements and clarifications were issued stating the Church's position on various doctrines including that of Scripture, the Canon of Scripture, Sacred Tradition, Original Sin, Justification, Salvation, The Sacraments, The Mass and the Veneration of Saints.

Rome's Counter-Reformation Tactics #2 Inquisition

Over the centuries, since 1517, Rome has employed many different tactics and strategies. Sometimes she has been like a ravenous wild beast devouring all before her. At other times she has been as subtle as the devil himself in administering the wine of her fornication to deceive gullible Protestants. All with the aim of destroying and reversing the Protestant Reformation.

The tactics and strategies which Rome has employed over the centuries are:

#2. Inquisition - The office of the Inquisition was re-established in 1542. Its purpose was to persecute, even unto death, those who disagreed with the doctrines and traditions of the Roman Church. The Inquisition was a bloody attempt to crush the faith of Protestants. Ten of thousands of Protestants were put to death as a result of the Inquisition.

The use of the Inquisition is one of the more infamous methods used to stop the spread of Protestantism. The Inquisition was a tribunal, or court hearing, designed to suppress heresy. These heresy trials had begun in Spain in 1479, under Ferdinand V and Isabella.

Pope Paul III established the Roman Inquisition in 1542 at the suggestion of Cardinal Caraffa, who had witnessed the effectiveness of the Spanish Inquisition in suppressing dissent. Thus a new agency of obedience was created, namely the Roman Inquisition.

Rome's Counter-Reformation Tactics #1 Institution - The Jesuits

Over the centuries, since 1517, Rome has employed many different tactics and strategies. Sometimes she has been like a ravenous wild beast devouring all before her. At other times she has been as subtle as the devil himself in administering the wine of her fornication to deceive gullible Protestants. All with the aim of destroying and reversing the Protestant Reformation.

The tactics and strategies which Rome has employed over the centuries are:

#1 Institution - The Jesuits
The Order of the Jesuits was instituted in 1540 to counter the teachings and influence of Protestantism. The Jesuits were the Gestapo of Rome. They form the secret army of the Papacy. Their purpose is quite simple. The Jesuits seek to convert the world to Roman Catholicism. And in order to achieve this goal, they have not hesitated to use every means, both fair and foul. They have not hesitated to lie, cheat, commit murder, or use revolution, if need be, to further their aims. At the very top of their priorities has always been the destruction of Protestantism.

The Jesuits were founded by a Basque nobleman called Ignatius of Loyola. He was a soldier who turned to be a priest after a French cannonball mangled his leg in Pamplona in 1521. They were first known as ‘the Company of Jesus’ from 1534. It was not until 1540 that the society secured papal approval. Ignatius of Loyola and six of his students took vows of poverty and chastity. They wanted to travel to the Holy Land but as this was not possible because of the Turkish wars, they travelled to Rome and offered their services to the pope for apostolic work. At Rome Ignatius [pictured] knelt at the feet of the Pope in September 1540 and received from Pope Paul III the charter of the Jesuits. The Jesuits would combine the ideas of traditional monastic discipline with a dedication to teaching, preaching and proselyting.

The Jesuit order went on to play an infamous role in the Counter-Reformation and eventually succeeded in converting millions around the world to Catholicism.

Ex-Facebook President admits he helped build a Monster

Facebook's first president, Sean Parker, has expressed his concern about the very thing he helped create and set up. Parker has spoken candidly about what he perceives are the dangers of social media and how it exploits human "vulnerability."

Billionaire Parker, who joined Facebook in 2004, when it was less than a year old also said:"God only knows what it's doing to our children's brains."

Speaking to an online news website, Parker said: "The thought process that went into building these applications, Facebook being the first of them ... was all about: 'How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?'" 

He further commented: "And that means that we need to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while, because someone liked or commented on a photo or a post or whatever," "And that's going to get you to contribute more content, and that's going to get you ... more likes and comments."

Parker added: "It's a social-validation feedback loop ... exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you're exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology."

"The inventors, creators — it's me, it's Mark [Zuckerberg], it's Kevin Systrom on Instagram, it's all of these people — understood this consciously," he said. "And we did it anyway."

Rome's Counter-Reformation Tactics

Rome’s response to the Protestant Reformation was swift, brutal and lasting. Instead of acknowledging the truth of what Luther and others were saying about the corruptions and false teaching prevalent in the Roman Church, the Church hierarchy responded with what has become known in history as ‘The Counter-Reformation’. ‘The Counter-Reformation’ was a long and bloody war waged against the truths rediscovered by the Reformers and against those who received and taught these truths.

This Counter-Reformation is usually understood to have begun during the papal reign of Pope Paul III, who held the office of the Papal See from 1534-1549. This Counter-Reformation continued on for years, and in truth is still continuing at the present time in various guises. Romanism, to this day, is still working to counter the effects of the Protestant Reformation.

Over the centuries, since 1517, Rome has employed many different tactics and strategies. Sometimes she has been like a ravenous wild beast devouring all before her. At other times she has been as subtle as the devil himself in administering the wine of her fornication to deceive gullible Protestants. All with the aim of destroying and reversing the Protestant Reformation.

The tactics and strategies which Rome has employed over the centuries are:

Abortions to be granted to under 16s from Northern Ireland

Not content with interfering in devolved matters in Northern Ireland the Westminster Government has now confirmed that it will provide free abortions for those under the age of 16 from Northern Ireland.

In June, Theresa May's government at Westminster, were bounced into a dramatic last-minute climb down, just hours before a crunch vote threatened to derail the Queen’s Speech. More than 50 MPs, from the major parties, led by Labour MP Stella Creasy, had backed a call for women from Northern Ireland to be given free access to NHS abortions in England. This led to the Westminster government making a concession on the issue rather than risk a possible defeat in the House of Commons on the Queen's Speech.

Quotable Quote

Martin Luther is reported to have once said: I preach as though Christ died yesterday, rose from the dead today and is coming back tomorrow.

How different our lives would be if we lived with this spirit!

Reformation Commemoration

Special Reformation Commemoration meetings were held in Newtownabbey Free Presbyterian Church where the relevance of the Reformation for today was considered.

Sermon Three: The Need to Continue Contending for Reformation Principles. Preached by Rev Michael Patrick, Retired Minister.

Reformation Commemoration

Special Reformation Commemoration meetings were held in Newtownabbey Free Presbyterian Church where the relevance of the Reformation for today was considered

Sermon Two: Private Interpretation of the Scriptures - The Great Blessing of the Reformation. Preached by Rev Gordon Dane, Minister in Crossgar FPC and Deputy Moderator of Presbytery. 

Reformation Commemoration

Special Reformation Commemoration meetings were held in Newtownabbey Free Presbyterian Church where the relevance of the Reformation for today was considered

Sermon One: Ecumenism - The Attempt to undo the Reformation
Preached by Rev Ivan Foster, Retired Minister

Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) won't confirm whether a Christian can work in social care and express support for traditional marriage

Northern Ireland’s social work regulator, the (NISCC), has been called upon to spell out whether or not people who voice traditional marriage views are suitable to work in the field of social care.

The issue has arisen after Felix Ngole, who was kicked off a two-year social work course by the University of Sheffield for making remarks about homosexuality on Facebook, lost his appeal.

Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) has only responded by saying: NISCC would be very concerned if a registrant lacked sufficient insight where they could not recognise that it is inappropriate to post derogatory comments against any individual or group on social media. A situation like this would require assessment by our fitness to practise team.

Never Ever Enough!!!

First it was the clamour, a number of years ago now, for the decriminalisation of sodomy. Since then there has been an incessant push to make sodomy acceptable in society.

In recent times that demand had reached new levels. There was the demand for legal recognition of same sex relationships. Along came 'Civil Partnerships'. We were told by the sodomite lobbyists that this would be sufficient, that all they wanted was legal recognition. But it wasn't!

Next came along the demand for 'Gay Marriage' or what they 'Equal Marriage'. As if there can ever be any equality between what God approves and what He disapproves. The only part of the United Kingdom to resist this demand has been Northern Ireland. Sadly, the tide will shortly turn here too and sooner or later legislation permitting this perversion will be brought forward and passed.

But never satisfied the pro-sodomite lobby have also demanded that apologises be issued and retrospective legislation be passed granting posthumous pardons for sodomites who have been previously convicted of criminal and immoral acts. We had the sad, and sorry, spectacle at Stormont of politicians refusing to support Jim Allister's motion to stop this happening. See here

30th Anniversary of the Enniskillen Poppy Day Bombing

Today is the 30th Anniversary of the Enniskillen Poppy Day Bombing. On Sunday 8th November 1987 an IRA terrorist bomb killed eleven people who had gathered to pay their respects to the fallen of two world wars. All the dead were Protestants, killed for no other reason than being Protestants. Three elderly couples were among the dead, along with a war veteran, a nurse and a police reservist.

No one has ever been convicted of this horrendous killing.

See these reports:

Belfast Newsletter - Enniskillen: How a murderous act of desecration sent shockwaves around the world

Row at local Council over a bid to remove prayers at the start of meetings

A row has erupted at North Down and Ards Borough Council after a motion to remove prayers at the start of council meetings was put forward. The Green Party introduced the motion saying it was "not inclusive of those of different religions and beliefs" to have prayers at each meeting. [Click on the graphic to the right to be taken to the audio file]

But the DUP Mayor Robert Adair hit back, accusing the Green Party of attacking Christian values as reported by the Belfast Telegraph. 

Vinny on the Nolan Show got the views of Rev David McIlveen and commentator Malachi O'Doherty. They did also ask Robert Adair, the Mayor of North Down and Ards Borough Council, to come on this show this morning but he declined the offer.

"Why did no one save little Elsie?" Pandering to Sodomy is why!

This question is posed by the Daily Mail in the light of the conviction of Matthew Scully-Hicks for the murder of his adopted daughter. The headline in the Daily Mail reads:

Why did no one save little Elsie? Social services visited gay father who murdered his adopted daughter FIFTEEN times but failed to intervene - even after she had broken her leg and 'fallen down the stairs'

Social services visited a gay father who murdered his adopted 18-month-old daughter 15 times but still raised no concerns - despite finding out she had broken her leg and had 'fallen down the stairs'.

• Matthew Scully-Hicks, 31, shook Elsie Scully-Hicks and threw her down on floor
• He denied murdering her but was found guilty by a jury after a four week trial
• Murder came just two weeks after he adopted her with his husband Craig, 36
• Social services face an investigation to see if they missed chances to save her
• Staff members visited the couple fifteen times and still raised no concerns
• Before her death she had previously suffered a broken leg and mystery bruises
• Prosecutors have said medical evidence was crucial in Scully-Hicks' conviction 

The is one simple answer. No one stepped in to save this little girl because of the pandering to sodomy that goes on in this nation. To have stepped in would have brought down a torrent of disapproval and the usual charges of being homophobic when anyone is perceived to have acted against those who chose to follow this way of life. This is why there were 15 visits by social workers and a failure to step in. They evidently knew there was a problem but were unwilling to step in and remove the child. 

The Iniquitous March of Transsexualism

Two stories highlighted by the Christian Institute, this past week, bear witness to the iniquitous onward march of 'Transsexualism' in our society. [Click on the title of the article and the link will take you to the Christian Institute website]

1. Prof: ‘only one in every 20,000 kids has trans feelings’

A professor at a controversial ‘gender identity’ clinic for children has said that just “one child born in every 20,000” experiences transsexual feelings.

Professor Gary Butler, clinical lead at the UK Gender Identity Development Service, stressed that it is “incredibly rare” for children to ‘question their gender’.

2. ‘Children being pushed into transsexualism’
Therapists are ignoring parents’ concerns and children’s underlying health issues to encourage transsexualism, a newspaper has been told.

According to one mother, her daughter was referred to a ‘gender identity’ clinic after an appointment lasting less than an hour.

Soli Deo Gloria - To the Glory of God alone

Whatever was done by any of the Reformers during those momentous days of the Reformation God is to have all the glory. The Reformation was a work of God. 

Luther himself stated this: I opposed indulgences and all papists, but never by force. I simply taught, preached, wrote God's Word: otherwise I did nothing … the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that never a prince or emperor did such damage to it. I did nothing: the Word did it all.

This article was published in the most recent edition of the Let The Bible Speak quarterly magazine. It was entitled Soli Deo Gloria - To the Glory of God alone. It is a fitting way to conclude commemorating the Protestant Reformation.

It was said of Johann Sebastian Bach that when he had finished composing a new piece of music he would write the letters SDG at the bottom of the page indicating his own satisfaction with what he had composed. These three letters stood for the Latin term Soli Deo Gloria or "For the Glory of God alone". Bach desired that every new musical composition, which he had spent so much time perfecting, would redound to the glory of God alone. He sought no praise for himself but all praise was due to God.

Education Board Regional Rally

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