Re-Post: The Unscripturalness of Observing Lent

Titus 3 v 5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. 

Today is the beginning of Lent. Much reference is made to this observance. Sadly many Protestants are more and more being taken up with this religion of works.

I. The Definition of Lent. 

Lent is the 40 day period before Easter, excluding Sundays, it begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday. This year, 2019, Lent begins on 6th March and will end on 20th April.

Sundays are excluded because this is the day on which Christ arose from the dead, making it an inappropriate day to supposedly fast and mourn over sin. On Sunday we must celebrate Christ's resurrection for our salvation. It is Friday on which we commemorate His death for our sins. The Sundays of the year are days of celebration and the Fridays of the year are days of penance.

Rome's Counter-Reformation Tactics #6 Indoctrination - Baroque Art

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.

Strategy Six - Indoctrination - Baroque Art.
Romanism decided at the time of the Council of Trent that the 'Arts' should be employed to combat the spread of Protestant truth. Included in the degrees of the Council of Trent were pronouncements on the use of the 'Arts' for religious purposes. After all, the Catholic Church was a leading 'Arts' patron across much of Europe. Areas where Catholicism predominated, such as, architecture and painting, and to a lesser extent music, would be used to reflect Counter-Reformation goals.

The 'Arts' it was degreed should therefore propagate the beliefs and practices of the Church. To the fore in this strategy were individuals such as Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Francis de Sales and Philip Neri.

'Catholic Biblical Art' was therefore developed to highlight the theological differences between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, by focusing on the mysteries of the faith, as well as the roles of the Virgin Mary and the Saints.

Halloween - Its Pagan Origin and Connection with Ireland

This is a re-post of a previous article on this Blog regarding Halloween which appeared in 2012. 

This is the outline of a sermon preached on the Pagan Origin of Halloween on 30th October 2005 in Newtownabbey Free Presbyterian Church. 

When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations, 
Deuteronomy 18:9. 

We are all aware of the type of celebration that goes on at this time of the year. People dress up in the most hideous clothes and masks, they have their lanterns, they go tricking and treating, they talk of ghosts, haunted houses and supernatural happenings and all things spooky.

Have we ever asked ourselves the question: where did this all come from?

An insight in the origin of halloween can easily be discovered when we remember that this festival is one of foremost important to the old pagan religion that sadly is still practised in society today. The Druids and those involved in witchcraft look upon the festival of Halloween as being of great importance.

Pope definitely not coming to Northern Ireland

After a considerable effort by Politicians, Romanists & Ecumenists, and much to their annoyance and disappointment, it has been confirmed that the Pope will not be coming to Northern Ireland in August.

The Catholic Communications Office has today released the itinerary for the upcoming papal visit to the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland, thankfully, is not on that itinerary.

See reports in:
Belfast Newsletter -  Pope Francis will not be coming to Northern Ireland.
Belfast Telegraph - Archbishop Martin disappointed Pope will not visit N Ireland on visit to Republic

The Pope will fly into Dublin on 25th August and will return back to Rome on 26th August.

During his visit he will meet homeless families before arriving at Croke Park Stadium for the 'Feast of Families'. On Sunday he will travel to the Marian shrine at Knock. 

This is an answer to prayer.

See below for reasons why a papal visit is to be opposed by all right thinking Protestants:

#1 The Pope's Blasphemous Claims
#2 The Act of Settlement
#3 The Memory of the Martyrs
#4 The Cost to Taxpayers

Another example of Rome's sordid past

Click on the graphic above to read the Belfast Telegraph article

Rome's Counter-Reformation Tactics #4 Invention - The Index of Forbidden Books

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:

#4. Invention - In seeking to combat the spread of Reformation teaching the Papacy created the ‘Index of Prohibited Books’, known in Latin as the ‘Index Librorum Prohibitorum’.  This index listed the books which Romanism would not allow to be read or circulated, wherever she had any influence. Included on this list of forbidden books, as you can imagine, was the Bible in the common language of the people.

The aim of the list of forbidden books was to protect the faith and morals of the faithful by preventing the reading of theologically, culturally, and politically disruptive books.

The Index of Prohibited Books existed for over four hundred years. The index was only cancelled by Pope Paul VI as recently as 14th June 1966.

In addition to the Inquisition, the Catholic Church tried to find other ways to stop the spread of the Protestant movement. Much to the dismay of the Church, Gutenberg’s printing press had made Luther’s criticism and so-called heretical statements more readily available. 

To a great extent it was due to the fact that Luther’s 95 Thesis, having been initially written in Latin, were taken down and translated into German and then printed and circulated widely that made the Protestant ideas so very difficult to contain. Rome greatly feared the outcome if the circulation of the Truth continued.

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.

Rome's false teaching on Justification

The Catechism of the Catholic Church was revised and reprinted in March 2000. This gives an up-to-date record of Rome's teaching on various doctrines.

This Catechism of the Catholic Church has much to say about the doctrine of Justification. There are at least 40 references to the term 'Justification' in this Catechism of the Catholic Church. These 40 references demonstrate that Rome's view of 'Justification' is still the same as at the Council of Trent and is still contrary to the teaching of the Bible and the truth held by orthodox Protestantism.

Apology for the Reformation by Church of England Archbishops

It was only a matter of time before it happened, but early in this Reformation commemorative year the apostate Church of England, in the form of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York are apologising for the Reformation.

In a message released to coincide with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Justin Welby and Dr John Sentamu are saddened by the "legacy of mistrust and competition" that came about through the Reformation. They further called on 'Christians' to repent for those things that had divided the faithful.

In their statement they lament the "lasting damage" done over the past 500 years to the unity of the Church. This they claim is "in defiance of the clear command of Jesus Christ to unity in love".