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::“Popery is a system where science and ignorance, refinement and barbarism, wisdom and stupidity, taste and animalism, mistaken zeal and malignant enmity, may sanctimoniously pour out their virulence against the Gospel, and cry Hosanna, while they go forth to shed the blood and to wear out the patience of the saints. And though by revolutions it has been shaken, and compelled by motives of policy to cease a little from blood, not a principle of this system has been abandoned. All the wiles of ages past are put in requisition now to heal the fatal wounds which the beast has received, and to render the system still more powerful and terrific. The leaven is in secret and in open operation in this country ; and the quick action of the beast to the touch of the spear shows that he is neither dead nor asleep. And, considering the civilization, and wealth, and science, which the system comprehends, it is from popery, no doubt, that the Gospel is destined to experience the last and most determined resistance,— popery, as [http://www.angelfire.com/la2/prophet1/1830fox.html#IdolatryandDeceit sustained by and sustaining] despotic governments.” (Beecher's Works., Vol. II., Lyman Beecher, D.D., 1852, [http://books.google.com.gi/books?id=S9MTAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=&redir_esc=y pp. 418, 419], Sermon delivered before the American Board of Missions at New York on October 12, 1827).  
::“Popery is a system where science and ignorance, refinement and barbarism, wisdom and stupidity, taste and animalism, mistaken zeal and malignant enmity, may sanctimoniously pour out their virulence against the Gospel, and cry Hosanna, while they go forth to shed the blood and to wear out the patience of the saints. And though by revolutions it has been shaken, and compelled by motives of policy to cease a little from blood, not a principle of this system has been abandoned. All the wiles of ages past are put in requisition now to heal the fatal wounds which the beast has received, and to render the system still more powerful and terrific. The leaven is in secret and in open operation in this country ; and the quick action of the beast to the touch of the spear shows that he is neither dead nor asleep. And, considering the civilization, and wealth, and science, which the system comprehends, it is from popery, no doubt, that the Gospel is destined to experience the last and most determined resistance,— popery, as [http://www.angelfire.com/la2/prophet1/1830fox.html#IdolatryandDeceit sustained by and sustaining] despotic governments.” (Beecher's Works., Vol. II., Lyman Beecher, D.D., 1852, [http://books.google.com.gi/books?id=S9MTAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=&redir_esc=y pp. 418, 419], Sermon delivered before the American Board of Missions at New York on October 12, 1827).  
   
   
    
    
The true church fled “into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished” on the milk and meat of the word of God, the Lord sustaining them and using them to preserve his pure words as they copied and recopied the sacred scriptures and passed them down from one generation to the next (Rev. 12:13,14). In an effort to squelch the Reformers, the Roman Catholic church began a counter-reformation. In addition to the '''[http://www.angelfire.com/la2/prophet1/1830fox.html#inquisition02a Catholic Inquisition]''', the papacy employed the Jesuits to carry out their goal of undermining the Protestant scriptures and the faith of the people. Their schemes included infiltrating Protestant communities “to ‘educate’ the Protestant scholars to believe that their Reformation Text was unreliable and that their Authorized Version was ‘not scholarly.’ Once thus programmed, the egotistical scholars would spontaneously attack their own Bible and believe that they were helping God.” (An Understandable History of the Bible, S. Gipp, pp.98,99).   
The true church fled “into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished” on the milk and meat of the word of God, the Lord sustaining them and using them to preserve his pure words as they copied and recopied the sacred scriptures and passed them down from one generation to the next (Rev. 12:13,14). In an effort to squelch the Reformers, the Roman Catholic church began a counter-reformation. In addition to the '''[http://www.angelfire.com/la2/prophet1/1830fox.html#inquisition02a Catholic Inquisition]''', the papacy employed the '''[[911:Jesuits_In_America|Jesuits]]''' to carry out their goal of undermining the Protestant scriptures and the faith of the people. Their schemes included infiltrating Protestant communities “to ‘educate’ the Protestant scholars to believe that their Reformation Text was unreliable and that their Authorized Version was ‘not scholarly.’ Once thus programmed, the egotistical scholars would spontaneously '''[[TerryHomePage:About this site|attack their own Bible]]''' and believe that they were helping God.” (An Understandable History of the Bible, S. Gipp, pp.98,99).   


Up until the twentieth century most true ministers of the gospel of Christ recognized the papacy as Antichrist. In 1846 the Rev. Samuel J. Cassels of Norfolk, Virginia wrote “that the ‘little horn’ of Daniel, the ‘man of sin’ of Paul, and ‘the beast’ of John, all symbolize the papal power” (Christ and Antichrist, S. J. Cassels, 1846, p. 14). Many judicious and excellent ministers of various Christian denominations in America recommended Cassels' book, including Robert Boyte C. Howell, Pastor of the First Baptist Church, Nashville, Tenn.; Edward Wadsworth, Pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Norfolk, Va.; James R. Gilland, Pastor of Fishing Creek Presbyterian Church, Chester District, South Carolina.; David Caldwell, Rector of St. Paul's Church, Norfolk, Va.; Upton Beall, Rector of Christ Church, Norfolk, Va.; James B. Taylor, Corresponding Secretary of Foreign Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention, Richmond, Va.; Joseph C. Stiles, Pastor of the United Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Va.; Samuel L. Graham, D.D. Professor of Oriental Literature, Union Theological Seminary, Va.; James J. Hamner, Pastor of the Fifth Presbyterian Church, Baltimore; Henry V. D. Johns, Rector of Christ Church, Baltimore; G. W. Musgrave, Pastor of the Third Presbyterian Church, Baltimore; H. A. Boardman, Pastor of the Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia; B. Gildersleeve, Editor of the Watchman and Observer, Richmond, Va. (Christ and Antichrist, 1846, Recommendations pp. 2,3,4). In 1866 renowned Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon referred to the papal power as “the insidious monster” and “the detestable Antichrist” and “the harlot of Babylon” (The Sword and The Trowel, C. H. Spurgeon, 1866, p. 3, p. 497). In 1887 historian Henry Grattan Guinness quoting Martin Luther wrote, “Elsewhere again he says, that when Daniel ‘saw the terrible wild beast which had ten horns, which by the consent of all is the Roman empire, he also beheld another small horn come up in the middle of them. This is the Papal power, which rose up in the middle of the Roman empire.’” (Romanism and the Reformation, Henry Grattan Guinness, 1887, pp. 231, 232). Nevertheless, despite the abundance of historical evidence, the clear prophecies of scripture and the numerous testimonies of Christian martyrs and historians, the Roman Catholic church would have us believe that all of these able ministers of the gospel along with every Protestant Reformer in history, are mis-interpreting prophecy.   
Up until the twentieth century most true ministers of the gospel of Christ recognized the papacy as Antichrist. In 1846 the Rev. Samuel J. Cassels of Norfolk, Virginia wrote ''“that the ‘little horn’ of Daniel, the ‘man of sin’ of Paul, and ‘the beast’ of John, all symbolize the papal power”'' <small>(Christ and Antichrist, S. J. Cassels, 1846, [http://www.archive.org/stream/christantichrist00cassrich#page/14/mode/2up p. 14])</small>. Many judicious and excellent ministers of various Christian denominations in America recommended Cassels' book, including Robert Boyte C. Howell, Pastor of the First Baptist Church, Nashville, Tenn.; Edward Wadsworth, Pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Norfolk, Va.; James R. Gilland, Pastor of Fishing Creek Presbyterian Church, Chester District, South Carolina.; David Caldwell, Rector of St. Paul's Church, Norfolk, Va.; Upton Beall, Rector of Christ Church, Norfolk, Va.; James B. Taylor, Corresponding Secretary of Foreign Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention, Richmond, Va.; Joseph C. Stiles, Pastor of the United Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Va.; Samuel L. Graham, D.D. Professor of Oriental Literature, Union Theological Seminary, Va.; James J. Hamner, Pastor of the Fifth Presbyterian Church, Baltimore; Henry V. D. Johns, Rector of Christ Church, Baltimore; G. W. Musgrave, Pastor of the Third Presbyterian Church, Baltimore; H. A. Boardman, Pastor of the Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia; B. Gildersleeve, Editor of the Watchman and Observer, Richmond, Va. (Christ and Antichrist, 1846, Recommendations <small>[http://www.archive.org/stream/christantichrist00cassrich#page/2/mode/2up pp. 2,3,4]</small>). In 1866 renowned Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon referred to the papal power as ''“the insidious monster” and “the detestable '''[[TerryHomePage:Preface to Foxe's Book Of Martyrs|Antichrist]]'''” and “the harlot of Babylon”'' <small>(The Sword and The Trowel, C. H. Spurgeon, 1866, [http://books.google.com.gi/books?id=a7gVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR3&dq=&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 3], [http://books.google.com.gi/books?id=a7gVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA497&dq=&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 497])</small>. In 1887 historian Henry Grattan Guinness quoting Martin Luther wrote, ''“Elsewhere again he says, that when Daniel ‘saw the terrible wild beast which had ten horns, which by the consent of all is the Roman empire, he also beheld another small horn come up in the middle of them. This is the Papal power, which rose up in the middle of the Roman empire.’”'' (Romanism and the Reformation, Henry Grattan Guinness, 1887, [http://books.google.com.gi/books?id=GFv-xn0vKNoC&pg=PA231&dq=&redir_esc=y pp. 231, 232]). Nevertheless, despite the abundance of historical evidence, the clear prophecies of scripture and the numerous testimonies of ''[[TerryHomePage:Preface to Foxe's Book Of Martyrs|Christian martyrs]]''' and historians, the Roman Catholic church would have us believe that all of these able ministers of the gospel along with every Protestant Reformer in history, are mis-interpreting prophecy.   


Historian Dave Hunt said, “Amazingly, Protestants are now embracing Rome as Christian while she insists that the ‘separated brethren’ be reconciled to her on her unchangeable terms! Many evangelical leaders are intent upon working with Roman Catholics to evangelize the world.... They don't want to hear any ‘negative’ reminders of the millions of people tortured and slain by the Church to which they now pay homage, or the fact that Rome has a false gospel of sacramental works.” (A Woman Rides The Beast, Dave Hunt, 1994). If the Roman Catholic Mass is not a false gospel of sacramental works, and if the so called act of “Transubstantiation” and the elevation and veneration of the “Host” as the “Real Presence” of the “true God” is not gross idolatry and another gospel, another spirit and another Jesus, then neither is the Mormon Temple Ceremony false.   
Historian Dave Hunt said, “Amazingly, Protestants are now embracing Rome as Christian while she insists that the ‘separated brethren’ be reconciled to her on her unchangeable terms! Many evangelical leaders are intent upon working with Roman Catholics to evangelize the world.... They don't want to hear any ‘negative’ reminders of the millions of people tortured and slain by the Church to which they now pay homage, or the fact that Rome has a false gospel of sacramental works.” (A Woman Rides The Beast, Dave Hunt, 1994). If the Roman Catholic Mass is not a false gospel of sacramental works, and if the so called act of “Transubstantiation” and the elevation and veneration of the “Host” as the “Real Presence” of the “true God” is not gross idolatry and another gospel, another spirit and another Jesus, then neither is the Mormon Temple Ceremony false.   

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Spiritual Adultery


In this modern day and age of promiscuity and infidelity most people probably know the meaning of natural carnal adultery. Unfortunately, most people, including many Christians, do not know the meaning of spiritual adultery. Webster's Dictionary defines adultery as, “Violation of the marriage bed; a crime, or a civil injury, which introduces, or may introduce, into a family, a spurious offspring.” (American Dictionary of the English Language)


“They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.” (Jer. 3:1). “Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:” (Jer. 3:13,14). “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.... And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.” (Rev. 2:4,21,22)


Spiritual adultery was not only a problem in the Old Testament; it is an ongoing problem in the New Testament as well. In the Old Testament the children of Israel habitually transgressed against God's laws by taking up the ways of the heathen nations around them and by borrowing their abominable customs. The same rituals and customs that the pagans used in worshiping their false gods, the children of Israel used to worship the true God. “For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.” (Jer. 2:20). God likened these practices to a whorish wife committing adultery against her husband, and regularly warned his people against committing such acts. Jesus said, “I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.” (Rev. 2:22) (See IDOLATRY OF THE EUCHARIST).

In ancient times God allowed his people to go astray and worship in the idolatrous ways of the nations of the world (Deut. 4:19; 17:3; Judges 2:13; 10:6; I Sam. 7:3,4; 12:10; I Kings 11:5,33; II Kings 23:3-5,13; Jer. 7:18; 44:17,18). And the New Testament makes it clear that God will allow his people to go astray today. Ancient sun-worship was an idolatrous custom of the nations of the world from the earliest times of recorded history. Ancient celestial deities were worshiped under a variety of names, but they all shared identical or similar attributes. The Scriptures record numerous instances when God's people turned to pagan idolatry; “and they worshipped the sun” (Ezek. 8:16); “the queen of heaven” (Jer. 7 & 44); etc. (Judges 2:13; 10:6; I Sam. 7:3,4; 12:10; I Kings 11:5,33; II Kings 23:13; Ezek. 8:13-16). When God delivered the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt, many of his people yearned for the idols of the pagan gods (Ezk. 20:1-16). The book of Acts says of God's own people, even after he delivered them from bondage in Egypt, “in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,...Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven;” (Acts 7:39-43). Click thumbnails below to see images comparing the striking similarities between the various ancient and modern idolatries:



“Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” (I Cor. 10:11)


When God told Jacob to “Return unto the land of thy fathers”, his wife Rachel “had stolen the images that were her father’s” to take them with her into the land of Jacob's father (Gen. 31:3,19). Rachel's father, Laban, pursued after Jacob and said, “wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?” (Gen. 31:23,30). Rachel gave in to the temptation to take with her the false gods of her father. The same temptations are present today in the Christian church. The temptation to borrow the customs of the heathen to worship the Lord Jesus Christ is a seduction that many modern-day Christians seem unable or unwilling to resist – “they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean” (Ezek. 22:26). Practicing the customs surrounding the worship of the sun god [1] about the time of the Winter solstice, and practicing the customs surrounding the worship of the fertility goddess about the time of the Spring equinox was condemned by God in the Old Testament. And what was condemned by God as spiritual adultery in the Old Testament is still condemned by God as spiritual adultery today. The Encyclopedia Britannica states that “the festival of the nativity was not observed in the primitive church”(Encyclopedia Britannica, 7th Ed., 1830-1842).


“Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen... For the customs of the people are vain:” (Jer. 10:2,3). “Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them [the heathen]... and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God:” (Deut. 12:30,31)


In History of the United States, a popular nineteenth century American public school text book, Noah Webster said, “Men began to understand their natural rights, as soon as the reformation from popery began to dawn in the sixteenth century;” (History of the United States, 1832, p. 273). Many of the major Protestant reformers rejected most but not all of the superstitious doctrines of the Romish church. Other Protestant reformers made a more complete separation from Roman Catholicism and rejected every false teaching of the popish church. This is why, in America, for instance, the Puritans and Pilgrims of New England outlawed Christmas in the 1600's, and as late as 1855 Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists refused to recognize it as a holiday. Public schools in Boston were still open for classes on December 25th as late as 1870. And Webster's Dictionary tells us that as late as 1913 many States did not even recognize it as a legal holiday (Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 Ed., p. 253). While many reformers rejected the superstitious doctrines of the Romish church, some of the reformers were unwilling to forsake every un-biblical practice. Like Rachel who took with her the images of her father's false gods, many Reformation Protestants took with them some of the “Christianized” pagan customs that had been instilled in them and in their forefathers for centuries. (See Christ's Mass [2]; Christmas [3]; [TerryHomePage:Sunday sacredness|Is Sunday Sacred]])


“The establishment by St Columba of a seminary in Iona was highly favourable to the cause of literature both in Scotland and England. How far it tended to promote evangelical religion, does not clearly appear. The form of sound words, and the image of Christian worship, are often long retained after the living spirit of the gospel is gone; and nothing proves more clearly the fact of its departure than an overweening attachment to superstitious practices, and an observance of rites and seasons which God has not ordained. When the apostle Paul found the churches in Galatia observing days, and months, and times, and years, he expressed his fear that he had laboured among them in vain. These things were an evidence of their declining in their spiritual state, and departing from the faith. Long before this period of our history, we find our Christian ancestors stickling about the proper time of keeping Easter, when they ought to have rejected it altogether as an observance which God had not required. In the time of St Columba, the controversy was revived, and after a keen contest the eloquence of those who favoured the church of Rome prevailed. St Columba yielded, whether from conviction, or from some other cause, we are not told; "and the Pope found in the Abbot of Iona himself, a sedulous and devoted convert to the new lunar cycle." Russel's Prelim. Diss. to Keith's Scottish Bishops, p. lxxv.
“About the same time the feast of Christmas was introduced to our ancestors. "The vulgar persuasion is," says Buchanan, "that these festivities celebrated the birth of Christ, when, in truth, they refer, as is sufficiently evident, to the lascivious rites of the Bacchanalia, and not to the memory of our Saviour's nativity." It is probable that this was originally the Gothic pagan feast of Yule, or Zul, so called in Scotland to this day; see Dr Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary on the word, Yule. We know the Popes instructed their missionaries not to abolish, but rather adopt the heathen rites of the people among whom they introduced Christianity, and adapt them to Christian worship. This was the source of innumerable corruptions; and with regard to this festival, it not only opened a door for all manner of licentiousness, but also bound the churches to the acknowledgment of a thing as true which never has been proved,—that Christ was born on the 25th of December, which rests on no credible authority. Our neighbours in the south condemn our reformers for rejecting this holiday. With much more reason we wonder at their retaining it.” (The History of The Reformation of Religion in Scotland, John Knox, 1841, Introduction pp. 13, 14) (see also Acts of The General Assembly of The Church of Scotland, 1638-1842, p. 19)


Adultery is also defined in a scriptural sense as “idolatry, or apostasy from the true God. Jer. 3.” Idolatry is defined as:

  1. . The worship of idols, images, or any thing made by hands, or which is not God. (An American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, see Adultery)
  2. . Excessive attachment or veneration for any thing, or that which borders on adoration.” (An American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster, 1828, see Idolatry).

Adoration is “a feeling of profound love and admiration.” Idolatry can be a profound love or admiration for anything or anyone – an image, a statue, a living or deceased saint, a preacher, a prophet, a pope, etc. Ask a Roman Catholic to identify the Holy Father, and he will likely point to the Pope. Ask a twenty-first century Protestant to identify the Holy Father, and there is a good chance that he will point to the Pope. In contrast to modern-day Protestantism, Bible believing Protestants for the past five-hundred years not only identified God alone as the Holy Father, but they also exposed the papacy as antichrist. In less than on-hundred years Protestantism has come full-circle, from exposing and forsaking the false doctrines and beliefs of Roman Catholicism, to accepting and in some cases even promoting Catholic dogma. The title Holy Father is used only one time in all of scripture (John 17:11), and it refers not to any man, but to God the Father. The application of this title to anyone but God is a blasphemous antichrist usurpation (“so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” II Thess. 2:4; “and I saw a woman... full of names of blasphemy” Rev. 17:3). In the early nineteenth century Noah Webster rightly stated that “All worship of images and saints, is an abomination to God; it is idolatry, which is strictly forbidden in the Bible;” (History of the United States, 1832, p. 299). Adoration of the Roman Catholic “Eucharist,” or so called “Host”, is nothing short of idolatry (See False Gospel of Sacramental Works). In 1765 American patriot and Christian minister, Jonathan Mayhew, published a sermon entitled Popish Idolatry in which he addressed, among other idolatrous practices, the popish doctrine of transubstantiation. Mayhew stated,


“The Romanists do not pretend to deny, but that all the five senses bear testimony against it, as much as they possibly could if it were false, or if the bread and wine remained after the juggling, hocus-pocus trick, which they term consecration.... For the truth of the Christian revelation itself depends on the truth of certain facts, by which there was an appeal made to the senses of men; particularly the miracles and resurrection of our Saviour.... Thus does the church of Rome, by this doctrine, subvert the very foundations of Christianity.... transubstantiation is the grossest imposition and insult, that ever the priesthood itself put upon the superstitious credulity of mankind. This doctrine then, being plainly false, the church of Rome is certainly guilty of idolatry, in worshipping the eucharist as true God.” (Popish Idolatry, Jonathan Mayhew, 1765, pp. 11,12) ("God is love." 1 John 4:8; "God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God." Deut. 4:24; Heb. 12:29)


The 2nd President of the United States, John Adams, said, “Liberty and Popery cannot live together.” “I have long been decided in opinion that a free government and the Roman Catholick religion can never exist together in any nation or Country.” (The Founders on Religion, James H. Hutson, p. 41). Noah Webster said, “Almost all the civil liberty now enjoyed in the world owes its origin to the principals of the Christian religion. Men began to understand their natural rights, as soon as the reformation from popery began to dawn in the sixteenth century; and civil liberty has been gradually advancing and improving, as genuine Christianity has prevailed. By the principles of the Christian religion we are not to understand the decisions of ecclesiastical councils, for these are the opinions of mere men; nor are we to suppose that religion to be any particular church established by law, with numerous dignitaries, living in stately palaces, arrayed in gorgeous attire, and rioting in luxury and wealth, squeezed from the scanty earnings of the labouring poor; nor is it a religion which consists in a round of forms, and in pompous rites and ceremonies.” (History of the United States, 1832, pp. 273, 274). The 3rd President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, said in his first Inaugural Address in 1801, “Let us reflect that, having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecution.” (Early American Orations, 1902, pp. 136,137).

It must be understood that America's founding fathers and patriots, men like John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Jonathan Mayhew, Noah Webster, and others, were not anti-Catholic bigots discriminating against a harmless superstitious church. Unlike most of America's modern-day politicians and religious leaders, many of our early leaders had a Biblical understanding of history and recognized that the church of Rome constituted the greatest threat to fundamental Christianity. It is a sad fact that most people today have little if any knowledge of the history of the Protestant Reformation and the history of the Christian church. The two most important points on which the entire Protestant Reformation rested was that the holy scriptures revealed Christ and exposed antichrist. The holy scriptures reveal that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone, and that we are justified in the sight of God and sanctified by the completed sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, the “once for all.... one sacrifice for sins for ever” and “there is no more offering for sin” (Eph. 2:8,9; Heb. 8:13; 10:18). And the holy scriptures exposes the papacy as antichrist, the man of sin, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the earth (Rev 17:5).

It is a little known fact that every major Protestant Reformer, without exception, identified the papacy as Antichrist. John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, Cotton Mather, John Wesley, Thomas Cranmer, Roger Williams, John Calvin, and others had, for the most part, a clear Biblical understanding of history. They understood many of the prophecies of the Bible and recognized the four “beasts” of Daniel chapter seven as Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome; and Daniel's “little horn”, Paul's “man of sin” and John's “beast” of Revelation as the papal power that “made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;” (Dan. 7; II Thess. 2; Rev. 13 & 17). Throughout the Dark Ages and the Protestant Reformation true Christians had to flee from their homes and from their communities into the wilderness to escape the heavy hand of papal Rome that persecuted them and prevailed against them for centuries. In a sermon delivered at New York in October of 1827, Presbyterian minister Lyman Beecher said,


“Popery is a system where science and ignorance, refinement and barbarism, wisdom and stupidity, taste and animalism, mistaken zeal and malignant enmity, may sanctimoniously pour out their virulence against the Gospel, and cry Hosanna, while they go forth to shed the blood and to wear out the patience of the saints. And though by revolutions it has been shaken, and compelled by motives of policy to cease a little from blood, not a principle of this system has been abandoned. All the wiles of ages past are put in requisition now to heal the fatal wounds which the beast has received, and to render the system still more powerful and terrific. The leaven is in secret and in open operation in this country ; and the quick action of the beast to the touch of the spear shows that he is neither dead nor asleep. And, considering the civilization, and wealth, and science, which the system comprehends, it is from popery, no doubt, that the Gospel is destined to experience the last and most determined resistance,— popery, as sustained by and sustaining despotic governments.” (Beecher's Works., Vol. II., Lyman Beecher, D.D., 1852, pp. 418, 419, Sermon delivered before the American Board of Missions at New York on October 12, 1827).


The true church fled “into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished” on the milk and meat of the word of God, the Lord sustaining them and using them to preserve his pure words as they copied and recopied the sacred scriptures and passed them down from one generation to the next (Rev. 12:13,14). In an effort to squelch the Reformers, the Roman Catholic church began a counter-reformation. In addition to the Catholic Inquisition, the papacy employed the Jesuits to carry out their goal of undermining the Protestant scriptures and the faith of the people. Their schemes included infiltrating Protestant communities “to ‘educate’ the Protestant scholars to believe that their Reformation Text was unreliable and that their Authorized Version was ‘not scholarly.’ Once thus programmed, the egotistical scholars would spontaneously attack their own Bible and believe that they were helping God.” (An Understandable History of the Bible, S. Gipp, pp.98,99).

Up until the twentieth century most true ministers of the gospel of Christ recognized the papacy as Antichrist. In 1846 the Rev. Samuel J. Cassels of Norfolk, Virginia wrote “that the ‘little horn’ of Daniel, the ‘man of sin’ of Paul, and ‘the beast’ of John, all symbolize the papal power” (Christ and Antichrist, S. J. Cassels, 1846, p. 14). Many judicious and excellent ministers of various Christian denominations in America recommended Cassels' book, including Robert Boyte C. Howell, Pastor of the First Baptist Church, Nashville, Tenn.; Edward Wadsworth, Pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Norfolk, Va.; James R. Gilland, Pastor of Fishing Creek Presbyterian Church, Chester District, South Carolina.; David Caldwell, Rector of St. Paul's Church, Norfolk, Va.; Upton Beall, Rector of Christ Church, Norfolk, Va.; James B. Taylor, Corresponding Secretary of Foreign Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention, Richmond, Va.; Joseph C. Stiles, Pastor of the United Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Va.; Samuel L. Graham, D.D. Professor of Oriental Literature, Union Theological Seminary, Va.; James J. Hamner, Pastor of the Fifth Presbyterian Church, Baltimore; Henry V. D. Johns, Rector of Christ Church, Baltimore; G. W. Musgrave, Pastor of the Third Presbyterian Church, Baltimore; H. A. Boardman, Pastor of the Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia; B. Gildersleeve, Editor of the Watchman and Observer, Richmond, Va. (Christ and Antichrist, 1846, Recommendations pp. 2,3,4). In 1866 renowned Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon referred to the papal power as “the insidious monster” and “the detestable Antichrist'” and “the harlot of Babylon” (The Sword and The Trowel, C. H. Spurgeon, 1866, p. 3, p. 497). In 1887 historian Henry Grattan Guinness quoting Martin Luther wrote, “Elsewhere again he says, that when Daniel ‘saw the terrible wild beast which had ten horns, which by the consent of all is the Roman empire, he also beheld another small horn come up in the middle of them. This is the Papal power, which rose up in the middle of the Roman empire.’” (Romanism and the Reformation, Henry Grattan Guinness, 1887, pp. 231, 232). Nevertheless, despite the abundance of historical evidence, the clear prophecies of scripture and the numerous testimonies of Christian martyrs and historians, the Roman Catholic church would have us believe that all of these able ministers of the gospel along with every Protestant Reformer in history, are mis-interpreting prophecy.

Historian Dave Hunt said, “Amazingly, Protestants are now embracing Rome as Christian while she insists that the ‘separated brethren’ be reconciled to her on her unchangeable terms! Many evangelical leaders are intent upon working with Roman Catholics to evangelize the world.... They don't want to hear any ‘negative’ reminders of the millions of people tortured and slain by the Church to which they now pay homage, or the fact that Rome has a false gospel of sacramental works.” (A Woman Rides The Beast, Dave Hunt, 1994). If the Roman Catholic Mass is not a false gospel of sacramental works, and if the so called act of “Transubstantiation” and the elevation and veneration of the “Host” as the “Real Presence” of the “true God” is not gross idolatry and another gospel, another spirit and another Jesus, then neither is the Mormon Temple Ceremony false.


“The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.” (Jer. 2:8)



The apostle Paul said, “And be not conformed to this world” (Rom. 12:2). In order to be accepted by the masses, the church of Rome decided to merge paganism with Christianity and was “conformed to this world”. The Roman church used corrupt bible manuscripts to write its own corrupt bible to help propagate its spurious doctrines. There are basically two streams of bibles and bible manuscripts that have come down to us through the centuries since the time of Christ: the thousands of true manuscripts of the majority texts that are in agreement with each other from which the KJV Bible was translated; and the corrupt manuscripts of the Alexandrian Eusebio-Origen text types that comprise only a minute fraction of the total number of bible manuscripts. These Alexandrian text types, or minority texts, not only disagree with the majority texts but disagree with one another in literally thousands of places: and it is from this corrupt text type that all modern bibles are translated, from the ERV to the NIV, from the NWT to the NKJV. This is why modern bible versions will often agree with the corrupt Jehovah's Witness New World Translation and the corrupt Catholic Douay/Rheims and NAB versions. But God warned us about being conformed to this world, and he warned us against mingling with pagan customs and changing his pure preserved words: “Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” (Prov. 30:5). “Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen... For the customs of the people are vain:” (Jer. 10:2,3). “Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them [the heathen]... and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God:” (Deut. 12:30,31). God warned us that the customs of the people are vain and are not to be confused with his ordinances. “Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.” (Lev. 18:30).


“Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.” (Deut. 12:8)



God's word, in a sense, is his marriage contract between himself and the believer: “As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.” (Isa 59:21). “I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth:” “I have not spoken in secret from the beginning” (Isa. 45:19; 48:16). “For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee [in ancient Greek, which you don't understand], neither is it far off [in the 5000 or so manuscripts held in the Vatican or in museums around the world]. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea [buried in some yet to be found papyri], that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.” (Deut. 30:11-14) — “that is, the word of faith, which we preach”, said the apostle Paul (Rom. 10:8). “And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” said the apostle Peter (I Pet. 1:25). Paul said that “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.” (I Cor. 14:37). When we make our wedding vows to the Lord Jesus Christ, we are vowing to be faithful to his words, to “hear the word of God, and keep it” – “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” (Luke 11:28; Psa. 119:11). We are not to “add unto”, “take away from”, nor alter the words of the Holy Bible, our marriage contract: “Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” (Deut. 4:2; Rev. 22:18,19; Prov. 30:5,6). To change any part of God's word is a breach of the new covenant marriage contract and is a type of spiritual adultery which, as Noah Webster said, will introduce into the marriage a “spurious offspring” (i.e., a false doctrine, a corrupt bible version, a private interpretation of scripture). (See The English Language & The English Bible)


“And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.” (Jer. 11:9,10)



Read Acts 7:45 and Hebrews 4:8 in the following bible versions and you will see that they have removed the name of our Lord Jesus and replaced it with another name: Revised Version 1881, American Standard Version 1901, Revised Standard Version 1953, New American Standard Bible 1960, Douay/Rheims (Catholic) Version 1963, The Bible in Basic English 1965, The Amplified Bible 1965, The Modern Language Bible 1969, Living Bible 1971, New American Bible (Catholic) 1975, New International Version 1984, New King James Version 1984, New World Translation (Jehovah's Witnesses) 1984, Today's English Version 1985, Green's Literal Translation 1985&1986, New Century Version 1987, New Revised Standard Version 1989, The Message Bible 1993, Easy-to-Read Version 1994, Contemporary English Version 1995, New Living Translation 1996, 21st Century King James Version 1998, The New Testament - A Purified Translation 2000, et al. What every one of these bible versions, or spurious offspring, have in common is that they all agree against the Authorized King James Bible in omitting or altering numerous scriptures pertaining to our present-day salvation, the deity of Jesus Christ, and the existence or nature of hell.


“Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.... But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD'S flock is carried away captive.” (Jer. 13:15,17)



Do you have the “Comforter” (KJV)? Or do you have a “helper” spirit (new bible versions and the new age one world religion)? Check your bible version – John 14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7.


“Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it” (Deut. 4:2). “Every word of God is pure:... Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” (Prov. 30:5)



Are you “saved” by grace through faith (KJV)? Or are you “being saved” by your good works (new bible versions and the new age one world religion)? Check your bible version – I Cor. 1:18 II Cor. 2:15.


“There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof,... they have taken the treasure and precious things” (Ezek. 22:25): “ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.” (Jer. 23:36)



New bible versions on the market today are removing the security of our present-day salvation and replacing it with a works-based salvation. Moreover, a “Helper” is subordinate to us, whereas a “Comforter” is our superior. There is a clear pattern with all corrupt bible versions to promote fallen man one step at a time, and to demote the Lord Jesus Christ one step at a time (see the verse comparison chart). For example, the NIV says that “we eagerly await a Savior” who “will transform our lowly bodies” (Phil. 3:20,21). Supported by the overwhelming majority of Bible manuscripts, the KJV says, “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body,” (Phil. 3:20,21). Notice that “the Saviour” of the KJV has been changed to “a Savior” in the NIV, and “our vile body” is changed to “our lowly bodies”, thereby demoting Jesus Christ and elevating fallen man.

It was the sin of pride that caused “Satan” to “fall from heaven” into “eternal damnation” (Matt. 25:41; Mark 3:29; Luke 10:18). That “old serpent” then tempted man to follow him — Lucifer said, “I will be like the most High.” “and ye shall be as gods” (Isa. 14:14; Gen. 3:5). That old crafty and subtle deceiver told man that we can “be as gods” and interpret the words of God for ourselves (Gen. 3:5). Satan's pride is revealed in Isaiah chapter fourteen in the five “I wills”: “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” (Isa. 14:13,14). The similarities between Lucifer's boasting and man's self-righteous prayer are interesting: “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.” (Luke 18:11,12). In his pride fallen man says, “I am clean”, “I am innocent”, “I am pure from my sin”, “I will do whatever I choose to do”, “I will believe whatever I choose to believe” (Job 14:4; 33:9; Prov. 20:6,9). The Holy Bible calls Lucifer “the god of this world” and “the great dragon . . . that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world” (II Cor. 4:4; Rev. 12:9).

The Holy Bible has numerous references to conspiracies and conspirators. Some people believe that such conspiracies only occurred in the Bible and therefore we need not be concerned about such things in this modern day and age. But the Holy Bible teaches us that “whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning”, and “all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” (Rom. 15:4; I Cor. 10:11). Ecclesiastes says, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” (Eccl. 1:9; 3:15). Spanish Poet George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” (The Life of Reason, by poet George Santayana, 1917, p. 284).

If you have heard of the Illuminati Order and you thought it was some kind of mythological conspiracy theory, here are the archives from George Washington himself, which prove not only their existence, but that they were intensively active in the United States of America. George Washington was also certain that some of the illuminati had infiltrated some of the American Lodges of Freemasonry. “TO G. W. SNYDER.

Mount Vernon, 24 October, 1798.


REVEREND SIR,

I have your favor of the 17th instant before me, and my only motive for troubling you with the receipt of this letter is, to explain and correct a mistake, which I perceive the hurry in which I am obliged often to write letters has led you into,
It was not my intention to doubt, that the doctrines of the Illuminati and the principles of Jacobinism had not spread in the United States, On the contrary, no one is more fully satisfied of this fact than I am.
The idea that I meant to convey was, that I did not believe that the lodges of freemasons in this country had, as societies, endeavoured to propagate the diabolical tenets of the former, or pernicious principles of the latter, if they are susceptible of separation. That individuals of them may have done it, or that the founder, or instrument employed to found the Democratic Societies in the United States, may have had these objects, and actually had a separation of the people from their government in view, is too evident to be questioned.” (The Writings Of George Washington, Vol. XI., 1855, p. 337)


It is an undeniable fact that conspiracies exist. It is also un under appreciated fact that most people have been conditioned to pay little or no attention to conspiracies. Misinformation is often circulated in the media and elsewhere for the purpose of leading people away from the truth. “Morals and Dogma” is an official Masonic book written by occultist Albert Pike. This book reveals some of the methods of deception used by conspirators. Pages 104 and 105 of this Satanic occult book states:


“Masonry, like all the religions, all Mysteries, Hermetiscism, and Alchemy, conceals its secrets from all except the Adepts and Sages, or the Elect, and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead those who deserve to be mislead;”
“So Masonry jealously conceals its secrets, and intentionally leads conceited interpreters astray. (Morals and Dogma, pp. 104, 105)



Only the “illuminated ones” at the highest levels of Freemasonry and other secretive societies are privy to the Luciferian agenda of the New World Order (See Theosophy: The Worship of Lucifer and also George Washington's Prayers). Unfortunately, most people today are just so caught up in the “cares of this life” that they are unable or unwilling to see a conspiracy when it is staring them in the face (Luke 8:14; 21:34). And instead of searching out a matter (Prov. 25:2) to prove all things (I Thes. 5:21) and allow the “holy scriptures” to correct them, they choose to correct the “holy scriptures” using corrupt bible versions, lexicons, interlinears and expository study aids written “in the words which man‘s wisdom teacheth” (I Cor. 2:13; II Tim. 3:15,16; Psa. 19:11). When the serpent first deceived man in the garden of Eden the temptation was not to be evil but to be good, to “be as gods” (Gen. 3:1-5). We can choose to “be as gods”, as our first parents did, and decide for ourselves what is “good” and what is “evil” (Gen. 3:5). We can choose to “be as gods” and decide for ourselves which English words to “add unto” the Holy Bible and which English words to “take away from” the Holy Bible, “every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes” (Deut. 4:2; 12:8; Prov. 30:6; Rev. 22:18,19). Or we can humble ourselves “under the mighty hand of God,” admit that our hearts are “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked”, and then let the word of God correct us and be our final authority (I Pet. 5:5,6; Jer. 17:9; II Tim. 3:16).


“I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle. Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.” (Jer. 8:6,7)



The Holy Bible says of Lucifer, “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness” (Ezek. 28:17). Lucifer boasted in his pride and said, “I will be like the most high.” (Isa. 14:14). Lucifer will be “brought down to hell”, but not before his proud ambition to take the place of Jesus Christ is fulfilled “so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God”: as the Bible reveals, “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Isa. 14:15; II Thess. 2:4; Rev. 13:8). Lucifer also tempted man to follow him and “be as gods” (Gen. 3:5). And “selfwilled” man has taken him up on his offer (II Pet. 2:10). All false religion, from Babylon to Egypt, from Greece to Rome, and to the present day New Age religious movement, all share a common agenda – to awaken or realize the “Christ light” within each of us. But fallen man, who's “foolish heart was darkened”, “being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart”, “put darkness for light, and light for darkness” and “do err, not knowing the scriptures”, not knowing that the so called “Christ light” in us is actually “darkness” (Rom. 1:21; Eph. 4:18; Isa. 5:20; Matt 6:23; 22:29). “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” (II Cor. 11:14). Jesus said, “Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.” (Luke 11:35).


“Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?” (James 4:5)



King Solomon said, “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child” (Prov. 22:15). Man is born with a “corrupt” nature; “for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Eph. 4:22; Gen. 8:21). King David said, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psa. 51:5). Man is born with a sinful nature, the nature of “the wicked one”, “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world”, “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Eph. 4:22; Matt. 13:38; I John 2:14; 5:18; Isa. 5:20; Matt. 22:29; Eph. 2:2; Rom. 7:18; Rev. 12:9). Jesus said, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.” (John 8:44): and, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh;” – “corruption” (John 3:6; I Cor. 15:50). The apostle Paul said, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing” (Rom. 7:18). Man's spirit “dwelleth” in his flesh, and “the body without the spirit is dead” (James 2:26). So much for man's “good” spirit. Jesus spoke this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:


“Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)



Jesus did not commit himself unto man, “because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.” – “darkness” and “uncleanness” (Matt. 23:27; John 2:24,25; Gal. 5:19; Eph. 5:8). Jesus said, “If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matt. 6:23). Job said, “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.” “Behold, I am vile;” “Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 14:4; 40:4; 42:6). Jesus said, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” (John 3:7): “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” (I Pet. 1:23). “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” exclaimed Jesus (John 15:3).


“How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?” (Jer. 8:6,9)



We can choose to be “wise” in our “own eyes” and “prudent” in our “own sight” and “be as gods” and correct the word of God (Isa. 5:21; Gen. 3:5). Or we can “humble” ourselves “as little children” and be “born again” and let the word of God correct us (Psa. 69:32; Prov. 16:19; Isa. 66:2; John 3:7; I Pet. 1:23; Matt. 18:3,4; II Tim. 3:16). New and corrupt bible versions “have perverted the words of the living God” in numerous places in the scriptures (Jer. 23:36). Throughout the scriptures new bible versions have omitted the words "Lord" "Christ" and "Jesus". See the verse comparison chart which shows some of the differences between the Holy Bible and the corrupt bibles which are so prevalent among professing Christians today.


“Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths” (Ezek. 22:26)



Most people, including many conservative Christians, have little or no idea why there are differences in different bible versions. Some people trust their pastors to tell them what they need to know when it comes to both the preservation and the corrupting of God's words. Unfortunately, many pastors, for one reason or another, have little time or interest in thoroughly researching the subject. And as a result most possess a very limited knowledge of scripture preservation and manuscript corruption. Some people trust their feelings, a “burning in the bosom”, a “confirmation in the heart”, believing that God would just simply not allow them to be mislead, and believing that their sincere heart will prevent them from being deceived. But the Lord warned us that “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Prov. 16:25). God warned us about trusting our feelings and trusting in our own heart – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:” (Jer. 17:9) and “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool” (Prov. 28:26) Someone said, “Oh, my heart is not deceitful.” This person is deceiving their own self. God said that “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (I John 1:10).


“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.” (Prov. 21:2)



Why is man's heart so deceitful? Jesus said that “out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts... pride” (Mark 7:21,22). Someone said, “Oh, that was just in the Old Testament, because after Christ comes into our heart it is no longer deceitful and we become good Christians.” Again, this person's heart is deceiving them. Jesus said that “there is none good but one, that is, God.” (Mark 10:18); and that “when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” (Luke 17:10); because “we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6). All of our good deeds put together will not cleanse our “desperately wicked” hearts (Jer. 17:9). Our only hope of salvation and our only hope of having a clean heart is to “repent ye, and believe the gospel.” – believe “the holy scriptures” (Mark 1:15; II Tim. 3:15). Repenting of all our sins and receiving “the words of our Lord Jesus Christ” in our hearts is the only thing that will cleans us and save us (I Tim. 6:3). Jesus said, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” (John 15:3), and, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63). Paul the apostle said, “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” (Philip. 3:3). The Lord told us that after we repent of all our sins and receive his word, the word of life, in our hearts by faith, we are to “Let thine heart retain my words” and “Keep thy heart with all diligence” (Prov. 4:4,23). King David said, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” (Psa. 119:11). Only those who have “clean hands, and a pure heart” will spend eternity in heaven (Psa. 24:3,4). But who can say, “I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?” (Prov. 20:9). It is God's word in us that is clean; it is not anything in or of ourselves, because we are still “unprofitable servants” and in our flesh “dwelleth no good thing” (Luke 17:10; Rom. 7:18). Some of us thought that we were good Christians, forgetting that “there is none good but one, that is, God.” (Mark 10:18).


“Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.” (Psa. 90:8)



Yes, the Lord said that “he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” (Mic. 7:19; Heb. 10:17). But if we don't crucify “the flesh with the affections and lusts” and “lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us,” we'll be “led away with the error of the wicked,” and “fall from your own stedfastness” and “shalt be cut off” and lose our crown of life (Gal. 5:24; Heb. 12:1; II Pet. 3:17; Rom. 11:22; Rev. 3:11) (See WHAT LAW WAS NAILED TO THE CROSS?).

At the end of the world, when “every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment”, when “every one of us shall give account of himself to God”, many are going to be in for a big surprise (Matt. 12:36; Rom. 14:12). Jesus said, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” “We did good deeds, paid our tithes and went to church every Sunday (sun day).” “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matt. 7:22,23). Many of us are quick to judge the murderer who walks into a school building and slaughters dozens of helpless students; but we give ourselves and our friends a pass when it comes to our so called “little white lies” or our “little secret sins”. But Jesus didn't say that the big black lies would be punished while the little white lies would go unpunished. God said that “all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone” (Rev. 21:8). Jesus said that “except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:1-5).


“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19)



Repentance is not just something that we say: it is something that we say and do. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” (Prov. 28:13). This means that you can't just confess your sins and not forsake them. And you can't just forsake your sins and not confess them. “I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.” (Psa. 32:5). And the same standard applies when we sin against one another: “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” (Matt. 5:23,24). Confession is part of the healing process which every one of us must go through to be reconciled with God and one another. “Confess your faults one to another”, and “first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” (Jam. 5:16; Matt. 5:23,24).


“There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.” (Prov. 30:12)



Until Jesus Christ returns “in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory”, man will not cease to justify himself (Matt. 24:30). “[U]ntil the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts”, man's heart will continue to be “deceitful above all things” (I Cor. 4:5; Jer. 17:9). Even Peter himself, one of the greatest apostles of all times, had a deceitful heart. Peter was deceived once while in the very presence of Jesus (Matt, 16:22,23); and again years after Jesus was crucified and resurrected, both Peter and Barnabas “walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:14). Many have become complaisant in their beliefs and the everyday “cares of this life” have fogged their judgement and impaired their ability to “discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not”, and “the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word” thereby hindering their ability to “find out knowledge of witty inventions” (Luke 8:14; 12:19; 21:34; Mal. 3:18; Mark 4:19; Prov. 8:12).

The Lord said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). Job said, “the cause which I knew not I searched out.” (Job 29:16). The Bible says “through knowledge shall the just be delivered.” (Prov. 11:9). “Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge” (Prov. 13:16). “Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good” (Prov. 19:2). “a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.” (Eccl. 8:5).

We are warned in the scriptures that in the last days there will be “a falling away” of the church, a falling away from the “pure” “words of the Lord” (II Thess. 2:3; II Tim. 4:1-3; Psa. 119:140; Prov. 12:6,7; 30:5). The Holy Bible tells us “that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud,... lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof:... Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (II Tim. 3:1-7). The production and sales of corrupt new bible versions is at an all time high. The apostle Paul said, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first,... And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie” (II Thess. 2:3,11). Someone said, “Oh, I just don't believe that a good God would deceive people and cause them to believe a lie.” But the Bible tells us that “the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart”, and that an “evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul”, and that “the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets”: “For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.” (Ex. 10:20 ; I Sam. 19:9 ; I Kings 22:23; Isa. 29:10). And this deception theme is repeated in the New Testament: “(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.” (Rom. 11:8; Matt. 13:14,15; Mark 4:12; John 12:40; Acts 28:26,27). Jesus said, “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.” (Luke 21:34,35). “And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” (Mark 13:37).


“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep:” (Rom. 13:11). “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” (I Thess. 5:6). “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.” (I Pet. 4:7).



The Holy Bible tells us that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (II Tim. 3:16). “Every word of God is pure” (Prov. 30:5). “Moreover by them is thy servant warned” (Psa. 19:11). The Holy Bible repeatedly reminds us that the holy scriptures, God's words, are “pure”, “everlasting”, and “preserve[d]” “to all generations” (Psa. 33:11; 100:5; 119:89,90; Prov. 12:6,7; 30:5; 119:140; Matt. 5:18; Mark 13:31; II Tim. 3:16; Rev. 14:6;). And the Holy Bible also warns us against tampering with God's pure preserved words (Deut. 4:2; Prov. 30:5; Rev. 22:18,19). You may have heard the fable that, since the 1611 English Authorized Holy Bible has been revised, there is nothing wrong with further revisions. This claim is absolutely false. The truth is that our preserved English Holy Bible (KJV) has never gone through a single textual revision. This revision lie and similar fables were hatched and propagated by the father of lies himself, the devil, in order to cast doubt on the pure, infallible, inspired, preserved words of the Lord ( Psa. 119:140; Prov. 12:6,7; 30:5; II Tim. 3:16;).


“I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.” (Eccl 3:14)



A common characteristic among all false religions is to move authority away from the Holy Bible to another source (a man, a vision, a confirmation in the heart, a lexicon or some other book) in order to supersede the authority of the pure preserved words of the Lord. The Holy Bible tells us of Satan's methods of attacking the word of God so that we will not be “ignorant of his devices” (II Cor. 2:11). From Genesis 3:1 when the serpent first cast doubt on God's words “Yea, hath God said,..?”; to Matthew 2:13 when the devil sought “to destroy him” the living Word; from the Dark Ages to the Reformation, from 1611 to the present, as Satan has worked tirelessly to cause as many people as possible to doubt the pure words of the preserved scriptures; to Revelation 12 as “the great dragon”, “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world”, is now persecuting the remnant of Bible believing Christians “which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” – the “pure” “preserve[d]” “words of the Lord”, the Holy Bible – “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”


“Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.” (Psa. 119:128). “Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.” (Psa. 119:140). “Moreover by them is thy servant warned” (Psa. 19:11).



The apostle Paul said, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty [“Yea, hath God said,..?” “the word here actually means, ‘...’” “a better interpretation of this word is, ‘...’”], so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.... For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” (II Cor. 11:3,4,13,14). Jesus did not say, “Ye do err, not knowing the Spirit, nor the witness in your heart.” Jesus said, “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.” – “the gospel of Christ... is the power of God” (Matt. 22:29; Rom. 1:16). The Lord did not say “Come now, and let us get goose bumps and good feelings together”, but “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD:” “Search the scriptures” (John 5:39) “what saith the scripture?” (Gal. 4:30). For “three sabbath days” the apostle Paul “reasoned with them out of the scriptures” (Acts 17:2). The apostles did not say, “We will give ourselves to seeking a visitation from the Lord, and a confirmation in our heart.” “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.” (Acts 6:4). When “the preacher sought to find out acceptable words”, “that which was written was upright, even words of truth.” (Eccl. 12:10). Jesus said that “the Spirit of truth... will guide you into all truth” – “thy word is truth” (John 16:13; 17:17). God always brings us back to the word - “that which was written.” Jesus said, “It is written,” and “It is written again” (Matt. 4:4,7). The phrase “It is written”, referring to the scriptures, occurs sixty-three times in the New Testament.


“Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?” (Prov. 22:20,21).



“The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou [God] shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” (Psa. 12:6,7). Is “Every word of God” “pure”? and did God really “preserve them from this generation for ever” (Prov. 30:5; Psa. 12:7)? The witnesses of history (more than five-thousand extant Greek New Testament manuscripts, some eighty-seven thousand patristic writings which are citations by the early church fathers, numerous lectionaries and versions of Greek, Syriac, Latin, Gothic, and others) give us absolute assurance that we indeed posses to this day God's pure words preserved in our English Authorized Version (KJV) Holy Bible. Unfortunately, some people believe that God preserved his pure words only in the “original” manuscripts (Mal. 2:12; Matt. 11:25). These “wise and prudent” bible “scholar[s]” believe that God preserved his pure words in the Hebrew and Greek languages but not in the English language. But on what evidence do they base their “original only preservation” theory? The truth is that their theory is not based on evidence, but on misinformation and their own personal opinions. If the word of God is preserved, ask them to tell you where it is and where it is not. Was the scripture that Jesus read in the Nazareth synagogue Isaiah's “original” (Luke 4:16,17,21)? Or was the scripture that the Ethiopian eunuch read on his way back to Egypt Isaiah's “original” (Acts 8:29,30)? The truth is that not once in any of the fifty-three verses of the Bible where the word scripture(s) is found is the object in question an original. The absurd “original only preservation” theory, or fable, doesn't hold any water. For if the scriptures Jesus read in the Nazareth synagogue was Isaiah's “original” (Luke 4:16,17,21), then we are forced to conclude that the Ethiopian eunuch must have broken in and stolen it on his way back to Egypt (Acts 8:29,30).

The Bible tells us that the “wise men . . . have rejected the word of the LORD” and “have perverted the words of the living God” and “they believed not his word” (Jer. 8:9; 23:36; Psa. 106:24). The apostle Paul said, “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (II Tim. 4:1-3).

Those who are in favor of using more than one bible version will often say, "Let us be balanced in all things." But what they fail to see is the serpent's subtlety in taking such a position. First the serpent cast doubt on God's word, “yea hath god said...?”, and then he brought “balance” to God's word by enticing man to “be as gods” by offering them “the knowledge” “to make one wise” (Gen. 3). Those who are “wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight” believe that to use only one Bible, the KJV, is akin to idolatry (Isa. 5:21).. When the truth of the matter is that to use more than one bible version is akin to spiritual adultery: “I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” “And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?” (Rev. 2:4; Prov. 5:18-20).

“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” (I Cor. 1:10). Just as the different languages at the tower of Babel divided mankind, the different voices of new bible versions divide the church. When there is only one voice – one Bible, there is only one authority – God. When there is more than one voice, as there was in the garden when the serpent questioned God's words, there are multiple authorities, and man becomes the arbiter deciding which is the “correct” word. And instead of the “pure words” of the Lord correcting us, we correct the “pure words” of the Lord. “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers . . . did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink” (I Cor. 10:1-4). The apostle Paul said, “let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.” (Philip. 3:16). “To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.” (Philip. 3:1). “For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God” (II Cor. 2:17). “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.” (Rom. 16:17).

“I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. [“ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.”Jer. 23:36]. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” (Rev. 2:2-5).

“Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?” (Prov. 5:18-20). “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.” (Prov. 6:23,24).

“My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart. Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman: That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words. For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. [“the serpent was more subtil..., Yea, hath God said,..?”Gen. 3:1] (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)” (Prov. 7:1-12).

“And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” “For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” (Rev. 17:1-5; 18:3-5). “Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.” (Rev. 2:22,23).

“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire [“the word of the LORD is tried”Psa. 18:30], that thou mayest be rich [“How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed!”Lam. 4:1]; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” (Rev. 3:15-19).

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