Friday, March 30, 2018

POPE FRANCIS: ‘THERE IS NO HELL’

POSTED BY  ∙ 
(Michael W. Chapman – CNSNews) In another interview with his longtime atheist friend, Eugenio Scalfari, Pope Francis claims that Hell does not exist and that condemned souls just “disappear.” This is a denial of the 2,000-year-old teaching of the Catholic Church about the reality of Hell and the eternal existence of the soul.
The interview between Scalfari and the Pope was published March 28, 2018 in La Repubblica. The relevant section on Hell was translated by the highly respected web log, Rorate Caeli.

The interview is headlined, “The Pope: It is an honor to be called revolutionary.” (Il Papa: “È un onore essere chiamato rivoluzionario.”)
Scalfari says to the Pope, “Your Holiness, in our previous meeting you told me that our species will disappear in a certain moment and that God, still out of his creative force, will create new species. You have never spoken to me about the souls who died in sin and will go to hell to suffer it for eternity. You have however spoken to me of good souls, admitted to the contemplation of God. But what about bad souls? Where are they punished?”

The God of Good Friday

Good Friday Was Not Cosmic Child Abuse

On Good Friday each year, Christians remember the most glorious sacrifice and the most horrific murder that ever occurred in human history. Why do we refer to the Friday after Thanksgiving as “Black Friday” and the Friday before Easter “Good Friday”? Should they be reversed? It’s the day set aside on the calendar to remember the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus for the sins of his people and the heinous murder of God’s Son. Why would we celebrate that day as a good day? Many people flow through Good Friday as if it’s a normal day and they give little to no recognization for the significance of what happened on the day Jesus died. Others celebrate it from a heart of worship. Still others mock the day—calling it cosmic child abuse.  Famed atheist Richard Dawkins writes the following:
The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully. [1]
Is God guilty of abusing his Son on the cross? According to Isaiah 53, “It pleased the LORD (YHWH) to crush him (Jesus)” (Is. 53:10). Some have stated that the Father was “well pleased” with his Son at the baptism (Matt. 3:17), and then he was vengeful with his Son on the cross. How should we reconcile such statements? Why was Good Friday a good day? How can the death of Jesus be considered a good thing? Is it cosmic child abuse worthy of laughter or substitutionary sacrifice worthy of worship?

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

China and Vatican's Deal With The Devil

Heroic Blind Chinese Activist: Vatican’s ‘Deal with the Devil’ Will Humiliate, Tarnish the Church

March 27, 2018  (LifeSiteNews) – After China’s leading prelate, Cardinal Joseph Zen, earlier this year sounded the alarm, saying the Vatican “is selling out the Catholic Church in China​” and giving its blessing “on the new...schismatic Church” created by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the heroic blind activist Chen Guangcheng added his voice in support of the Cardinal.
“The Vatican’s making a deal with the devil CCP will not only humiliate the Vatican itself but it will also tarnish the church of God that it supposedly represents,” said Chen.
“...Beijing will send representatives to the Vatican to sign the agreement.  This, in fact, is the equivalent of selling out God’s home to the devil.”
“Doesn’t the Vatican understand that in China, everything depends completely on the will of the Chinese Communist Party?” he asked.  “Why did the Vatican sever diplomatic relations with China in 1951 when the Chinese Communists took over? It was precisely because the CCP insisted that it must control everything, including God. After 67 years of deadlock with the Chinese Communist Party, the Vatican has abandoned its principles and now accepts the CCP’s leadership. This will be a shame in Catholic history that can never be washed away.”

Saturday, March 24, 2018

U.S. moves towards war with Iran?

Iran should turn to China, Russia, in response to US hostility


The appointment of John Bolton as US national security advisor has raised fears of military action

Iran must strengthen its ties with Russia and China in response to growing hostility from the US, a top Iranian official said on Saturday.
"The use of radical elements hostile to the Islamic Republic shows that the Americans are trying to increase the pressure against Iran," said Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of the Iranian parliament's foreign affairs committee.
"We need to strengthen our relations with important countries like China and Russia, which are also subject to US sanctions and face significant challenges from that country," he said.
His comments, carried by the semi-official ISNA news agency, were the first reaction by a senior Iranian official to President Donald Trump's appointment of conservative firebrand John Bolton as his national security chief.

Sunday, March 18, 2018

Whatever Happened To The Protestant Reformation?

From the late Pastor Ken Silva
"...However, in what directly concerns the topic of this work, the false system of religion taught by the Church of Rome, we need to remember that Evangelicalism finds its roots in the Protestant Reformation. And history shows us that those Reformers would end up living out the unshakable truth of these insightful comments from William Wilberforce, an English reformer and anti-slavery activist in the early 1800’s:
Christianity has always thrived under persecution. At such times she has no lukewarm professors, no adherents concerning whom it is doubtful to what party they belong. The Christian is then reminded at every turn that His Master’s kingdom is not of this world (as cited in Nick Harrison, 365 WWJD?, p.75).
These courageous men – many of whom were murdered by orders from Roman Popes – never had the option of so-called “dialogue” over doctrinal issues with Rome that so many of our current Evangelical leaders have been seduced by. Instead these Reformers, who for the most part were themselves Roman Catholic priests working from within the Church of Rome, trying to bring its leaders back onto the narrow road, were simply rounded up and killed to silence them. And amazingly enough, not only just to silence them, but also in an attempt to keep the revealed Word of God–found in the Holy Scriptures–out of the hands of the laity.

Sunday, March 4, 2018

Pope Francis institutes new celebration of Mary

Pope Francis institutes new celebration of Mary, Mother of the Church
  Daniel Esparza | Mar 03, 2018

The Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, has been inserted into the Roman Calendar on the Monday following Pentecost Sunday.

Today, Pope Francis has decreed that the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Mother of the Church, be inserted into the Roman Calendar.  The liturgical celebration, Beata Mariæ Virginis, Ecclesiæ Matris, is to be celebrated annually, as a Memorial. From this year, all the dioceses and parishes will celebrate this Feast the Monday following Pentecost. This official celebration underlines a characteristic of the Virgin Mary, who is both mother of Christ and of the Church.

Being a Memorial, this celebration includes its own readings. All calendars and liturgical books will thus include this memorial for both the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. The reading of the breviary, in fact, includes the text of Paul VI’s proclamation of Mary as Mother of the Church.