General Outlook of Christian Heresies
Century by Century
The main Christian heresies are
against God the Father, the Spirit, Jesus, Virgin Mary, man himself, the Church,
the Bible...
- Against God the Father: Marcion, Cerinthians
- Against the Holy Spirit: Montanism, Manes proclaiming
himself "the Paraclite"
- Against Jesus: Marcion, Arians, Ebionites, Cerintians,
Docetism, Monophysites, Origen, Mormons, Jehovah's
Witnesses
- Against the Trinity: Monarchians, Adoptionism, Modalism,
Tritheism
- Against Virgin Mary: Arians, Jovinians, some Protestants,
Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses
- Against Man himself: Pelagians
- Against the Church and the Bible: Montanism, Protestant
Reformation
Heresies of the First Century:
- Simonians of Acts 8, Simon wanted to buy with money
the power of the Spirit, believed in the transmigration of souls,
and denied the humanity of Jesus Christ.
- Cerintheians, denied that God was the
creator of the world and denied the divinity of Jesus Christ.. Reputed by
St. John in the Gospel and the Epistles (watch! Jehovah's Witnesses)
- Judaizers, who wanted to make Christianity a branch
of Judaism:
- Circumcisers, the heresy may be summed up in the words of Acts 15:1: "But
some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brethren, ‘Unless you are
circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’"
Condemned in the First Council of the Church in Jerusalem, in Acts 21:15-26.
-
Nicolaitans of Rev.2:6 and 2:15 - The Synagogue of Satan of Rev.2:9-
The "Throne of Satan"
(Rev. 2:13)- The "doctrine of Balaam"
(Rev.2:14) - The
Nazareans or "Jewish-Christians"
- Docetism Jesus only
appeared to have a body, but he was not really incarnate, (Greek, "dokeo" = "to
seem"), refuted by the Apostle John in the Gospel and Letters
- Gnosticism, "to know", pre-Christian but adapted after
Christ, they say "secret knowledge is what saves". Dualism of good and bad.
Neo-Gnosticism is Gnosticism apply to Jesus.
- Agnosticism, "not to know", also pre-Christian, deny
the existence of God, like modern atheists, Communism
Heresies of the Second Century:
- Marcionites: Against God the Father: Marcion in 110 taught
the existence of two gods, the evil one of the Old Testament and the good one
taught by Jesus; Jesus is not the Messiah and denied the
Incarnation of Christ
- Ebionites: Denied the divinity of Christ, like the
Jehovah's Witnesses.
- Montanism: Montanus, a
priest of Cybele, in 156 had revelation of the Spirit and his teachings
were above those of the Church (beware Pentecostals, Charismatics...)
- Monarchians, 190, denied the
Mystery of the Trinity, and held that God the Father and God the Son were one
and the same person.
-
Adoptionism, in the eight century, claims that
Christ
was born a human only, and was not divine until his
baptism,
at which point he was adopted as the Son by God the Father.
- Tritheism: Proclaims there are three Gods, the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit, against the Trinity. Present
day Mormonism is tritheistic
-
Modalism: Denial of the Trinity. God is
a single person who first manifested himself in the mode of the Father in Old
Testament times. At the incarnation, the mode was the Son. After
Jesus' ascension, the mode is the Holy Spirit.
Third Century:
- Tertullianists: From Tertulian, a great Christian writer priest
who became a Montanist, claimed
the Church could not absolve adulterers, and that it was not lawful to fly from
persecution. A sect that flourished in Carthage for 200 years after the
death of Tertullian.
- Origenists: From Origen, another great Christian and
writer, taught that by a second crucifixion of Christ, all, even the damned in
hell, would be pure spirits; and believed that the blessed in heaven could be
expelled from that abode for faults committed there. The errors were condemned
by Second Council of Constantinople in 553.
- Manicheans, Manes born in 216, proclaimed himself as
the "promised Paraclete", "Messenger of the True God", the title was
later applied to
Muhammad. S. Augustine was a Manichean, repented, and fought
it very hardly. The Manicheans believed in a plurality of gods; believed in the transmigration of souls, and
held that each man had two souls.
- Millenarians: Believe in the return of Christ to
establish a kingdom on earth for 1000 years. Nipos (Nepos), Bishop, in defending
the doctrines of this sect nearly brought about a schism in the Church, but
unity was preserved by the Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria.
- Novatians: The Novatians held that idolatry was an
unpardonable sin, that mortal sins committed
after baptism could not be forgiven
Fourth Century: Donatists,
Arians, Macedonians, Appollinarists, Jovinians, Vigilantians
- Donatists: Donatus the Great,
a Bishop, considered the Church was not the Church because it was always wrong,
they held that the true Church consisted only of the elect, themselves, and
declared baptism to be invalid unless conferred by a
Donatist...
Validity of sacraments depends on
character of the minister. St. Augustine fought them
hard... there are some of those today, like the followers of Archbishop Lefevre
and others.
- Arians:The strongest heretical sect in the early
Church. Arius, an Alexandrian priest
denied the divinity of Christ and
consequently Virgin Mary was not the Mother of God. The first ecumenical council, that of Nicea, was convened to condemn the heresy... St. Athanasius,
was his chief opponent.
Mary the Mother of God, the first Dogma on Virgin
Mary
- Macedonians: Macedonius, a bishop, denied the
divinity of the Holy Ghost.
- Appollinarists: Apollinaris was a great Bishop, but
taught that Jesus was divine but not human. Condemned in the
Council of Constantinople in 381
- Jovinians: Jovinianus, a monk, denied the perpetual
virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Condemned by Pope Siricius in a Council
held at Rome in the year 390, and soon after in another Council held by St.
Ambrose in Milan.
Mary Ever-Virgin, the Second Dogma of Virgin Mary
- Vigilantians: Vigilantius, a priest, condemned the
veneration of images and relics, the invocation of the Saints and held it useless to pray for the dead.
Fifth Century:
- Pelagians: Pelagius, a "saintly" man according to St.
Augustine, claimed that children are born as pure as Adam was
before he fell; men neither die because Adam fell, nor rise again in consequence
of Christ’s resurrection; un-baptized as well as baptized infants are saved; the
Mosaic Law is as good a guide to heaven as the Gospel.
Condemned at the Council of Ephesus, 431.
- Semipelagians: Some are predestined to
heaven, other to hell, the beginning faith depends on man’s free-will. Traced to
John Cassianus, Abbot of the Monastery of St. Victor, venerated as a Saint in
the Greek Calendar. Condemned in the year 432 by Pope Celestine I
- Nestorians: Nestorius, a good monk, taught that
there were two separate persons in Christ, one divine and the other human; and
claimed that Mary was the mother of the human person only, not of the divine,
not the Mother of God. Condemned at the Council of Ephesus in 431.
- Predestinarians: Lucile, a priest, taught that
God absolutely and positively predestined some to eternal death and
others to eternal life, in such a manner that the latter have not to do anything
in order to secure salvation; that Christ did not die for the non-elect, since
they are destined for hell. Condemned in 475 in the Council of Lyons.
Taught later by Calvin, Universalists, Arminians and others
- Monophysites: Eutyches,
an abbot of 300 monks, proclaimed the
Jesus had only one nature: divine.
Condemned
in the Council of Constantinople in the year 680.
Seventh Century:
- Monothelites: Sergius, Patriarch of
Constantinople, taught that there were two natures, but only a divine will in
Christ, was condemned by the Council of Constantinople in the year 680.
Please, look at Monophysites of the Fifth
Century
- Paulicians: Mannalis, a teacher of the New
Testament, believed in a plurality of gods; denied the Incarnation; Christ had
not been crucified; believed in the transmigration of souls.
Eighth Century:
- Iconoclasts: Leo de Isaurian held that
the veneration of sacred images was idolatry. This error was condemned by thee
Second Council of Nicea in the year 787. This issue prepared the
way for the schism of Photius in 858 and the Great Schism of the 11th century.
- Adoptionists: Elipandus, Archbishop of Toledo,
Spain, claimed that
Christ
was born a human only, and was not divine until his
baptism,
at which point he was adopted as the Son by God the Father.
Ninth Century:
- Greek Schism: Its
origin dates from the time of Photius, 858. The Greek Orthodox Church or, more
correctly, the Orthodox Eastern Church, Greek-Russian, denies the supremacy of
the Pope. A council at Rome deposed and excommunicated Photius
Eleven Century:
- The Great Schism: Orthodox-Roman Catholic: The
immediate issue was the "filioque
clause", that "the Holy Ghost proceeds "from
the Father and the Son" ("filioque"), says the Catholics, and the Orthodox
claim "from the Father alone". But the
key issue was that the Orthodox denied the supremacy of
the Pope: The Roman Catholic Church maintains that the Pope was the
successor of Peter, the head of the entire Church before the split and after the
Schism.
The "official" schism in 1054 was the
excommunication of Patriarch
Michael Cerularius of Constantinople, followed by his excommunication of the
pope's representative.
The personal excommunications were mutually rescinded by the
Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople in the 1960s, although the schism is
not at all healed.
Twelfth Century:
- Petrobrosians: Peter de Bruis, a monk, rejected
the baptism of infants; condemned altars and churches; prohibited the veneration
of the Cross; rejected the Mass and Holy Eucharist; and denied the utility of
prayers for the dead. These errors were all condemned by the Second Council
of the Lateran in 1139.
- Henricians: Henry of Lausanne, a cluniac monk,
rejects the rites and authority of the Church.
- Waldenses: Peter Waldo, a wealthy merchant of Lyons.
Their errors were: the Catholic Church erred in accepting temporal property;
they condemned tithes; believed in only two sacraments, Baptism and the
Eucharist; held that layman could absolve from sin, but that a sinful priest
could not; rejected indulgences, fasts and all the ceremonies of the Church;
made no distinction between mortal and venial sins; claimed the veneration of
sacred images to be idolatry, and condemned all oaths to be unlawful. Condemned
by the Third Council of the Lateran in 1179.
Thirteenth Century:
- Albiguenses: Constantine of Samosata in
the city of Albi, France. They believed in tow Gods, one good another evel; held
only the New Testament to be inspired; reject infant baptism; declared marriage
sinful; that it was wrong to obey and support the clergy; held that everyone has
the power to forgive sins; denied the Trinity, Incarnation, Redemption and the
Sacraments; declared all penance useless, and held that an unworthy priest lost
the power of consecrating the Holy Eucharist. St. Dominic fought them with the
Rosary. Condemned in the Third Council of the Lateran in 1179.
- Fraticelli: Gherardo Segarelli, a laboring man
Parma. Held that there were tow churches, one carnal, the other spiritual; that
only the spiritual church has the true Scriptures and divine power, and that in
them alone was the Gospel of Jesus Christ fulfilled. They were condemned in 1318
by a Bull of Pope John XXII.
- Flagellants: They advocated excessive
self-flagellation; confessed sins to laymen; believed that penance helped the
damned; denied the Sacraments, and taught that one month’s penance was necessary
for the forgiveness of sins. They were formally condemned as heretics by Pope
Clement VI (1342-1352).
Fourteenth Century:
Lollards of John Wycliffe: Rejected the
episcopacy of the Church; denied the authority of
the Pope; the universe and God are one; that creation was an
emanation of God; believed in predestination; denied the Real Presence; held the
veneration of sacred images to be unlawful. A preparation for the Protestant
Reformation. Declared a heretic by the Council of Constance (1414-1418).
Fifteenth Century:
- Hussites: The followers of John Huss,
the Rector at the University of Prague. He publicly condemned many practices of
the Catholic Church. These included the sale of Indulgences and the riches
controlled by the Church. Although it ultimately failed, the Hussite
movement is of permanent historical significance, it helped pave the way for
both the Protestant Reformation and the rise of modern nationalism. Huss was
burned in 1415.
-
Moravians, "Church of the Brotherhood",
United Brethren, after Huss: The English
priest "Wycliff", denied the authority of the Pope 200 years before Luther.
"John Huss", a Bohemian priest (now western Czechoslovakia), followed his
ideas... In 1457, some followers of Huss founded the "Church of the
Brotherhood", considered the pioneer and the earliest independent Protestant
body, even before Luther... Later, in 1727, it became the "United Brethren, or
Moravian Church". There are now 70,000 in Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Lititz
(Pennsylvania, USA), a small number, but their influence has been enormous, the
first to light the torch of Protestant missionary zeal.
Sixteenth Century:
- Protestant Reformation: Since Martin Luther in 1517. It
holds the free interpretation of the Bible, salvation by faith alone in Christ,
rejects the authority of the Pope, the only authority is the Bible, the same
Bible used before. Condemned by the Council of Trent, the longest in the
history of the Church, 1545-1563. The Counter-Reform in the church was
lead by the friars Jesuits, Franciscans, Carmelites, Dominicans...
Catholic and
Protestant "Similarities" many
"misunderstandings", because the key terms are used in different senses.
- Lutherans: 1517- Martin
Luther, an Augustinian priest in Germany. He retained the sacraments of baptism, penance
and Holy Communion and great honor and affection to Virgin Mary. He held that in the Holy Communion the
consecrated bread and wine are the Body and Blood of Christ
("consubstantiation", instead of the Catholic "transubstantiation"). He rejected
purgatory, indulgences, invocation of the Saints, and prayers for the dead.
Jesus Christ our
Righteousness,
Luther based the entire work of the
Reformation on the reality of an imputed righteousness.
- Zwinglians: Ulric Zwingli, 1484-1524, a
parish priest in Glarus, Zurich, Switzerland,
the second great reformer. Added
to Luther that the Eucharist was only a memorial, a symbol, and the physical
presence of Christ was a myth, and proposed that the government of the church
should be placed in the hands of the congregation rather than under the control
of the clergy... and for both ideas he had strong discussions with Luther...
both agree that the church should be under the control of the civil government,
a state-church. He denied the
authority of the Pope, free-will, the Sacraments including Confession of sins, good works, purgatory.
- Anabaptists:
1519 - Grebel (after Ulrich Zwingli).
"Anabaptists", are many groups who adopted many of the
beliefs of Zwingli, but later would fight him, and adopt many of the Calvin's
theories.
Nicholas Stork, a weaver, and Thomas Munzer, a Lutheran preacher and priest, made, at the time of the reformation, the first attacks on
infant baptism, and thus launched the Anabaptist movement.
The "born-again" experience, is one distinguishing mark. A complete
separation of church and state to protect the liberty of the church. Anabaptists
are of the "congregational" type, where each local church is autonomous... there
is no Pope!... but now each congregation has its own self-named "Pope", not the
successor of Peter, but more demanding.
Protestant Denominations
- Church of England:
1534- Henry VIII, because the Pope would not grant him a divorce with the
right to remarry: With the "Act of Supremacy" in 1534, the
King was declared the supreme head of the Church of England, with fullness of
authority and jurisdiction. Bishops and priests still have their jobs but under
the King of England.
The "Episcopalians", founded by S. Seabury
1620 in the American colonies, is part of the
Anglican Communion, regards the Archbishop of Canterbury as the "First among
Equals"
- Calvinism:
1536 - John Calvin, the third great leader of the Reformation.
Born in France and worked in Geneva. Calvin held the doctrine of predestination.
Bishops are out, only priests left (presbyters). Later on, the priests will be
gone, with the Pentecostals, for example
In 1536 he established a theocratic government in Geneva in
which the religious and social and political affairs of the city were controlled
by Calvin's new church. Geneva became a model of Puritan sobriety in which the
lives of all citizens were closely policed and all offenses punished severely...
all people were expected to live the life of a monk, with no alcohol, no dancing
or singing, no fun..
Calvin opened the way for more radical forms of
Protestantism which exist today as worldwide churches: "Presbyterians" of
Scotland, "Separatists" and "Puritans" of England, "Congregational", "Dutch
Reformed Churches", The Huguenots in France...
- Mennonites: Menno Simons, at Witmarsum in Friesland,
Catholic pries. He became an Anabaptist 1536. Condemned infant baptism; the bearing of arms; the Sacraments; and
held a doctrine of non-resistance to violence.
- Presbyterians:
1560 - John Knox founded the Scotch
Presbyterian Church, basically Calvinistic, and it is called "Presbyterian"
because church policy centers around assemblies of presbyters or elders. However
the governing board of the church, the synod or presbytery, is subject to the
civil government.
- Puritans:
1570 - T. Cartwright. The "Puritans" or "Precisians", thought the Anglicans were
too Catholic, and the Church should be "purified" of the old leaven of
Catholicism, and reformed along Calvinist lines in severe simplicity, the
ministers should be chosen by the people, and the office of the bishop abolished
- Congregationalism:
1582 - R. Brown in Holland . They separated from
the Church of England, and they were called Separatists, Dissenters,
Independents, and Congregationalists, because they believe that each
congregation should be independent, autonomous, a complete church in itself.
They were Calvinists.
Those American colonists who established the Plymouth Colony
in 1620 were "Separatists", and were called Pilgrims. Those who came 9
years later and established the Massachusetts Colony were "Puritans".
- Huguenots: The French Protestants.
William Farel a friend of Calvin. Basically
Calvinists, held the doctrine of predestination; denied
the supremacy of the Pope; free-will; good works; purgatory; the Sacraments and
forgiveness of sin.
- Reformed Ducth: 1561 - Guido de Bres, a Dutch
reformer of Brabant. Again, basically Calvinist
- Unitarians: Martin Cellarius, deny the divinity of Christ; accept or
reject the Bible according to private judgment.
- Socinians: 1550- Laelius and Faustus Socinus. Laelius
was a priest of Sienna and intimate friend of Calvin. They insisted on private
judgment and the free use of reason; discarded mysteries, rejected authority,
and some went so far as to reject all natural religion. Luther tried to
destroy the roofs of Catholicism; Calvin its wall; and the Socinus its
foundation.
Seventeenth Century:
- Baptists:
1605 - John Smith in England. In America, Roger Williams founded the
first Baptist church in Providence in 1639 (see Anabaptists, 16th century). (Zwingli).
Comprise the largest of all American Protestant denominations, with 37 million
members, in 30 bodies. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Baptist, as well as Billy
Graham and Jessy Jackson. They are called "Baptists" because of their doctrine
concerning "Baptism": Called an "ordinance", they reject "infant baptism",
consider only baptism by immersion as valid, to persons who can decide to
receive it, and can feel the personal experience of being "born again".
"Separation of church and state".
-
Rosicrucians: 1610
- traces its roots to the Egypt before Christ... and all the groups claim to
be founded by "Christian Rosenkreutz" who is a character of the
"Fama Fraternitatis"
novel
written by the
German Lutheran Johann V. Andreae in 1610... but he never existed!...
in 1617, Andreae published an article stating that the "Fama" was a novel, a
satire, without any basis in real life, affirmation he sustained until the
moment of his death... and he believed that the teachings of Rosicrucianism were
false and that the history of the movement was dotted with legends and
fabrications...
Rosicrucianism is the religion "by correspondence"...
and of lies!... claiming to be
"dedicated to the investigation, study, and practice of natural and spiritual
laws", anchored in "Egypt", with many occult and Hindu practices, and the basic
beliefs of pantheism and reincarnation, with some Masonic rituals.
About the
Bible, all is
lies!: They say "the Bible is the regulator of life, the end of all true study,
the compendium of the Universal World"... but to say that the God of the Bible
does not exist, he is the "Supreme Intelligence", a form of "pure energy", but
"not a person", just "a number endowed with motion"... they don't distinguish
between God and creation, everything is God!...
- Episcopalians: 1620- S. Seabury (Henry VIII),
founded in the American colonies, is part of the
Anglican Communion, regards the Archbishop of Canterbury as the "First among
Equals"
- Quakers, Society of Friends: 1654- George Fox, a
shoemaker, in England. He believed every man to have an
"inner light" which was his only guide. They are
called "Quakers", because in the first days of enthusiasm they "trembled" in
their assemblies, but they resent that name... their organization is not called
a church but the "Society of Friends". In their "meetings", there is no pulpit
nor songs, they just sit down and wait in silence for the Spirit to move them.
- Universalists: Samuel Gorton,
a New England mystic, who aired his views as early as 1636. The belief did not
receive definite organization, however until 1750, when James Relly organized a
Universalist church in London. They deny the divinity of Christ; believe in the
universal salvation of all; deny the Sacraments; free-will; good works, and the
doctrine of the Trinity.
- Jansenists: Jansenism was probably the single
most divisive issue within the Roman Catholic church between the Protestant
Reformation and the French Revolution. Founded by Cornelius Jansenius, Holland, Bishop of
Ypres. He lived and died a member of the Catholic Church, but it was from his
writings, published after his death, that Jansenism took its rise.
Predestination was accepted in an extreme form and was so essential to Jansenism
that its adherents were even referred to as Calvinists by their opponents. It
came into conflict with the church for its predestination doctrines and for its
discouragement of frequent communion for the faithful. Jansenism took root in
France, especially among the clergy.
Eighteenth Century:
- Freemasonry,
born in 1717 when 4 Craft Lodges
gathered at the Apple Tree Tavern in London.
A secret fraternal order of Free and Accepted Masons, spread by the
British Empire, with actually 5 million members; 3 million in the USA, with
250,00 on the black "Prince Hall" Masonry. Some Masons define it as "a
beautiful system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols"...
also as "the realization of God by the practice of Brotherhood": To reach
God by doing good works to your neighbor...
It has been described as "the biggest, richest, most
secret and most powerful private force in the world"... and certainly,
"the most deceptive", both for the general public, and for the first 3
degrees of "initiates": Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason (the
basic "Blue Lodge")...
You can't be a Mason and a Christian or a Muslim:
Most Christian and Muslim leaders forbid Freemasonry...
because it is a most deceptive secret society. Freemasons have been
excommunicated from the Catholic Church by 8 Popes, and condemned by Baptists,
Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Russian Orthodox Church...
- Shakers, Union Society: 1741- Ann Lee-
Jane Wardley, with the help of her brother James, organized this
sect in England in the year 1747. Later they were joined by Ann Lee, of
Manchester, who claimed to be Christ in His second reincarnation. She came to
America in 1774. They are called "Shakers" because
in their meeting they had emotional movements of the body, sometimes so strong
as to cause convulsive rolling on the floor. They live isolated from the world
in "communes", with very strict abstinence life. The few remaining Shakers live
in a community in Maine. They deny Christ in worship and
substitute in His place "The Highest Good, wherever it may be found."
- Methodists, "Holy Club":
1744- Founded by John and Charles Wesley in England.
It is now the second largest Protestant
denomination in the USA, with 15.5 million members; 29 million worldwide. The
"Pentecostals" are their "children".
Two distinctive features:
1- A "mystical experience", is the best way to know God: The "witness of the
Spirit" to the individual, with personal assurance of salvation, the
"heartwarming experience". This "born-again" experience is the first of the four
ways to know God; the other 3 are: Scripture, reason, and tradition.
2- It was the "social conscience" of England, preaching to the "poor" a new
message of hope and care: They devoted much time to create private welfare
agencies to help the poor, social reforms, improvement of the daily life of
workers, legalize labor unions, abolish slavery, protect woman and children;
they started schools for children, old folk' homes, orphanages, dispensaries for
the sick, agencies for the unemployed and homeless... and they were among the
foremost champions of a democratic free United States.
They hold Scripture to be the sole and sufficient rule of
belief and practice; teach justification by faith alone, although the practice
of good works is commended... and done!
-
Moravians,
Church of the Brotherhood, United Brethren, after
Huss, 1727: The English priest "Wycliff", denied the authority of the
Pope 200 years before Luther. "John Huss", a Bohemian priest (now western
Czechoslovakia), followed his ideas... In 1457, some followers of Huss founded
the "Church of the Brotherhood", considered the pioneer and the earliest
independent Protestant body, even before Luther. Later, in 1727, it became the
"United Brethren, or Moravian Church". There are now 70,000 in Bethlehem,
Nazareth, and Lititz (Pennsylvania, USA), a small number, but their influence
has been enormous, the first to light the torch of Protestant missionary zeal.
- Unitarians:
1774- Theophilus Lindsay.
In 1774 in England on the basis of "Socinianism" of the 16th
Century, denying the Trinity, and proclaiming that Jesus was not God; the
atonement of Jesus is invalid, and salvation is only by works.
- Universalism, is also a product of the eighteenth
century enlightenment, including rationalism and anti-supernaturalism... it
holds that all living beings attain complete salvation, against all teaching of
the Bible... and still they call themselves Christians... and with the
Unitarians they carry on this schizophrenic torch.
- Unitarian-Universalist Association, in 1959.
Nineteenth Century:
-
Christians without
Christ:
This is a group of churches that call
themselves Christians, use the Bible as their Sacred Scripture or one of them,
and may even have the name of Christ in the title of their church... but they
say that "Jesus is not God", or that Jesus Christ is God as much as you and I
are God, like the Mormons.
Christians without Christ
- Mormons:
1830- Joseph Smith. He claimed to have received
a new revelation in 1827, which resulted in the "Book of Mormon", published at
Palmyra, N.Y. Smith was killed by a mob in Carthage, Ill., in 1844, and Brigham
Young succeeded him as leader of the sect. There are three gods, the Father, the
Son Jesus, and the Spirit... all of them were created, and you cn become God
like Jesus or the Father. Adam’s sin was one of lust; believe the bond of
marriage to be eternal; and believe in a happy Millennium on this earth.
It is the Church of "contradictions", and of
"deception"
- Adventists:
1844- William Miller, known initially as Millerites, stress the doctrine of the
imminent second coming of Christ. Several specific dates were set as the Coming
since 1844, but Christ never came.
Seventh-Day-Adventists are the larger
group and started also about 1844 adding a very special issue: The Seventh Day,
Saturday, is the Day of the Lord, and Sunday is the Day of the Antichrist; if
you celebrate the Day of the Lord on Sunday, you are of the Antichrist, about
2,000 million Christians!. They were lead by Joseph Bates and James and Ellen
White since 1844 but was not formally organized until 1863.
- Jehovah's Witnesses:
1852- Charles T. Russel: They are the children od the Adventists
officially announced the Second Coming of Christ and the Armageddon for 6 dates:
1914, 1918, 1920, 1925, 1941, and 1975... and never came!... They deny the
Doctrine of the Trinity, the Divinity of Christ, the Immortality of the Human
Soul, and the blood transfusions. They expect to be one of the 144,000 minister
of Jesus when He comes... or one of the multitude in Heaven of Revelation 7.
Their official name, is not "Jehovah's Witnesses", but an
Incorporated Society, the "Wathtower Bible and Tract Society" ... in this
Society, the leaders are elected by the number of "stocks" they have; the
"President of the Society" is the one who has more stocks, the actual President
is Milton G. Henschel, since 1993.
- Spiritualistic Churches: 1848, 1843 - They
may have started with Kate Fox in New York, Andrew Jackson Davis founded one in
1843.
The
services, resemble the church gatherings of small Christian denominations and
usually mimic Christian services.
"Jesus Christ", is a total different person for a Christian and a
Spiritualist: For a Spiritualist Jesus is God, but as much as you and I are God,
as much as every human being is a divine child of God, just a part of the
Infinite Intelligence. A great
deception of Satan is the claim of the Spiritualists that the Bible is
Spiritualist: They claim that "Jesus Christ was the master medium of all time";
they point to the Transfiguration as an example of spirit materialization, and
Pentecost as the greatest séance in history... in fact, they make the Bible
endorse what its writers emphatically oppose!...
You can't be a Spiritualist and a Christian.
The Bible and the Church, condemn all
kinds of Spiritism and mediums with the strongest terms: It is "prostitution
against God", "stone them to death"
(The Occult).
"Child of the Devil", reprimands St. Paul to the medium Bar Jesus in Acts 13.
- Salvation Army:
1865- Founded in England by William Booth. It is familiar to outsiders
through its work among the homeless and the poor and its fund-raising on the
streets, especially before Christmas... they do good work,
it is evangelic in doctrine, and aims to harmonize with all
churches.
- Ku-Klux-Klan: 1866 -
founded in Polaski, Tennessee, by 6
Confederate officers. One of them, and the first Imperial Wizard of the KKK, was
a former Confederate general and Freemason, Nathan Bedford Forrest. They are
well known the disguised hooded Klansmen, in their white sheets, posing as
ghosts of dead Confederate soldiers, with their blazing torches burning large
wooden crosses in a "circle", to terrorize and kill Blacks, just for the sake of
being Blacks...and
they are Christians!
- Christian Science Church:
1879- Mary Baker Eddy. The "science of healing", is
"Anti-Christian", "Anti-Science", with Hindu doctrine, and it is not a Church.
"Jesus Christ" is not God, he was not the Christ. "God", is not the
Christian God, but a "Hindu one". "Salvation", is by recognizing that each
person is as much a Son of God as Jesus is. There is no evil, no devil, no sin,
no poverty, and no old age. A person is reincarnated until he learns these
truths and becomes "perfect".
- Old Catholics: 1871- Organized in German speaking
countries to combat the dogma of Papal Infallibility. Its rise may be traced
from the excommunication of Ignatz von Dollinger, historian, priest and
theologian, on Apr. 18, 1871, for refusing to accept the dogma of Infallibility.
- Modernists: An heretical movement that attempted to
explain the faith by rationalizing it. The system of the Modernists embraces
most of the errors of all preceding heresies. Condemned by Pope Pius X.
- Reformed Churches: In general are those that began
with the doctrine of Luther, then embraced those of Zwingli, and finally swerved
towards Calvinism. As a result they are infected with the errors of all these
false teachers. German Reformed, True Reformed Dutch,
United Church of Christ in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania,
Presbyterian Church in USA, Reformed Church in America, the "Christian Reformed
Church... some of them do also good deeds.
- The Old Catholic Churches,
had their origin in Europe after 1870, after
the First Vatican Council. They reject the authority of the Pope, and their
priests are married.
The Polish Church, was established in Scranton,
Pennsylvania, in the 1890s, also after Vatican I with the same spirit that the
Old Catholic Churches.
- Holiness Churches: The
National Holiness Movement came into being shortly after the American Civil War,
1861-1865. Originally a protest movement within Methodism, it opposed the
Methodist falling away from the emphasis on sanctification that John Wesley had
developed. He had stressed original sin and justification by faith and added
that the individual may be assured of forgiveness by a direct experience of the
spirit, called sanctification, which he regarded as the step leading to
Christian perfection. The major representatives of the Holiness movement
are Pentecostal denominations, the Church of the Nazarene and the Church of God
(Anderson, Ind.).
- Church of God: 1880- Name of
more than 200 independent religious bodies in the U.S. The majority of them are
Adventist, Holiness, or Pentecostal denominations. Originated about 1880 as a
movement within existing churches to promote Christian unity. The founders were
interested in relieving the church at large of what they believed was
over-ecclesiasticism and restrictive organization and in reaffirming the New
Testament as the true standard of faith and life.
- Church of Christ: 1886 with Spurling and Bryant in
the Great Smoky Mountains
(northwest Georgia and eastern Tennessee). A Pentecostal church based on a
belief that a second rain of the gifts of the Holy Spirit would occur similar to
that of the first Christian Pentecost. They regard the state of holiness
as a work of grace subsequent to conversion or justification, and practice
speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. Members of the revival
were organized into the Christian Union, changed their name to the Holiness
Church (1902) and later to the Church of God (1907).
No Pope, no bishops, no ordained priests.
- Church of God in
Christ: 1895, 1897, Jones and Mason in Arkansas. Another
Pentecostal church. Like other Holiness and Pentecostal groups, the church
emphasizes sanctification, or holiness, which is deemed essential to salvation.
The theology of the church is Trinitarian; the Bible is the chief religious
authority and is interpreted literally. Ordinances include baptism by immersion,
the Lord’s Supper, and foot washing. Speaking in tongues is considered the sign
of baptism by the Holy Ghost. No Pope, no bishops, no ordained priests.
Twentieth Century:
1- The "Classical Pentecostal Movement"
made in USA, started in
1901 by Parham and Seymour has now over 11,000 Pentecostal denominations
throughout the world.
- In 1901 in the city of Topeka, Kansas, with a handful of
students conducted by Charles Fox Parham, a holiness teacher and former
Methodist Pastor, started a church movement which he called the "Apostolic Faith".
- It was not until 1906, however, that pentecostalism
achieved worldwide attention through the "Azusa Street Revival" in Los Angeles,
California, by the African-American preacher William Joseph Seymour who
conducted three services a day, seven days a week, where thousands of seekers
received the tongues baptism. At that time of color segregation in the United
States, the phenomenon of Blacks and Whites worshiping together under a Black
pastor seemed incredible to many observers. Indeed, the color line was washed
away in the Blood of Christ, in Los Angeles, "the American Jerusalem", as it
called by Frank Bartleman, where the people from all ethnic minorities were
represented at Azusa Street.
A problem: If the Spirit talks and touches me, I don't have
to listen to the Church.
No Pope, no bishops, no ordained priests. In each Assembly the leader is
it all!
This birth of Pentecostalism was preceded by the Holiness
Churches, the Church of God and the church of Christ of the nineteenth century,
and all of them prepared by the Methodists of the eighteenth century.
2- The "Neo-Pentecostal" movement started in
1960 in Van Nuys, California, under Dennis Bennett, Rector of St Marks Episcopal
(Anglican) Church. In ten years it spread to all major Protestant families of
the world, reaching a total of 55 million people by 1990.
3- The Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement started
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1967 among students and faculty of DuQuesne
University, and by 1993 it has touched the lives of over 70 million Catholics in
over 120 nations.
4- The Evangelical Charismatics started in 1981 at
Fuller Theological Seminary with John Wimber. By 1990, 33 millions in the world
were moving in signs and wonders, though they disdain labels such as "pentecostal"
and "charismatic".
- Snake Handlers: 1909- Founded in Tennessee, USA, by
George Hensley who died of a snakebite in 1955. Their "ceremonies", last for
hours, with music and rhythmic clapping to hypnotize the dozens of poisonous
snakes all over the hall... "Thou shalt not tempt the
Lord thy God" (Matt.4:7).
- Worldwide Church of God (WCG): 1934, USA- Founded in Eugene, Oregon, USA, by Herbert W. Armstrong, a child
of the Adventists, like the Jehovah's Witnesses, proclaims the imminent Second
Coming of Jesus Christ, who was announced for 1936, 1943, 1972, 1975... Jesus
never came, but it was a good source of income!.
influential with its TV programs. The strange doctrine of "Anglo-Israelism" is a
special feature.
- United Christian Evangelistic Association, Christ United
Church: 1925, USA- Rev. Frederick Eikerenkoetter, known as
Rev. Ike, promotes in New York a "Christianity for earth"... Heaven is
replaced by the "now"... you become now successful, rich, and healthy in the
name of Jesus... Jesus rode an ass, Rev. Ike prefers to ride a Rolls Royce, and
he boasts to have 16!. He does not want a "pie in the sky", he wants a "pie on
earth"!. It has been labeled as a "prostitution of Christianity".
- Moonies,
The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification
of World Christianity:
1954- Sun M. Moon in South Korea.
The "Moonies" is the Church of
heavenly Communism, of mockery of the
Bible, of big
business... and of
stupidity. The "sacred Scriptures" are
the "Divine Principle" of Moon, the "Outline of the Principle", and the
"Bible"... But the "Bible" is used to make a mockery out of it!: Jesus Christ
was a perfect man, but "he is not God"; he was the bastard offspring of
Zechariah and Mary. Moon is the third Adam, the
second Christ to unite all religions, and bring to earth a perfect social
system, a perfect family life... earth will be the new Paradise of Eden, with
perfect love to God, and brotherhood of all people living in communes, sharing
their wealth...
"Salvation", comes in one of three
ways:
1- Having actual sex with Moon, for the girls.
2- Having sex with a girl who had sex with Moon, if you are a man.
3- Working full time for Moon... the most usual way!, and drinking at the
wedding ceremony the blood of Moon (2 drops of his blood in 100 gallons of a
mixture of 21 ingredients).
Watch out for the "recruiting"... the
"Weekend" and the "Communes", "the Heavenly Communism".
- National Association of Evangelicals (NAE):
1942- A coordinating agency facilitating Christian unity, public witness,
and cooperative ministry among evangelical denominations, congregations,
educational institutions, and service agencies in the United States. The
Association traces its beginnings to April 7-9, 1942, when a modest group of 147
people met in St. Louis with the hopes of reviving the fortunes of evangelical
Christianity in America.
- Wicca: 1949 - "Modern Witchcraft",
commonly called "Wicca", started in England with Gerald
Gardener. A Problem for a Christian:
You can't be a Wiccan and a Christian, the Bible and the Church condemn Wicca
very strongly, and all the wonders of nature can't erase a single sin, and, if
you die in sin, you go to Hell... for the same reason you can't
be a Christian and a Spiritistu, of a Santero,
Wicca indeed is modern witchcraft coming "out of the
broom closet"... removed the stereotypical image of witches as ugly old hags
with warts on their noses, decked out in black capes and cone-shaped hats,
riding their favorite broomstick on a moonlit night... the modern Wiccan may be
an attractive female witch dressed in a fashionable, well-tailored business suit
or a professional businessmen.
Most Wiccans do not believe in Hell nor Satan... but
it is the usual deception of Satan, who is the source of most Wiccans
"experiences"... yes, Hell and Satan do exist... like Paris and Moscow exist, it
is a fact!... like it or not... believe it or not... would you dare to to live
on earth thinking they do not exist to find out after death that they do
exist?... are you "sure" they do not exist?... would you risk eternal Hell on
something you are not sure of?.
-
The Church of Satan:
1966 - Founded, by
Anton S. LaVey in San Francisco,
California. The Black Mass is usually celebrated by a fake priest, but sometimes
by a real blasphemous priest, in which case the Mass is valid but sacrilegious.
Usually it is blasphemous fake Mass, where the altar is a nude woman, and the
vagina is the tabernacle. If possible, a real Host stolen from a Catholic Church
is placed in the vagina in the midst of reciting distorted psalms with hot music
and all kind of obscenities, coursing Jesus and honoring Satan. The fake
priest ends up having real sex, with the Host still in the vagina. Condemned by
all Christians and the Bible in the strongest terms
- Church of Scientology: 1954, USA- Lafayette Ronald Hubbard in California after
writing "Dianetics". It is a Hindu interplanetary fiction novel, with
a kind of "Catholic Confession",
called "auditing" ... a bad place to
spend lots of money.
- The Way International: 1957, USA- Victor Paul Wierwille in 1957, in Ohio. His book "Jesus Christ is
not God" says it all... to practice "glossolalia" 30 minutes per day is a part
of salvation. "Power of Abundant Living" courses
- Church universal and Triumphal,
Summit Lighthouse: 1958, USA- Founded, in Montana by
Mark L. Prophet, it is now lead by
Elizabeth Clare Prophet, after the
death of her husband in 1973. It is a Hindu religion, with biblical
connotations, specially the "I Am" of Ex.3:14. Jesus is not God. He was
only the "mediator" between God and men, the role now Mrs. Prophet has.
Salvation is by doing good Karma (deeds), to reincarnate in a better form.
It is not so "triumphant" on earth,
rather they are so afraid that they have built huge underground shelters, able
to accommodate 100,000 people, stocked with food for protection from an
impending nuclear holocaust... And it is not that "universal", because most of
their members live in Montana, nearby the Shelters.
- United Unitarian Universalist Association:
Formed in 1961 by the merger of the American Unitarian
Association and the Unitarian Universalist Church of America to speak as one on
social and political questions. They unite the Unitarians and Universalists of
the 18th Century and the Socinians ot the 16th century.
It has been labeled as the "schizophrenia" of Christianity,
trying to unite the Christians, by denying the Trinity, the deity of Jesus, and
proclaiming universal complete salvation of all living beings. Luther tried to
destroy the roofs of Catholicism; Calvin its wall; and Socinus its foundation.
-
Fraternity of St. Pius X:
Founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre of France, after the Vatican II, 1965 He
consecrated 200 priests against the authority of the Pope.
They celebrate the Mass only in Latin, with the old order of
St. Pius X. Their main "objection" is the change in the Consecration of the word
"many", by the word "all"... St. Paul uses both words talking about the same
issue in successive verses, Romans 5:18,19: Jesus died "for all" human beings,
but only "many" will appropriate his redemption. The Fraternity is
excommunicated from the Catholic Church.
- Church of "Palmar de Troya", or "Carmelites of the Holy
Face": Founded by Clemente Dominguez, in 1969 in "Palmar de Troya", 40
Kilometers from Seville, Spain. Condemned by the Church. Clemente proclaimed
himself "the Pope", with the name of Gregory XVII, there are only a few
hundreds, but with lots of money, building a great Basilica, behind tall walls.
- Churches for Homosexuals, Universal Fellowship of
Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC): 1968, USA- by
Troy Perry who claims that he and
other homosexuals experienced on "coming out of the closed". It has very good
intentions, however, the worst attitude about any vice, including homosexuality,
is "to boast" about it, and "to applause others who practice it", as it says in
Rom.1:32... no one should be proud or boast to be a murderer, or an alcoholic,
or a thief, or a liar, or a prostitute, or a divorcee, or a homosexual... the
reason why God chastised so severely Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19 is because
they were proud of their immoral sexual activities, and they applauded those who
openly did them or boasted about them.
- Children of God
(COG), Family of Love, Heaven's Magic:
1969, USA- David Berg, who changed his name
to Moses Berg, and is called "MO", The
"COG" is the literal "prostitution of Christianity"; "Sex for
Jesus" is their logo... they will offer you the "MO letters", saying "Jesus
loves you"... in the "Communes" and outside encourage and practiced
homosexuality, incest, adultery, fornication, adult-child sex, polygamy... "MO"
is violently Anti-Semitic.
- New Age: 1980s - The
term "New Age", was coined by the spirit medium "Alice Bailey" of the
Theosophical Society of America, who died in 1949, but it became common parlance
after the musical "Hair" launched the concept of the Age of Aquarius on a
popular and international scale. This "utopia" is the greatest menace to
Christianity, more than any other cult... New age has been
catalogued as the AIDS of all heresies.
The "New Age" of Aquarius is an Astrology doctrine of
the 1980s, proclaiming the human race is at the verge of a "gigantic quantum
leap", to realize that every human is God... and when that happens, it will be
the "New Age", a glorious time with only one nation on earth, one language, one
government, one religion, one monetary system... with only love on earth, the
"golden age"!, without hate, violence, wars, crime, racism, and without sickness
nor death!... it the mold lie of Satan of Genesis 3:4-5...
you will be like God!
- Peoples Temple: Jim Jones... "Guayana, Jonestown":
"Guayana" was the scene of the Jonestown mass suicide in 1978 where 913 members
of the "People's Temple" died after drinking cyanide-laced Kool Aid. Some,
according to survivors, were shot down trying to escape.
- Branch Davidians, WACO: 1986-
"Vernon Howell", changed his name to "David Koresh"... They are no longer in
existence since the 82 death in the fire at WACO, Texas, in 1993, after the
tragic 50-day siege.
Philosophies and Religion,
the Pillars of Unbelief:
Just as we have pillars of Christian faith, the Apostles,
so are there individuals who have become Pillars of Unbelief:
- Machiavelli, 1496-1527,
the inventor of “the new morality”
- French Revolution: 1789-1799: The guillotine of
"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity", democracy in France.
- Kant,
1724-1804,
the subjectivizer of Truth.
- Marx,
1818-1883,
the false Moses for the masses, brain of Atheistic Communism.
- Nietzsche,
1844-1900,
the self-proclaimed “Anti-Christ”. “God is
dead,”.
- Freud, 1856-1939,
the founder of the “sexual revolution”.
- Sartre,
1905-1980,
the existentialist apostle of absurdity.
Art
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