A Killing Machine!

We saw Jesus declared, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). But when the universal church system—the Revelation 6:1-17 white horse and rider—asserts power, it has brought destruction and death!

Most have assumed that the counterfeit church, having developed into a large and powerful organization, has brought a stabilizing influence to the world. They have believed that this church has injected a sense of morality and responsibility into mankind’s collective consciousness.

But the rider of this white horse has called down numerous wars in the name of religion. History reveals that this church has been the chief cause of war within its jurisdiction, either indirectly or directly. It has inspired “conquering, and to conquer” (Rev. 6:2).

Let’s read a more extensive quote from history: “Now, this Ninus, or ‘Son,’ borne in the arms of the Babylonian Madonna, is so described as very clearly to identify him with Nimrod. ‘Ninus, king of the Assyrians,’ says Trogus Pompeius, epitomised by Justin, ‘first of all changed the contented moderation of the ancient manners, incited by a new passion, the desire of conquest. He was the first who carried on war against his neighbours, and he conquered all nations from Assyria to Lybia, as they were yet unacquainted with the arts of war.’ This account points directly to Nimrod, and can apply to no other” (Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, p. 23).

And also, “…‘Ninus, the most ancient of the Assyrian kings mentioned in history, performed great actions. Being naturally of a warlike disposition, and ambitious of glory that results from valour, he armed a considerable number of young men that were brave and vigorous like himself, trained them up a long time in laborious exercises and hardships, and by that means accustomed them to bear the fatigues of war, and to face dangers with intrepidity’” (ibid.). How obvious the connection of an ancient system and its first leader to its modern descendant.

Consider a few more examples of the merciless approach this horrific system has taken through the centuries, beginning with God’s Church. Not content with merely driving God’s servants into the wilderness, armies controlled by the counterfeit church pursued them, intending to wipe them out completely.

Accounts speak of how in AD 1290, in the town of Beziers, Crusaders entered churches and butchered refugees hiding inside. The bodies of slaughtered thousands—men, women and children, including babies—were stacked like cordwood. (I have personally read such accounts.) Now another. Nearby, in Montsegur, 200 accused “heretics” were seized, pulled outside the city and thrown onto a giant funeral pyre where they were incinerated alive.

Here is an account of what happened next: “This done…the Bishop, together with the monks and their attendants, returned to the refectory and, after giving thanks to God and St. Dominic, fell cheerfully upon the food set before them” (Massacre at Montsegur, p. 291).

Now consider this chilling description as witnesses saw the flames: “The people shout their approval; the inquisitors sit, hands folded, deeply shocked by all the wickedness in the world, serene in their own virtue, in bringing about justice, so clever that—although they have brought those groaning, fainting men and women to this horror—because they abandoned them in time to the secular arm [the civil government], there is no blood on their hands…” (Jean Plaidy, The Rise of the Spanish Inquisition, p. 158). The same author adds, “The long ceremony, the chanting of monks, the tolling of bells, the smell of incense, the holiness of the proceedings has a comforting effect. All has been sanctified by these things.”

Could anything be more abominable than such officially sanctioned evil?

The leadership of this church believed it held limitless power over human lives, and much more. The next quote by Dr. Henry Halley shows how particular popes literally elevated their position above that of God Himself. It may be the single most revealing quote about the nature of the thinking at the top of this system (capitalization for emphasis is always Halley’s):

“Innocent III (1198-1216). Most Powerful of all the Popes. Claimed to be ‘Vicar of Christ,’ ‘Vicar of God,’ ‘Supreme Sovereign over the Church and the World.’ Claimed the right to Depose Kings and Princes; and that ‘All things on earth and in heaven and in hell are subject to the Vicar of Christ.’

“He brought the Church into Supreme Control of the State. The Kings of Germany, France, England, and practically all the Monarchs of Europe obeyed his will. He even brought the Byzantine Empire under his control. Never in history has any one man exerted more power” (Halley’s Bible Handbook, pp. 776-777).

In light of the title taken by Innocent III, consider all the titles held by the pope today before continuing with Dr. Halley’s quote: “[His Holiness Pope (name)], Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West, Primate of Italy, Metropolitan Archbishop of the Province of Rome, Sovereign of the State of Vatican City, Servant of the Servants of God” (Encyclopaedia Britannica). The title of “Patriarch of the West” has been dropped by the current pope.

It should go without saying that none of these titles—or anything like them—are found anywhere in God’s Word!

Now continuing Dr. Halley’s quote about popes attached to the Inquisition: “The Inquisition, called the ‘Holy Office,’ was instituted by Pope Innocent III, and perfected under the second following Pope, Gregory IX. It was the Church Court for Detection and Punishment of Heretics. Under it everyone was required to inform against Heretics. Anyone suspected was liable to Torture, without knowing the name of his accuser. The proceedings were secret. The Inquisitor pronounced sentence, and the victim was turned over to Civil Authorities to be Imprisoned for Life, or to be Burned. The victim’s property was confiscated, and divided between the Church and the State” (ibid.).

Finally, Halley summarizes the dark time of the Inquisition: “In the period immediately following Pope Innocent III the Inquisition did its most deadly work against the Albigenses [a name given to the true Church in northern Italy and southern France]…but also claimed vast multitudes of victims in Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.

“Later on the Inquisition was the main agency in the Papacy’s effort to Crush the Reformation. It is stated that in [just] the 30 years between 1540 and 1570 no fewer than 900,000…were put to death in the Pope’s war…”

“Think of Monks and Priests, in holy garments, directing, with Heartless Cruelty and Inhuman Brutality, the work of Torturing and Burning alive Innocent Men and Women, and doing it in the Name of Christ, by the direct order of the ‘Vicar of Christ.’ “The Inquisition was the Most Infamous and Devilish Thing in Human History. It was devised by Popes, and used by them for 500 years, to Maintain their Power” (ibid., p. 777).

Can you imagine a church, professing to represent Jesus Christ and His government on Earth, maintaining control through this kind of reign of terror? Such is the counterfeit rider of the white horse, with his hunting bow of slaughter in hand!

Seeds of the Protestant Reformation

By the early 1500s, after decades of blood-stained Inquisition history, it was clear to many the Roman Church was corrupt and scandalous at every level. (But this does not even speak to its scores of deceptive, false teachings.)

In addition to church-sanctioned violent persecution and mass murder, the practices of simony(offices and positions for sale) and indulgences (remission of sin—past, present and future—for a price) proved too much for some of its followers. Many European monarchies had already been drifting away from quiet submission to papal authority. In Germany, anti-Catholic and anti-papal sentiment was growing.

It was at this time that Martin Luther entered the scene. According to most sources, while studying law at the University of Erfurt, Luther was marooned in a severe thunderstorm. Terrified, he vowed to become a monk, and joined the Augustine order of friars. In 1507, he became a priest, and in due time became a doctor of theology. He was then given a professorship at the University of Wittenberg.

Some of Luther’s own theology had developed before any open confrontation with the church. What initially began with rejecting the Catholic definition of “works” (keeping the “sacraments”) eventually led to rejecting the concept of any works (including obedience to God’s Law). He concluded that faith alone was required for salvation, openly dismissing the book of James as an “epistle of straw” because it teaches works alongside faith—“faith without works is dead” (James. 2:20, 26).

In 1517, incensed by a Dominican friar selling indulgences near Wittenberg, Luther began protesting. This was in written form through his “95 Theses,” nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. Although he did not intend to cause a revolt, these points of contention appealed to German anti-papal attitudes. Convicted on the matter, Luther was unyielding.