WEBVTT 00:00.960 --> 00:04.160 My title is Mystery Babylon Identified. 00:04.660 --> 00:09.820 About 2,500 years ago, God gave the prophet Daniel a vision of four strange 00:09.820 --> 00:14.540 beasts, as we all know, representing the four world empires which are now history, 00:14.600 --> 00:16.900 the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian, and Roman. 00:17.600 --> 00:21.180 Yes, there were other empires, large empires, based in Egypt, 00:21.400 --> 00:25.420 China, Central and South America, Arabia, and so forth, but Scripture gives 00:25.420 --> 00:30.220 them no prophetic significance because they will not rise again. 00:30.680 --> 00:31.520 Only Rome will. 00:32.280 --> 00:36.240 Symbolic of the Roman Empire, the fourth beast retained characteristics of the 00:36.240 --> 00:39.700 three empires which preceded it, yet it was far more, quote, dreadful and 00:39.700 --> 00:44.840 terrible, strong exceedingly, it had great iron teeth, it devoured the known world, 00:44.920 --> 00:48.220 breaking and trampling all that opposed it, and so forth, Daniel 7.7. 00:48.500 --> 00:53.400 This fourth beast had ten horns, corresponding to the ten toes on the huge 00:53.400 --> 00:57.120 image seen in Daniel chapter 2, an image which depicted the same four 00:57.120 --> 00:57.840 world empires. 00:58.260 --> 01:01.660 The image's two legs foretold the split of the Roman Empire. 01:01.820 --> 01:07.060 Politically, when Constantine moved his capital to Constantinople in 330 A.D., 01:07.060 --> 01:12.580 and religiously, between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, when in 1054 Pope 01:12.580 --> 01:17.880 Leo IX in Rome excommunicated Michael of Seviartius, patriarch of Constantinople. 01:18.520 --> 01:23.580 The ten toes of iron mixed with clay signified ten kings who must reign when, 01:23.720 --> 01:27.640 quote, the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, 01:27.740 --> 01:28.640 Daniel 2.44. 01:29.340 --> 01:35.440 Nearly 700 years after Daniel, around 95 A.D., the Apostle John was given 01:35.440 --> 01:41.160 three further prophetic visions of this same terrible fourth beast, as recorded in 01:41.160 --> 01:44.300 Revelation 12, Revelation 13, and chapter 17. 01:44.860 --> 01:48.600 At that time, the world empires represented by the first three beasts had 01:48.600 --> 01:50.720 come and gone exactly as Daniel had prophesied. 01:50.840 --> 01:54.120 The fourth beast, the Roman Empire, was then at the height of its power. 01:54.760 --> 02:00.160 It too would fall, but unlike its three predecessors, and exactly as the Bible 02:00.160 --> 02:02.700 foretold, it would not be conquered by a successor. 02:03.280 --> 02:06.100 No fifth empire would arise to take its place. 02:06.540 --> 02:10.560 Instead, scripture foretold that the Roman Empire itself would be revived in a more 02:10.560 --> 02:14.200 powerful form to control all of earth just before Christ's second coming. 02:14.760 --> 02:18.480 Numerous scriptures indicate this, since the Roman Empire was never ruled by 02:18.480 --> 02:22.460 ten kings at one time, as foreseen in the images Ten Toes and the fourth beast Ten 02:22.460 --> 02:26.660 Horns, it must be revived worldwide, divided into ten regions under separate 02:26.660 --> 02:29.540 sub-rulers accountable to Antichrist, in my opinion at least. 02:30.140 --> 02:34.220 Ten nations in Western Europe could hardly represent the revival of an empire which 02:34.220 --> 02:35.900 included far more in its day. 02:36.280 --> 02:41.520 Moreover, we're clearly told that, quote, power was given him over all 02:41.520 --> 02:44.940 kindreds and tongues and nations and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship 02:44.940 --> 02:46.740 him, Revelation 13 7 and 8. 02:47.080 --> 02:50.860 Interestingly, today's world has already been divided into ten regions by the Club 02:50.860 --> 02:51.280 of Rome. 02:51.980 --> 02:56.200 Only when Antichrist's position and power had been fully established, 2 02:56.200 --> 03:01.020 Thessalonians 2 8 and 9, will the second coming take place with Christ returning to 03:01.020 --> 03:06.400 destroy Antichrist and his kingdom and to set up his own millennial reign over this 03:06.400 --> 03:07.240 earth from Jerusalem. 03:07.820 --> 03:10.780 It says, whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. 03:11.760 --> 03:14.160 John saw this fourth beast three times. 03:14.720 --> 03:18.760 First as a red dragon seeking to destroy Israel, quote, and behold a great red 03:18.760 --> 03:22.940 dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his heads, 03:23.060 --> 03:23.760 Revelation 12. 03:24.320 --> 03:28.880 In chapter 13, this dreadful beast appears again, representing the revived Roman 03:28.880 --> 03:32.760 Empire whose, quote, deadly wound was healed, in my opinion at least, 03:33.260 --> 03:37.140 and also its ruler, the Antichrist, whom, quote, all that dwell upon the earth 03:37.140 --> 03:37.680 shall worship. 03:38.240 --> 03:42.820 Now, John expresses no shock at the sight of the beast, but in his third vision of 03:42.820 --> 03:47.500 this scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns, he's staggered to see a woman 03:47.500 --> 03:50.020 on his back, Revelation 17 6. 03:50.420 --> 03:55.320 A woman rides the beast, and not as in a rodeo on a creature which is trying to 03:55.320 --> 03:58.780 buck her off, but sitting relaxed and comfortable, holding the reins, 03:58.860 --> 04:03.140 obviously a key player in the unfolding drama of Antichrist's rule over the 04:03.140 --> 04:04.060 revived Roman Empire. 04:04.520 --> 04:05.940 Who is this woman? 04:06.500 --> 04:11.440 John's vision provides at least 14 specifics which identify her, I think, 04:11.500 --> 04:12.180 beyond question. 04:12.560 --> 04:15.080 First of all, she's a city, verse 19. 04:15.900 --> 04:19.700 Secondly, the city sits on seven hills, verse 9. 04:20.220 --> 04:22.500 Several cities sit on seven hills, of course. 04:22.640 --> 04:26.400 John's vision, however, eliminates all but one, as we shall see. 04:26.800 --> 04:31.440 That the seven heads also signify seven kings doesn't take away from the fact that 04:31.440 --> 04:33.880 they represent seven hills upon which the woman sits. 04:34.640 --> 04:39.460 Thirdly, emblazoned on her forehead is her name, Mystery Babylon. 04:40.120 --> 04:43.820 Saddam Hussein has been rebuilding Iraq's ancient city of Babylon, headquarters of 04:43.820 --> 04:44.820 the first world empire. 04:45.300 --> 04:49.380 The woman could not be that city, however, rebuilt for the Antichrist for 04:49.380 --> 04:49.960 several reasons. 04:50.060 --> 04:53.740 First of all, it's the fourth empire headquartered in Rome, which is to be 04:53.740 --> 04:56.240 brought back to life, not the Babylonian Empire. 04:56.640 --> 05:01.820 The ten toes and ten horns belong to Rome, and Babylon was not built on seven hills, 05:01.960 --> 05:04.600 nor does it meet any of the other identifying criteria. 05:05.220 --> 05:09.960 Rome, however, was and has universally been known as the city of seven hills. 05:10.300 --> 05:14.420 The Catholic Encyclopedia states, quote, it is within the city of Rome, 05:14.540 --> 05:17.440 called the city of seven hills, that the entire area of Vatican State 05:17.440 --> 05:19.160 proper is now confined, unquote. 05:19.740 --> 05:23.820 Charles Dyer counters, the seven heads are associated with the beast, not the woman. 05:24.360 --> 05:27.820 It doesn't identify the location of the prostitute because she's not an organic 05:27.820 --> 05:31.680 part of the beast, unquote, nor is any cowboy an organic part of his horse. 05:32.260 --> 05:34.520 The seven heads are associated with the woman. 05:35.040 --> 05:38.700 They are specifically stated to be seven hills on which she sits. 05:39.240 --> 05:39.880 That's the location. 05:40.540 --> 05:43.740 Interestingly, Rome was also known as Babylon. 05:44.300 --> 05:48.080 In his book Catholicism and Fundamentalism, Catholic apologist Karl 05:48.080 --> 05:51.640 Keating writes, quote, Babylon is a code word for Rome. 05:51.820 --> 05:54.800 It is used that way six times in the last book of the Bible. 05:55.460 --> 05:56.380 I would agree with him there. 05:56.800 --> 06:01.740 And in extra-biblical works, such as Sibling Oracles, the Apocalypse of Baruch 06:01.740 --> 06:07.180 and Esdras, Eusebius, Pamphilius, writing about 303, noted that Peter 06:07.180 --> 06:11.440 referred to Rome figuratively as Babylon, 1st Peter 5, 13. 06:11.580 --> 06:13.240 The church that is at Babylon greeteth you. 06:14.100 --> 06:17.620 The Bible often addresses a person or city under another name. 06:18.120 --> 06:23.180 For example, Jerusalem is called Sodom in Egypt, Revelation 11, 8, and Satan is 06:23.180 --> 06:27.580 addressed as the king of Babylon in Isaiah 14 and as the prince of Tyrus in Ezekiel 06:27.580 --> 06:28.060 28. 06:28.840 --> 06:30.840 Could Rome be the woman on the beast? 06:31.160 --> 06:35.680 That would make good sense, because the beast she rides is the revived Roman 06:35.680 --> 06:36.020 Empire. 06:36.980 --> 06:42.380 Fourth, this woman is called, quote, the great whore, with whom the kings of 06:42.380 --> 06:44.840 the earth have committed fornication, verses 1 and 2. 06:45.260 --> 06:49.500 While Nineveh and Tyre were associated with prostitution because of their rampant 06:49.500 --> 06:53.740 sexual immorality, literal whoredom and fornication would be impossible for a 06:53.740 --> 06:53.980 city. 06:54.600 --> 06:58.800 Spiritual fornication, however, would be possible for a city if it were a 06:58.800 --> 06:59.500 spiritual entity. 07:00.180 --> 07:01.500 Jerusalem is such a city. 07:01.920 --> 07:05.500 It's called the Holy City, the city of God, having been chosen by God to 07:05.500 --> 07:06.680 represent him to the nations. 07:07.340 --> 07:11.700 Tragically, Jerusalem violated that relationship and was repeatedly accused by 07:11.700 --> 07:14.640 God's prophets of spiritual harlotry and adultery. 07:14.960 --> 07:16.120 Just one verse of many. 07:16.440 --> 07:20.920 Isaiah said of Jerusalem, quote, how is the faithful city become a harlot? 07:21.000 --> 07:22.100 Chapter 1, verse 21. 07:22.620 --> 07:26.540 Jerusalem, however, can't be the woman riding the beast because it wasn't built 07:26.540 --> 07:30.880 on seven hills, nor does it meet any of the other criteria in John's vision. 07:31.880 --> 07:37.560 There is one other city in the world, and only one, which is a spiritual entity 07:37.560 --> 07:41.280 and could therefore commit spiritual fornication with the kings of the earth, 07:41.380 --> 07:43.040 and it is built on seven hills. 07:43.540 --> 07:48.500 Again, that city is Rome, headquarters of Roman Catholicism, which claims to be the 07:48.500 --> 07:49.380 true Christianity. 07:49.920 --> 07:51.820 Its Pope claims to be the vicar of Christ. 07:52.000 --> 07:55.860 Moreover, the Roman Catholic Church claims that its members have taken the place of 07:55.860 --> 07:59.760 Israel as the true people of God, and that Rome is therefore the new 07:59.760 --> 08:00.220 Jerusalem. 08:00.820 --> 08:04.460 Catholic Rome claims the very titles God gave to Jerusalem, the Holy City, 08:04.820 --> 08:06.960 the city of God, even the Eternal City. 08:07.700 --> 08:10.220 Let me state right now, I have no desire to attack Catholics. 08:10.340 --> 08:12.880 I'm not a Catholic basher, as I've been accused of being. 08:13.320 --> 08:14.280 I love Catholics. 08:14.480 --> 08:15.520 I want them to know the truth. 08:15.620 --> 08:16.620 Let's set the record straight. 08:17.440 --> 08:22.060 The canons and decrees of the Council of Trent, which Vatican II re-proposed, 08:22.560 --> 08:25.840 this sacred council proposes again the canons and decrees of the Council of 08:25.840 --> 08:32.900 Trent, understand, contain more than 100 anathemas damning me and every evangelical 08:32.900 --> 08:37.000 Christian for our beliefs and our unwillingness to accept Catholic dogmas 08:37.000 --> 08:37.720 and authorities. 08:38.060 --> 08:39.840 So who is really bashing whom? 08:40.680 --> 08:44.480 We've already discovered from John's vision that these four criteria, 08:45.140 --> 08:49.040 being a city known as Babylon, built on seven hills, that committed 08:49.040 --> 08:54.220 spiritual fornication with earth's rulers, have ruled out every city on earth except 08:54.220 --> 08:54.580 Rome. 08:54.880 --> 08:59.080 We're of course not talking about political civil Rome, but about religious 08:59.080 --> 09:02.760 Rome, and more specifically the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church as the 09:02.760 --> 09:05.800 worldwide leader of a false and anti-Christ Christianity. 09:07.240 --> 09:11.340 The Pope is currently leading the greatest ecumenical movement in history in order to 09:11.340 --> 09:14.060 unite all religions under Rome's leadership. 09:14.580 --> 09:19.280 As only one example, in 1986 Pope John Paul II gathered in Assisi, Italy, 09:19.400 --> 09:22.320 the leaders of the world's major religions to pray for peace. 09:22.840 --> 09:26.820 There were snake worshippers, fire worshippers, spiritists, animists, 09:27.380 --> 09:30.560 Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, North American Indian witch doctors. 09:30.920 --> 09:34.580 I watched in astonishment as they walked to the microphone to pray. 09:35.140 --> 09:39.600 The Pope said they were all praying to the same God, and that their prayers were 09:39.600 --> 09:43.320 creating a spiritual energy that was bringing about a new climate for peace. 09:43.880 --> 09:47.540 On that occasion John Paul II allowed his good friend the Dalai Lama to put the 09:47.540 --> 09:51.520 Buddha on the altar in St. Peter's Church in Assisi, and with his monks have the 09:51.520 --> 09:55.380 Buddhist worship ceremony there, while Shintoists chanted and tinkled their 09:55.380 --> 09:56.280 bells outside. 09:56.700 --> 10:00.600 The prophesied world religion is in the process of being formed before our eyes, 10:00.960 --> 10:03.100 and the Vatican is the headquarters of the movement. 10:03.840 --> 10:08.740 Is this not spiritual fornication, such as no other city either has committed 10:08.740 --> 10:09.600 or could commit? 10:10.340 --> 10:14.480 The objection is raised that Vatican City is only a small part of Rome, and is not 10:14.480 --> 10:15.960 itself built on seven hills. 10:16.360 --> 10:21.500 Historically, however, the Pope ruled as kings over all of Rome and the surrounding 10:21.500 --> 10:25.280 area, as well as over large territories across Italy known as the Papal States. 10:25.900 --> 10:30.180 Pope Innocent III abolished the Roman Senate and placed the administration of 10:30.180 --> 10:31.520 Rome directly under his control. 10:31.960 --> 10:36.120 It wasn't until 1870 that Rome and the other Vatican controlled territories were 10:36.120 --> 10:38.720 finally captured by the army of the newly united Italy. 10:39.160 --> 10:43.940 The Jews were liberated at last from Rome's shameful ghetto, and Pope Pius IX 10:43.940 --> 10:47.300 took refuge in Vatican City, which has been the headquarters of the Roman 10:47.300 --> 10:48.540 Catholic Church ever since. 10:49.500 --> 10:53.880 Today the Vatican still owns about one-third of Rome, and its influence is 10:53.880 --> 10:57.400 everywhere through its monuments, churches, and other institutions scattered 10:57.400 --> 10:59.220 throughout the entire city of Seven Hills. 10:59.720 --> 11:04.900 That church proudly identifies itself as the Roman Catholic Church. 11:05.280 --> 11:09.900 A recent article in National Catholic Reporter titled, quote, Rome where the 11:09.900 --> 11:15.440 pontiff reigns supreme, declared, no city comes close to being so suffused 11:15.440 --> 11:18.120 with religious culture as Rome is with Catholicism. 11:18.360 --> 11:23.020 What has emerged over the centuries is unmistakably a culture of the papacy, 11:23.520 --> 11:23.860 unquote. 11:23.980 --> 11:27.280 The article goes on to refer to the monuments to Roman Catholicism found 11:27.280 --> 11:31.960 everywhere in Rome, and states, quote, all roads lead sooner or later down 11:31.960 --> 11:34.580 the Via della Consolazione to the Vatican. 11:35.040 --> 11:38.160 Rome is the world's spiritual crossroads, unquote. 11:38.780 --> 11:44.220 Our Sunday Visitor's Catholic Encyclopedia adds, quote, hence one understands the 11:44.220 --> 11:48.520 central place of Rome in the life of the church today and the significance of the 11:48.520 --> 11:50.560 title Roman Catholic Church. 11:50.960 --> 11:54.760 Since the founding of the church there, Rome has been the center of all 11:54.760 --> 11:55.540 Christianity. 11:56.160 --> 11:59.440 World's spiritual crossroads, center of all Christianity. 11:59.960 --> 12:03.860 This is the one city in the world built on seven hills and known as Babylon, 12:04.040 --> 12:06.400 which is undoubtedly a spiritual entity. 12:07.220 --> 12:11.220 The popes have repeatedly engaged in partnership and thus spiritual fornication 12:11.220 --> 12:13.380 with emperors, kings, and princes. 12:13.960 --> 12:16.820 Claiming to be the bride of Christ, the Roman Catholic Church has been in bed 12:16.820 --> 12:18.580 with godless rulers down through history. 12:19.020 --> 12:23.080 Hundreds of examples could be given, not just from centuries past, but from 12:23.080 --> 12:24.060 recent times as well. 12:24.520 --> 12:27.620 Consider, for example, the alliances with Mussolini and Hitler. 12:28.060 --> 12:30.340 The Vatican literally put Mussolini into power. 12:30.820 --> 12:35.380 Pope Pius XI and his cardinals praised Mussolini as a man chosen by God and 12:35.380 --> 12:37.740 forbade Roman Catholics to oppose him politically. 12:38.500 --> 12:42.980 In turn, Mussolini signed the Concordat with the Vatican in 1929, making Roman 12:42.980 --> 12:44.720 Catholicism the sole religion of Italy. 12:45.280 --> 12:50.060 The Vatican received 750 million lire in cash and one billion in state bonds. 12:51.200 --> 12:56.360 Four years later, in 1933, came a similar Concordat with Hitler, resulting in the 12:56.360 --> 13:00.140 Vatican's reception of hundreds of millions of German marks from the Nazi 13:00.140 --> 13:02.020 regime all through World War II. 13:02.480 --> 13:05.560 Similar Concordats with many other governments have made the Roman Catholic 13:05.560 --> 13:09.900 Church the only religion allowed in those countries and have brought persecution and 13:09.900 --> 13:11.780 death upon thousands of evangelicals. 13:12.160 --> 13:17.200 One could not ask for clear examples of fornication with the kings of the earth. 13:17.620 --> 13:21.220 Ancient Babylon doesn't meet this criteria, nor does any other city. 13:21.880 --> 13:24.980 Christ never joined forces with Caesar, nor did Peter or Paul. 13:25.740 --> 13:29.320 But the Roman Catholic Church has continually engaged in adulterous 13:29.320 --> 13:32.060 relationships with secular rulers right up to the present. 13:32.420 --> 13:37.840 The cover of Time magazine, February 24th, 1992, declared, quote, holy alliance, 13:38.260 --> 13:42.360 how Reagan and the Pope conspired to assist Poland's solidarity movement and 13:42.360 --> 13:45.200 hastened the demise of communism, unquote. 13:45.440 --> 13:50.080 The alliance between Reagan and Pope John Paul II, between the CIA and the alleged 13:50.080 --> 13:53.240 vicar of Christ, could only be called spiritual fornication. 13:53.800 --> 13:57.840 Vatican liaison to the White House, Archbishop Pio Laghi, kept reminding 13:57.840 --> 14:00.760 American officials, quote, listen to the Holy Father. 14:01.200 --> 14:04.000 We have 2,000 years experience at this, unquote. 14:04.520 --> 14:08.240 2,000 years is an exaggeration, but there have been centuries of political 14:08.240 --> 14:11.240 intrigue at which the Vatican is clearly the master. 14:11.720 --> 14:13.080 And this is the true church? 14:13.520 --> 14:15.140 No, this is the whore. 14:16.020 --> 14:19.840 Mikhail Gorbachev, who has called the Pope, quote, the highest spiritual 14:19.840 --> 14:24.620 authority on earth, wrote in his syndicated column, quote, Pope John Paul 14:24.620 --> 14:28.240 II played a major political role in the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. 14:28.580 --> 14:31.700 The events in Eastern Europe might not have been possible without the presence of 14:31.700 --> 14:35.420 this Pope, without the great role which he knew how to play on the world scene, 14:35.620 --> 14:35.960 unquote. 14:36.560 --> 14:41.200 Such praise could never have been given to Christ or to his apostles, who were 14:41.200 --> 14:44.900 martyred by the secular world, which the Popes have embraced in spiritual 14:44.900 --> 14:46.960 fornication and have even dominated. 14:47.860 --> 14:49.180 Or we could give many other examples. 14:49.640 --> 14:54.900 Fifth, this city on seven hills, quote, rules over the kings of the earth, 14:55.220 --> 14:56.000 verse 19. 14:56.500 --> 15:00.280 In John's day, of course, it was the Rome of the Caesars that ruled the world. 15:00.660 --> 15:04.240 After the Caesars lost their power, the Popes ruled in their place and over 15:04.240 --> 15:06.880 wider territories and often more ruthlessly. 15:07.500 --> 15:11.020 Christ said that his kingdom is not of this world and his servants are not to 15:11.020 --> 15:11.360 fight. 15:11.800 --> 15:15.140 In direct disobedience, the Popes, who included some of the greatest military 15:15.140 --> 15:18.520 commanders in history, Pope Innocent III, never lost a battle. 15:19.140 --> 15:22.940 They fought with armies and navies in the name of Christ to build a huge kingdom, 15:23.040 --> 15:27.420 an unrivaled worldwide empire, property, wealth, and political influence, 15:27.720 --> 15:29.280 which is very much of this world. 15:29.700 --> 15:33.680 Papal worldly power has been wielded for centuries in fulfillment of John's 15:33.680 --> 15:37.440 remarkable vision, while ancient Babylon has been in ruins. 15:37.920 --> 15:39.500 Hundreds of examples could be given. 15:39.800 --> 15:40.540 Here are a few. 15:41.180 --> 15:45.040 Pope Alexander II decreed that Harold, the lawful king of England, was a usurper, 15:45.420 --> 15:48.900 excommunicated him and his followers, and gave the throne to William, 15:49.040 --> 15:49.660 Duke of Normandy. 15:50.060 --> 15:52.980 With the Pope's blessing, William the Conqueror killed Harold in battle, 15:53.320 --> 15:58.020 took over England, and was crowned in London on Christmas Day 1066. 15:58.500 --> 16:03.120 He accepted the crown of England quote, in the name of the Holy See of Rome, 16:03.440 --> 16:03.820 unquote. 16:04.180 --> 16:08.280 As the Pope's agent, William the Conqueror, now their king, was required to 16:08.280 --> 16:11.840 teach the English people due obedience to Christ's vicar and to pay their taxes to 16:11.840 --> 16:12.920 the Pope punctually. 16:13.720 --> 16:18.140 Pope Alexander III excommunicated the Roman Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, 16:18.140 --> 16:18.760 Frederick I. 16:19.520 --> 16:22.760 The latter came for revenge with his armies against the Pope and was soundly 16:22.760 --> 16:23.220 defeated. 16:23.700 --> 16:28.500 Frederick I, the Emperor, came to Venice where he groveled at the Pope's feet with 16:28.500 --> 16:30.780 his face in the dust, begging forgiveness. 16:31.340 --> 16:35.360 The Pope put his heel on the Emperor's neck while the cardinals chanted, 16:35.660 --> 16:38.700 thou shalt tread upon the lion, and adder, and so forth. 16:39.100 --> 16:44.720 Papal Rome has ruled the kings of this earth for centuries, while ancient Babylon 16:44.720 --> 16:45.840 lay in ruins. 16:46.540 --> 16:49.620 Pope Gregory VII's claim to be King of Kings was no idle boast. 16:49.880 --> 16:53.800 In 1077, Gregory forbade Henry IV, heir of Charlemagne, by the way, 16:53.900 --> 16:56.400 Charlemagne had been crowned Emperor by Pope Leo III. 16:56.940 --> 17:01.440 He forbade Henry IV, heir of Charlemagne, supreme head of the Holy Roman Empire, 17:01.800 --> 17:05.040 to rule the kingdoms of Italy and Germany and threatened to excommunicate anyone who 17:05.040 --> 17:05.860 would serve him as king. 17:06.500 --> 17:10.060 Henry journeyed across the Alps in winter to beg the Pope's forgiveness. 17:10.580 --> 17:15.620 The humbled Emperor had to stand three days in penitence, barefoot and in a hair 17:15.620 --> 17:20.720 cloth shirt outside the Pope's castle at Canossa before he was granted an audience 17:20.720 --> 17:22.200 to express his repentance. 17:23.060 --> 17:27.480 In 1155, Pope Adrian IV gave the crown of Ireland to the King of England, 17:27.620 --> 17:30.760 consigning the Irish to the merciless cruelties of Henry II. 17:31.160 --> 17:35.040 A later King of England, John Lackland, tried to break free from Rome and Pope 17:35.040 --> 17:39.520 Innocent III forced him to surrender his crown, thereafter allowing him to rule 17:39.520 --> 17:41.460 only as a vassal of the Holy See. 17:41.940 --> 17:47.200 One 18th century Catholic historian counted 95 Popes who claimed to have 17:47.200 --> 17:49.920 divine power to depose kings and emperors. 17:50.460 --> 17:51.220 Historian R. 17:51.220 --> 17:51.500 W. 17:51.800 --> 17:56.440 Southern declared, quote, during the whole medieval period there was in Rome a single 17:56.440 --> 18:00.820 spiritual and temporal authority exercising powers which in the end 18:00.820 --> 18:04.820 exceeded those that had ever lain within the grasp of a Roman Emperor, unquote. 18:04.820 --> 18:10.940 Pope Gregory XI's papal bull of 1372 in Condomini claimed papal dominion over the 18:10.940 --> 18:13.940 entire Christian world, secular and religious, and excommunicated all who 18:13.940 --> 18:15.800 failed to obey the Popes and to pay them taxes. 18:16.160 --> 18:21.440 The bull was confirmed by subsequent Popes and in 1568 Pope Pius V swore that it was 18:21.440 --> 18:23.060 to remain an eternal law. 18:23.640 --> 18:28.460 Surely no other city at the present or in history can rival the way in which Rome, 18:28.560 --> 18:34.100 especially Catholic Rome, qualifies as the city on seven hills which reigns over 18:34.100 --> 18:34.660 kings. 18:35.940 --> 18:41.060 Hundreds more examples could be given covering centuries when Babylon lay in 18:41.060 --> 18:41.460 ruins. 18:41.920 --> 18:44.920 Nor is empire building an abandoned feature of the past. 18:45.300 --> 18:49.840 The Second Vatican Council declared that, quote, the Catholic Church ceaselessly and 18:49.840 --> 18:54.260 efficaciously seeks for the return of all humanity and all its goods under Christ, 18:54.380 --> 18:54.720 unquote. 18:54.840 --> 18:56.900 Meaning, of course, under the Pope Christ's alleged vicar. 18:57.780 --> 18:58.600 The sixth point. 18:59.120 --> 19:03.040 Not only is Babylon the code name for Rome, but Rome's connections to Babylon go 19:03.040 --> 19:03.560 much deeper. 19:04.440 --> 19:09.340 Ancient Babylon drew its Semitic name, Babylou, Gate of God, from the Tower of 19:09.340 --> 19:10.860 Babel around whose ruins it was built. 19:11.000 --> 19:14.800 That tower, designed to reach to heaven, was the headquarters of the first world 19:14.800 --> 19:18.920 religion, just as Rome will be for the coming world religion of Antichrist. 19:19.320 --> 19:24.200 Furthermore, just as Babel's tower and city let us build us a city and a tower 19:24.200 --> 19:29.280 whose top may reach to heaven, just as Babel's tower and city united 19:29.280 --> 19:33.620 church and state, so the Popes wielded both civil and religious authority. 19:34.080 --> 19:37.480 And in like manner, the woman and the beast she rides will unite the coming 19:37.480 --> 19:42.420 world government and world religion with its attempt to reach heaven by steps of 19:42.420 --> 19:43.060 its own making. 19:43.460 --> 19:46.280 Babel, Babylon, was the ultimate works religion. 19:46.800 --> 19:48.360 And so it is in Roman Catholicism. 19:48.960 --> 19:51.360 Salvation is unquestionably by works. 19:51.880 --> 19:57.380 Vatican II declares, quote, to gain indulgences, the work prescribed must be 19:57.380 --> 19:57.660 done. 19:57.900 --> 20:02.840 From the most ancient times in the church, good works were also offered to God for 20:02.840 --> 20:03.880 the salvation of sinners. 20:04.260 --> 20:08.600 All men may attain to salvation through faith, baptism, and the observance of the 20:08.600 --> 20:09.720 commandments, unquote. 20:10.200 --> 20:15.500 The Council of Trent, as reproposed by Vatican II, decreed, quote, if anyone says 20:15.500 --> 20:21.640 that the sacraments of the new law are not necessary, talk about Galatianism and the 20:21.640 --> 20:25.620 Judaizers, if anyone says that the sacraments of the new law are not 20:25.620 --> 20:31.160 necessary for salvation, at that without them, men obtained from God through faith 20:31.160 --> 20:34.500 alone the grace of justification, let him be anathema. 20:34.820 --> 20:36.800 That's one of more than a hundred anathemas. 20:37.520 --> 20:41.320 Clearly, good works play a key role in earning salvation in Catholicism, 20:41.440 --> 20:42.900 as the average Catholic would testify. 20:43.600 --> 20:48.420 Thus, by its practice of salvation through good works and ritual, Catholic Rome once 20:48.420 --> 20:52.340 again fits the description of the woman whose name is Babylon. 20:53.080 --> 20:56.840 The seventh identifying feature, John tells us that the name Babylon 20:56.840 --> 21:00.420 emblazoned on the woman's forehead is preceded by the word mystery. 21:01.300 --> 21:04.800 Here again, mystery is the very heart of Roman Catholicism. 21:05.320 --> 21:09.740 Pope Paul VI's encyclical on the Eucharist is titled Mysterium Fidei. 21:10.020 --> 21:13.460 Vatican II refers repeatedly to, quote, the mystery of the Eucharist, 21:13.520 --> 21:13.880 unquote. 21:14.300 --> 21:18.000 The Vatican's new universal catechism declares that all of the church's liturgy 21:18.000 --> 21:23.080 is mystery, and that its aim is, quote, to initiate souls into the mystery 21:23.080 --> 21:23.580 of Christ. 21:23.780 --> 21:25.080 It is mystagogy, unquote. 21:25.620 --> 21:29.520 By claiming to be the custodian of a mystery, which only its priests and 21:29.520 --> 21:33.740 bishops can mediate, the Roman Catholic Church keeps its members dependent upon it 21:33.740 --> 21:37.960 rather than upon Christ for their salvation, which it has historically sold 21:37.960 --> 21:43.520 for money, and still does so today, and thus trades in the souls of men, 21:43.920 --> 21:46.220 as Revelation 18.13 says. 21:47.700 --> 21:52.080 The eighth point, John notes that the woman on the beast is clothed, 21:52.140 --> 21:54.560 quote, in purple and scarlet, unquote, verse 4. 21:54.840 --> 21:58.200 These were the colors of the Roman Caesars, became those of the Roman 21:58.200 --> 22:00.720 Catholic hierarchy, and remains so today. 22:00.940 --> 22:06.260 The Catholic Encyclopedia declares of the ankle-length robe worn by Catholic clergy 22:06.260 --> 22:09.740 as their official garb, quote, the color for bishops and other prelates 22:09.740 --> 22:12.600 is purple, for cardinals, scarlet, unquote. 22:12.680 --> 22:17.440 This may seem a small point, but as one identifying feature after another falls 22:17.440 --> 22:20.700 into place, the case becomes overwhelming. 22:21.100 --> 22:23.420 Catholic Rome meets all the criteria. 22:23.840 --> 22:28.400 No other city comes close, certainly not a city lying in ruins for the past 2,000 22:28.400 --> 22:28.760 years. 22:29.620 --> 22:34.160 The ninth identifying feature, the woman is wealthy beyond calculation, 22:34.480 --> 22:39.180 quote, decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in 22:39.180 --> 22:41.340 her hand, unquote, Revelation 17.4. 22:42.000 --> 22:45.300 The Roman Catholic Church is by far the wealthiest institution on earth. 22:45.860 --> 22:49.620 Every cathedral, you've traveled to Europe and South America and so forth, 22:49.660 --> 22:53.820 you know, every cathedral has its treasury, where priceless objects are 22:53.820 --> 22:56.280 displayed for those who pay the price to see them. 22:56.820 --> 23:00.880 The value of innumerable sculptures by such masters as Michelangelo, paintings by 23:00.880 --> 23:03.180 the world's greatest artists, and countless other art treasures, 23:03.860 --> 23:08.020 and ancient documents which she possesses, not only at the Vatican, but in cathedrals 23:08.020 --> 23:10.700 around the world, the value is beyond calculation. 23:10.880 --> 23:15.300 Nino Lobello, former Rome correspondent for Businessweek, calls the Vatican the 23:15.300 --> 23:18.900 tycoon on the Tiber because of its incredible wealth and worldwide 23:18.900 --> 23:19.680 enterprises. 23:20.140 --> 23:23.600 His research indicates it's probably the largest holder of stocks and bonds in the 23:23.600 --> 23:27.500 world to say nothing of its ownership of industries, from electronics and plastics 23:27.500 --> 23:29.480 to airlines and chemical and engineering firms. 23:29.880 --> 23:34.520 There is no city, past or present, which even comes close to possessing the 23:34.520 --> 23:37.540 incalculable wealth of the Roman Catholic Church. 23:37.980 --> 23:42.680 The rich clothing adorning the woman reflect the fact that the robes worn by 23:42.680 --> 23:46.740 popes in the regalia used in pomp and ceremony were inherited from the Caesars. 23:47.100 --> 23:51.340 One Catholic historian has written, quote, the Bishop of Rome looked like 23:51.340 --> 23:56.280 Constantine, lived like him, dressed like him, inhabited his palaces, ruled over his 23:56.280 --> 23:58.880 lands, had exactly the same imperial outlook. 23:59.220 --> 24:01.880 The popes had become obsessed with power and possession. 24:02.420 --> 24:06.460 Peter's successors became not the servants but the masters of the world. 24:06.800 --> 24:10.700 They dress in purple like Nero and call themselves Pontifex Maximus. 24:11.500 --> 24:15.700 Tenth, the woman riding the beast has a golden cup in her hand. 24:16.160 --> 24:21.800 This is the holiest instrument in Roman Catholicism, the golden chalice used in 24:21.800 --> 24:23.040 the Eucharist or Mass. 24:23.500 --> 24:27.660 The Roman Catholic Church possesses literally hundreds of thousands of gold 24:27.660 --> 24:28.120 chalices. 24:28.680 --> 24:31.680 If there's any mark of the Catholic Church, it would be the gold cup. 24:32.340 --> 24:36.600 Eleventh, John perceives that this golden chalice is filled with, quote, 24:36.700 --> 24:41.340 the filthiness of her abominations, unquote, reflecting the Bible's view of 24:41.340 --> 24:44.040 the sacrifice of the Mass at the very heart of Roman Catholicism. 24:44.580 --> 24:47.780 Such was the conviction of hundreds of thousands of Christians throughout history 24:47.780 --> 24:52.540 who were burned at the stake for refusing to participate in the Mass, which they 24:52.540 --> 24:55.420 earnestly believed was the greatest abomination conceivable. 24:55.820 --> 24:56.100 Why? 24:56.720 --> 25:01.100 Because it claims to be the literal sacrificial offering again and again of 25:01.100 --> 25:04.460 the body and blood of Christ, whereas the Bible clearly says that Christ's sacrifice 25:04.460 --> 25:08.700 upon the cross was completed once and for all, never to be repeated again. 25:09.440 --> 25:13.400 Catholicism claims that when at the Last Supper Christ said, quote, this is my 25:13.400 --> 25:15.560 body, this is my blood, he had to be taken literally. 25:16.040 --> 25:19.360 The bread and wine he held in his hands had with those words become his literal 25:19.360 --> 25:20.260 body and blood. 25:20.700 --> 25:23.920 And when the priest speaks those words today, the bread and wine become again 25:23.920 --> 25:29.040 Christ's literal body and blood to be sacrificed endlessly on Catholic altars as 25:29.040 --> 25:31.220 truly as Christ was sacrificed on the cross. 25:31.900 --> 25:35.560 No one takes it literally when Christ said, I'm the door, I'm the light of the 25:35.560 --> 25:39.660 world, I'm the good shepherd, or when he called his disciples sheep, Christ was 25:39.660 --> 25:43.060 obviously speaking figuratively when he referred to bread and wine as his body and 25:43.060 --> 25:43.260 blood. 25:43.640 --> 25:46.720 There's no way that the bread could literally be his body when he was sitting 25:46.720 --> 25:48.420 there in his physical body holding the bread. 25:48.820 --> 25:52.680 Much less can millions of tiny wafers each be simultaneously. 25:53.180 --> 25:56.500 Christ's literal body and blood, soul, personality, divinity, whole and 25:56.500 --> 25:58.420 entire, as Catholicism claims. 25:58.760 --> 26:03.440 That is not literalism but mysticism, the very mystery emblazoned on the woman's 26:03.440 --> 26:03.800 forehead. 26:04.500 --> 26:09.280 Compounding the error, Vatican II declares, quote, our Savior at the Last 26:09.280 --> 26:12.460 Supper instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his body and blood, 26:12.880 --> 26:13.260 unquote. 26:13.600 --> 26:18.580 The Council of Trent agrees that Christ at the Last Supper, quote, offered up to God 26:18.580 --> 26:22.260 the Father his own body and blood under the form of bread and wine, unquote. 26:22.260 --> 26:26.760 If so, then he was sacrificed for the sins of the world at the Last Supper before he 26:26.760 --> 26:27.480 went to the cross. 26:28.080 --> 26:31.200 Indeed, he wouldn't have to go to the cross at all if Catholic priests, 26:31.380 --> 26:35.340 as they claim, can truly turn bread and wine into the literal body and blood of 26:35.340 --> 26:39.020 Christ and offer it as a propitiatory sacrifice on their altars. 26:39.460 --> 26:42.880 This is the great mystery at the heart of Catholicism. 26:43.300 --> 26:47.800 The Pocket Catholic Dictionary states, quote, the Mass is a truly propitiatory 26:47.800 --> 26:53.100 sacrifice by which the Lord is appeased, he grants grace, he pardons wrongdoings 26:53.100 --> 26:54.300 and sins, unquote. 26:54.920 --> 26:58.720 The Council of Trent declared, quote, regarding the great mystery of the 26:58.720 --> 27:02.620 Eucharist, it is the true and only sacrifice, unquote. 27:03.100 --> 27:04.340 Then the cross is unnecessary. 27:05.280 --> 27:09.240 Of course, Catholic apologists would say that the cross is essential, yet in 27:09.240 --> 27:14.860 Catholicism, Christ's sacrifice upon the cross is only effective in its repetition 27:14.860 --> 27:18.760 in the Mass and then only partially each time the Mass is repeated. 27:19.160 --> 27:21.860 It takes many repetitions of the Mass to take a soul to heaven. 27:22.280 --> 27:26.420 Christ won for the world all the graces it needs for salvation and sanctification, 27:27.020 --> 27:31.920 but these blessings are conferred gradually and continually since Calvary, 27:32.340 --> 27:33.380 mainly through the Mass. 27:33.760 --> 27:37.980 The priest is indispensable since he alone, by his powers, can change the 27:37.980 --> 27:40.640 elements of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. 27:41.080 --> 27:45.060 The more often the sacrifice is offered, the more benefit is conferred, 27:45.160 --> 27:45.500 unquote. 27:46.220 --> 27:50.220 In other words, Christ's sacrifice is not yet complete, but is still in process 27:50.220 --> 27:50.920 through the Mass. 27:51.260 --> 27:56.000 Indeed, Vatican II, page 1 says, quote, for it is the liturgy through which 27:56.000 --> 28:00.060 especially in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist the work of our redemption is 28:00.060 --> 28:01.200 accomplished, unquote. 28:01.900 --> 28:06.360 Hebrews 9.12 assures us that Christ obtained eternal redemption for us. 28:06.680 --> 28:12.020 Ephesians 1.7, Colossians 1.14 both state, in whom, in Christ, we have redemption 28:12.020 --> 28:14.340 through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. 28:14.940 --> 28:19.500 Yet Vatican II insists, quote, for in the sacrifice of the Mass our Lord 28:19.500 --> 28:20.540 is immolated. 28:20.980 --> 28:21.840 He's still suffering. 28:22.740 --> 28:27.340 The Mass is a sacrifice in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated, 28:27.540 --> 28:27.860 unquote. 28:28.160 --> 28:32.460 The pocket Catholic dictionary explains that in the Mass Christ, quote, 28:32.780 --> 28:36.120 offers himself as really as he did on Calvary, unquote. 28:36.660 --> 28:40.060 Then what did Christ mean when he cried in triumph, it is finished. 28:40.580 --> 28:45.780 Indeed, that golden cup is full of abominations, as Revelation 17 foretold. 28:46.480 --> 28:51.220 Playing a semantic game, Catholicism suggests that Christ isn't really being 28:51.220 --> 28:54.440 sacrificed over and over, but his sacrifice on the cross is being 28:54.440 --> 28:56.300 represented or made present. 28:57.080 --> 28:58.900 Such a statement is meaningless. 28:59.260 --> 29:02.240 An event that was completed in the past can't be made present. 29:02.720 --> 29:06.500 Moreover, if the past event accomplished its purpose, then there's no reason for 29:06.500 --> 29:09.500 wanting to perpetuate it in the present, even if that could be done. 29:10.000 --> 29:13.640 For example, if a benefactor pays a creditor the debt someone owes, 29:13.980 --> 29:15.280 the debt is gone forever. 29:15.560 --> 29:19.360 It would be meaningless to speak of representing or reenacting or perpetuating 29:19.360 --> 29:20.660 the payment in the present. 29:20.980 --> 29:25.200 One could well remember with gratitude the payment that was made, but no reenactment 29:25.200 --> 29:29.120 would have any virtue, since there no longer remains any debt to be paid. 29:29.660 --> 29:34.060 Yet the New Catechism of the Catholic Church says, quote, as sacrifice the 29:34.060 --> 29:38.700 Eucharist is also offered in reparation for the sins of the living and the dead 29:38.700 --> 29:42.220 and to obtain spiritual or temporal benefits from God. 29:43.400 --> 29:47.180 That's like trying to pay more installments on a debt that's been paid in 29:47.180 --> 29:47.420 full. 29:47.960 --> 29:51.960 Clearly the mass is a denial of the sufficiency of the payment Christ made for 29:51.960 --> 29:52.840 sin upon the cross. 29:53.480 --> 29:57.400 At the heart of this error, the Catholic priesthood claims to perform the miracle 29:57.400 --> 30:00.460 of transubstantiation, turning bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, 30:00.900 --> 30:04.920 quote, under the appearance of remaining bread and wine, unquote. 30:05.180 --> 30:09.760 This mystery, they call it, is supposed to be a great miracle, even though the wafer 30:09.760 --> 30:12.040 and wine remain unchanged in physical qualities. 30:12.320 --> 30:13.860 There's no such miracle in the Bible. 30:14.280 --> 30:17.940 Did Christ ever give a blind man his sight under the appearance of the man remaining 30:17.940 --> 30:18.320 blind? 30:18.780 --> 30:22.620 Did he ever raise a dead man to life under the appearance of the man remaining dead? 30:23.120 --> 30:27.100 Under those circumstances, it wouldn't be unbelief but common sense to deny that the 30:27.100 --> 30:28.500 alleged miracle had occurred at all. 30:29.280 --> 30:33.060 Suppose the water turned to wine by Christ at the wedding in Cana had been this kind 30:33.060 --> 30:33.860 of miracle. 30:34.420 --> 30:37.620 The servants poured out to the governor of the feast and he exclaims, I asked for 30:37.620 --> 30:38.600 wine, this is water. 30:38.960 --> 30:40.900 The servants insist, sir, it is wine. 30:41.320 --> 30:44.780 Angrily the governor shouts, it looks like water, tastes like water, it is water. 30:45.220 --> 30:46.980 You need faith, the servants insist. 30:47.200 --> 30:47.900 This is a miracle. 30:48.440 --> 30:51.860 Christ turned water into wine but under the appearance of remaining water. 30:52.400 --> 30:55.800 That's not a miracle, that's a fraud, would be the governor's response and he 30:55.800 --> 30:56.400 would be right. 30:56.980 --> 30:58.820 And so it is with transubstantiation. 30:59.260 --> 31:01.920 The golden cup is full of abominations. 31:02.560 --> 31:05.620 The dogma of purgatory is another abomination in the golden cup. 31:06.200 --> 31:10.040 Vatican II says that although Christ suffered to bear our eternal punishment, 31:10.520 --> 31:15.120 we must personally suffer to expiate the temporal punishment due for our sins. 31:15.680 --> 31:17.400 And you're anathematized if you deny that. 31:17.920 --> 31:22.600 Sin, I'm quoting Vatican II now, sin must be expiated through the sorrows, 31:22.720 --> 31:27.480 miseries, and trials of this life or in the next life through fire and torments or 31:27.480 --> 31:28.920 purifying punishments. 31:29.080 --> 31:32.840 In purgatory the souls of those who died in the charity of God and truly repentant 31:32.840 --> 31:37.720 for their sins and omissions are cleansed after death with punishments designed to 31:37.720 --> 31:38.740 purge away their debt. 31:39.280 --> 31:44.320 Yet in blatant contradiction, at the same time out of the other side of its mouth, 31:44.800 --> 31:47.840 Catholicism says, well but we don't really have to suffer. 31:48.320 --> 31:52.860 Masses and rosaries can be said even after one's death to reduce one's suffering in 31:52.860 --> 31:53.280 purgatory. 31:53.560 --> 31:58.240 For those who die wearing the brown scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and 31:58.240 --> 32:01.480 fulfill certain other obligations, she promises to go into purgatory the 32:01.480 --> 32:04.940 Saturday after their death and take them out to heaven so they don't have to 32:04.940 --> 32:05.700 personally suffer. 32:06.080 --> 32:10.400 Christ's sacrifice on the cross was not sufficient but it's alleged repetition in 32:10.400 --> 32:13.820 the Mass, if done enough times, will eventually get one to heaven. 32:14.320 --> 32:18.020 Moreover good Catholics may offer their suffering to release souls from purgatory. 32:18.500 --> 32:22.980 Padre Pio manifested the stigmata for 40 years to pay the penalty for the sins of 32:22.980 --> 32:25.820 the world so that souls could be released from purgatory. 32:26.420 --> 32:30.980 Of such alleged saints, Vatican II says, quote, they have carried their crosses to 32:30.980 --> 32:34.240 make expiation for their own sins and the sins of others. 32:34.400 --> 32:38.140 They were convinced that by their suffering they could help their brothers 32:38.140 --> 32:40.720 to obtain salvation from God, unquote. 32:41.320 --> 32:45.000 Catholicism has indeed filled that golden cup with abominations. 32:45.380 --> 32:50.160 For centuries the payment of money brought deliverance from purgatory and passage 32:50.160 --> 32:50.780 into heaven. 32:50.780 --> 32:53.800 That practice eventually sparked the Reformation, as you remember. 32:54.280 --> 32:57.940 Who can forget the infamous sales pitch of the Dominican friar Tetzel, commissioned 32:57.940 --> 33:02.740 by Pope Leo X to reap a fortune for Rome, quote, as soon as the coin in the coffer 33:02.740 --> 33:06.000 rings, a soul from purgatory springs, unquote. 33:06.600 --> 33:07.500 This was nothing new. 33:08.020 --> 33:10.440 Rome had consistently sold salvation for centuries. 33:10.880 --> 33:15.380 Again we say she has, quote, made merchandise of souls of men, unquote, 33:15.680 --> 33:17.000 Revelation 18.13. 33:17.600 --> 33:21.840 Popes published lists of every crime from incest to piracy to murder with a price 33:21.840 --> 33:24.060 for which the church would give absolution for each. 33:24.420 --> 33:27.740 For example, a deacon guilty of murder could be absolved for 20 crowns. 33:28.240 --> 33:32.000 The anointed malefactors, as they were called, once pardoned by the church could 33:32.000 --> 33:35.540 not be prosecuted by civil authorities because the church reigned supreme. 33:36.100 --> 33:40.240 Here's a further abomination filling the woman's golden cup, selling tickets to 33:40.240 --> 33:41.640 heaven that end people up in hell. 33:42.360 --> 33:45.500 Similar practices continue in Roman Catholicism today. 33:47.120 --> 33:47.900 Here's a mass card. 33:48.300 --> 33:51.860 One may obtain a mass card from any mortuary when the names of the deceased 33:51.860 --> 33:55.920 and the donor have been filled in an offering given to the church. 33:56.280 --> 34:01.360 The priest places the card on the altar during mass, allegedly reducing the time 34:01.360 --> 34:03.100 of suffering for the deceased in purgatory. 34:03.620 --> 34:06.980 Of course, the church makes no guarantee how much suffering will be shortened or 34:06.980 --> 34:10.380 how many more masses must be said before the gates of heaven can be opened. 34:10.860 --> 34:14.040 Consequently, multiple masses are purchased, hoping that eventually enough 34:14.040 --> 34:14.760 will be celebrated. 34:15.240 --> 34:19.220 A friend's father died recently and he told me that $2,000 in mass cards were 34:19.220 --> 34:23.500 purchased at the funeral, and of course many more will be in following years. 34:24.400 --> 34:29.200 Some Catholics claim they don't believe in indulgences, but Vatican II declares, 34:29.460 --> 34:34.660 quote, the church condemns with anathema those who say that indulgences are useless 34:34.660 --> 34:38.280 or that the church does not have the power to grant them, unquote. 34:38.880 --> 34:42.920 Vatican II provides 20 complex rules governing indulgences. 34:43.200 --> 34:43.940 Just give you one. 34:44.080 --> 34:48.500 Rule 17 explains that the use of a crucifix, rosary, scapular, or medal, 34:48.900 --> 34:53.160 quote, can gain a partial indulgence, but if this object of piety is blushed by 34:53.160 --> 34:56.980 the Pope or any bishop, the faithful who use it with devotion can also gain a 34:56.980 --> 35:00.320 plenary indulgence on the Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul, unquote. 35:00.780 --> 35:03.100 Here's another abomination filling that gold chalice. 35:03.160 --> 35:07.200 What kind of God grants favors depending upon whether a priest or a bishop has 35:07.200 --> 35:11.500 blessed some scapular or medal and whether it is used on a Feast of Peter or Paul, 35:11.880 --> 35:15.840 and favors, remember, which the sufferings of Christ upon the cross could not 35:15.840 --> 35:16.200 procure. 35:17.080 --> 35:21.320 Twelve, the woman is called, quote, the mother of harlots, unquote, 35:22.040 --> 35:23.580 as well as spiritual harlots. 35:23.980 --> 35:27.840 Roman Catholicism has created literal harlots by the millions. 35:28.420 --> 35:32.000 Throughout history and today, priests, bishops, cardinals, and popes without 35:32.000 --> 35:34.920 number who claim to be celibates have had their lovers. 35:35.500 --> 35:38.260 There were popes who were the sons of supposedly celibate popes. 35:38.680 --> 35:43.000 Pope Silvarius was fathered by Pope Hormistus and John XI by Sergius III, 35:43.140 --> 35:44.220 by his favorite mistress. 35:44.840 --> 35:49.680 The list of bastards who ruled the church includes Popes Boniface I, Gelasius, 35:49.820 --> 35:51.860 Agapetus, Theodore, Adrian IV, and others. 35:52.240 --> 35:55.540 No wonder Pope Pius II, who himself fathered illegitimate children, 35:55.680 --> 35:59.560 said that Rome was, quote, the only city run by bastards, unquote. 36:00.140 --> 36:04.240 For centuries it was a favorite joke that Rome had more prostitutes than any other 36:04.240 --> 36:05.960 city because she had the most celibates. 36:06.720 --> 36:10.860 The sexual exploits of supposedly celibate priests and nuns, once hushed up, 36:11.200 --> 36:13.020 are increasingly coming out in the open. 36:13.500 --> 36:16.340 For example, the National Catholic Reporter recently stated, quote, 36:16.780 --> 36:21.300 seven French women, companions of priests, who are forced to live clandestinely for a 36:21.300 --> 36:24.560 lifetime, the love they share with the priest and who represent thousands of 36:24.560 --> 36:28.260 women in similar relationships, arrived at the Vatican August 20th. 36:28.580 --> 36:31.920 They asked the Pope, of course they couldn't get near him, but they asked the 36:31.920 --> 36:36.120 Pope to look into the reality faced by thousands of priest companions who live in 36:36.120 --> 36:40.020 the shadows, often with the approval of church superiors and by the children who 36:40.020 --> 36:42.600 are raised by their mothers alone or are abandoned, unquote. 36:43.020 --> 36:46.340 Just to give you some recent examples, the Archbishop of Vienna recently stepped 36:46.340 --> 36:48.480 down after being charged with sexual abuse of minors. 36:48.560 --> 36:51.800 The Bishop of Basel, Switzerland, too, resigned after admitting an affair 36:51.800 --> 36:52.880 with a woman whom he made pregnant. 36:52.980 --> 36:55.980 The resignation of Ireland's Prime Minister and the collapse of the Irish 36:55.980 --> 36:59.640 government was recently precipitated by the exposure of 40 years of the Catholic 36:59.640 --> 37:03.560 Church and Catholic government officials covering up the continued priestly sexual 37:03.560 --> 37:03.920 abuse. 37:04.360 --> 37:08.220 Homosexual priests are dying of AIDS worldwide, with estimates that as many as 37:08.220 --> 37:12.040 70% of priests in some seminaries are practicing homosexuals. 37:12.360 --> 37:17.320 The Roman Catholic Church in America has paid out an estimated $1 billion in the 37:17.320 --> 37:20.940 past few years in out-of-court settlements to cover up its clergy's sexual abuse. 37:21.280 --> 37:24.980 The Franciscan seminary in Santa Barbara, California, recently had to shut down 37:24.980 --> 37:27.080 because of the sexual involvement of its priests. 37:27.400 --> 37:31.440 The Milwaukee Archdiocese is in serious financial trouble due to payments it has 37:31.440 --> 37:34.460 had to make for out-of-court settlements involving its priests' sexual affairs. 37:34.740 --> 37:38.740 The Archdiocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is on the brink of bankruptcy because of 37:38.740 --> 37:40.720 lawsuits against it for priestly sexual abuse. 37:41.080 --> 37:41.840 I could go on and on. 37:41.880 --> 37:46.720 I have a file nearly two inches thick of news articles involving sexual immorality 37:46.720 --> 37:49.040 of Roman Catholic clergy just within the last two years. 37:49.500 --> 37:53.180 It's not that Catholic priests and nuns are any more lustful than the average 37:53.180 --> 37:53.540 person. 37:53.620 --> 37:57.200 They may have started out with higher ideals, but they've had imposed upon them 37:57.200 --> 38:01.140 the unbiblical rule of celibacy, which becomes a burden too great to bear. 38:01.240 --> 38:06.780 One Spanish ex-priest writing in the early 1700s said that of one million priests in 38:06.780 --> 38:09.360 Spain, he estimated 500 were celibates. 38:10.380 --> 38:15.320 The woman is literally, quote, the mother of harlots, unquote. 38:16.260 --> 38:21.080 Thirteenth, the woman is drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of 38:21.080 --> 38:22.440 the martyrs of Jesus, verse 6. 38:23.180 --> 38:26.380 For centuries, to disobey the Popes was heresy punishable by death. 38:26.520 --> 38:26.820 J.H. 38:26.880 --> 38:30.520 Ignace von Dallinger, a leading 19th century Catholic professor of church 38:30.520 --> 38:34.820 history, confessed, quote, since 1183, the view of the church had been that every 38:34.820 --> 38:38.900 departure from the teaching of the church must be punished with death and the most 38:38.900 --> 38:40.400 cruel of deaths by fire. 38:40.640 --> 38:45.460 For 1,000 years before the Reformation, there were Christians who refused to give 38:45.460 --> 38:48.220 allegiance to Rome and who were slaughtered by the millions. 38:48.620 --> 38:51.060 Everyone knows of the crusades to retake the Holy Land. 38:51.400 --> 38:53.260 Not for the Jews, by the way, but for the church. 38:53.820 --> 38:56.940 But few know that even larger and more numerous crusades were fought to 38:56.940 --> 39:00.500 exterminate Christians all over Europe who, out of conscience to God and 39:00.500 --> 39:04.200 obedience to the Bible, would not submit to the authority of the Popes or embrace 39:04.200 --> 39:05.020 Rome's heresies. 39:05.380 --> 39:10.020 The Popes promised instant entrance to heaven for those who died in the slaughter 39:10.020 --> 39:10.820 of the heretics. 39:11.020 --> 39:16.060 It took about a century to exterminate the Albigensian Christians who at one time 39:16.060 --> 39:18.320 were the majority of the population of southern France. 39:18.940 --> 39:22.960 Among the Albigensian cities wiped out by Pope Innocent III was Béziers, 39:23.140 --> 39:25.240 France, for example, in 1208 AD. 39:25.420 --> 39:29.660 60,000 massacred there, including women and children, which the Pope called, 39:29.960 --> 39:32.940 quote, the crowning achievement of my papacy, unquote. 39:33.680 --> 39:38.080 In the infamous St. Bartholomew's Massacre, as you know, they were promised 39:38.080 --> 39:38.560 safety. 39:39.020 --> 39:41.420 70,000 Huguenots were slaughtered. 39:41.700 --> 39:46.420 Another 200,000 were slaughtered over a period of months, causing 500,000 to flee 39:46.420 --> 39:47.820 to Protestant countries for refuge. 39:48.160 --> 39:51.300 The Waldenses were all but exterminated, as were the Hussites. 39:51.580 --> 39:56.340 Let me read you just part of Pope Martin V's letter commanding the King of Poland 39:56.340 --> 40:00.520 in 1429, this is a hundred years before the Reformation, to exterminate the 40:00.520 --> 40:01.000 Hussites. 40:01.340 --> 40:05.840 Quote, know that the interests of the Holy See and those of your crown make it a duty 40:05.840 --> 40:07.360 to exterminate the Hussites. 40:07.900 --> 40:11.840 Remember that these impious persons dare proclaim principles of equality, 40:12.240 --> 40:15.760 that all Christians are brethren, that Christ came on earth to abolish 40:15.760 --> 40:16.180 slavery. 40:16.580 --> 40:17.960 They call the people to liberty. 40:18.320 --> 40:21.440 While there is still time then, turn your forces against Bohemia, 40:21.620 --> 40:26.220 burn, massacre, make deserts everywhere, for nothing could be more agreeable to God 40:26.220 --> 40:30.240 or more useful to the cause of kings than the extermination of the Hussites, 40:30.540 --> 40:30.960 unquote. 40:31.520 --> 40:35.440 We haven't time to mention the horror of the torture and murder, murders of the 40:35.440 --> 40:38.060 Inquisitions, which terrorized Europe for centuries. 40:38.400 --> 40:43.700 There is no city on earth which even comes close to having shed as much blood, 40:43.980 --> 40:46.320 both of Christians and Jews, as has Rome. 40:46.600 --> 40:50.500 Pagan Rome's killing of Christians during periodic persecutions in the first three 40:50.500 --> 40:54.640 centuries was nothing compared to the slaughter of both Christians and Jews by 40:54.640 --> 40:55.380 Catholic Rome. 40:55.640 --> 40:59.560 Historian Will Durant writes candidly, quote, compared with the persecution of 40:59.560 --> 41:03.120 religious heresy in Europe by the Roman Catholic Church, the persecution of 41:03.120 --> 41:07.100 Christians in the first three centuries after Christ by Pagan Rome was a mild and 41:07.100 --> 41:08.760 humane procedure, unquote. 41:09.300 --> 41:14.120 Yes, this woman is indeed, quote, drunk with the blood of the Saints and the 41:14.120 --> 41:19.320 martyrs of Jesus, unquote, and no other city even comes close to Rome in this 41:19.320 --> 41:24.360 regard, certainly not ancient Babylon, which lay in ruins while Rome slaughtered 41:24.360 --> 41:24.840 the Saints. 41:25.740 --> 41:31.100 Fourteenth, the fact that, this is the final point, fourteenth, the fact that it 41:31.100 --> 41:36.020 is a woman who rides the beast also points to Roman Catholicism. 41:36.520 --> 41:40.680 Its main figure is a woman, a false, sinless, perpetually virgin and 41:40.680 --> 41:44.400 all-powerful Mary whom Rome has invented and worships. 41:44.800 --> 41:49.020 Catholics deny they worship Mary and insist that the devotion and honor they 41:49.020 --> 41:53.360 give her is of a lesser quality than that given to God in Christ, perhaps in theory, 41:53.680 --> 41:54.660 but not in practice. 41:55.020 --> 41:58.240 There are thousands of large and ornate shrines to Mary around the world, 41:58.340 --> 42:02.860 nearly a thousand in France alone, visited by hundreds of millions each year, 42:03.160 --> 42:07.240 but scarcely a handful of shrines to Christ in the entire world and generally 42:07.240 --> 42:08.640 very small with few visitors. 42:08.840 --> 42:12.460 I found my first shrine to Christ in Portugal just a few weeks ago. 42:14.040 --> 42:17.780 Pilgrims to Mary's shrines come to ask for her help and protection. 42:18.400 --> 42:21.540 Both the New Universal Catechism, the Catholic Church, and Vatican II 42:21.540 --> 42:25.460 declare, quote, from the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored 42:25.460 --> 42:30.280 with the title of Mother of God, to whose protection the faithful fly in 42:30.280 --> 42:32.220 all their dangers and needs, unquote. 42:33.120 --> 42:36.440 Why fly to Mary's protection when God's protection is available? 42:37.040 --> 42:40.740 And if this Catholic Mary can indeed protect all Catholics from all dangers and 42:40.740 --> 42:44.000 supply all needs, then she must be at least as great as God. 42:44.260 --> 42:48.520 And apparently she's more sympathetic because at least 1,000 times, I'm not 42:48.520 --> 42:53.100 exaggerating, ask your ex-Catholics, at least 1,000 times as many prayers are 42:53.100 --> 42:56.120 offered to Mary as are offered to God in Christ combined. 42:56.560 --> 43:01.820 Yes, prayers to Mary, not just asking her to pray for us, but asking her to do what 43:01.820 --> 43:03.500 she would have to be God to do. 43:03.780 --> 43:07.660 Even asking her to provide the salvation and forgiveness of sins that Christ has 43:07.660 --> 43:09.980 already provided and offers freely in grace. 43:10.380 --> 43:13.540 In his prayer for the Marian year, there was a Marian year and a special 43:13.540 --> 43:18.940 prayer, Pope John Paul II asks Mary to comfort, guide, strengthen, and protect 43:18.940 --> 43:20.720 the whole of humanity. 43:21.060 --> 43:24.500 To do so she would have to be all-powerful, all-knowing, and 43:24.500 --> 43:25.160 omnipresent. 43:25.540 --> 43:31.460 His prayer ends, quote, sustain us, O Virgin Mary, on our journey of faith and 43:31.460 --> 43:34.840 obtain for us the grace of eternal salvation, unquote. 43:35.520 --> 43:40.140 Christ offers salvation freely to all who will believe in him and cries out to 43:40.140 --> 43:41.820 mankind, come unto me. 43:42.300 --> 43:44.980 The Catholic is taught, however, that the way to Christ is through his 43:44.980 --> 43:47.340 mother, whose pleas the Lord can't resist. 43:47.700 --> 43:51.320 I would be insulted if friends whom I love, instead of coming directly to me, 43:51.580 --> 43:54.040 asked my mother to influence me on their behalf. 43:54.540 --> 43:58.640 But the idea that Christ's mother can prevail upon him for favors is a major 43:58.640 --> 44:00.160 belief among Catholics. 44:00.540 --> 44:04.700 The most recited Catholic prayer, the Rosary, cries out to Mary for help, 44:05.080 --> 44:09.660 calling her, quote, mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope, 44:09.760 --> 44:10.140 unquote. 44:10.420 --> 44:14.760 The Bible says Christ is our life and our hope, and surely God's mercy was extended 44:14.760 --> 44:17.980 to mankind before Mary was born, so she could hardly be its mother. 44:18.640 --> 44:23.820 Another popular Catholic prayer to Mary says, quote, in thy hands I place my 44:23.820 --> 44:28.540 eternal salvation, and to thee do I entrust my soul, for if thou protect me, 44:28.620 --> 44:32.920 dear mother, I fear nothing, not from my sins, because thou wilt obtain for me the 44:32.920 --> 44:36.560 pardon of them, nor from the devils, because thou art more powerful than all 44:36.560 --> 44:41.260 hell together, nor even from Jesus my judge himself, because by one prayer from 44:41.260 --> 44:42.560 thee he will be appeased. 44:43.420 --> 44:47.620 But one thing I fear, that in the hour of temptation I may neglect to call on thee, 44:47.640 --> 44:51.820 and thus perish miserably, obtain for me then the pardon of my sins, unquote. 44:52.660 --> 44:56.860 The Catholic Mary is not the Mary of the Bible, but the woman who rides the beast. 44:57.360 --> 45:00.460 She's appearing around the world in thousands of apparitions, offering her 45:00.460 --> 45:04.540 peace plan for the world, and millions are believing in her instead of in Christ. 45:05.120 --> 45:09.960 Revelation 17 and 18 refer to the same city, mystery Babylon. 45:10.380 --> 45:14.540 I consider these chapters to be among the most remarkable prophecies in the Bible, 45:15.180 --> 45:19.740 foretelling with absolute accuracy the rise of Roman Catholicism to world 45:19.740 --> 45:22.180 dominion and its religious abominations. 45:22.800 --> 45:26.180 The woman riding the beast can't be the literal city of Babylon being rebuilt in 45:26.180 --> 45:30.460 Iraq for many reasons, while Babylon could seem to meet some of the criteria in 45:30.460 --> 45:31.320 Revelation 17. 45:31.740 --> 45:33.640 She falls far short of meeting them all. 45:33.920 --> 45:37.760 She's been in ruins for 2,000 years, meeting none of the 14 criteria given to 45:37.760 --> 45:40.500 John, while the Vatican has been fulfilling all of them. 45:40.980 --> 45:44.880 Even if, as Dyer argues, Babylon has never been completely without inhabitants, 45:45.260 --> 45:48.280 she has certainly not played any role in world affairs during that time. 45:48.280 --> 45:52.540 Furthermore, that a rebuilt ancient city would somehow become such a great city as 45:52.540 --> 45:56.540 to rule the world in a brief time, and make up for having been in ruins ever 45:56.540 --> 45:59.600 since John penned these lines, is rather far-fetched. 45:59.800 --> 46:02.780 It also would seem to argue against imminency for the rapture. 46:03.220 --> 46:06.280 Considering the great length of time it would take not only for ancient Babylon to 46:06.280 --> 46:09.200 be rebuilt, but to be inhabited by hundreds of thousands of people, 46:09.480 --> 46:13.320 and to become dominant in world affairs, that it would happen to a city in Iraq 46:13.320 --> 46:14.760 makes it even more unlikely. 46:15.640 --> 46:20.540 What we have attempted to show from the Bible in history is not some new theory 46:20.540 --> 46:24.400 lately dreamed up, but has been the conviction of untold numbers of 46:24.400 --> 46:28.780 evangelical Christians who down through the ages existed independently of Rome, 46:29.160 --> 46:32.940 and would not give allegiance to her, and were therefore slaughtered by the 46:32.940 --> 46:33.360 millions. 46:33.720 --> 46:38.700 Martin Luther himself referred to them when he said, "...we are not the first to 46:38.700 --> 46:42.880 declare the papacy to be the kingdom of Antichrist, since for many years before us 46:42.880 --> 46:47.080 so many and such great men, whose number is large and whose memory is eternal, 46:47.420 --> 46:53.940 have undertaken to express the same thing so clearly and plainly." Of these martyrs, 46:54.220 --> 46:59.940 historian Will Durant wrote, "...the Roman Church, they were sure, was the whore of 46:59.940 --> 47:05.080 Babylon." Such was the opinion even of many leading Roman Catholics in the Middle 47:05.080 --> 47:05.360 Ages. 47:05.500 --> 47:09.980 For example, St. Bonaventure, Cardinal and General of the Franciscans, said that Rome 47:09.980 --> 47:12.300 was just like the harlot of the apocalypse. 47:12.740 --> 47:15.900 The reformers were certain of this, and it was written into their creeds. 47:16.300 --> 47:16.660 Thus D. 47:16.740 --> 47:20.400 Martin Lloyd-Jones declared, "...I would not hesitate with the reformers of the 47:20.400 --> 47:25.320 16th century to say that Roman Catholicism is, as the scripture puts it, the whore." 47:25.320 --> 47:29.280 One could hardly come to any other conclusion from John's vision. 47:29.760 --> 47:33.940 This has been the view of the evangelical church for 1,500 years, yet that opinion 47:33.940 --> 47:38.400 is lately being abandoned by evangelicals in the interest of ecumenism, or because 47:38.400 --> 47:41.660 ancient Babylon is now being rebuilt by Saddam Hussein. 47:42.440 --> 47:42.860 Thank you.