I never fully bought into my former Catholic "faith"...

[Roymond]

13 hours ago, JohnD said:

The late Walter Martin (founder of Christian Research Institute and was the original Bible Answer Man radio broadcaster) taught that Roman Catholicism actually began in the 10th Century CE

Martin is measuring things differently.  It was in the sixth century that Rome started claiming that its place of honor as first among equals was more than just a place of honor, it was a position of authority and other churches were supposed to obey the pope.  The amazing thing is that the churches struggled along together for another five centuries until 1054 when in their arrogance a legation of papal representatives took upon themselves to (claim to) excommunicate the Patriarch of Constantinople. 

The tenth century is a strange place to put the beginning; the only event that had much of an impact was the pope crowning Charlemagne as "Holy Roman Emperor", which angered the actual emperor in Constantinople but really didn't affect the church.  The only other candidate in that century was when King Otto III of the Franks managed to put his cousin Bruno on the papal throne as Gregory V (trivia:  he was the first non-Roman pope), which effectively made the pope a tool of the Franks.

[Roymond]

5 hours ago, Not of the World said:

What is the significance of John referring to Babylon the Great as "her"?  

Babylon the Great is called a "harlot", i.e. a whore, and whores tend to be female.

[Roymond]

3 hours ago, Not of the World said:

Thank you.

I've heard some say that that the 7 mountains is referring to Rome.  Is it possible that the 7 mountains is referring to the 7 continents?

The Christians at the time understood the seven "mounts" to be Rome.

[Trivia:  the book of Revelations only made it into the canon because Christians read it and saw it describing what they were living through.]

Edited December 17, 2022 by Roymond
fixed punctuation

[JohnD]

Regarding the points I made about Roman Catholic practices and influences among Protestant Reformers (the Protestant Movement)... 

my efforts and findings are not meant to be condemning or critical but to correct wrongs. 

The first thing to do is expose the wrong.

You cannot correct or be willing to correct something you have no idea is wrong.

The late Dr. Chuck Missler said often that if you take his word for anything (especially in Bible study) then you do not understand anything he has taught.

Acts 17:11 means there are no sacred cows. We are to test everything and every one (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Even the spirits (1 John 4:1) ← which includes the Holy Spirit:

for what we perceive of as the Holy Spirit revealing something to us may not be him at all. It's not because he is capricious but because we are so gullible.

And we tend to take people's or organization's word for far more than we realize.

It is hard sometimes finding out that you have been deceived by the very people or systems you were certain was spot on truthful (and not deceived themselves).

I remember finding out how upset I was about how much my parents (like most parents) out and out lied to me about life.

• Santa Claus
• The Easter Bunny
• The Tooth Ferry

I told them if they lied to me about the Stork, I didn't know what I was going to do!

They fessed up about that too, and how I  really got here, and I declared to them "that's disgusting!"

{smile}

But you get the point.

Jesus said The Spirit of Truth will guide us to all truth (John 16:13). Not the Church, not man. In fact he warned about the traditions men create would lead people to hell:

Matthew 23:15 (KJV)
15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

That's not just true for the Jewish Sanhedrin but to all human tradition:

Mark 7:7–13 (KJV)
7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

(snip)

13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

I personally believe the initiator of the Roman hijacking of the faith (Emperor Constantine) was the white horseman:

Revelation 6:2 (KJV)
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

A bow with no arrows is one who conquers through peace.

Jeremiah 6:14 (KJV)
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

Jeremiah 8:11 (KJV)
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

slightly (is old KJV for slyly or sleight-ly as in sleight of hand or deception). 

[JohnD]

2 Peter 1:20–21 (KJV)
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

• Knowing this first
• no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation
• prophecy came not by the will of man
• but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost

All scripture came in that manner.

Any other interpretation than that of the Holy Spirit who wrote the Bible is wrong (corrupted even if ever so slightly as to misguide or mask untruth).

This is also how tradition makes so many conflicting interpretations of the Word.

 

[JohnD]

BTW, don't take my word for anything.

Acts 17:11 / 1 Thessalonians 5:21

[Waggles]

17 hours ago, Not of the World said:

Thank you.

I've heard some say that that the 7 mountains is referring to Rome.  Is it possible that the 7 mountains is referring to the 7 continents?

Rome is the most famous city with 7 hills (each one named). And Rome is where Christian faith became a state religion embracing many of the pagan doctrines and rites to allow the transition of the Empire's religious traditions to continue on through the Roman church.

Rev 17:9  Here is the mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits and they are seven kings. 
Rev 17:18  And the woman that you saw is the great city that has sovereignty over the kings of the earth. 

A city does not sprawl over 7 continents.

But you are correct in picking up the idea that her religion and influence does cover the habitable world.

Rev 17:1  Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, 
Rev 17:15  And the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. 

[Roymond]

On 12/16/2022 at 1:19 AM, Wayne222 said:

There are many Catholics who love the Lord. They believe in the resurrection of Christ. I think we cannot judge the members.

There's a statement from one of the early church Fathers that hits the nail on the head for this, and I wish I could remember the exact words (well, the translation), but it was to the effect that the ears of the faithful are purer than the mouths of the preachers.  It was said in connection to a major city having been taken over by a heretic head preacher.