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Welcome to Call to Decision
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EXAMINING
the TOUGH ISSUES FACING
CHRISTIANS TODAY! Issue #23
// December 22, 2005 // Editor: Darryl Eberhart “The
Confessional”
(An Important Topic for Both Catholics and Non-Catholics) ((NOTE: All “emphasis” throughout this newsletter, unless otherwise noted, is by the editor of “Examining the Tough Issues (ETI)”. Some issues of my ETI newsletters and my “Tackling the Tough Topics (TTT)” newsletters can be seen on the following Internet web sites: www.tacklingthetoughtopics.net , www.calltodecision.com , and www.libertytothecaptives.net . (The last web site has a link to the first web site.)) WARNING: This issue of the ETI newsletter
may seriously “disturb” some folks’ “comfort
zones”.
However, TRUTH
is more important than any of our “comfort zones”. DEDICATION: This ETI newsletter is dedicated first to Charles Chiniquy (1809-1899), a Christian gentleman (and a priest in the Roman Catholic Church for 25 years) who courageously exposed many of the abuses occurring in his day within the Catholic Church, which included abominations committed in the confessional booth. Chiniquy, a personal friend of President Abraham Lincoln, also exposed the role of the Jesuits in the assassination of Lincoln. Secondly, it is dedicated to Jack T. Chick, who, through Chick Publications, makes available to the public numerous books, tapes, and tracts dealing with the Jesuit Order, the confessional, religious genocide, etc. Lastly, it is also dedicated to all those who expose evil, corruption, and tyranny – no matter where they occur, whether in government or in the Church! (See Ephesians 5:11.) 1st IMPORTANT NOTE: When this newsletter speaks of “[sacramental] confession” of sin, it is dealing with what Catholics call “mortal sins” – i.e., those sins that must be confessed to a priest. ((According to the Catholic Church, there is a ‘lesser’ category of sin that it calls “venial”. Catholics are encouraged to make sacramental confession of “venial sins” to a priest, but are not “required” to do so.)) 2nd IMPORTANT NOTE: I (the editor of the ETI & TTT newsletters) am not a Roman Catholic; I also most definitely am not anti-Roman Catholic as far as individual Roman Catholics go. My dad and 90% of my relatives are Roman Catholic; my best friend is Roman Catholic; and the majority of my friends are Roman Catholic. I am, however, against the top levels of secret societies (from the hierarchy of the Jesuit Order to the hierarchy of Freemasonry). This is because these secret societies control the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church (through the Jesuit Order and P-2 Masonry). These secret societies also control the leadership of most of the larger, non-Catholic, Christian denominations. I am also against any religious hierarchy that tries to place itself equal to or above the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God – or equal to or above God’s Holy Word (i.e., the Holy Bible) and His Ten Commandments! Why Am I
Writing More & More About Roman Catholicism?
This editor of the ETI and TTT newsletters has been writing more on the Roman Catholic Church’s hierarchy, and especially its Jesuit Order, in recent newsletters because I keep uncovering more and more about the deep hatred that the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church has for independent Bible-believing Christians, Protestants, Orthodox Christians, and Jews. We Americans have, for the most part, been largely ignorant of the well-documented history of the Roman Catholic Church in conducting brutal religious genocide (via Inquisition, ‘holy’ wars, and ‘holy’ crusades) against all the afore-mentioned groups. (Please see my TTT newsletter entitled “Death by Government and Death by Church” on Internet web site: www.tacklingthetoughtopics.net .) Sadly, many Americans believe the “ecumenical rhetoric” of the Roman Catholic Church’s hierarchy – i.e., that she has “changed her ways” and now loves all the “separated brethren”. However, my study of the Papacy shows me that this is just a RUSE. (Per Webster’s New World Dictionary a “ruse” is: “a stratagem” [which is] “any trick or scheme for achieving some purpose”.) The “purpose” is to bring all non-Catholic Christian denominations under the “umbrella” (i.e., the authoritative and totalitarian rule) of the Papacy! Yes, the Papacy, despite its “ecumenical rhetoric”, has not changed a bit over the many centuries in the following categories:
Indeed, power – absolute power – has long been the Vatican’s “primary objective”. History has recorded the Vatican’s deep hatred for religious liberty and freedom of conscience. The U.S. Constitution, with it “Bill of Rights” guaranteeing such liberties, has long been hated by the Vatican. (For a good example of this hatred of religious liberty and freedom of conscience, read the Syllabus of Errors that was issued in 1864 by Pope Pius IX.) I have heard that there is an acronym in use by some Knights of Columbus in America. This acronym is “M.A.C.”: “Make America Catholic”. America is the last “roadblock” in the way of the Vatican and the rest of the globalist rich and power elite in their dreams for one-world government and one-world religion. Is America scheduled for a religious genocide – another Inquisition – as occurred in the 1940s in Croatia? I believe the danger is very real and possibly quite imminent – and that is why I am writing about the Roman Catholic Church’s hierarchy, its long-held dreams for domination, and its well-document history of religious genocide! DEFINITIONS (Listed alphabetically): 1. “Absolution” (One of the meanings from Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language): “In the canon law, a remission of sins pronounced by a priest in favor of a penitent.” ((Ed. Comment: See definition of “penitent” in this section.)) 2. “Auricular”
(Meaning #1 per Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English
Language): “Pertaining to the ear; within the sense of hearing; told
in the ear, as auricular confession.” 3. “Confession” (per the Roman Catholic Baltimore
Catechism): “Confession is the telling of our sins to an
authorized priest for the purpose of obtaining forgiveness.” 4. “Confession” (Meaning #3 per Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language): “The act of disclosing sins or faults to a priest; the disburdening of the conscience privately to a confessor; sometimes called auricular confession.” 5. “Confessional” (per Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language): “The seat where a priest or confessor sits to hear confessions; a confession-chair.” ((Ed. Comment: Charles Chiniquy at times refers to the “confessional” as the “confessional-box”. A more modern term would be the “confessional booth”.)) 6. “Confessor”
(per Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language):
(#3): “A priest; one who hears the
confessions of others, and has power to grant them absolution.” 7. “Penance” (per Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language): (a.) “The suffering, labor or pain to which a person voluntarily subjects himself, or which is imposed on him by authority as a punishment for his faults, or as an expression of penitence: such as fasting, flagellation, wearing chains, etc. ‘Penance’ is one of the seven sacraments of the Romish church.” (b.) “Repentance.” 8. “Penance”
(per Wilson Ewin – author of numerous books on Catholicism): “Penance
is the sacrament in which sins committed after baptism are forgiven.
Catholics also refer to it as ‘confession’.” 9. “Penitent” (Two meanings from Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language): (a.) “One that repents of sin; one sorrowful on account
of his transgressions.” (b.) “One under the direction of a confessor.” ((Ed. Note: i.e., a confessor priest)) HERE ARE
SOME RELEVANT BIBLE VERSES: “Jesus saith unto him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by [i.e., except through] Me.’” (John 14:6) “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (I Timothy 2:5; the Apostle Paul wrote this epistle.) ((Ed. Comment to the two preceding Bible verses: The Holy Bible clearly teaches that no one can come to God the Father except through God the Son (i.e., the Lord Jesus Christ – the one and only mediator between God and mankind!)) “(Jesus Christ is speaking): After [i.e., according to] this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name.” (Matthew 6:9) “(Jesus Christ is speaking): And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified [i.e., honored] in the Son.” (John 14:13) “Give
unto the LORD the glory due unto His
name…” (Psalm 29:2 a.) “I am the LORD: that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise [i.e., the praise due to the LORD] to graven images.” (Isaiah 42:8) ((Ed. Comments to the preceding four Bible verses: (1) The Lord Jesus Christ taught us to pray to God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, i.e., in the name of the Son of God – so that God the Father would be honored through the name of God the Son! This is the clear Biblical “guideline” for prayer: through Jesus Christ to God the Father. (2) GOD does not share the honor due to Him with anyone else – not with Mary, not with popes, not with saints, and certainly not with sinful men (e.g., confessor priests in the confessional booth). Placing the priest as a mediator between God and man, such as occurs in the confessional, “steals honor and glory due to Jesus Christ” alone – for Jesus Christ taught us how to pray (for forgiveness of our sins, etc.), saying that we were to pray to God the Father in the name of JESUS CHRIST, God the Son! (See John 14:13, 14) The confessional attempts to place ANOTHER “mediator” between mankind and the ONE TRUE MEDIATOR (the Lord Jesus Christ)!)) “(Jesus Christ is speaking) And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” (Matthew 23:9) ((Ed. Comment to the preceding Bible verse: Roman Catholicism, by having its adherents call its priests “father”, once again places its tradition in the place of (i.e., equal to, or sometimes even superior in authority to) the clear teaching of the Holy Bible.)) “(Verse 20): And when He [i.e., the Lord Jesus Christ] saw their faith, He said unto him [i.e., the paralyzed man brought to Christ for healing], ‘Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.’ (Verse 21): And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, ‘Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?’” (Luke 5:20, 21) ((Ed Comments to the preceding Bible passage: 1. Read Luke 5:17-26 for the entire story surrounding the preceding Bible passage. A number of folks had brought a paralyzed man for healing, but because of the crowd, they could not get through to Christ. So they lowered the paralyzed man down through the roof to where Christ was sitting. The Lord Jesus Christ, seeing their great faith, healed the paralyzed man; however, first He told the paralyzed man that his sins were forgiven. 2. The scribes and Pharisees (the pompous, know-it-all religious leaders of Christ’s day) had replaced much of God’s Holy Word (His laws and commandments) with their oral and written TRADITION. The Lord Jesus Christ frequently and openly castigated these pompous religious leaders concerning their TRADITION. By the way, we have today amongst us pompous, know-it-all religious leaders who have replaced much of God’s Holy Word with their TRADITION! 3. The scribes and Pharisees did get one thing right: Only GOD can forgive sins against Him and His holy law. While we sinners may forgive other sinners of those sins committed directly against us (as we are commanded to do – see Luke 17:3, 4), we (and this includes Catholic priests) do not have the authority to forgive sins against God and against other individuals. The major mistake made in the preceding passage by the pompous religious leaders is that they did not recognize Jesus Christ for who He really was – the Son of the Living God. Thus Jesus Christ, one with God the Father, could forgive this man of his sins – but no one else has such authority!)) “(Jesus Christ is speaking) Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.” (Luke 17:3) HERE ARE
SOME RELEVANT QUOTATIONS:
“There are two [categories of] women who ought to be
constant objects of the compassion of the disciples of Christ, and for
whom daily prayers ought to be offered at the mercy-seat [of God] – the
Brahmin woman [of India], who deceived by her priests, burns
herself on the corpse of her husband to appease the wrath of her wooden
gods; and the Roman Catholic woman, who, not less deceived by her
priests, suffers a torture far more cruel and ignominious in the
confessional-box to appease the wrath of her wafer-god. For I do not exaggerate when I say, that for many noble-hearted, well-educated, high-minded women, to be forced to unveil their hearts before the eyes [Ed. Note: and to the ears] of a man [i.e., her priest-confessor], to open to him all the most secret recesses of their souls, all the most secret mysteries of their single or married life, to allow him to put to them questions which the most depraved woman would never consent to hear from her vilest seducer, is often more horrible and intolerable than to be tied on burning coals.” Charles Chiniquy (1809-1899; Courageous ex-Roman Catholic priest; a personal friend of President Abraham Lincoln; author of numerous books) ((Chiniquy is here speaking about what the voice of his conscience was telling him as he took confession from women and girls)): “Is it not a shame that you, an unmarried man [as a priest], dare to speak on these matters with a woman? Do you not blush to put such questions to a young girl? Where is your self-respect? Where is your fear of God? Do you not promote the ruin of that girl by forcing her to speak with a man on such matters?” – Charles Chiniquy “To
say that auricular confession purifies the soul, is not less ridiculous
and silly than to say that the white robe of the virgin…will
become whiter by being dipped into…black ink. Has not the Pope’s celibate [priest], by studying his books [e.g., Dens, Liguori, Debreyne, Kenrick, etc.] before he goes to the confessional-box, corrupted his own heart, and plunged his mind, memory, and soul into an atmosphere of impurity which would have been intolerable even to the people of Sodom?” – Charles Chiniquy DECLARATION to his lordship Bourget, Bishop of Montreal
(Written by 49 Canadian ladies, including Julien Herbert, J. Rochon,
Francoise Diringer, Marie Rogers, Louise Picard, and Eugenie Martin): “Sir,
Since God has, in His infinite mercy, been pleased to show us the
errors of Rome [Ed.
Note: i.e., the Vatican, the Papacy], and has given us strength to
abandon them to follow Christ, we deem it our duty to say a word on the abominations
of the confessional.
You well know that these abominations are of such a nature that it is impossible for a woman to speak of them
without a blush. How is it
that among civilized Christian men, one has so far forgotten the rule of
common decency, as to force women to reveal to unmarried
[Ed. Comment: and sinful] men, under the pains of eternal damnation,
their most secret thoughts, their most sinful desires, and
their most private actions?
How, unless there be a brazen mask on your priest’s face, dare
they go out into the world having heard the tales of misery which cannot
but defile the hearer, and which the woman cannot relate without
having laid aside modesty, and all sense of shame?
The harm would not be so great should the Church allow no one but
the woman to accuse herself. But
what shall we say of the abominable
questions that are put to them and which they must answer?
Here, the laws
of common decency strictly forbid us to enter into details.
Suffice it to say, were husbands cognizant of one-tenth of what
is going on between the confessor and their wives, they would rather see
them dead than degraded
to such a degree.
As for us, daughters and wives of Montreal, who have known by
experience the filth of the confessional,
we cannot sufficiently bless God for having shown us the error of our ways
in teaching us that it is not at the feet of a man
as weak and as sinful
as ourselves, but at the feet of Christ
alone, that we must seek
salvation.” ((Ed. Comment to the preceding quote: These Canadian ladies, who had
experienced the “filth
of the confessional”,
courageously and boldly sent the above declaration to the Roman Catholic
Bishop of Montreal, Canada.))
“Where my doubts were really tormenting me was inside the confessional
box. People were coming
to me, kneeling before me, confessing their sins to me.
And I, with a sign of the cross, was promising that I had the power
to forgive their sins. I, a sinner,
a man, was taking God’s place, God’s right, and
that terrible voice was penetrating me, saying: ‘You
are depriving God of His glory. If sinners want to obtain forgiveness of their sins, they
must go to God and not to you.
It is God’s law they have broken. To God, therefore, they must make confession;
to God alone they must pray for forgiveness.
No man can forgive sins [i.e., against God and against
other individuals], but Jesus [Christ] can, and
does forgive sins.’” Joseph Zachello (Ex-Roman Catholic priest) “It takes many years of the most ingenious (I do not hesitate to call it ‘diabolical’) efforts on the part of the [Roman Catholic] priests to persuade the majority of their female penitents to speak [in the confessional booth] on these questions [Ed. Note: of a sexual nature], which even pagan savages would blush to mention among themselves.” – Charles Chiniquy “Perhaps the world has never seen a more terrible, desperate, solemn struggle than the one which is going on in the soul of a poor trembling young woman, who, at the feet of that man [i.e., the Catholic priest during confession], has to decide whether or not she will open her lips on those things which the infallible voice of God…tells her never to reveal to any man!” Charles Chiniquy “Have not the popes [e.g., Pope Pius IX in his Syllabus of Errors] publicly and repeatedly anathematized the sacred principle of Liberty of Conscience? Have they not boldly said, in the teeth of the nations of Europe, that Liberty of Conscience must be destroyed – killed at any cost? Has not the whole world heard the sentence of death to liberty coming from the lips of the old man of the Vatican [i.e., the pope]? But where is the scaffold on which the doomed Liberty must perish? That scaffold is the confessional-box. Yes, in the confessional, the Pope has his 100,000 high executioners! There they are, day and night, with sharp daggers in hand, stabbing Liberty to the heart.” – Charles Chiniquy “And free America, too, will see all her so dearly-bought liberty destroyed, the day that the confessional-box is universally reared in her midst. Auricular
Confession and Liberty cannot stand together on the same ground;
either one or the other must fall. Liberty must sweep away the confessional, as she has swept away the demon of slavery, or she is doomed to perish.” – Charles Chiniquy ((Ed. Comment to the preceding two quotes: The fact that a number of popes have spoken out strongly against freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, and that so few Americans are aware of this, is a clear indication of how tightly America’s mainstream media and her public school history textbooks are controlled and manipulated! This, of course, begs the question: What organization or institution is so powerful, working “behind the scenes”, that it has been able, for the most part, to keep this type of information from most of the American people? If “the Jews”, as some people erroneously charge, totally control America’s mainstream press and media, then why don’t they expose a lot more about the bloody history, the power, and the influence of the greatest enemy “the Jews” have ever known – the Roman Catholic Church?)) “Can a man be free in his own house, so long as there is another [i.e., the Roman Catholic priest] who has the legal right to spy on all his actions, and direct not only every step, but every thought of his wife and children? Can that man boast of a home whose wife and children are under the control of another [i.e., the priest who hears their confession]? Is not that unfortunate man really the slave of the ruler and master of his household? And when a whole nation is comprised of such husbands and fathers, is it not a nation of abject, degraded slaves?” Charles Chiniquy “The
doctrine of forbidding priests to marry met with other difficulties over
the centuries because of the confessional. It is plain to see that the
practice of girls and women confessing their moral weaknesses and desires
to unmarried priests
could easily result in many abuses.
A former priest, Charles Chiniquy, who lived at the time of Abraham
Lincoln and was personally acquainted with him, gives a full account of
these abuses in his book The Priest, The Woman, and The
Confessional.”
– Ralph Edward Woodrow (Author of the book Babylon Mystery
Religion: Ancient and Modern) “Millions of faithful Catholics blindly file into confessional booths, believing that the priest has the power to forgive their sins. What
about you? Where will you
[Ed. Note: emphasis in the original quote] go to have your sins
forgiven? [Will you go] to
a sinful priest, as the man-made traditions of the
Catholic Church demand? Or
will you go straight to God Almighty, as the [Holy]
Bible teaches?” Rick Jones (Author of the book Understanding Roman Catholicism) “[Roman] Catholic doctrines steal honor and glory due to [the Lord] Jesus Christ and give it to Mary, popes, wafers, saints, statutes, etc.” – Rick Jones ((Ed. Comment to preceding quote: Placing the priest as a mediator between God and man, such as occurs in the confessional, “steals honor and glory due to Jesus Christ” alone – for Jesus Christ taught us how to pray (for forgiveness of our sins, etc.), saying that we were to pray to God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, God the Son! (See John 14:13, 14) Nowhere in the Holy Bible are we commanded to go to God through a priest for the forgiveness of our sins!)) ((Ed. Note: What follows now are some quotations by early church fathers concerning “confession” – they are taken from Charles Chiniquy’s book, The Priest, The Woman, and The Confessional. This book is available from Chick Publications for $10.20 postpaid. To order it by credit card, please call 1-909-987-0771.)): “What have I to do with men that they should hear my confessions, as if they were able to heal my infirmities?” – Augustine (Known as Saint Augustine of Hippo; 354-430) (This quote was taken from Chapter III of his tenth book of Confessions.) “We do not request you to go to confess your sins to any of your fellow-men, but only to God. …We do not ask you to go and confess your iniquities to a sinful man for pardon – but only to God.” – John Chrysostom (Known as Saint John Chrysostom; 350-407) (This quote was taken from his homily on the 50th Psalm.) “Therefore, I beseech you, always confess your sins to God! I, in no way, ask you to confess them to me. To God alone should you expose the wounds of your soul, and from Him alone expect the cure. Go to Him, then, and you shall not be cast off, but healed. For, before you utter a single word, God knows your prayer.” – John Chrysostom (From his homily V., De incomprehensibili De natura, vol. I.) “What we should most admire is not that God forgives our sins, but that He does not disclose them to anyone, nor wishes us to do so. What He demands of us is to confess our transgressions to Him alone to obtain pardon.” – John Chrysostom (From Catethesis ad illuminandos, vol. II, p. 210) “You need no witnesses of your confession. Secretly acknowledge your sins, and let God alone hear you.” – John Chrysostom (From his homily De Paenitentia, vol. IV., col. 901) “Confess your sins every day in prayer. Why should you hesitate to do so? I do not tell you to go and confess to a man, [who is a] sinner as you are, and who might despise you if he knew your faults. But confess them to God, who can forgive them to you.” John Chrysostom (From his homily on Psalm 1, vol. V., p. 589) “I have not come before the world to make a confession with my lips. But I close my eyes, and confess my sins in the secret of my heart. Before Thee, O God, I pour out my sighs, and Thou alone art the witness. My groans are within my soul. There is no need of many words to confess: sorrow and regret are the best confession. Yes, the lamentations of the soul, which Thou art pleased to hear, are the best confession.” Basil (Known as Saint Basil; from his commentary on Psalm 37) ((Ed. Comment: The preceding quote is the last in a sampling of quotes by early church fathers.)) “It is a public fact, which no learned Roman Catholic has ever denied, that auricular confession became a dogma and obligatory practice of the church only at the Council of Lateran in the year 1215, under Pope Innocent III. Not a single trace of auricular confession, as a dogma, can be found before that year.” – Charles Chiniquy “When it [i.e., the Roman Catholic Church’s hierarchical system] had once succeeded in dimming the light of the Gospel, obscuring the fullness and freeness of the grace of God, and drawing away the souls of men from direct and immediate dealings with the One Grand Prophet and High Priest [i.e., the Son of God, Jesus Christ] of our profession, a ‘mysterious’ power was attributed to the [Roman Catholic] clergy, which gave them ‘dominion [i.e., rule] over the faith’ of the people – a dominion [i.e., rule] directly disclaimed by apostolic men (2 Corinthians 1:24), but which, in connection with the confessional, has become at least as absolute and complete as was ever possessed by [the] Babylonian priest over those initiated in the ancient Mysteries. The clerical power of the Roman [Catholic] priesthood culminated in the erection of the confessional. That confessional was itself borrowed from Babylon [i.e., the pagan Babylonian priesthood]. The confession [that is] required of the votaries [i.e., devotees of a particular religion] of Rome [i.e., the papal system] is entirely different from the confession prescribed in the Word of God. The dictate of Scripture in regard to confession is, ‘Confess your faults one to another’ (James 5:16), which implies that the priest should confess to the people, as well as the people to the priest, if either should sin against the other. ((Ed. Comment: And only in this instance, since we Christians are both commanded to, and authorized to, forgive only those sins directly committed against us by someone else. None of us can forgive sins committed against other folks (than ourselves) or against God and His law.)) This [type of confession – one to another] could never have served any purpose of spiritual despotism; and therefore, Rome [i.e., the papal system], leaving the Word of God, has had recourse to the Babylonian system. In that [pagan Babylonian] system, secret confession to the priest, according to a prescribed form, was required of all who were admitted to the ‘Mysteries’, and till such confession had been made, no complete initiation could take place.” – Alexander Hislop (Author of the book The Two Babylons) “…The
grand object in requiring the candidate for initiation [into the pagan
mysteries] to make confession to the priest of all their secret
faults and shortcomings and sins, was just to put them entirely in
the power of those to whom the inmost feelings of their souls and
their most important secrets were confided.
Now, exactly in the same way, and for the very same purposes, has
Rome [i.e., the Roman Catholic hierarchy] erected the confessional.
Instead of requiring priests and people alike, as the Scripture
does, to ‘confess their faults one to another’, when either have
offended the other, it commands all, on pain of perdition,
to confess to the priest, whether they have transgressed
against him or not, while the priest is under no obligation to
confess to the people at all. Without
such confession [to a priest], in the Church of Rome, there can be
no admission to the Sacraments, any more than in the days of Paganism
there could be admission without confession to the benefit of the
Mysteries.” – Alexander Hislop “The [Roman Catholic] priest of every parish in this country is the kingpin in this web of spying, and reports regularly to his bishop every item of interest, directly or indirectly and in turn, the bishop to the archbishop, the archbishop to the cardinal and the cardinal to the pope. The confessional box is the Roman [Catholic] clearinghouse, whereby the pope keeps his finger on the pulse of the world.” – Burke McCarty (Author of the book The Suppressed Truth about the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln) ((Ed. Comment: My studies of the Vatican hierarchy, the Jesuit Order (with its Knights of Malta), and of “the confessional” have shown me that the Vatican clearly possesses the largest and most powerful intelligence-gathering system in the world – especially in those countries where they freely operate and/or have a significant number of Catholics in the population of a particular country. Please see my TTT #53, “The Jesuits – Part III: The Knights of Malta”, on Internet web site www.tacklingthetoughtopics.net for more information on the massive involvement of the Vatican in the “international intelligence community”.)) “Our short article upon the Confessional has gone the round of the [news]-papers, and we are glad it should. The more that detestable matter is looked into the better – it is so filthy a business that no decent person could write the whole of what he knows about it: it ought not to be tolerated in civilized society. The questions, fastened up inside the confessional boxes in Italy [Ed. Note: used by the priests to ask questions during confession], which we have read with our own eyes, were so loathsome that we would not like to give a hint as to their subjects.” Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892; famous English Baptist preacher) “My indignation was stirred beyond measure when, upon looking into the confessional boxes [in Italy], I read the directions to the priest as to the questions he should ask the penitents. These were printed in Latin, and referred to those unmentionable crimes which brought fire upon Sodom, and are the curse of heathendom. To see young maidens kneel down to be asked such questions as these, made me wish that every priest could be cut off from the face of the earth as unfit to live, and I most deliberately invoked upon them all the righteous vengeance of an insulted God!” – Charles Haddon Spurgeon
“Auricular confession is a public act of idolatry.
It is asking from a man
[i.e., the priest] what God alone, through
His Son Jesus, can grant: forgiveness of sins.”
– Charles Chiniquy “The peace of families can never be maintained while the confessional exists; the word ‘home’ may as well be left out from the Englishman’s vocabulary when the women of the household have other confidants for their most secret thoughts besides their natural guardians.” Charles Haddon Spurgeon “When
King David repented of his adultery, he confessed his sin directly to
God. No priest.
No ritual. No
sacrament. Just a broken man owning up to his sin before his Maker… Confession
directly to God was also the experience of Nehemiah (Nehemiah
1:4-11), Daniel (Daniel 9:3-19), and Ezra (Ezra 9:5-10).
Ezra, though a Levitical priest himself, taught God’s people to
‘make confession to the Lord God of your fathers’ (Ezra
10:11).” James G. McCarthy (Author of the book The Gospel According to Rome) “…There is no biblical example of sacramental
confession to a priest in the entire New Testament.” James G. McCarthy “Above
all things, Jesuits are ‘confessors’.
Their services unto the royalty were urged as a ‘need’, as they
became assigned to hear the confessions of the aristocrats,
emperors, kings, queens, princes, princesses, [‘royal’]
mistresses, those in every level of government – they all revealed their
secret plans, their intimate sins, their inner-most thoughts, as their
lives became virtually an open book to the Jesuits. …Through
various means of diplomacy, Jesuits worked their way into offices
of State, climbing up to be the counselors of kings, and shaping
the policy of nations. But it was ‘religion’ and its sacred duties of hearing
the confessions of their penitents, and being their religious
‘wise’ guides, that was the key to their success.
Without the ‘need’ of a religious confessor, the history of the
Jesuits may have been quite different.
And the Jesuits made very sure that it was they who
filled that need as confessors [Ed. Note: especially to
the rich and power elite] instead of the other orders of priests, by
providing a most attractive policy of leniency as an
enticement for their penitents.” John Daniel (Author of the book The Grand Design Exposed) ((Ed.
Comments to the preceding quote: (1) The Jesuits have excelled in a number of arenas: education (to include establishing many institutes of higher learning), the confessional, diplomacy, etc. (2) In the USA, the Jesuits established many important institutes of higher learning, such as Georgetown University – a university famous for educating key personnel in the U.S. government, such as State Department and Foreign Service personnel. Might such training provide the Jesuits with a little influence in U.S. foreign policy? Has anyone ever heard of ‘Father’ Edmund Walsh – the Jesuit priest from Georgetown University who led American Jesuits on a “Relief Mission” to the Soviet Union in 1922? Interestingly, Jesuit-trained Joe Stalin became General Secretary of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union in 1922.)) I. HISTORY OF THE CONFESSIONAL
We have seen from an earlier quotation that “auricular confession” did not become official Roman Catholic Church dogma UNTIL 1215 A.D. (at the Council of Lateran under Pope Innocent III). For over a thousand years the Church had gotten along fine without “auricular confession” being official church dogma. Dr. Loraine Boettner, in his excellent (and well researched) book Roman Catholicism, states the following: “We search in vain in the Bible for any word supporting the doctrine of auricular confession. It is equally impossible to find any authorization or general practice of it during the first one thousand years of the Christian era. Not a word is found in the writings of the early church fathers about confessing sins to a priest or to anyone except God alone. Auricular confession is not mentioned in the writings of Augustine, Origen, Nestorius, Tertullian, Jerome, Chrysostom, or Athanasius – all of these and many others apparently lived and died without ever thinking of going to confession. Those writers gave many rules concerning the practice and duties of Christian living; but they never say a word about going to [auricular] confession [to a priest]. Never were penitents forced to kneel to a priest and reveal to him the secret history of all their evil thoughts, desires, and human frailties. No one other than God was thought to be worthy to hear confessions and to grant forgiveness. …But gradually as the church gained power the practice of seeking spiritual counsel and advice from the priest was turned into the confessional. Confession was first introduced into the church on a voluntary basis in the fifth century, by the authority of [Pope] Leo the Great. But it was not until the Fourth Lateran Council, in 1215, under Pope Innocent III, that private auricular confession was made compulsory and all Roman Catholic people were required to confess and to seek absolution from a priest at least once in a year. At that council the twin doctrines of auricular confession and transubstantiation were decreed. It will be recalled that that was the period of the greatest extension of priestly and papal power over the people. It was, therefore, during the darkest days of the State and of the Church that this masterpiece of deception was brought forth.” II. AUTHORITY FOR THE CONFESSIONAL We have also seen from the earlier quotations that the Holy Bible nowhere gives any church or any human being the “authority” to be a central clearinghouse for hearing the sins of Christian believers. Likewise, as James G. McCarthy points out in his book The Gospel According to Rome: “…There is no biblical example of sacramental confession to a priest in the entire New Testament.” Indeed, the Bible tells us, in James 5:16, that we are to “confess” our “faults one to another”. III. THREATS (DANGERS) POSED TO SOCIETY BY THE CONFESSIONAL These threats (dangers) posed to a society by the confessional will be covered in more depth in the following sections, but briefly they are:
IV. FATHER-CONFESSORS TO KINGS When one reads European history, one cannot help but notice the tremendous power and influence that various confessor priests had on European monarchs (and their mistresses, top generals, etc.). The Jesuit Order especially devoted itself to infiltrating its priests into royal courts all over Europe so as to influence, and when possible, actually direct and control, the foreign and domestic policies of nations. In this role as father-confessor and, often, as chief adviser to royalty, the Jesuit priest heard the deepest secrets of the most powerful individuals of a given nation – and then often was able to “steer” (direct) the policies of that nation in the direction that either the Vatican (the papacy) or the Jesuit Superior General, or both, desired. Can any of us begin to imagine the tremendous power that a confessor-priest has over a king, president, queen, top general, and other powerful individuals in a society once that individual has confessed to the priest his (or, her) most grievous sins or crimes. Once the priest wants to steer that individual in a certain “direction” – i.e., use him or her for the grand objectives of the papacy and/or the Jesuit Order – and the individual hesitates to perform the “assigned task”, then all that the priest has to do is threaten to expose the individual publicly!
By the way, the “fruit” of these Jesuit father
confessors to royalty can be seen in the various European court intrigues
that led to such events as the Thirty Years’ War (of 1618-1648)
that devastated much of the European continent, especially Germany.
As the famous Frenchman, the Marquis de LaFayette (1757-1834),
stated: “They [i.e., the Jesuits] have instigated
most of the wars of Europe.”
And author Edmond Paris adds: “The public is practically
unaware of the overwhelming responsibility carried by the Vatican
and its Jesuits for the starting of two world wars…” The Jesuits instigated and choreographed so many revolutions and wars, and were involved in so many seditious activities – to include the assassination of heads of State – that they were tossed out of quite a number of Roman Catholic countries. Canadian historian J. E. C. Shepherd has written the following: “Between 1555 and 1931 the Society of Jesus [i.e., the Jesuits] was expelled from at least 83 countries, city states and cities, for engaging in political intrigue and subversive plots against the welfare of the State, according to the records of a Jesuit priest of repute [i.e., Thomas J. Campbell]. …Practically every instance of expulsion was for political intrigue, political infiltration, political subversion, and inciting to political insurrection.” (1987) Today the Jesuits are somewhat smarter. They often use their “temporal coadjutors” (“Jesuits of the short robe”, as the French call them), their Knights of Malta, members of Opus Dei, high-level Knights of Columbus, high-level Freemasons (controlled by the Jesuit Superior General) and, of course, Jesuit priests whenever possible, to infiltrate the highest levels of governments, the top positions in various intelligence agencies, the leadership of other religious denominations, top publishing positions, etc. Of course, the “confessional booth” still remains one of their best modes of intelligence gathering! (Please see the next section.) V. INTELLIGENCE-GATHERING RAMIFICATIONS This editor of the ETI and TTT newsletters spent over 20 years working in the “intelligence community” – both in the U.S. military and as a civilian Department of Defense employee (at a top U.S. intelligence agency). I was trained in both the Russian and Arabic languages, and studied Russian and Soviet history, etc. I have read books dealing with the Soviet KGB, the Israeli Mossad, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). And let me tell you something that I have learned: If one would combine the assets and intelligence-gathering capabilities of the KGB (now FSB), the Israeli Mossad, the CIA, the FBI, the British MI-5 and MI-6, and a dozen other nations’ intelligence agencies, one would not even have one tenth of the tremendous intelligence-gathering mechanisms of the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church not only has high-level Roman Catholics (Opus Dei, Knights of Malta, etc.) in key government positions in the West (in such countries as the United States – where it also has high-level Knights of Columbus), its normal diplomatic channels through the Vatican State’s assets in various countries, its many monastic orders, the parish priest, etc., but it also has the “confessional booth” from which to check the pulse of any community, state, or country! ((Oh, by the way, according to author John Daniel, in his excellent book The Grand Design Exposed, the Vatican also has control of the top levels of Freemasonry – thus the numerous powerful high-level Masons in key positions are also at the service of the Vatican and its Jesuits!)) I almost forgot to mention this: In some of my previous TTT newsletters, such as “The Jesuits – Part III and Part IV”, I point out numerous Knights of Malta and high-level Masons who have held key positions in the CIA and in the FBI. During World War II, Knights of Malta held the top positions in three of the most powerful intelligence services: (1) Soviet intelligence (Prince Anton Turkul); (2) German intelligence (General Reinhard Gehlen); and, (3) U.S. intelligence (William Donovan). And isn’t it quite interesting to find three men in a Roman Catholic Order (the Knights of Malta – that is controlled by the Jesuit Superior General) directing the top intelligence agencies of the major combatants in World War II, and in the process killing millions of their favorite targets (Jews, Protestants, and Orthodox Christians)? ((For more information on this topic, please see my TTT newsletter entitled “World War II” that is posted on Internet web site: www.tacklingthetoughtopics.net.)) Indeed, as concerns the “confessional”, let us remember the words of Burke McCarty: “The [Roman Catholic] priest of every parish in this country is the kingpin in this web of spying, and reports regularly to his bishop every item of interest, directly or indirectly and in turn, the bishop to the archbishop, the archbishop to the cardinal and the cardinal to the pope. The confessional box is the Roman [Catholic] clearinghouse, whereby the pope keeps his finger on the pulse of the world.” (From her book The Suppressed Truth about the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln) VI. NO TRUE REPENTANCE IS A MAJOR POSSIBILITY AT THE CONFESSIONAL The confessional, in general, provides an “easy way out” from one’s sins. “Confession to a priest” often may not lead the penitent to true repentance. Rather, the confessor priest will ask the penitent to perform some “good deeds”, to say some repetitious prayers, or to perform a fast, etc., in order to obtain “absolution” from his sins. Jesuit priests, by the way, have long had a reputation for being very easy (i.e., “lenient”) on their penitents! One thinks of a Mafia hit man going for the 16th or 17th or 18th or 19th time to his confessor-priest, saying, “Father, I have sinned – I killed my 16th [or 17th or 18th or 19th] person.” I will not speculate exactly what the confessor-priest will prescribe for the murderer to do for penance; however, whatever the confessor-priest has been prescribing in the past obviously hasn’t produced a “change of heart” in the penitent since the murder of victim #1! Speaking of Mafia hit men – did you know that the CIA, the Vatican, and the Mafia have often worked together in the past? If you don’t think so, then you need to do a little study of Vatican-Mafia-Office of Strategic Services (OSS – predecessor to the CIA) cooperation during World War II. This editor highly recommends that you read the book Double Cross by Sam and Chuck Giancana. ((This book is the story of the top Mafia chief west of the Mississippi River several decades ago. It exposes Mafia-CIA cooperation in carrying out assassinations here in the USA, including that of the Kennedy brothers! It can be obtained from “Radio Liberty” for $10.45 postpaid. To order it by credit card, please call their toll-free order line: 1-800-544-8927.)) VII. STEALING
FROM GOD AND PROVOKING HIS HOLY WRATH AGAINST INDIVIDUALS AND
NATIONS There can be no doubt that this is the greatest danger posed by the confessional to any society. Anyone who has read the Holy Bible from cover to cover knows that it is not very smart – or safe – to make a Holy and All-Powerful GOD angry! There are numerous examples in the Holy Bible of cities and nations that got wiped out because they made GOD angry! Just about everyone knows about the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah – and how GOD literally rained down fire upon them! Fewer people know that GOD crushed the Northern Kingdom of Israel (His people) by bringing a large Assyrian army down to invade them, and that He crushed the Southern Kingdom of Judah (His people) by bringing a large Babylonian army in to defeat that kingdom! Well, as already mentioned, the “confessional” places another mediator between God and sinful man. The “confessional” steals the glory and honor that should go to Jesus Christ, the Son of God – the only mediator between GOD and sinful man! What nation or people think that they are strong enough to “mess with” a Holy and All-Powerful GOD, stealing from Him the glory and honor that is due to Him? VIII. YOUR WIFE OR DAUGHTER CONFESSING TO A MAN? I’ve got to ask every Roman Catholic husband and father, who has read this newsletter, the following questions:
IX. SUMMARY This is a “tough” topic about which to write. It, for many, will be a “tough” topic to read. But it is a topic that must be discussed, because the “confessional” indeed poses many grave dangers to a civilized society. To summarize:
X. FINAL QUOTE TO PONDER “All
who have been washed from their sins by the blood of Christ are ‘priests
unto God’ and are ‘a royal priesthood’ (Revelation 1:6; I Peter
2:9). The priesthood of all
believers is clearly the New Testament position. But as men exalted
themselves
as ‘lords over God’s heritage’, people were taught that they needed a
priest to whom they could tell their sins, a priest must sprinkle
them, a priest must give them last rites, a priest must say
Masses for them, etc. They
were taught to depend upon a human
priest, while the true high priest, the Lord Jesus [Christ],
was obscured from their view by a dark cloud of man-made traditions.”
Ralph Edward Woodrow
(Author of the book Babylon Mystery Religion: Ancient and Modern) XI. WHAT CAN WE DO? 1. If you think that this issue of the ETI newsletter contains important information, then please make copies of it and give them away free-of-charge to others. 2. Please check out Internet web site: www.tacklingthetoughtopics.net . Please read some of my TTT and ETI newsletters, especially “Death by Government and Death by Church” that deals with religious genocide (to include Inquisition, papal crusades against Christians, ‘holy’ wars, etc.). Please also check out my TTT newsletters on “The Jesuits” (parts I through IV), and the series of TTT newsletters that I did on wars in which American troops fought. If you find that any of these newsletters contain important information, then please make copies of them to give to others. Also, please tell as many folks as you can about the above-listed web site. ((NOTE: Right now, there are not a whole lot of folks in America – to the best of my knowledge – talking about this topic. And this is a topic that needs to be discussed! Please help get this information out to other individuals!)) 3. Please purchase good books that will tell you the truth about the confessional and courageous priests and others who have spoken out against the confessional and other abuses within the Roman Catholic Church: (a.) The Priest, The Woman, and The Confessional by Charles Chiniquy (ex-Catholic priest); 144 pages; Publisher: Chick Publications; ISBN 0-937958-03-4; $10.20 postpaid: Chiniquy gives us quotations from early church fathers, passages from the Holy Bible, and examples from his own experience as a Roman Catholic priest to show us clearly that Christians should be confessing their sins to God and not to a priest. To order a copy, make check or money order payable to “Chick Publications” and mail it to: Chick Publications // P.O. Box 3500 // Ontario, CA 91761-1019. To order by credit card, please call 1-909-987-0771. (b.) 50 Years in the Church of Rome by Charles Chiniquy; 366 pages; 1985; Publisher: Chick Publications; ISBN 0-937958-21-2; $15.75 postpaid: This is the life story of Pastor Charles Chiniquy, who was for twenty-five years a priest in the Roman Catholic Church. This courageous priest spoke out against alcoholism and other abuses within the Catholic priesthood. He was rewarded for his efforts by being persecuted by his own Church – and, eventually, was “framed” for a crime he did not commit. A young lawyer named Abraham Lincoln successfully defended Chiniquy, largely in part due to a lady recanting an accusation that a Catholic prelate had put her up to! Chiniquy became friends with Lincoln, and met with him in the Oval Office. Charles Chiniquy gives proof in his book that the Vatican and her Jesuits were responsible for the assassination of President Lincoln. This book also includes Chiniquy’s observations of the confessional box and the abuses that occurred therein, as well as his experiences while a Roman Catholic priest. To order a copy, make check or money order payable to “Chick Publications” and mail it to: Chick Publications // P.O. Box 3500 // Ontario, CA 91761-1019. To order by credit card, please call 1-909-987-0771. (c.) Far from Rome, Near to God: The
Testimonies of 50 Converted Catholic Priests
(Compiled by Richard Bennett and Martin Buckingham); 216 pages; 1994;
Publisher: Associated Publishers & Authors; $13.95 postpaid: This book
presents the testimonies of 50 former Roman Catholic priests who gave
their lives to Christ alone and who therefore left the Roman
Catholic Church. Some of these priests have written about their experiences
with the confessional box. To order a copy via credit card, please call
toll-free 1-800-631-8220. Or
you may make check or money order payable to “The
Conversion Center, Inc.”
and mail it to: The Conversion Center // P.O. Box 265 // Carthage, NC
28327-0265. (d.) Roman
Catholicism by Dr. Loraine Boettner; 466 pages; hardback;
1962; Publisher: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company; ISBN
0-87552-130-4; $16.95 postpaid: This book deals with such subjects as the
mass, purgatory, the confessional, celibacy, papal infallibility, etc.
To
order a copy via credit card, please call toll-free 1-800-631-8220.
Or you may make check or money order payable to “The Conversion Center, Inc.” and mail it to: The Conversion Center // P.O.
Box 265 // Carthage, NC 28327-0265. (e.) The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop; 330 pages; Publisher: Chick Publications; ISBN 0-937958-57-3; $14.20 postpaid: This book compares the ancient pagan Babylonian religion with Roman Catholicism. As the back cover of this well researched book states: “…Alexander Hislop reveals that many Roman Catholic teachings did not originate with Christ or the Bible, but were adopted from ancient pagan Babylonian religion, and given Christian names.” This book covers such topics as purgatory, prayers for the dead, the confessional, the sacrifice of the mass, Christmas, Easter, Pontifex Maximus, etc. To order a copy, make check or money order payable to “Chick Publications” and mail it to: Chick Publications // P.O. Box 3500 // Ontario, CA 91761-1019. To order by credit card, please call 1-909-987-0771. (f.) A Woman Rides the Beast by Dave Hunt; 550 pages; 1994; Publisher: Harvest House Publishers; ISBN 1-56507-199-9: This book is $16.20 postpaid. It has chapters and/or appendices on such topics as papal infallibility, purgatory, indulgences, and much more. While it does not cover the confessional box, it does however cover many topics of interest to both Catholics and non-Catholics. Some of these key topics are religious genocide (to include the slaughter of Serb Orthodox Christians in Croatia in World War II), the Vatican “Ratlines” that were used to help Fascist war criminals escape punishment, etc. To order this book, please make check or money order payable to “Chick Publications” and mail it to: Chick Publications // P.O. Box 3500 // Ontario, CA 91761-1019. For credit card orders, please call 1-909-987-0771. CLOSING
BIBLE VERSES TO PONDER:
“Who
will rise up for me against the
evildoers? Or who will
stand up for me against the
workers of iniquity?” (Psalm
94:16)
“Cry
aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice
like a trumpet, and shew My
people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.”
(Isaiah 58:1)
[The
Apostle Paul writes]: “And have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”
(Ephesians 5:11)
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