Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

Padre, the hierarchy that is the clenched fist of the temporal worldly institution that is Roman Catholicism has always been at odds with the written Word of God.

The ROMAN emperor Constantine started to form the Roman Catholic church after issuing his “Edict of Milan,“ in 313 A.D. granting religious tolerance to Christians. This edict of his, along with his successor’s “Edict of Thessalonica,” resulted in the serious compromising of the original true Biblical Christianity that had existed for almost three hundred years, before the Roman Empire welcomed their pagans as new unconverted, still pagan members by the thousands, with their pagan religious customs and practices intact, into Rome's new version of Christianity which they eventually named Roman Catholicism, which is an oxymoron...

Christianity, from its' day of Pentecost inception in Jerusalem, has been universal/catholic, and cannot be claimed by Rome three hundred years later as "Roman."

Some of the following beliefs were practiced earlier than the dates given, they became binding on all Catholics when officially adopted by church councils and proclaimed by the Pope as dogmas of faith. All dates are A.D./C.E., and all were added long after the Bible was closed by God when the Revelation of Jesus to John was completed ca 96 A.D. with the admonition that Nothing May Be Added to it. It was complete.

Revelation 22:18-19 "I testify to everyone who hears the words of prophecy in this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.
19 And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and the holy city, which are described in this book."

A dogma of the Catholic Church is defined as "a t***h revealed by God, which the magisterium of the Church declared as binding."

1. Presbyter (or elders) were first called priests by Lucian...2nd century.
2. Prayers for the dead...A.D. 300 A.D.
3. The VENERATION of angels and dead saints and the use of images...375.
4. The Mass as a daily celebration was adopted...394.
5. Beginning of exaltation of Mary, - first use of the term "Mother of God" - Council of Ephesus...431.
6. Priests began to dress differently from the laity and to wear special clothing...500 A.D.
7. Extreme Unction ...526.
8. The doctrine of purgatory was first established by Gregory the Great...593.
9. Prayers began to be offered to Mary, dead saints, and angels...600.
10. The first bishop of Rome to be proclaimed "Pope" (Boniface III)...610.
11. Veneration of the cross, images, and relics authorized...788.
12. Holy water, mixed with a pinch of salt and blessed by a priest was authorized in...850.
13. Veneration of Saint Joseph...890.
14. College of cardinals begun...927.
15. Canonization of dead saints, first, by Pope John XV...995.
16. The Mass developed gradually into a sacrifice, attendance was made obligatory in...11th century.
17. The celibacy of the priesthood was decreed by Pope Hildebrand, Boniface VII...1079.
18. The rosary, or prayer beads copied from Hindus and Muslims) was introduced by Peter the Hermit...1090.
19. Inquisition of "Heretics" instituted - Council of Verona...1184, legalized, promoted - 4th Lateran Council...1215.
20. The sale of Indulgences...1190.
21. The seven sacraments defined by Peter Lombard...12th century.
22. The dogma of t***substantiation was decreed by Pope Innocent III ...1215.
23. Confession of sins to the priest at least once annually instituted by Pope Innocent III - Lateran Council...1215.
24. The adoration of the wafer (host) decreed by Pope Honorius III ...1220.
25. The scapular invented by Simon Stock of England...1251.
26. The doctrine of purgatory proclaimed a dogma by the Council of Florence...1439.
27. Tradition is declared of equal authority with the Bible by the Council Trent...1546.
28. The Apocryphal Books were added to the Bible by the Council of Trent...1545.
29. The Immaculate Conception of Mary was proclaimed by Pope Pius IX in 1854.
30. Pope Pius IX condemns all scientific discoveries not approved by by the Roman Church...1864.
31. Infallibility of the pope in matters of faith and morals proclaimed by the First Vatican Council...1870.
32. Pius XI condemned the public schools...1930.
33. Pius XI reaffirmed the doctrine that Mary is "The Mother of God" ...1931.
34. The dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was proclaimed by Pope Pius XII...1950.
35. Mary proclaimed the Mother of the Church by Pope Paul VI...1965.

The Catechism of Trent decreed: "The document on the Church repeats in substance the teaching of the Council of Trent that "priests and bishops are the representatives of God on earth...justly, therefore, they are called not only angels, but gods, holding as they do the place of authority of God on earth."

"No more sweeping claims were made by the Council of Trent (1545-1563), nor by the First Vatican Council (1870), than are made in these documents from Vatican II (1962-1965):

Despite all the claims to the contrary, the Council has firmly maintained the doctrine of the primacy of Peter, and of papal succession. In his book, Ecclesiam Suam, Pope Paul expressed his distress because of what some of the "separated brethren" say about the pope as the stumbling block in the way of church unity.

He said, "Do not some of them say that if it were not for the primacy of the pope, the reunion of the separated churches with Catholic Church would be easy?
We beg the separated brethren to consider the inconsistency of this position, not only in that, without the pope, the Catholic Church would no longer be Catholic, but also because without the supreme decisive pastoral office of Peter, the unity of the Church of Christ would utterly collapse."

The Pope was correct only to this extent, if the Roman Catholic Church were reformed according to Scripture, it would have to be abandoned, for the gross errors concerning salvation still remain. Moreover, the Council did nothing toward removing the 151 anathemas or curses pronounced by the Council of Trent on the Protestant churches and beliefs. If there is to be any true unity, surely this would seem the logical place to start."

The true “remnant” Church (true followers of Christ and the Bible) continued to exist then, and to follow the teachings of the Scripture, enduring the persecution of Roman power and might, as they remained on the outside of this heavily corrupted blend of Christianity and paganism, - just as a remnant remains today.

Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

IMHO, I found your referenced website's explanation to be Biblically sound, perhaps it didn't go quite far enough.

Here is a further explanation:

After His resurrection, Jesus told the disciples, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John 20:23). NRSV

The majority of Bible t***slations use similar wording here, making it sound like God has given the ministry of the Church the authority to forgive or retain sins. This perception has been most prevalent in the Catholic Church.

The proper t***slation of John 20:23:

One of the few t***slations that reflect key Greek nuances properly here is the New American Standard Bible: “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained” (emphasis added throughout).

The NASB Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible adds the following marginal note: “have previously been forgiven” (Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D.).

Therefore, the NASB better reflects the fact that these individuals’ sins will have already been forgiven or retained by God before the apostles’ recognition of the same. This is not just a matter of picking a t***slation that says what we want it to say. The word forgiven is in the perfect tense.

Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology explains the perfect tense as follows:

“The verb tense used by the writer to describe a completed verbal action that occurred in the past but which produced a state of being or a result that exists in the present (in relation to the writer).”

Jesus’ words in John 20:23 were stated immediately after alluding to a process that would be new to them: “He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (verse 22).

Of course, they didn’t have God’s Spirit dwelling in them until several weeks later on Pentecost (John 14:17).

Nevertheless, this would allow the apostles to make Spirit-led judgments. Christ’s breathing on them was symbolic of their receiving God’s Spirit. And verse 23 represents the fruit of God’s Spirit, that is, they will be inspired to either pardon or discipline people according to what has already been bound by God.

At the same time, God never binds anything that truly contradicts His will or approval.

For example, Paul determined that Church members in Corinth shouldn’t have tolerated the man involved in sexual immorality with his stepmother: “Your glorying is not good” (1 Corinthians 5:1-6).

However, about a year later, Paul told them that the man’s punishment and repentance were “sufficient” for them to “forgive and comfort him” (2 Corinthians 2:6-7).

Both the punishment and pardon were Spirit-led judgments.
Binding and loosing in Matthew 18:18 and Matthew 16:19

The same principle and Greek grammar are found in Matthew 18:18: “Wh**ever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and wh**ever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Several other t***slations bring out the proper meaning here:

“Wh**ever you forbid ... on earth must be what is already forbidden in heaven” (Amplified Bible).
“Wh**ever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven” (English Majority Text).
“Wh**ever you bind on the earth will be, having been bound in Heaven” (Literal T***slation Version).
“Wh**ever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven” (NASB).

Likewise, this principle and Greek grammar apply to the wording in Matthew 16:19.

The proper t***slation of these three accounts underscores that God determines that which is bound or loosed, as opposed to leaving such decisions solely in the hands of men.

Marty 2020 Loc: Banana Republic of Kalifornia

My Bible is an nasb.
I like it. My pastor always says what the kjv means, but mine already has it 😅

Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

Yes, that version has always been my choice. I have the Greek-Hebrew Key Study Bible in the NASB.

It has been considered the best word=for-word t***slation for serious study for years, although the ESV is attempting to make a move on it.