And also for the praise of the world do they destroy the saints of God, and bring them down into captivity.
And after they go forth by the hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, from the Jews unto the Gentiles, thou seest the formation of a great and abominable church, which is most abominable above all other churches; for behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away.
Wherefore, thou seest that after the book hath gone forth through the hands of the great and abominable church, that there are many plain and precious things taken away from the book, which is the book of the Lamb of God. Book of Mormon I Nephi 13:4-9&26&28
And that great pit, which hath been digged for them by that great and abominable church, which was founded by the devil and his children, that he might lead away the souls of men down to hell – yea, that great pit which hath been digged for the destruction of men shall be filled by those who digged it, unto their utter destruction, saith the Lamb of God; not the destruction of the soul, save it be the casting of it into that hell which hath no end.
For behold, this is according to the captivity of the devil, and also according to the justice of God, upon all those who will work wickedness and abomination before him.
And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, Nephi, saying: Thou hast beheld that if the Gentiles repent it shall be well with them; and thou also knowest concerning the covenants of the Lord unto the house of Israel; and thou also hast heard that whoso repenteth not must perish.
Therefore, wo be unto the Gentiles if it so be that they harden their hearts against the Lamb of God.
For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men; a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other – either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds unto their being brought down into captivity, and also into destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil, of which I have spoken.
And it came to pass that when the angel had spoken these words, he said unto me: Rememberest thou the covenants of the Father unto the house of Israel? I said unto him, Yea.
And it came to pass that he said unto me: Look, and behold that great and abominable church, which is the mother of abominations, whose founder is the devil.
And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth.
And it came to pass that I looked and beheld the whore of all the earth, and she sat upon many waters; and she had dominion over all the earth, among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people.
And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw.
And it came to pass that I beheld that the great mother of abominations did gather together multitudes upon the face of all the earth, among all the nations of the Gentiles, to fight against the Lamb of God.
And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.
And it came to pass that I beheld that the wrath of God was poured out upon that great and abominable church, insomuch that there were wars and rumors of wars among all the nations and kindreds of the earth.
And as there began to be wars and rumors of wars among all the nations which belonged to the mother of abominations, the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold, the wrath of God is upon the mother of harlots; and behold, thou seest all these things –
And when the day cometh that the wrath of God is poured out upon the mother of harlots, which is the great and abominable church of all the earth, whose founder is the devil, then, at that day, the work of the Father shall commence, in preparing the way for the fulfilling of his covenants, which he hath made to his people who are of the house of Israel.
And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, saying: Look!
And I looked and beheld a man, and he was dressed in a white robe.
And the angel said unto me: Behold one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Book of Mormon: I Nephi 14:3-20
Blessed be pain. Loved be pain. Sanctified be pain. Glorified by pain. Josemaria Escriva, The Way 308
You will notice that in all disputes between Christians since the birth of the Church, Rome has always favoured the doctrine which most completely subjugated the human mind and annihilated reason. Voltaire
Pope Benedict XVI has broken his silence in a rare essay on the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, claiming that it was caused in part by the sexual revolution of the 1960s and the liberalization of the church’s moral teaching.
In the 11-page analysis published today in a German magazine for priests, Klerusblatt, the former Pope also reveals some of the behind-the-scenes struggles between the Vatican and American bishops in handling the crisis and admits that the Vatican was initially overwhelmed in dealing with it.
Catholic News Agency first published the letter in English on Wednesday afternoon.
A top Vatican official has confirmed the essay’s authenticity to CNN. Since his resignation in 2013, Benedict has rarely left his monastery high on a hill in Vatican City. In his farewell address as pope, Benedict promised to stay ‘hidden’ from the world, though he has spoken out occasionally on church matters.
Nearly 92, Benedict appears to be frail but in relatively good health.
‘Since I myself had served in a position of responsibility as shepherd of the Church at the time of the public outbreak of the crisis, and during the run-up to it, I had to ask myself – even though, as emeritus, I am no longer directly responsible – what I could contribute to a new beginning’, Benedict wrote, in explaining why he is speaking out now.
But his comments on the sex abuse crisis seem certain to inflame tensions between conservative Catholics, who largely blame homosexuality and lax sexual ethics for the scandal, and liberals, who say there is no known connection between homosexuality and pedophilia.
As word of Benedict’s essay spread Wednesday evening, conservative Catholics hailed it, while others called it ‘embarrassing’.
‘This is an embarrassing letter. The idea that ecclesial abuse of children was a result of the 1960s, a supposed collapse of moral theology, and ‘conciliarity’ is an embarrassingly wrong explanation for the systemic abuse of children and its coverup’, wrote Catholic theologian Brian Flanagan on Twitter. CNN online article 11 April 2019, ‘Ex-Pope Benedict XVI breaks silence on church’s sex abuse crisis and blames the sexual revolution and liberals’
The fabric of Christian faith and dogma was torn in pieces and continued to undergo even further schisms. For the first time in its history Christianity starts to come apart. It’s no longer one Catholic church. And for potential disbelievers these disagreements, this sectarianism, was seen as evidence that perhaps none of the dogma might be true. Dr Jonathan Miller, A Rough History of Disbelief, BBC 2004
Germany 1493: a time of desolation and disease. Where the plague could wipe out entire towns in days. And a quarter of all children died before they were five. In this world there was one great consolation: the Church and its promise of heaven. Martin Luther I: Driven to Defiance PBS 2010
Also corrupt and tyrannical. An empire that would be overturned by one man: Martin Luther. ibid.
The church exerted as much control over life on Earth as it did in Heaven. ibid.
The Black Death had killed almost a half of Europe’s population in the previous hundred years. ibid.
The more his despair the more Luther threw himself into the rituals of the Church. ibid.
The papacy even wielded military power. ibid.
Luther’s trip to Rome had brought only disillusion and doubt. ibid.
Selling Indulgences – charging the faithful for entry into Heaven. ibid.
31st October 1517 Luther sat down and penned a furious litany of criticism. Ninety-five stinging bullet-points. ibid.
The thesis would spread like wildfire. ibid.
The penalty for heresy was death. ibid.
The Church’s greatest conflict in its history. ibid.
95 theses – 95 stinging attacks on the mighty Catholic church and its head the Pope. Luther has no idea that with his one gesture he has unleashed a hurricane. A storm of violence that will rage across Europe. Martin Luther II: The Reluctant Revolutionary
Luther was charged with heresy. Only a hundred years before a man named … had criticised the Church for much the same reasons as Luther. ibid.
Luther painted a vivid picture of the financial drain that was Rome. ibid.