Introduction
“And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:17-18)
It has been taught by the Roman Catholic Church, and believed without question by millions of Catholics around the world, that the Catholic Church started with the first apostles, and Peter was the first Pope. According to many historians, however, the Roman Catholic Church had its beginning around 313AD and its first Pope was a Roman emperor by the name of Constantine.
[That is probably why the name “Catholic Church”, or “pope”, is never mentioned in any of the epistles of the apostles, or in the book of Revelation written by John around 90AD. Maybe it’s because neither one existed yet. The only reference that John writes in Revelation dealing with priesthood was that Jesus hated the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes (Rev. 2:6, 15), which was a religious system of priesthood ruling over the laity (people). (Does that remind you of anything?) In fact, Peter writes in 1 Peter 2 verses 5 and 9, that every believer is a priest unto God.]
Let me first clarify that Jesus was not making Peter the one supreme, visible head of the New Testament Church by His statement in Matthew 16. For throughout the Old and New Testament Jesus Christ is always clearly proclaimed as the only Head and Rock which the Church is built upon. (See Psalms 18:2-31; Psalms 28:1; Psalms 31:3; Psalms 62:2; Matthew 7:24; 1 Corinthians 10:4; 1 Peter 2:4-8; Deuteronomy 32: 4-18; 2 Samuel 22:2-47). The Bible cannot contradict itself. Therefore it is simply a misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the scriptures to believe otherwise. In Matthew 16:13-18, Jesus is telling Peter that His Church is going to be built with living stones, like Peter, who would get their revelation from the Father, and not just from someone else (Ephesians 2:20-22 and 1 Peter 2:5).
Jesus Himself is the Chief Cornerstone, Rock, of such living stones. These stones are living because they are alive to God. They are alive to God because they are born again and baptized in the Holy Spirit. Without this spiritual birth and infilling of God’s Holy Spirit, you cannot be a living stone in His true Church.
Constantine
Now for a brief history taken from references listed at the end of this article.
The Roman emperors were some of the cruelest persecutors of the first church. One of the worst of them was the Emperor Diocletian, in 303AD. His Persecution, however, only caused the new Church to grow and become stronger. In 313AD, however, when the Emperor Constantine began his reign, the persecution came to a stop. Constantine was enthroned as emperor only over Western Rome, but he had political aspirations to become ruler over the entire Roman Empire. In a politically motivated move, and to gain the support of the ever-growing Christian population, he put an end to the persecution of Christians and gave them full rights as citizens.
It is taught and believed by the Catholic Church that Constantine himself became a Christian, but the truth is he remained the head of the Roman pagan church until his death. He also proclaimed himself the head of this new Christian Church in Rome, and gave himself the title of “Vicar of Christ”. This title is the same title used by popes unto this day. So, according to many historians, the pagan emperor Constantine was the first pope of the Catholic Church, not Peter.
One of the first things Constantine did after ending the persecution of Christians was to allow them to use the pagan temples as a meeting place. The statues of all the pagan gods remained in the temples. Their names were changed to names of popular Christian saints. The statues of Isis and Horus were renamed “Jesus” and “Mary”, and so on. It was not long after that many other Roman pagan practices began to infiltrate this apostate Christian Church. Praying to the many dead saints (taken from the Pagan custom of praying to many different mini-gods), praying for the dead, the doctrine of Purgatory, paying to have masses for the dead and lighting candles to the gods are some of the pagan forms of worship that were now part of the Christian Church. Lukewarm Christians who had grown tired of the many years of persecutions began to be swallowed up by this false mixture of paganism and Christianity. However, a faithful few kept themselves separated and set apart to their first love, Jesus.
"When thou art come into the land the LORD thy God gives to you, thou shall not learn to do after the abominations of the nations... (You) are not to call upon the spirits of the dead. Anyone doing these things is an object of horror and disgust to the LORD." (Deuteronomy 18: 9-11 TLB)
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” (2 Corinthians 6:14-17)
“For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:2-3)
“Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise.
"Don’t follow their example in worshiping their gods. Do not ask, ‘How do these nations worship their gods?’ and then go and worship as they do! You must not insult the Lord your God like that! These nations have done horrible things that he hates, all in the name of their religion.” (Deuteronomy 12:30-31)
"Be very, very careful never to compromise with the people there in the land where you are going, for if you do, you will soon be following their evil ways. Instead, you must break down their heathen altars, smash the obelisks they worship, and cut down their shameful idols." (Exodus 34:12-13)
“Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord you God.” (Leviticus 26:1)
This is the true, unbiased historical account of how the Roman Catholic Church and the first Pope got its start; a mixture of paganism and compromise by a politically motivated pagan Roman emperor in 313AD. The Roman Catholic Church has continued to add many more pagan practices and false doctrines to their organization through the centuries. Things such as the worship of Mary as Queen of Heaven, rosary prayer beads, and the doctrines of Transubstantiation and Eucharist.
Mystery Babylon
“And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.” (Revelation 17:1-6)
The apostle John was given a vision of this Mystery Babylon, the Mother of Harlots, who has committed fornication with the world. She is a church that was once true and faithful to Jesus, but began to commit spiritual adultery with the pagan world, and is now full of blasphemy, idolatry, paganism and abomination. In verse six, John says that this church was drunk with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus. According to the history books, Roman Catholicism became the most persecuting faith the world had ever seen, even more so than the Roman Empire. It is documented that Pope Innocent III, in 1200, murdered more Christians in one afternoon than most Roman Emperors did in their entire reign. Text books have very little, if anything, to say about this “Dark Age” period which lasted about 1260 years. During this time there were about 50 million so-called heretics murdered by cruel and unusual ways under the power of popes. In many cases, emperors aligned themselves with the popes and empowered them with the civil forces to carry out their heinous crimes on anyone who would not join themselves to, or who spoke against, the doctrine of the Catholic Church. (Read Foxe’s Book of Martyrs by John Foxe)
“And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” (Revelation 18:1-5)
If you heart’s desire is to know Jesus Christ more personally, to hear His voice and to follow Him, the first step is repentance and turning away from all sin. Then He will fill you with His Holy Spirit, Who will lead you and guide you into all truth.
“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38)
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” (John 16:14)
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are y e my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31,32)
Sources: Foxe’s Book of Martyrs by John Foxe A Woman Rides the Beast by Dave Hunt The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop The Seven Sealed Scrolls by Jeanne Trovato