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From the book: The Challenge of the Christian Theology and more...
of Ewald Frank |
The end-time
In the Holy Scriptures we find the terms »ages«, »end-time«,
»last days« among others. Such designations are important to
the time line of God as they show various ages. It is
something wonderful, that we are now in and experiencing the
last part of the New Testament era. The final call in this
time of grace is going forth.
Viewing the promised Return of Christ in God’s Word and the
fulfilment of Bible prophecy, we understand the signs of the
time. It is imperative to write an exposition about God and
His Plan of Salvation with humanity. God’s Word, which does
not change but remains forever, is the only valid authority.
Thus saith the Lord , »Heaven and earth shall pass away, but
my words shall not pass away.« (Lk. 21: 33). The Apostle
Peter connects the Old with the New Testament and brings
both as one whole, as he quotes the Prophet Isaiah, »But the
word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word
which by the gospel is preached unto you.« (1 Pt. 1: 25; Isa.
40: 8).
John, the seer, on the isle of Patmos predicted that the
everlasting Gospel would be faithfully proclaimed to all the
inhabitants of the earth (Rev. 14: 6). Our Lord has actually
said the same, »and this gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations;
and then shall the end come.« (Mt.24: 14). These predictions
are being realised and fulfilled, as the same Gospel is now
preached before the end. All peoples, tribes and languages
are included, even those who do not have an understanding
about God or a totally different one in comparison to the
Holy Scriptures. The Gospel, which is now proclaimed, cannot
be another one — it has to be the same original proclamation
that existed at the very beginning. The Gospel carries the
main proclamation: God was in Christ reconciling the world
with Himself (2 Cor. 5: 19).
All prophets and men sent by God had to stand against the
trend of their time. If God had not been with them, surely
the tidal waves would have covered them. Every time God sent
one of His servants, He made history. Those He sent were
always like a foreign object and never fitted into the
existing religious systems. They were divinely commissioned,
doing the service and will of the Most High.
These men always had to swim against the religious current.
They searched diligently in the Old and the New Testament
until they reached the source itself. That is how they could
see the difference between real Biblical teaching and the
doctrines handed down by church tradition.
Inasmuch as in post-apostolic times after Polycarp and
Ireneus the men in Christendom, who exclusively came from
heathenism, distanced themselves from Judaism and the Old
Testament, they explained the New Testament according to
their own views resulting in a totally different concept. It
is significant that when the breaking away from Judaism
occurred that was the same time when the Trinity doctrine
came into Christendom. Not a single Christian who believes
in the one God has ever hated the Jews. Deadly hatred and
terrible accusations against the Jews were being heralded,
claiming they were blind and rejected by God and so forth by
those who represented the teaching of the trinity. During
this transition period they were categorically accused as
being guilty of killing Christ and even having murdered God.
Of course, there was no more original foundation of the
apostles and prophets left. This branch which had fallen
away from the Word was united with worldly power. Thus began
the most disastrous era in church history, known as the
”dark ages”.
The Trinity-dogma was proclaimed on 1st May, 381 A.D. by
Cæsar Theodosius I as the »state religion« in the Roman
Empire. In the year 443 Pope Leo I declared it to be binding
to all Christians. Around the year 500 the priesthood began
to wear uniformed cloth and were made civil servants. Thus
the dividing line between clergy and the congregation was
drawn. According to the testimony of the Scripture, the
whole assembly of the redeemed is the »holy priesthood« (1
Pt. 2: 9; Rev. 1: 6). Then began the terrible thousand-year
reign of the Roman State church until the breaking forth of
the Reformation.
Since Christianity became a state religion, all Roman
citizens had to bow to it. During the first century the
Roman government had persecuted the Christian church,
regardless of what type of branch it was. Now all were
forced into the unity of this one church. History records
the terrible crusades, which go into the account of the
Trinity-church. The Roman Catholic Church is also
responsible for all the problems of the Jews, religious wars,
the Spanish inquisition and the persecution of the Waldenser,
the killing of the Huguenots in France and much more.
Just at the turn of the first Christian millennium the
worldly power totally submitted to the religious power,
which won the upper hand and claimed superiority. Up till
then the cæsars installed the Popes, then the Popes
installed the cæsars. It was Pope Nicholas II who proclaimed
this degree in the year 1059. Under the banner »In the Name
of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost« all the crusaders
received the churches orders and massacred uncounted
innocent victims with the crucifix in one hand and the sword
in the other hand. In the year 1096 Pope Urban II had given
the order, as was agreed in the Council of Clermont in 1095,
to capture Jerusalem and to occupy the tomb of Christ and
set the whole area under Christian rulership. Altogether
about 330,000 crusaders left France and Germany, of which
only 40,000 under Gottfried of Bouillon finally reached
Jerusalem. The Pope had said: »Deus lo vult« — »God wills it!«
and so his subjects had to submit. The murderers received
papal absolution for all the atrocities they would perform.
Not only in Jerusalem, the blood streaming through the
streets, whole areas were soaked with blood for centuries.
In one crusade the man who wrote the biography of King
Frederic II, who later was crowned king of Jerusalem, wrote
into his diary, »Wading through blood we entered the holy
city and fought until we reached the tomb of Christ — this
is truly a holy war.« Human beings were slaughtered in mass
like animals »in the Name of the Father, the Son and the
Holy Ghost«. The Trinity-church has used her doctrine like a
three-edged club without mercy to slay and to murder whole
tribes.
The Popes being the main propagators of the Trinity teaching,
as history ascribes, are responsible for all the atrocities
done in the name of »Christian«/Catholic religion. They also
ordered the public burning of the Talmud in the year 1244
and the burning of all Hebrew literature in 1731. They are
responsible for all the expulsions of the Jews, for the
persecution of those who believed differently. The massacres
were part of their program. The Jews they cursed forever and
those who did not join this state church were also cursed as
heretics and persecuted.
Whole nations in Europe were declared by this church to be
free from Jews: Spain 1492, Portugal 1496, and so on. In
Poland alone 200,000 Jews were actually chopped to pieces in
the year 1648. The history of the Popes is soaked with blood,
with the blood of the Jews and the blood of faithful Bible
believers who died as martyrs. The »final solution« was
meant to take place in our time, when 6 million Jews, among
them 1.5 million children, were killed.
Sad but true, the accusations propagated against the Jews by
the Roman Church are still in the heads of the people today.
Also Luther, born and raised as a Catholic, could not free
himself from this attitude, even after having experienced
conversion. Finally the hatred was manifested in the
holocaust of the Catholic dominated Hitler-regime. Only
since the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the accusing
statements against the Jews were finally taken out of the
mass.
In an agreement the Vatican recognised Israel only on June
15th, 1994. From then on diplomatic relations exist between
the two states. But whether the attitude is changed is
questionable. Obviously the Vatican takes sides with the
enemies of Israel.
The Jews have always preferred death, as they could not
accept the Trinity, neither teaching nor the tri-une baptism.
The same can be said with uncounted faithful Bible believing
Christians. All who are honest should think about this fact.
Right up till now fanatical trinitarians, whether in state
churches or other churches, have the same hatred and express
it towards those who believe the Bible.
If a teaching is right and has divine origin, then the
outcome of it will leave behind the footprints of love,
peace and blessing. The Jews never required the nations to
be converted to their faith in the only true God. They did
no mission work. Force is the mark of the Roman State
churches in Christianising the nations. Wherever there is
much power, there is also much misuse of power. That can be
traced throughout history.
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