PEOPLE OF G-D MINISTRIES
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FOOTNOTES
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Return to Councils and Synods of The Church
As an answer to the Reformation Doctrines the Roman church implimented what is called "The Counter-Reformation". These actions and doctrines were formulated over a period of nearly 100 years (1545-1643).
The Roman Church today calls the Council of Trent the "Nineteenth Ecumenical Council".
CHARLES V, THE LAST OF THE TRUE HOLY ROMAN EMPERORS, ORDERED IT DISSOLVED.
For over 1,000 years, the sole way that a Church Council or Synod could be Lawfully Convened and Ratified was by a Crowned Head. The case of Council of Trent is a very unusual one. The Roman Church had ongoing disagreements with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V of Spain. He did authorize a Council, (it was attended by very few prelates, 31 in the first and 213 in the last) and Charles V Decreed it be Convened in his own territories. Trent was an Imperial City.
The Roman Catholic Church, in 1545, did meet there, but disagreements between the Holy Roman Emperor and the Roman Church (Paul III) led to the pope moving the council to the papal states where it was not authorized to be Convened, and then it was suspended in 1547 by Charles V. The pope who came after Paul III was Paul IV. He did not reconvene the council as he feared Spanish influences. It was reconvened in 1551, but again suspended in 1552.
The next pope, Pius IV, reconvened it in 1562 and it completed the work in 1563. Although it appears to have met for several years, for most of this time, the council was in recess because it was later completely suspended by the Emperor Charles V who originally authorized it.
They waited until the original Convocator, Charles V, was dead, then Pius IV reconvened it. Many have pointed out that this was basically illegal.
THE POPE PROCLAIMED A KING OF GERMANY "HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR" WHO WAS NO SUCH THING.
Charles V was the last of the real Holy Roman Emperors. None were truly crowned after him, despite what the papists say. The so-called "emperors" who were later "proclaimed Holy Roman Emperors" by Rome were nothing more than figureheads, kings of Germany with very limited power. The Reformation brought an end to that era.
There is no way that anyone could have overriden Charles V's suspension of the Council of Trent, as he was truly Holy Roman Emperor and they were not. As stated, those who came after him were not truly Holy Roman Emperors at all, even if the pope said they were. They were just kings of Germany and never had the powers Charles V had. Many say that it was an outright farce.
There remains therefore good reason for some to strongly object to this "council" which proclaimed a basically fraudulent "Holy Roman Emperor" after Charles V which in actuality they never were, so their "council" could reject Augustine, approve Arminianism and reject other Biblical Reformation doctrines, and add several other things.
The Protestants, on the other hand, followed Church tradition and The Synod of Dort was Lawfully Convened by Prince Maurice of Holland, to which all the Protestant kings sent Delegates.
The same objection can be made with regard to Vatican II. No Lawful Crowned Head ever Convened Vatican II either!
AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
Rome also denied outright the Protestant Reformations' teaching that Etermal Salvation was by:
1. Sola Gratia : Grace Alone
2. Sola Fide : By Faith Alone (Justification by Faith alone)
3. Sola Scriptura : Scripture Only. (Not "Church Traditions")
ROME REJECTS AUGUSTINE
Council of Trent. See Canons IV, IX, XVII. 6th Session on Justification.
3. The Society of Jesus. (Order of the Jesuits). Organized by Ignatius Loyola in 1540 became the "intellectual branch" of the Romanists. They were dedicated to the belief that Romanism was the sole spiritual authority to be obeyed. Many in this group were devoted to scholarship. It was from this group that the Preterist (Alcazar) and the Futurist (Ribera) interpretations were devised.
4. The establishing of The Index. This was the arm that banned any anti-Romanist publication.
5. The establishment of "The Holy Office". Better known as "The Inquisition". his was the prosecutorial arm of Rome. Under its engines, Halley's Bible Handbook says that over 50,000,000 (fifty million) people perished in the span of 300 years. Also see Foxe's Book of Martyrs.
The Ruling of 1274: Purgatory. The belief that when most people pass from this life, they go neither to Heaven directly nor Hell, but to Purgatory where they suffer in payment for their sins until they have suffered enough to go to Heaven. A Romanist may "pray" relatives out of Purgatory, or "buy" them out by contracting (for a fee) Masses to be said for them.
And several other mandatory teachings such as:
The perpetual virginity of Mary.
The Primacy of the Bishop of Rome.
The mediatorial position of the priesthood (Romanist priests only of course).
The efficacy of Baptism.
Worship of relics.
Prayers to the saints.
The efficacy of the Mass.
Auricular Confessions.
The sale of Indulgencies.
No Salvation outside the Roman Catholic Church.
Many of the teachings above had been previously formulted under Gregory VII.
1870: The Doctrine of the "Infallibility of the pope" when speaking Ex Cathedra:
1917: Mary supposedly appears in Fatima promoting her own "Immaculate Heart", and devotion to it. This popular belief has never been opposed by Rome. As a matter of fact, statues and pictures of Marys' "Immaculate Heart" exposed within her chest are still widely venerated among Romanists today.
1950: The Assumption of Mary: (The Doctrine that because Mary "never sinned" [see "1854: Immaculate Conception", above] that Mary never died, but was miraculously transported directly to heaven) under Pope Pius XII. Romanists do admit this is found nowhere in Scripture, nevertheless it is a mandatory belief for them.
1965: Vatican II. Introduction of 14 positions including "Humanae Vitae" and the "Declaration on Non-Christian Religions" (which declared Hinduism, Buddhism Judaism, Native American religions and Islam) as all "equally valid". This was an unprecedented step and is totally foreign to any Doctrine the Assemblies have ever held.
� Copyright 2001-2004 People of G-d Ministries, Inc. No reproduction or redistribution without the Prior Written Consent and Approval of People of G-d.
FOOTNOTES
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