“The Truth Shall Set You Free”

Part 9

It is a historical fact that Roman Catholicism created Islam. Jonathan Gray, an archeologist and researcher has revealed something that is largely an unknown. It will help the reader understand why it is that Pope Francis has been so cordial in his encouraging Muslim immigrants migrating from the Middle East through Turkey into Europe. Since there is an obvious conflict between Islam and Christianity, this will explain so many of the strange actions, statements, and words of Pope Francis. At a deeper level, however, there are many similarities between Islam and Roman Catholicism. In a subsequent segment of this series, I will elaborate more on this incredible deception.

The Roman Catholic Institution goes to great length to obscure this astonishing story that for the most part has been lost in the annals of history. The content of this revelation below comes from a world class explorer, archeologist, and researcher, Jonathan Gray.

THE "DESTROYER" TURNS "PROTECTOR"

Religious or not, Islam is now a force to be noticed.

But what very few leaders, political or religious, seem aware
of, and what the media won't tell, and what 997 out of 1,000

people don't know, is this:

Islam's rise from the Arabian desert, its surprising strategy
that would stun historians, and its bizarre final destiny -
all this was accurately foretold by ancient prophets.

Are you sitting down? Islam was created in the 7th century by
a certain European power to do a specific job. Vatican
intelligence agents have documented the whole gripping story,
detail by detail.

In brief, the fearless Arab tribes were organized into an "army",
with instructions to convert or eliminate certain people in
North Africa and the Middle East. Muhammed was carefully groomed
for this purpose.

ORIGINAL PLAN BACKFIRES

But it did not work out quite as planned. After they had tasted
a fair measure of success, these wild horsemen decided to do
their own thing. They turned against their sponsors and proceeded
to protect many whom they were meant to destroy.

In the ancient prophecies about Islam, three stages of future
Muslim history were laid out in advance.

THE FIRST STAGE (CALLED THE
PROPHECY OF "THE FIRST WOE")

During the time of Muhammad and shortly thereafter were men who
loved the Creator and were following His ways to the best of their
knowledge. According to the prophecy, a command would be given
not to “hurt” them.

After the death of Muhammed, he was succeeded in the command by
Abubeker, A. D. 632; who, as soon as he was firmly in power,
sent a circular letter to the Arabian tribes, of which the
following is an extract.

"Destroy no palm trees, nor burn any field of corn. Cut down no
fruit trees, nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you
kill to eat...

"As you go on, you will find some religious persons, who propose
to themselves to serve God that way: let them alone... And you
will find another sort of people that belong to the synagogue of
Satan, who have shaven crowns; be sure you cleave their skulls,
and give them no quarter, till they either turn Mahometans or
pay tribute'." -(Edward Gibbon Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire, Vol.V:489-490)

Roman Catholic monks shaved their heads in a circle shape of the sun

when they were ordained priests. This circular tonsure was
a sign of the sun god.

Islam from the beginning made a clear distinction between
different groups of Christians. Its holy book, the Koran, stated
that some were genuine and others were false.

THE SECOND STAGE (CALLED THE
PROPHECY OF "THE SECOND WOE"
- from 1449 to 1840)

It was during this second Muslim period that the 16th century
Reformation took place in Europe. Some of those within the ruling
church of Rome were protesting its errors.  Chief among them was a
devout priest in Germany - Martin Luther.

The Vatican passed a death decree against the Protestants and 
the priests were stirring up the people to have the Protestants put to death.

The kings obedient to Rome united their swords to strike, and
with a blow so decisive that they should not need to strike a second time,

It was the Muslim Turk who suddenly stepped forward, although he was
unaware of what he was doing.

Soliman, head of the Ottoman Empire, setting out from Constantinople
on the 23rd of April, 1526, at the head of a mighty army, and swollen
at last to 300,000 Turks, came nearer and nearer to Hungary. The land
now shook with terror.

The Turks became the conducting-rod that drew off the lightning of the
Vatican and helped to shield the intended victims. 

Traversing Hungary, the Ottoman host sat down before the walls of
Vienna. The hills around that capital were white with their tents,
and the fertile plains beneath its walls were trodden by their cavalry.
The besiegers were opening trenches, were digging mines, were
thundering with their cannon, and already a breach had been made in
the walls.
        
A few days and Vienna must succumb to the numbers, the impetuosity,
and valor of the Ottoman warriors, and a desolate and blood-sprinkled
heap would alone remain to mark where it had stood.

Once the door of Germany burst open, the conquerors would pour along
the valley of the Danube, and plant the crescent amid the sacked
cities and devastated provinces of the Empire.

The prospect was a terrible one. A common ruin, like an avalanche on
the brow of the Alps, hung suspended above all parties and ranks in
Germany, and might at any moment sweep down upon them with resistless fury.

King Louis set out to stop the advance of the powerful Soliman. On the
29th of August his little army of 27,000 met the multitudinous hordes
of Turkey at Mohacz, on the Danube.

Soliman’s force was fifteen times greater than that of the king. Louis
gave the command of his army to the Archbishop of Cologne - who was
experienced in war.

When the king put on his armor on the morning of the battle, he was
observed to be deadly pale. All foresaw the issue. ‘Here go 27,000
Hungarians,’ exclaimed Bishop Perenyi, as the host defiled past him.

By evening the plain of Mohacz was covered with the Hungarian dead,
piled up in gory heaps. Twenty-eight princes, five hundred nobles,
seven bishops, and twenty thousand warriors lay cold in death.

Escaping from the scene of carnage, the king and the papal legate
sought safety in flight.

Louis had to cross a black pool which lay in his course; his horse
bore him through it, but in climbing the opposite bank the steed fell
backward, crushing the monarch, and giving him burial in the marsh. 
The papal nuncio was taken and slain.    
     
Having trampled down the king and his army, the Muslim army slaughtered
200,000 of its inhabitants. This calamity, which shocked all Europe,
brought rest to the Protestants.

A Muslim history records that "In the 16th and 17th centuries support and
encouragement for Protestants and Calvinists... were one of the
fundamental principles of Ottoman policy." (Halil Inalcik, "The Heyday
and Decline of the Ottoman Empire" in History of Islam, pp.325-329)

"There would have been no Protestantism had there been no Turk."
(Kenneth Oster, Islam Reconsidered, p.72)

Thus we find that Islamic forces, in the form of the Ottoman Turks,
were instruments for the fulfilment of an ancient prophecy.

Constantinople (the capital of the Eastern Roman empire) fell into the
hands of Muslims. The Eastern Roman empire collapsed. Today that same
city is named Istanbul, Turkey.

THE THIRD STAGE (CALLED THE
PROPHECY OF "THE THIRD WOE" -
or what today's Muslims term
"the Third Jihad")

As in the "First" and "Second Woe" periods, so in the coming "Third
Woe" we can expect the hand of Globalist oppression to be raised,
ready to punish dissenters who follow their consciences, when suddenly
and unexpectedly radical Islam strikes.  Then the oppressing government
is distracted while it "restrains" radical Islam and those who stand
faithful to the Creator are largely sheltered.

The target of Islam has always been a corrupted religious-political
system.

Islamic forces will be instruments, both for protection of those who
live right and for punishment of those who are enforcing oppressive
laws for what they claim to be "the common good".

In a nutshell, Islam has a surprising two-fold role in prophecy and
history - to punish the oppressor and at the same time to shelter the
oppressed.

WORLD-CHANGING EVENTS
POISED READY TO BREAK

If you didn't know, events have started to happen in Europe,
USA and Australia right now that are set to change the world overnight.

Big upheavals are coming to your life and that of your family members.
And I'm still in shock after 15 months of checking and re-checking some
ancient prophecies that foretell what is happening. Then, after that,
what's going to come.

IN OUR DAY - and what is coming.

(Yes, archaeology zooms in on ancient documents - and am I grateful
that we discovered these just in time! You'll be glad too.)

The fuse is burning and the clock is ticking!

Why Islam Was Created?

As this segment will reveal, and others to come, it was none other than the Roman Catholic Institution that is responsible for the creation of Islam. Religious leaders today are for the most part oblivious to the history of the church, early Christianity, and matters that will play heavily in end times history. Augustine, the bishop of North Africa, was effective in winning Arabs to Catholicism (salvation by the sacraments through the Papal Church), but many did not convert.

At the same time, missionaries of the followers of Jesus Christ were preaching the pure gospel in North Africa, Asia Minor and other places. Satan didn’t want the Arabs to know the true path of salvation, so he had the Augustinians create the false religion of Islam, to deceive them. The Koran gives Muslims a religious cause, which opposes Christians, so that they would not read the Gospel and become Christian. Islam is Romanism for Arabs. Revelation 17 calls the Roman Church the ‘Mother of Harlots’, and Islam is one of the daughter religions that they helped create.

The Roman Catholic Church didn’t have an army, so they sought to harness the power of the great population of Ishmaelites in the desert, to take control of the Holy Land. The Holy City was considered a priceless treasure and Roman Catholics wanted Jerusalem because of its religious history and its strategic location. Consequently, a scheme had to be developed to make Jerusalem a Roman Catholic city. They would use the Arabs to kill Jews and believers, who opposed their teachings.

Evangelism is totally forbidden in the Koran, so Rome created a built-in mechanism to kill true Christians. The Koran is designed and written to counter Christianity. They wrote the Koran in such a way so it appears to line up with Bible prophecy. This caused people to point to Islam and Muslims instead of the Roman Catholics. As Jonathan Gray points out, “The fuse is burning and the clock is ticking”. He has produced a 4 DVD set that details this nightmare:

• DVD 1 – The Invasion of America, Europe, and Australia

• DVD 2 – Why the Vatican Created Islam

• DVD 3 – The Coming Muslim Empire and Israel

• DVD 4 – World War 3 and How to Survive

After Mohammed died, the pope moved quickly and issued bulls granting the Arab generals permission to invade and conquer the nations of North Africa. The Vatican helped to finance the building of these massive Islamic armies in exchange for three favors:

1. Eliminate the Jews and Christians (true believers, which they called infidels).

2. Protect the Augustinian Monks and Roman Catholics. No Catholic temples were destroyed, only Christian churches.

3. Conquer Jerusalem for “His Holiness” as he coveted the Holy place.

Whatever you think you know about Islam, or radical Islam, you will soon discover to learn that you don’t know very much at all. Note the above three reasons for the creation of Islam. The Muslims have been connected to the Roman Catholic Church since the 7th century. Many prophecy teachers teach that the antichrist beast of Revelation is a Muslim, particularly so because of all the killings and evil actions perpetrated by Al Qaeda and ISIS militants. This is a deception foisted upon the public by the likes of Walid Shoebat, a Palestinian-American who converted to Catholicism. Walid Shoebat has long been exposed by the U.S. and Israeli media sources as a fake, a fraud, and a liar. One can verify this being the case on the Internet.

Christian evangelist Perry Stone began to teach as recently as three years ago that the Antichrist Beast of Revelation will rise from an Islamic nation. Two years ago, his television messages hinted at this idea and then in 2016, Perry more strongly articulated this teaching, leaving no question as to his belief that Islam is the Antichrist Beast of Revelation. Walid Shoebat is a Catholic voice of disinformation and Perry Stone is looking at prophecy through present-day news headline analysis. There are many Biblical reasons that disprove this idea that the Antichrist will be an Islamic Mahdi. The list below contains just some of the more obvious objections to “THE” Antichrist being an Islamic Mahdi. I am working on a new series “The BEAST” that addresses the historical and Biblical evidence that supports the century-old traditional teaching that present-day prophecy teachers seem to have gone off the rails over with the Muslim invasion of Europe in the past few years.

• Did Mahdi destroy 3 nations after Rome fell? No! The Vatican did.

• Did Mahdi receive his authority from Pagan Rome? No! The “ROMAN” Catholic Vatican did.

• Did Mahdi’s mosque reside on 7 hills? No! The Vatican admits theirs does in writing.

• Did Mahdi kill hundreds of millions of Christians for 1,260 years? No! But the Vatican did.

• Did Mahdi receive a mortal wound and then resurrect? No! The Vatican did.

• Did Mahdi rule, stop ruling, and then return to rule globally? No! The Vatican did.

• Did Mahdi force most Christendom and politicians to worship him? No! The popes have.

• Does Mahdi have numerous titles that all equal 666? No! The popes do.

• Did Mahdi mix his religion with neo-Paganism? No! The Vatican did.

• Did Mahdi convince all nations to create a 10-region NWO? No! The Vatican did.

• Did Mahdi seek out men that refuse woman and prefer homosexuality? No! The Vatican did.

• Did Mahdi change times and laws of the Christian God in church and State? No! The Vatican did.

Unfortunately, many well-known Bible prophecy teachers have fallen for the big lie that came out of the attacks of 9/11 on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. None of them dared to expose the truth about the events of 9/11 – It was an “inside” job to steal gold, and huge numbers of “bearer-bond” worth billions of dollars that were maturing on September 12, 2011, the day after 9/11! The so-called Muslim hi-jackers with box cutters were mere patsies in a much larger scheme. To this day hundreds of witnesses to the attacks were never given a chance to be heard and their depositions were buried by government agencies.

The so-called “hijacked” commercial airliners were “remotely” taken-over by a device installed on every commercial jet liner built since the mid-1970’s. If you doubt the truth as to this statement, I encourage you to read about former Marine Corp pilot and commercial airline pilot Field McConnell and his web site “Abel Danger”. Field McConnell exposed the story concerning the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 as being “hi-jacked” through an installed onboard device that disappeared on March 8, 2014. You can search the Internet for the term: “Boeing Uninterruptable Autopilot”. Field McConnell is the proprietary creator of the intellectual properties for the “QRS-11 Autopilot” for drone aircraft control.

The reader can listen to an interview at the Corbett Report “Interview 975 – Field McConnell Introduces Abel Danger”. Simply google this title for a revelation that will educate you on the truth of 9/11, the missing flight MH370, the downing of MH17, and so much more. I did not intend to stray from my point that the Antichrist will not be a Muslim, but saw a need to set the record straight on how Christians are being intentionally misinformed. Since many Bible prophecy teachers on television either do not know the truth about 9/11 or are afraid to share the true facts, they unwittingly or willingly perpetuate a false rabbit trail that can only mislead and deceive the public; and, in this case it is essential the public know the true facts of the story.

Perry Stone is not a historian and from his newspaper exegesis is pursuing a mistaken or misguided line of thought when it comes to understanding what lies behind Islam. The problem of many holding the view of Perry along with others is their explanation is that it doesn’t line up with the ‘Word of God’. Muslims and Islam do not match all the descriptions of the Antichrist beast that are given in Revelation 13 and 17. These two chapters can only point to one people group, the Roman Catholic Church which the Jesuits now firmly control. The Muslims play a big role in the end times, but the explanation is much different than what pastors are teaching. You will see that while radical Muslims are an enemy to Christians, they are controlled by the Jesuits of the Roman Catholic Institution.

In this segment and others to follow you will learn that in the 7th century the Roman Catholic Church helped Mohammed become the leader of the Arabs. They helped him write the Koran, beliefs that are very similar to Catholicism. They have also financed the Arabs of killing Jews and Christians, and to capture Jerusalem. Daniel 2 speaks of the “feet of iron and clay”, which represents Rome mixing with another people group, the Arabs. The Roman Catholic Church didn’t have an army, so they used the Muslims to wage war against their enemies.

The Strong’s Hebrew word for both “mixed” and “mingle” is #6151 “arab.” The clay represents the Arabs, who became the great Ottoman Empire who worked with the Roman Catholic Church to control the lands previously occupied by the Roman Empire.  They killed both Christians and Jews, but they have also warred with each other during the Crusades, as they don’t mix well.

Satan has empowered the Roman Beast to eliminate the ‘Word of God’ and the ‘Church of Christ’. The Beast Rome has changed or morphed in form over the years from the Roman Empire, which killed 10 million saints; it became the sea beast of Revelation 13. The Roman Catholic Church killed over 50 million saints as the earth beast of Revelation 13. The Jesuits of Rome will seek to eliminate all followers of Christ Jesus in their New World Order. All of this will be elaborated on my new series “The Beast”. I have written three segments and they are in the first stage of proofing at the present time. In order that the Jesuits create their New World Order, they must control the money supply of every country. That was accomplished over a period of a couple hundred years. The Vatican commissioned the House of Rothschild to be the “Fiduciary Agents” for the Vatican in 1823-1824. You should understand what that term means. It means the Rothschild’s have “Power of Attorney” for the Vatican wealth – to protect it, to make it grow, to use it for advancing the Vatican’s Agenda! The House of Rothschild pooled their wealth with that of the RCC to bring about the Jesuit agenda to control the world’s money supply.

In recent year decades they created the supposed ‘War on Terror’ against Muslims, to justify the American military invading Afghanistan and Iraq. Both now have a Jesuit Rothschild Central Bank, like the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank. They used Al Qaeda to help overthrow Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, and now Libya has a Jesuit Rothschild Central Bank. The reasons why Syria and Iran are in the cross-hairs is because they have not bowed down to the authority of the Jesuits. The Jesuits covertly train, arm and fund Al Qaeda and ISIS rebels, through the CIA, Israeli Mossad and Saudi Arabia. These radical Muslims are being used to kill Christians as part of the Jesuits continued Holy Inquisition. The CIA since 1948 has been joined to the hip of the Vatican in a joint effort to destroy Communism, the USSR, and even to provoke war with Russia.

The agenda is to incite WWIII between the “Kings of the East” and Arab countries and against Israel push the world into their New World Order. Then, the world will cry out for “peace and safety” and the Jesuits will gladly offer their New World Order as the solution.  They will offer their solution to end wars between religious groups, with their One World Religion.

The true followers of Jesus Christ, who will not bow down to their authority, will become enemy of the world. I refer the reader back to the three reasons the Vatican created Islam. What I am share in this series is not common knowledge even for traditional Bible prophecy teachers or what most prophecy teachers are describing. I am a history major going back to my days in college!

The enemy has created many explanations for fulfillment of Bible prophecy to confuse Christians and to divert and deflect blame away from the Jesuits of the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church is the true end time Antichrist Beast System that Satan has empowered. Daniel 2 describes a statue with iron legs, which represents the Roman Empire. Satan used the Roman Empire to try to wipe out the early Church, killing 10 million saints. The Lord exacted vengeance against it by causing the Roman Empire to collapse from within, from civil wars and excessive taxation; and from without, when the Lord sent army after army against it.

The last Roman Emperor was removed in 476 A.D., and Satan responded by empowering rise to power the Roman Catholic Church in their place. The Popes took the title of the Roman Emperors Pontifex Maximus as the head of the church and state, healing the ‘deadly head wound’. The Roman Catholic Church didn’t have an army, so they used other people groups, the ‘clay’ of Daniel 2, to wage war for them. The statue has feet made of iron and clay, which tells us that the Roman beast would mingle with other people groups, to battle against the kingdom of Christ. Daniel 2:41-43 reads: “the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay“

The Bible is its own dictionary, so we need not speculate about the meanings. Strong’s Hebrew word for both “mixed” and “mingle” is #6151 “arab”. The clay represents the Arabs, who became the great Ottoman Empire reign from 1517 to 1917. Turkey worked with the Roman Catholic Church, to control the lands previously held by the Roman Empire.

The Muslims killed both Christians and Jews, but they have also warred with each over possession of Jerusalem and other territories, which led to the Crusades where they fought against each other, they don’t mix well with other people. Roman Catholic St. Jerome said: “In our time, the clay has become mixed with iron. Once nothing was stronger than the Roman Empire, now nothing weaker, mixed up as it is with, and needing the help of barbarous nations.”

Apart from the old Paganism of Asia and Africa, another indirect supporter of Neo-Paganism, a supporter which indeed hates all Paganism but hates the Catholic Church much more a fact the Europe masses are not yet aware. I am referring to Islam who is now increasing in importance. Islam presents a totally different problem from that attached to any other religious body opposed to Catholicism. To understand it we must appreciate its origin, character and recent fate. Only then can we further understand its possible or probable future relations with enemies of the Catholic effort throughout the world.

How did Islam arise? It was not a "new religion", as our popular historical textbooks would have it. It was a direct derivative of the Roman Catholic Church. Its origin was essentially, a heresy: like Arianism. I will deal extensively with this point on how it originated from the Catholic Church. There is so much to share in one segment.

The man who produced it was a young man whose name was Mahomet. It is more the creation of one man than any other false religion that we know. From the world which he knew included the Greek speaking world in the eastern half and Latin in the Western half, the only civilized world with which he and his people had come into contact were Catholic. Though in a process of transformation, it was still the Christian Roman Empire stretching from the English Channel to the borders of his own desert.

The Arabs he came in touch with them were Catholic converts. As they came in contact with through commerce and raiding, he encountered people that were Catholic, with a certain mixture of Jewish teachings taught by those living in the nearby communities. Catholicism had thus distinctly affected these few pagans living on the fringes of the Empire.

Now what Mahomet did was this: he came to accept and believe the principal doctrines of the Catholic Church, which included one personal God, Creator of all things, the immortality of the soul, an eternity of misery or blessedness with no small part of Christian morals as well. All that was the framework from which he derived in the only civilization which had influence over him or his followers. At the same time he attempted an extreme simplification of his learning. Mahomet was duped by his Roman Catholic tutors specific beliefs to become a tool of the Roman Catholic Institution.

Over many years, others also engaged in the same practice of discarding certain profound doctrines, while appealing to the less intelligent by covertly using a crude denial of them. This method effectively got rid of these mysteries. But Mahomet simplified much more than did, say, Pelagius or even Arius. He turned Our Lord Jesus Christ into a mere prophet, though the greatest of the prophets; Our Lady Mary - whom he greatly revered, and whom his followers still revere was turned into no more than the mother of so great a prophet; he cut out the Eucharist altogether, a doctrine that was, for the most part, difficult to follow in the matter of the Resurrection. He abolished the idea of a priesthood. Most important, he declared social equality among all those who, after his fashion, should be 'true believers'.

With the energy of his personality, that highly simplified, burning enthusiasm he first inflamed his own few desert folk, and they in turn proceeded to impose their new enthusiasm very rapidly over vast areas of what had been a Catholic civilization until then. Their chief allies in this sweeping revolution were politically the doctrine of equality, and spiritually the doctrine of simplicity. Troubled by the mysteries of Catholicism, all in the region tended to join them and so did every slave or debtor who was oppressed by the complexity of a higher civilization.

The new enthusiasm charged under arms over half of the Catholic world. There was a moment after it had begun its conquest when it looked as though it was going to transform and degrade all Christian culture. But the civilization was saved at last, though half the Mediterranean was lost to Islam.

For centuries the struggle between Islam and the Catholic Church continued. It had varying fortunes, but for something like a thousand years the issue still remained doubtful. It was not till nearly the year 1700 that Christian culture seemed for a time to be definitely the master. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Mohammedan’s world fell under a kind of slumber. It could not catch up with the rapidly advancing western culture and advances of physical science. Its shipping and armament as well as all means of communication and administration went backwards while the rest of the world advanced. By the end of the nineteenth century, more than ninety-percent of the Mohammedan population of the world, from India and the Pacific to the Atlantic, had fallen under the government of nominally Christian nations, especially England and France.

In Europe, where the Renaissance was flourishing, it no longer regarded Islam as a rival to its own culture. It thought of its religion as a sort of fossilized belief system about which they felt no need or concern nor trouble. That was almost certainly a mistake. We shall see Europe faced with extinction and forced to deal with Islam in the near future. Perhaps, since much of Europe has lost its Christian faith Islam will rise and conquer Europe. It is a factor in the writings of Joel Richardson, who argues the Antichrist will be a Muslim. Such media exegesis discounts the Biblical evidence, not to mention presume what will or will not happen at the beginning of the Seventieth Week of Daniel and the Ezekiel 38-39 war.

The majority of most Pre-Tribulation Rapture teachers, based upon Ezekiel 38-39 scenario, the coalition of nations will be destroyed supernaturally and this act will be recognized by the world as at the hands of God. This supernatural act that will destroy the Gog-Magog coalition, destroying 5/6ths of the Russian army on the hills of Israel will result in the judgment on the Muslim nations that conjoin with Russia. These nations include:

1. Magog = Modern Day Russia

2. Persia = Modern Day Iran

3. Cush = Modern Day Ethiopia

4. Put = Modern Day Libya

5. Gomer = Modern Day Eastern Europe

6. Beth Togarmah = Modern Day Turkey

After this subjugation of the Islamic culture by the nominally Christian culture had already been achieved, the political conquerors of that culture began to notice two disquieting features about it. The first was that its spiritual foundation proved immovable; the second that its area of occupation did not recede, but slowly expanded. Sweden is a perfect example of what happens when Islam overwhelms a nation through immigration, particularly in a liberal post-Christian world. Sweden has been the poster-child for liberal socialism where a worker pays approximately 55% of his or her income in taxes to the state, to support the cradle to the grave benefits.

With so few conversions, Islam would never examine or explore the credibility or genuineness of any Christian missionary effort. The so-called Christian governments, in contact with it are spiritually despised. The ardent and sincere Christian missionaries were received usually with courtesy rarely and sometimes met by fierce attack. In the end were never allowed to affect or change the teachings of Islam or its devotees. Islam is the only spiritual force on earth which Catholicism has found an impregnable fortress. Its devoted followers are the one religious body which Christian conversions are insignificant.

Reported so-called conversions of Muslims in Iran are greatly exaggerated by the ecumenical community of the western world. The government of Iran increased its persecution of Christians in order to clamp down on perceived threats ahead the last Iranian presidential election, but Christianity is still managing to thrive in the Muslim country.

Elam Ministries, according to ‘Christianity Today’ (CT), reported in their Summer 2013 report that 246 Iranians were baptized on April 17, "probably the largest baptism service on record in the Iranian church since the fourth century." Does 246 Iranian baptized believers make a proverbial ‘raindrop’ in a nation of 80-million? In addition, (CT) indicated that "Iran's underground churches - where freedom to attend Persian-language worship services is more likely to be found - do appear to be growing."

The most recent crackdown by Iranian authorities was the closing of the largest Farsi-language Pentecostal church in the country and the arrest of one of its pastors, according to media reports. Agents shut down Central Assemblies of God Church in Tehran. A week earlier they had arrested Pastor Robert Asserian during a service.

"These incidents appear to be an attempt to stop worship services from being conducted in Farsi, the language of the majority of Iranians," George Wood, general superintendent of the AoG in the U.S., told ‘BosNewsLife’, a Christian news service, which focuses on persecuted Christians. "Services are allowed in Armenian, a minority language that most Iranians do not speak or even understand," he said.

Iranian-American journalist Lisa Daftari told Fox News that Farsi-speaking Christians are mostly converts from Islam. About 98 percent of Iran's population that is now around 80 million are Muslims and Christians only account for some 100,000, but she said the Iranian government sees converts from Islam as dangerous. "This conversion from Islam to Christianity is a threat this regime wants to contain," said Daftari. "By stopping the Farsi language ability to pray in that language they almost hope to stop this drain from Islam to Christianity."

Armenians within Iran are allowed to have services in their language, said Daftari, because they are already Christians. Daftari said the Iranian government fears Christianity because it represents a Western culture and a Western way of life.

"You also have to look at the second reason, which is that it is a theocracy," she said. "It is blindly controlling a population of 75-80 million in the name of Allah, in the name of Sharia law, in the name of Islam. So it's a big threat to their preaching or using the religion to control the masses". Daftari echoed the ‘CT’ report concerning the growth of Christianity within Iran. “In light of the persecutions, we are also seeing a growing trend among Muslims to convert to Christianity," she said, noting, that converts are disillusioned by the government.

"This theocracy for the last 34 years since the revolution has created a very godless society. They have turned people off from practicing Islam. They see it as a religion which is stopping them from living in their social, religious and cultural ways”. She pointed out that Islamic converts to Christianity within Iran practice secretly in house churches because under Sharia law their conversion is punishable by death. Although of late authorities have been issuing longer prison sentences rather than the death penalty, she said that the latter has been carried out. Iranian social and cultural life resembles much like life in the west.

For example, said Daftari, all the teachers of a Christian school were executed by the regime. According to ‘BosNewsLife’, a key official of one of Iran's largest house church movements warned the election to replace outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would not improve conditions for Christians in Iran. Reports from Iranians relatives living in the U.S. have confirmed this to be the case in the past three years.

"The real power is with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who is the one deciding on major policies," said Firouz Khandjani, a council member of the Church of Iran movement. "We have to remember that the president in Iran has less power than the French prime minister. Khameini even controls the Interior and Intelligence ministers, who are feared by Christians." The first president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, said that Khamenei would choose the next president and called for a boycott of the election in an op-ed in the ‘Christian Science Monitor’. "In reality, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will decide Iran's presidential elections," he said. Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is preparing to run for the office he previously held. "That is why actively boycotting this election would be an act to regain dignity as well as be a mass, nonviolent uprising that could end a regime that prolongs its existence by moving Iran from crisis to crisis." Bani-Sadr now lives in exile near Paris.

Iranians are not Arabs, said Daftari, but she said that they had their version of the so-called "Arab Spring," during the last presidential election four years ago. "The crackdowns were so brutal that a lot of Iranians are looking at this election as a joke. It's an 'election show', they're calling it."

Islam’s granite permanence is most striking, and worthy of serious consideration by all those who wish to meditate on the spiritual consequence, and ultimately the makeup of the world social future. What is true of the spiritual side of Islam is true of the geographical influence it wields. Mahommedan rulers have had to give up Christian provinces formerly under their control, especially in the Balkans. But the Mahammedan area of practical influence has not shrunk in the slightest.

All of the wide geographical belt from the islands of Indonesia in the Pacific to Morocco, and from Central Asia to the Sahara desert and south of it - not only remains intact but has slightly expanded. Islam is appreciably spreading its influence further and further into tropical Africa and through the sword. The state of affairs creates a very important subject of study for those who interest themselves in the future of religious influence upon mankind. Europe’s political control of Islam cannot continue indefinitely. In fact, it is already deeply shaken. Meanwhile the spiritual independence of Islam - upon which everything depends - is as strong as or stronger than ever.

What affinities or support does this threat of Islam promise to the new enemies of Catholic tradition? It sounds even more fantastic to suggest that Islam will have an even stronger effect on the world than to suggest that Asiatic paganism would. Even those who are impressed and in direct contact with the great Mohammedan civilization, has not yet conceived of Islam’s capability to have any direct effect upon Christendom despite its strength and apparent invincible resistance to conversion. There are a few who indeed have contemplated something of the kind. I maintain that this very powerful but distorted simplification of Catholic doctrine - for that is what Mohammedanism is - may be expected to impose a serious effect in the near distant future upon Christendom; and that, acting as a competitive religion, it will not be ignored or despised. Turkey’s president Erdogan was calling for Islamic women in Europe to have five babies each in a statement he made in mid-March of 2017 as a way to overwhelm the indigenous population base where families do not reproduce the existing population. This call to have more babies serves to validate the earlier chart above.

It is unlikely but even presumptuous to believe that large numbers of conversions from Christianity to Islam is probable. I’m not saying that such a movement would not be possible; anything is possible. In the near future, especially so when we see an ever-increasing level of secularization which the present Christian civilization has fallen into. We have live in a “post-Christian” era since 1990, something that culture Christians fail to understand. But I think it most questionable, and even highly improbable, because Islam makes its advances in herd or mob fashion. It does not proceed, as the Catholic religion does, by individual conversions, but by colonization and group movement. But there are other effects which a great anti-Catholic force and the ensuing culture based upon it can have upon anti-Catholic forces within our own boundaries.

Our Christian civilization is in peril of complete breakdown. Nowhere is that more visible today than in Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, and France. An enemy could say that it was living upon its past and they would be correct. Certainly those who steadfastly hold to its ancient Catholic doctrines stand today on guard as it were, while in a state of siege. They are a minority both in power and in numbers. Upon such a state of affairs, a steadfast, permanent, convinced simple philosophy and rule of life which is intensely adhered to, and whose followers are close at hand may now that the various sections of the world are so much more multi-cultural one with the other, that such Christian disintegration could already be the eventual outcome.

There is no reason why its recent inferiority in mechanical construction, whether military or civilian, should continue indefinitely. Even a slight accession of material power would make the further control of Islam by an alien culture difficult to contain. A little more and there will cease that which our era has taken for granted, that being the physical domination of Islam over the disintegration of Christendom as we know it.

It’s now been almost a year since Pope Francis issued his apostolic exhortation “The Joy of the Gospel.” Much has been written about this long document; its approach to evangelization, social justice, and a more decentralized church has been variously dissected, praised and panned. Still, there is one blockbuster sentence that most seem to have missed: “Faced with disconcerting episodes of violent fundamentalism, our respect for true followers of Islam should lead us to avoid hateful generalizations, for authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Quran are opposed to every form of violence.” This quote by professor James Ball of Saint Mary’s University in San Antonio, appeared in the ‘American Catholic’ magazine. The professor misses the point that Islamic Sharia means “submission” at the end of the day! The illustrated chart above sums up the fact concerning the Islamic invasion.

Since it is tucked inside paragraph #253 ― one calling for religious freedom for Christians in Muslim countries ― readers can be forgiven for overlooking it. But why is this line significant? And now that ISIS has advanced into Iraq, why might the sentence deserve if not demand our attention? 

While it’s noteworthy that the pope speaks favorably about Islam, it is hardly unprecedented for a pope to do so. In the mid-1960s, Paul VI promulgated the Second Vatican Council’s list of tenets of Islam with which the church clearly agrees ― for instance, the Creator God and final judgment ― and its inclusion of Muslims in God’s plan of salvation. Benedict XVI, for all his mis-steps with the Islamic community, noted that Christians and Muslims should be natural allies in the push-back against atheism and the secularization of the West. And as St. John Paul II did, Francis does in the first part of the sentence, rejected the popular expressions “Islamic fundamentalism” and “Islamic terrorism” in favor of the generic terms “religious fundamentalism” and “terrorism.” Recent popes have been all too cozy with Islam, and as this segment among others document, it is related to the fact that the Roman Catholic Institution created Islam for a mission that backfired. Pope Francis had the audacity two years ago to lump ‘Muslim Fundamentalism’ with that of ‘Christian Fundamentalism’, a bold face lie and at 180-degree opposites.

What stands out to me is that last part of the sentence, the part that supplies the rest with its justifying force: “for authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence.” There are three things about this proposition that deserve our close scrutiny and attention. The first has to do with what must have been the case for Francis to make this claim in the first place. Francis not only must have read the Koran, but also must have been conversant with alternative interpretations of Koran texts and adjudicated among them to achieve “their proper reading.” Here, Francis joins John Paul II’s religion-neutral condemnations of terrorism to the quite specific and exculpatory claim about Islam and, more specific still, about the Koran itself. One can hardly imagine past popes engaging Islam in this depth.

Critics might argue that this substantive interaction with Islam is the problem with the sentence, not its virtue. Since the teaching authority of the church extends only to Christian “faith and morals,” Francis has no business pronouncing on the nature of other religions, and his statement is merely (inappropriate) opinion. A more nuanced view recognizes that an apostolic exhortation does not rise to the level of a papal encyclical but remains part of the ordinary papal magisterium. In a pluralistic age of inter-religious encounter, a pope has a responsibility to show that a truly “catholic” (i.e., universal and broad-minded) religion must clarify that its relationship with Islam is grounded in a deep orientation toward peace that Islam can recognize from its own sources.

The second, and related, point concerning Francis’ overlooked sentence is that with it, Francis unequivocally undercuts the position or assumption of millions of Catholics and other Christians that the Koran and Islam ― whatever one might say about the goodness of particular Muslims ― are intrinsically violent and therefore evil and unreformable. Francis makes his assertion rather than arguing for it, but in doing so makes clear the reason why the “hateful generalizations” have no foundation. Vatican II did NOT teach that each and every element of other religions is by definition good and holy; but to have the Catholic Church now unambiguously affirm, through the voice of the pope, that violence is in no way one of those bad or compromising elements when it comes to Islam, properly understood, goes to the heart of the matter.

In the West, many Christians have learned through friendship and inter-religious dialogue that “good Muslims” are not accidents; they are not good and holy in spite of their religion and its scriptures, but in response to them. What Francis said confirms what Christians have already experienced, but such confirmation from the top is important. To my knowledge, no previous pope has made this explicit. The claim that Islam and the Koran are, at root, violent and corrupt can no longer be made with official Catholic support. Some conservative Christians might begin to understand that a political Islam is not the way Islam must exist.    

Thirdly, Francis’ statement strengthens the prospects for inter-religious dialogue with Muslims and the shared work for justice and peace. In our climate, to indicate to Catholics that peace is foundational to Islam and its sources expresses respect for Islam and allows Muslims to see themselves and their religion as more accurately represented by Catholicism than before is fallacious at best. Looking ahead, Muslims should continue to stand up against violent words and deeds of those who make false claims about the Koran, and Catholics need to be consistent in their peacemaking and in explaining the pope’s words to Catholics and other Christians. Absent those explanations, Francis’ noted “overlooked sentence,” once noticed, will be seen by many as simply a nod to political correctness.

Some will say that there is, in fact, violence in the Koran, and they will be right. There is some bellicose language in the text, and instances or conditions that justify recourse to violence; namely, defense against aggression and resistance to grave oppression. Yet much the same thing can be said about the Bible and ‘just war’ theory in Catholic social teaching, even though the non-violence of Jesus in the New Testament is unconditional. Neither the Koran nor the Bible can be understood without appreciating the historical context within which its particular texts came to be. In the next segment, I will look at how the Koran became an important part of history!

In a recent homily, Francis preached that “faith and violence are incompatible,” but it is also customary for popes to speak of defensive war as a potentially legitimate “use of force,” as they put it. The point is that Francis’ admittedly imprecise language on Islam ― claiming it is “opposed to every form of violence”― cannot be used as an excuse to ignore the primary thrust of it, which is that the Koran cannot be used as a tool to condone unjust killing (i.e., “violence” in the evaluative sense of the word), even if unjust killing is present in the history of Islam (and Christianity). Francis’ choice of words might also reflect a parenthetic, inspirational style of speech proper to an exhortation. 

Others will say that when Francis speaks of “true followers” of Islam and “authentic Islam,” he implicitly gives counterfeit followers and counterfeit Islam undeserved attention and, what’s more, a status within Islam it does not deserve. I appreciate the dilemma. And from the Muslim’s perspective, the pope’s sentence is hardly “news” to them. But if militant groups and jihadists such as ISIS make false claims about Islam, how else to deny them that legitimacy than by calling them “false” and “inauthentic,” as many Muslims themselves have done? To my mind, an “inauthentic Catholicism” could not be equated with or identified with “Catholicism,” but it would have to be reckoned with.

The danger of exaggerating the implications of “one sentence” is as real as overlooking them. Still, in saying what a proper reading of Islam and the Koran is opposed to, Francis is doing more than it appears. The Catholic Church is no longer sidestepping an important issue, whether the Koran is intrinsically violent. When the pope affirms for us on an official level that peace building, not violence, is integral to what Islam is as a religion (as it is for us), the way forward becomes clearer.

Pope Francis is an expert in subterfuge and obfuscation. Given his Jesuit training, he is more than able to confuse Catholics, Christians, Jews, and Muslims. In closing this segment, I remind you of the purpose behind Roman Catholicism creating Islam:

1. Eliminate the Jews and Christians (true believers, which they called infidels).

2. Protect the Augustinian Monks and Roman Catholics. No Catholic temples were destroyed, only Christian churches.

3. Conquer Jerusalem for “His Holiness” as he coveted the Holy place.

There is so much confusion and doublespeak that surround Pope Francis’ remarks, statements, homilies, but when you keep in mind the above three points, things begin to become quite clear as to what lies behind this man, a Jesuit, sworn to the 4^th degree oath of his Order. The very existence of the Jesuits was to oppose, destroy, and exterminate all those opposed to the Papacy forever!

Pastor Bob

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