|
Published
on thebereancall.org (http://www.thebereancall.org)
Ecumenism
& Catholicism
By
Dave Hunt
August 31, 1990
We
have noted that the ecumenical movement plays a key role in
forming the Antichrist's world religion, which will be a
paganized Christianity such as was developed under
Constantine
and became Roman Catholicism. It is therefore not surprising
that behind the scenes, the Catholic Church has been pushing
ecumenism for years. It is not only drawing the
"separated brethren" of Protestantism back into the
fold, but uniting all
religions under Rome, as Revelation 17
[1] indicates.
The
current pope is the leader of worldwide ecumenism. As such he
presents an altogether different picture from the inflexible
dogmatist determined to convert the world to Catholicism that
most people imagine a pope to personify. On the contrary, John
Paul II has taken the initiative in contacting leaders of the
world's religions, accepts them as working toward the same
goals of social justice, ecological wholeness and world peace,
suggests that their prayers are as effective as those of
Catholics, and has not attempted to convert any of them. He
seems content to be acknowledged as the spiritual leader of
the world's religions uniting for peace.
Such
a stance on the part of the Pope is entirely consistent with
the religious system he represents. As we document in Whatever
Happened to Heaven?, Catholicism was formed
through a union of "Christianity" and paganism and
has always adapted itself to whatever religion it
Christianized.
Haiti
, for example, is said to be 85 percent Catholic and 110
percent Voudun. Every voodoo ceremony begins with Catholic
prayers. Likewise the deadly spiritist cult of Santeria is a
blend of African witchcraft and Catholicism carried on in the
name of "saints" who front for African gods. In
Rio de Janeiro
, Catholic faithful visit cemeteries to petition the spirits
of their ancestors along with the Catholic "saints,"
etc.
Catholicism's
paganized Christianity was developed by
Constantine
to unite his empire. His genius was knowing the value of
religious concord in bringing political unity. He seems to
have been the first to understand the necessity of ecumenism
in arriving at such harmony. Gorbachev apparently has the same
insights and, like
Constantine
, has found a willing partner in the Roman pontiff.
John
Paul II has traveled the world to promote Catholicism's
traditional tolerance of pagan religions. At the Universities
of Calcutta and
New Delhi
in his 1986 visit to
India
, the Pope told huge Hindu audiences that he had not come
there to teach them anything but to learn from their
"rich spiritual heritage." As worldwide ecumenism's
diplomat-at-large he went on to declare,
India
's mission...is crucial, because of her
intuition of the spiritual nature of man. Indeed,
India
's greatest contribution to the world can be to offer it a
spiritual vision of man.
And
the world does well to attend willingly to this ancient wisdom
and in it to find enrichment for human living.1
Such
praise of Hinduism by the leader of world Christendom seems
inconceivable. Yet such tolerant acceptance of all religions
is exactly what will be required to unite mankind under
Antichrist. We cannot stop the ecumenical movement, but we
must rescue as many individuals as possible before it is too
late. The Pope has repeatedly made his intentions clear.
Speaking in
Geneva
,
Switzerland
to leaders of the World Council of Churches representing 400
million Protestants worldwide, John Paul II declared,
From
the beginning of my ministry as bishop of
Rome
, I have insisted that the engagement of the Catholic Church
in the ecumenical movement is irreversible.2
The
Pope also makes it clear that there can never be any
"compromise on the issue of papal authority." Yet
this fact seems not to deter Protestant participation in the
Pope's ecumenical movement. Nor has it diminished the praise
heaped upon him, even by prominent Evangelicals, for his
"spiritual and moral leadership."3
John
Paul II continues to openly promote New Age pantheistic ideas.
Although the New Age movement has been thoroughly exposed by a
number of writers, its basic tenets continue to gain an ever
wider acceptance, even among evangelicals, and will play an
important role for Antichrist. As early as 1961, James I.
McCord, president of Princeton Theological Seminary, urged
Christians to accept as a gift from God the New Age, with its
accompanying syncretization of Christianity and other
religions. McCord was pleased to note that "Our most
widely read historian, Arnold Toynbee, is an apostle of an
amalgam of Christianity and Mahayanian Buddhism."4
The
energetic Pope is several steps ahead of both McCord and
Toynbee in his personal diplomacy with Hindus, Buddhists,
Muslims and the adherents of many other religions. Nor is he
out of line with such New Age events as The World Instant of
Cooperation and Harmonic Convergence. As we have earlier
pointed out, John Paul II openly promotes the same belief:
That united prayers for peace of every kind, from yoga to
witchcraft rituals, are releasing powerful "spiritual
energies" to heal our planet. The Roman Catholic Church,
like the World Council of Churches, has been promoting global
cooperation among all religions for many years.
Toynbee's
penchant for a Buddhist-Christian partnership is shared by
many prominent religious leaders. Consider the following from
Newark
's Episcopalian Bishop John S. Spong:
In
the fall of 1988, I worshipped God in a Buddhist temple. As
the smell of incense filled the air, I knelt before three
images of the Buddha, feeling that the smoke could carry my
prayers heavenward. It was for me a holy moment for I was
certain that I was kneeling on holy ground....
I
will not make any further attempt to convert the Buddhist, the
Jew, the Hindu or the Moslem. I am content to learn from them
and to walk with them side by side toward the God who lives, I
believe, beyond the images that bind and blind us.5
"His
Holiness" the Dalai Lama of Tibetan Buddhism has long
been the Pope's trusted friend and has been well received by
Roman Catholic leaders around the world. In 1979, at the start
of his first
U.S.
tour, the Tibetan God-king-in-exile was feted at Roman
Catholicism's
New York City
landmark, St. Patrick's Cathedral, where he participated in a
"prayer service" described by Time
as "an extraordinary interreligious
festival."
New York
's Terence Cardinal Cooke was the host. The Dalai Lama, who
declared that "all the world's major religions are
basically the same," was given a standing ovation by the
overflow crowd of nearly 5,000.6 Said Cardinal
Cooke, who "shared his sanctuary with a rabbi and a
Protestant minister as well as his Buddhist guest":
This
is one of the dramatic movements of the Spirit in our time. We
make each other welcome in our churches, temples and
synagogues.7
Which
"spirit"? The Cardinal could not have meant the Holy
Spirit, whom Christ said would lead His own into
all truth (Jn 16:13 [2]). Another
ecumenical cardinal was Augustine Bea, a Jesuit and 19 years
rector of
Rome
's Pontifical Biblical College. Along with
Rome
's
Pro
Deo
University
, Bea annually co-hosted "Agapes of Brotherhood,"
attended by hundreds of guests from scores of countries
representing the world's major religions from Buddhists and
Muslims to Shintoists. Typical of Cardinal Bea's speeches was
one at the 7th Agape in which he "stressed the
brotherhood of man and the Fatherhood of God, which, he said,
embraces all men...."8
Cardinal
Bea was Pope Pius XII's personal confessor, close advisor to
several other popes, and president of the Secretariat for
Promotion of Christian Unity until his death in 1968. He
sought out David DuPlessis (known as "Mr.
Pentecost"), whom he invited to the third session of the
Second Vatican Council.9 Bea saw the blossoming
charismatic movement as a vehicle for Rome's ecumenical goals.
DuPlessis and other leading Protestant charismatics fell like
ripe fruit into his hands. Bea's supporters included such
wealthy and influential Americans as Henry Luce of Time,
Life and Fortune and shipping magnate J. Peter
Grace.
Another
guiding hand behind the Charismatic movement,10 who
likewise used it to further Rome's ecumenical aims, was Leon
Joseph Cardinal Suenens, recipient of the 1976 Templeton Award
for Progress in Religion. He called Cardinal Bea one of
"the 'prophets' of our own age."11
Suenens was given a special mandate to oversee the worldwide
charismatic "renewal movement" in the Catholic
Church, an assignment that was reconfirmed by John Paul II.
The
Cardinal was influential in the General Council formed in the
early 1970s by Shepherding and Protestant/Catholic charismatic
leaders. This Council guided the ecumenical charismatic
movement for years from behind the scenes. The minutes for its
May-June, 1977 meeting reveal that a "covenant
relationship" was entered into with Cardinal Suenens,
which included the following:
We,
as a Council, are committing ourselves to work together with
the Cardinal for the restoration and unity of Christian people
and world evangelization in projects to be mutually agreed
upon. In each project, headship, authority and method of
functions will be mutually determined by the Cardinal and the
Council in the light of the requirements of each situation.
"World
evangelization" with Suenens? What naivet�! Cardinal
Suenens hosted and gave the opening speech at the Second World
Conference on Religion and Peace in
Louvain
,
Belgium
in 1974, which received Pope Paul VI's blessing. Delegates
were particularly impressed with the important role that
religious unity will play in establishing the coming world
government. A continual call was sounded for "a new world
order." Under Catholic leadership, the Louvain
Declaration stated,
Buddhists,
Christians, Confucianists, Hindus, Jains, Jews, Muslims,
Shintoists, Sikhs, Zoroastrians and still others, we have
sought here to listen to the spirit within our varied and
venerable religious traditions...we have grappled with the
towering issues that our societies must resolve in order to
bring about peace, justice, and ennobling quality of life for
every person and every people....
We
rejoice that...the long era of prideful and even prejudiced
isolation of the religions of humanity is, we hope, now gone
forever.12
We
appeal to the religious communities of the world to inculcate
the attitude of planetary citizenship ....13
The
World Conference president for many years was a Catholic
archbishop from
India
. The Third World Conference, held in Princeton in 1978,
concluded "with a worship service at [
New York
's] Saint Patrick's Cathedral, where Cardinal Terence Cooke
[was] the host"14 to members of dozens of
religions "worshiping" together.
Even
the prayer breakfasts bringing political and religious leaders
together across
America
and patterned after the one which began in
Washington
,
D.C.
�originally conceived by evangelicals as opportunities for a
clear witness to Jesus Christ�have largely deteriorated into
ecumenical platforms for the acceptance of all religions.
"Participating groups" at
Los Angeles
's annual Interfaith Prayer Breakfast, for example,
"range from the Board of Rabbis and the Buddhist Sangha
Council to...the Bahai faith."15
An
entire volume could be filled with similar examples. The
Pope's gathering of leaders from 12 world religions at
Assisi
in 1986 to pray for peace inspired similar efforts worldwide.
Typical is the North American Assisi: A Multi-Religious
Meeting, sponsored by the North American Interfaith Network,
started by The Temple of Understanding. North American
Assisi's promotional material boasts of bringing together on
an equal footing "Bahais, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus,
Jains, Jews, Muslims, Native North Americans, Shintoists,
Sikhs, Unitarian Universalists, and Zoroastrians."
At
such gatherings it would be in very bad taste, if not
forbidden, for Jesus Christ to present Himself and declare,
"I am the
way, the
truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father, but
by me" (Jn 14:6 [3]). Such
dogmatism is not tolerated by those who preach tolerance for
all beliefs. Yet who is the more dogmatic�the One who made
this true statement, or those who ban it?
The
proper Christian attitude toward such gatherings is easily
ascertained. Try to imagine the Apostle Paul's reaction if he
learned that Timothy was sponsoring an "interfaith"
prayer service to which he invited participation by the Jewish
Sanhedrin, excommunicated "Christian" heretics, and
priests from pagan temples!
The
confusion when those who call themselves
"Christians" go along with such compromise for the
good cause of world peace is illustrated by the third annual
World Instant of Cooperation as it was celebrated in Wichita,
Kansas, December 31, 1988. This worldwide "prayer
service" was held simultaneously "in over 70
countries and in cities throughout the
United States
." The official program, which included talks and prayers
by Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Christians, opened
with the hymn "Amazing Grace" and concluded with
"a song by the Community Baptist Choir."
Jesus
warned that "strait is the gate, and narrow is the way
which leadeth to life," but "broad is the way that
leadeth to destruction" (Mat 7:13 [4]). The
Apostle Paul was so concerned for the truth that while at
Ephesus
he "by the space of three years...ceased not to warn
every one night and day with tears." (Acts 20:31
[5]). Jesus told those who claimed to believe in Him, "If
ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and
ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free" (Jn 8:31-32 [6]). Let us be lovers of truth,
and disciple others in the pure Truth of God.TBC
Endnotes
1
"Spiritual Vision of Man," L'Observatore
Romano (Feb. 10, 1986), 5.
2 The
Fresno
Bee (June 13, 1984), C12.
3 FGBMFI Voice ad
(Nov. 1981); Focus on the Family
Citizen (June '90), 10; Wilson Ewin, "The
Spirit of Pentecostal-Charismatic Unity," Billy Graham
quote in Bible Baptist (Jan./Feb.
1980), 72-89.
4 Time
(Oct. 27, 1961), 62.
5 Diocese of
Newark
, The Voice (Jan.
1989).
6 Time
(Sept. 17, 1979), 96.
7 Newsweek
(Sept. 17, 1979), 115.
8 John Cotter, A
Study In Syncretism (Canadian Intelligence
Publications, 1983), 90-91.
9 David DuPlessis, as told to Bob Slosser, A
Man Called Mr. Pentecost (Logos, 1977),
207-213;
Stanley
M. Burgess, Gary B. McGee, and Patrick H. Alexander (Dictionary
of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, Zondervan,
1988), 253.
10 Burgess, et al., op. cit., 125; New
Covenant (Feb. 1973), 14-17.
11 Leon Joseph Cardinal Suenens, A
New Pentecost? (Servant Books, 1975), 24.
12 Alan Geyer, "Religious Isolationism: Gone
Forever?" (The
Christian Century, Oct. 23, 1974), 980-81.
13 Catholic
Register,
Toronto
,
Canada
(Sept. 21, 1974).
14 Our Sunday
Visitor (Dec. 31, 1978).
15
Los Angeles
Times
(Jan. 7, 1989, Part II), 7.
Source
URL:
http://www.thebereancall.org/node/5909
Links:
[1] http://biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=KJV&passage=Revelation+17
[2] http://biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=KJV&passage=Jn+16%3A13
[3] http://biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=KJV&passage=Jn+14%3A6
[4] http://biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=KJV&passage=Mat+7%3A13
[5] http://biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=KJV&passage=Acts+20%3A31
[6] http://biblegateway.com/cgi-bin/bible?language=english&version=KJV&passage=Jn+8%3A31-32
|
