Page 569 - Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible Christianity. Based on the King James Bible

ROSARY

“It is the Catholic position that the pope is the supreme If a Roman Catholic is truly yielded to the Holy
teacher and pastor of the church. While he could Spirit’s control, he will be taught to abhor the errors of
exercise these roles by himself, he is at the head of all the Roman system and every other false system. The
the bishops who as successors of the apostle also Spirit-filled person will testify with the godly Psalmist,
exercise these teaching and pastoring gifts. Catholics, “Through thy precepts I get understanding:
then, normally expect to hear the voice of God through THEREFORE I HATE EVERY FALSE WAY” (Ps. 119:104).
the Pope and the bishops” (Ranaghan, Ibid., June
1982). In order to be right with God a person must repent.
This spirit of renewed dedication to Romanism on The Lord Jesus warned that except we repent we shall
the part of charismatic Catholics has also been evident perish (Lk. 13:3, 5). Christ has commanded us to preach
in their conferences. The National Catholic Register’s “repentance and remission of sins” in His name (Lk.
report on Notre Dame ‘73 noted this: 24:46,47). The apostle Paul proclaimed to the people of
“‘Catholic charismatics should renew their dedication Athens that “God now commandeth all men everywhere
to Jesus Christ, His Blessed Mother, and His Church, in to repent” (Acts 17:30). And we are told by the apostle
the person of the Holy Father.’ ... That was the message Peter that it is God’s will that “all should come to
of the seventh annual International Conference on the repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church held on Repentance means changing one’s mind about
the campus of the University of Notre Dame. ... having loved sinful and false things. It means to be
“Addressing his words to the Holy Father, [Jesuit priest ready to turn away from things that displease God. It is
Harold Cohen stated,] ‘You are the Vicar on earth of a change of mind toward God that results in a change of
Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. You are the action. When a Roman Catholic truly repents, he is sorry
successor of Peter. On this rock Jesus built His church. that he was involved in teachings and practices that are
We are founded on this rock and on this rock we abominable before God. He is led to obey God’s
stand.’ commands to separate from false teaching and practice
“With this pledge, the crowd of 25,000 people in the and will follow in the footsteps of the multitudes of
stadium exploded into applause and songs of alleluia,
giving a long standing ovation to the pledge of loyalty souls that have left the Roman Catholic Church for
to the Pope” (National Catholic Register, June 17, conscience’ sake after having been born again.
1973). When such things happen, we have biblical reason
Dear friends, the pope is NOT holy, is not a father, is for believing that the Spirit of God is present.
not the representative [vicar] of Christ, is not the Charismatic Catholics, though, are not following the
successor of Peter, and is not the rock upon which Christ same Spirit the apostles followed. The Holy Spirit of the
built His church! The entire papacy is a blasphemous lie, Lord’s apostles, the Spirit of Truth, commanded the
and every person led by the Holy Spirit of Truth will brethren to separate from any who teach and practice
understand this and reject the pope in revulsion. false things. See Ro. 16:17; 2 Th. 3:6; 1 Ti. 6:3-5; 2 Ti.
In a similar vein, the Religious News Service reported 2:15-18; 3:5.
on Atlantic City ‘76 in this way: [See Baptism - Infant, Celibacy, Charismatic, Church,
“While displaying a dynamic ecumenical outreach, the Clergy, Cup, Eastern Orthodox, Father, Mass, Nicolaitan,
largest conference in the history of the Catholic Ordinance, Pope, Priest, Reverend, Rosary, Vatican,
Charismatic Renewal—drawing some 28,000 persons Vatican II.]
from the Northeast U.S.—reflected a posture that ROSARY. The Catholic Rosary is a ritualistic prayer
strongly affirmed a deep loyalty to the Pope and the to God the Father and to Mary using a chain of beads to
Catholic bishops” (RNS, Nov. 1, 1976, reprinted in guide the individual through the prayers. Most Rosaries
Christian News Encyclopedia, p. 370). contain five “decades,” each with 11 beads, ten small
The Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of Truth,” and it is ones and one slightly larger. For each small bead the
evident that the spirit leading the charismatic movement “Hail Mary” is prayed. For the larger bead a prayer is
into fellowship with Romanism is NOT the Holy Spirit. made to God the Father. Thus, the Rosary is largely a
While it is possible that some Catholics are having real prayer to Mary. A complete Rosary is 15 decades (each
experiences of salvation through their charismatic consisting of 10 ‘Hail Marys’ and one ‘Our Father’),
affiliations, for the most part the Catholic “renewal” has though it is more common to pray five decades. The
proven to be unscriptural. Rosary’s use has been encouraged by such influential
It is true that some charismatic Catholics no longer Catholics as Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa. Bill
believe some of the teachings of their church, yet they Jackson writes: “St. Dominic is credited with preaching
stedfastly ignore God’s commands to “shun,” “turn away the Rosary as an antidote to the Albigensian heresy. He
from,” “avoid,” “have no fellowship with” those who called it ‘the rampart of the Church of God’ and ‘the
teach and practice false things. [See Separation.] Book of Life.’ Popes have described it as ‘the salvation of

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