The Antichrist Unveiled — Richard Bennett

The Antichrist unveiled. We come to see who the Antichrist is in the words of Scripture and to identify him and to know him as the opposite to who the Christ is, the Lord of Glory, Christ Jesus, who is our Lord and our Savior.

On October the 8th, 2000, Pope John Paul II, under his official title as the Vicar of Christ, consecrated the whole world and this new millennium to Mary Most Holy. That's the Vatican's own words. In the notes going with this paper, I give the Vatican webpage.

This blasphemous act of entrustment to Mary Most Holy, that which belongs to God alone, is a mockery of the First Commandment. The Pope's official and offensive act ought to warn Christians that while he formally claims to be, in his own words, the true Vicar of Christ, in fact he opposes Christ by such false worship.

Moreover, many other events, the Pope has officially contradicted the Gospel, as on the 13th of May this year, 2000, in what he calls the Jubilee Year, he gave a false Gospel message and whereas we also have in history documented the involvement of another Pope, Pius XII, in Hitler's reign of terror.

These things ought to warn Christians that right there before their eyes is seen the line of men that Scripture calls the man of sin and that this one who calls himself the true Vicar of Christ is actually fulfilling the Scripture of the man of sin or the son of perdition.

In Scripture there is just one Lord and one Holy Father. This may seem simplistic, but it's necessary to get back to the bedrock of Biblical truth. There is one Lord and one Holy Father. The Church of Rome authoritatively teaches that her Pontiff is rightly called, again official words, Most Holy and that he is, again official words, the Most Holy Roman Pontiff and they use titles such as the Holy Father and the Vicar of Christ.

This is a full definition of what the Apostle John calls the Antichrist. To look at the Apostle John's own words of the definition of the Antichrist, Who is the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?

He is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. The Pope in assuming these titles to himself is against the Christ and the Holy Father in Heaven by purporting or assuming these titles unto himself.

Such haughtiness blatantly breaks the new covenant law of Christ where the Lord said, Call no man your father on earth for one is your Father which is in Heaven. Jesus Christ declared, One is your Master, even Christ, and ye are all brethren.

The Pope calls himself Most Holy, Holy Father and the true Vicar of Christ. Thus assuming these titles unto himself. He is officially recording that he is, in the words of Isaiah 14 and verse 14, Like unto the Most High.

That he is claiming to be like unto the Most High. And so he is taking unto himself the very offices of the Father and the Son. And taking unto himself these offices, he is, therefore, fulfilling the definition of the Antichrist.

Because in doing so he is denying both the Father and the Son. And we cleanse ourselves with these very words at the end of page 1. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou only art holy and all nations shall come and worship before thee.

We praise God that there is only one Holy Father and he is in Heaven. The historical origins of the Antichrist. Throughout history, circumstances concerning the coming and the character of Christ have corresponded so brilliantly to prophecy that in the past the Lord's people praised his name for it.

Likewise the Lord's flock thanked him for so clearly depicting the Antichrist. So people gloried in the Lord's word because it showed them who the Christ was and it showed them who the opposer was, the Antichrist.

The Lord Jesus himself confirmed the understanding that there would be a specific fulfillment in the Antichrist's role when he stated For the ruler of this world is coming. Similarly, Christ Jesus said, I have come in my Father's name and you do not receive me.

If another come in his own name, you will receive him. The Lord speaking about the Antichrist being received readily where he himself was not received. The Apostle John, the beloved Apostle, following the Master's footsteps states emphatically Ye have heard that Antichrist shall come.

John confirms that there were contemporary opponents of Christ but these forces would eventually center in one entity, one office or one system. Contrary to flawed popular belief, the Popes are not the successors of the Apostle Peter.

The Apostle Peter we know historically in the Bible was never even in Rome. It is only a tradition that he was in Rome. It is not a Biblical historical fact. Of course, the whole idea of Apostolic succession is again a myth.

Real Apostolic succession is to have Apostolic Biblical truth and not a physical lineage of hands upon hands so that we have a line of so-called men passing on power by a physical means. So this idea of the successors to Peter is simply a myth or a tradition.

But there is an historical line from the Popes back to the Roman Emperor. History shows that the title of the Supreme High Priest was officially bestowed on the Bishop of Rome by the Emperor Justinian in the 6th century.

I don't give here, but it is a whole subject in the Senate. The precise date is 538 if we want to get into details. And of course it is fulfilled 1260 years later where the Pope is removed from his seat by the Napoleon's soldiers in 1798.

But that is a whole story in itself and that is a further detailing of prophecy. Therefore the office of the Supreme High Priest of the Church of Rome has been perpetuated for nearly 1500 years. And it came from an apostate secular source.

Whereas the Bible proclaims the one Supreme High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, appointed by God. The Pagan Emperor Justinian also bestowed on the Bishop of the Church of Rome the universal oversight of the entire Christian world.

That was when the Bishop of the Church of Rome became known as the Pope. Arising as the spiritual head of the apostate Roman Empire. This historical fact alone ought to clearly delineate the Antichrist.

I would refer you to the four volumes of Froum and in particular to the volume that deals with this volume 1. This period in history from pages 511 to 517. Where the exact details of Justinian handing over by official decree this title to the Pope is documented.

The cloud of witnesses from Christian history. From the time of persecution of the Vaudois, the earliest Christian believers and we still have Vaudois today. They have come down right through history from Biblical times.

And the Waldenses throughout the long era of the Inquisition, the Lollards, the Bohemians and the believers of the Reformation. Both the office of the Christ and its counterfeit, the Antichrist were clearly seen.

The zeal and the courage of many of the martyrs is based on their conviction that they were withstanding the Antichrist. Today however it is religiously correct to declare one's ignorance of the Antichrist.

And as the ecumenical movement gains momentum it is imperative for us to regain a Biblical understanding of scriptural prophecy. Which is still being played out in our time right before our eyes. And not in some future cataclysmic, you know, horrendous futuristic period which cannot be documented because nothing has already, nothing has happened.

Bible believers of old recognized the Roman Catholic institution as the Antichrist. This signification was known and spoken of throughout the Middle Ages by such as the famous Dante, John White, John Huss.

I thank God that I was very recently stood where John Huss stood in Prague. I praise God and I went to the church where John Huss had preached there, the church there in Prague. Savonarola, I've been to the spot actually where he was burnt actually in Italy as well.

And during the Reformation by people such as Martin Luther, William Tyndale, John Calvin, Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, John Bradley, John Fox and John Bunyan. The translators of the King James Bible, Isaac Newton, that famous physicist of whom we give so much credit when it comes to our understanding of gravity and other things.

The wonderful Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield, John Wesley and in recent times our wonderful Spurgeon, J .C. Ryle, Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones and we could go on and on. This is just giving you a touch of many of the great men who have seen the Antichrist as a antithesis of the glory of who Christ is and the one who opposes Him.

All these men knew the precision of scripture regarding both the Christ and the Antichrist. The written word has been fulfilled in history, both in light, that is Christ Jesus, and in darkness, in the Antichrist.

Like a silk glove over your hand, scripture has been fulfilled and God's people have wondered at the Lord in showing who the Christ is and showing who His opposer is. Today, however, it is religiously correct to refrain from speaking about the Antichrist except in some futuristic scenario that cannot be verified.

This tolerance principle has blunted or all but blunted the accuracy and the distinctiveness of the biblical sword. Such tolerance that holds that the warnings of Christ and the apostles, John and Paul, and of course Peter, are as if they meant nothing.

Christ warned about the apostasy, many Christ's to come. Peter spoke about the false teachers. Paul spoke about the wolves and sheep's clothing. It's like these things didn't matter and that these things were either in some period way back in the past or going to happen in the future.

But it's like this does not apply to us. It's like trying to wipe out the warnings of Christ and the apostles as if they did not apply to our own day. This particular paper that I'm doing deals with 2 Thessalonians 2 from verse 13 to 12.

It is an introduction to many other texts unveiling who indeed is the Antichrist. The apostle states in 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 3 Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition.

The man of sin would appear as an outworking of the falling away. The word in Greek is apostasia like our English word apostasy. So clearly if there is a falling away it means that there was Christianity in the first place.

There is a falling away from the true faith and then the revealing or the emergence of the man of sin. The embryo or the birthplace of iniquity that leads to the man of sin is this falling away from what was true Christianity.

For the mystery of iniquity that already work. Paul says that it was already begun this falling away even in his own day. It has already begun. So certainly not futuristic as it already started in Paul's day.

It was already at work. And Paul is contrasting the mystery of iniquity to the mystery of godliness. Paul is using the same terminology only the antithesis of it. What he spoke about in Timothy 3 .16 The mystery of godliness.

Now he is showing the exact opposite of that. The mystery of iniquity. That this was to emerge from the apostasia, the apostasy, the falling away from true Christianity. And what was this mystery of iniquity to do?

It was to be deceiving with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. This was absolute wickedness that would be perpetrated from this man of sin. To the mystery of iniquity with all deceivableness of unrighteousness.

Such apostasy means apostasy. That is it is not outright contradiction of biblical truth. But it is hypocrisy, deceit. Appearing to be righteous and holy. It is taking on the pretenses or aping. Pretending to be something while at the same time it is denying it.

So it doesn't mean that it is outright contradiction. It is deceivableness which is attempting to deceive by pretending to be. That is the true definition of apostasy. And the true definition of the fulfillment of scripture.

What is going on before our eyes. It is great to see the clarity of God's word. We have in verses 6 and 7 a description of what this is to be. And it is very clear in scripture that this constraint or withholding of the man of sin is a what in verse 6.

And it is a who in verse 7. That very thing wipes out futurism because the Holy Spirit is not a what. It is not a substance. The Holy Spirit is a person. And the constraint on the man of sin is a what in verse 6.

And it is a who in verse 7. So this is very clear in Paul's teaching that we have a clarity that is remarkable. And it is for us to see what is there in the exact text. That we have a what holding back the man of sin that is a who in the following verse.

It is important to understand the historical background. Who was Paul writing to? The Thessalonians. What had happened before he wrote this letter when he was in Thessalonica himself? This is clearly shown in the historical account in Acts 17 from verse 1 to 10.

We are told what happened when Paul was there at Thessalonica together with Silas. The charge brought against Paul and Silas that they were... These all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar saying that there is another King, one Jesus.

The charge that happened against Paul and Silas when they were in Thessalonica was that they were charged with an offense against Caesar. That is against the Roman Empire. And so it would be very clear to the Thessalonican mind that when Paul speaks about a what and a who he is speaking about the Roman Empire as the what and the who is Caesar or the Emperor himself.

So we have here a clear description and we see the reticence of Paul in saying this outrightly because he would be charged with insurrection or revolt had he written this explicitly. But it could not be more explicit without actually saying the Empire and the Emperor himself.

So it is quite explicit even without using the explicit names because of Paul using the what in verse 6 and the who in verse 7. We are now on page 4 if you are following on the notes. To know the time therefore at which the man of sin will appear the whole passage from verse 1 to 12 must be taken into account.

The man of sin is set forth and appears by the removal of who of him who is now holding back, verse 7. The previous verse the believers were told now you know what holds him back. They are the exact words then from verse 6.

What was it then that the believers knew? They knew that the Roman Empire held all and everyone in check. The Thessalonican mind, it was Rome and only Rome that retained or constrained. Now this is clear even from the early believers and their commentaries and right through history as well.

But I just give a reference here to Tertullian and Jerome and you can read their accounts again in Froome and many other historical writings where these men very clearly depicted as they knew in the earliest days what the Apostle knew and what the Thessalonicans themselves knew that it was the Empire and it was the Caesar that held back the man of sin.

And historically this is exactly how it happened also. Historically it was the Emperor Constantine who removed the seat of the Empire from Rome to Constantinople. The remover gave the opportunity for the desired growth of the power-seeking bishops of Rome and at the same time we had the internal and external corruption in the Roman Empire itself.

And this of course led about the breaking up of the Roman Empire and it meant that then that the power and the civil power began to come into the hands of the bishops of Rome and of course that was done in the Corpus Iuris, the handing over of the codifying of law by Justinian in the same 6th century.

That's a whole story in itself. But this whole idea of canon law and codifying law that has a civil effect on it goes back to Justinian. Just as a side note, I put in on a web page a few years ago Corpus Iuris looking to get a verification that Justinian did this on some historical web pages and what came up only the European Union laws which have the same name.

I have written a paper on that called The Pattern of Papal Persecution Then and Now. It's quite interesting that whole idea of codifying law which also came to the Supreme High Priest in the 6th century.

From then on we have had the Roman Church having an effect on civil powers and of course in our own day this has become rampant. It's a whole subject to study in itself. The place where the Son of Man appears.

The Apostle states unmistakably that the place where the Son of Man will become visible and he says it in verse 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that as God set it in the temple of God showing himself that he is God.

So Paul is explicit that it is in the temple of God that this man of sin appears showing himself that he is God. Now what is the temple of God for Paul? Paul keeps talking about the temple of God and of course there is not some future temple to be constructed any place let alone in Jerusalem.

It is the temple of God for Paul as you are the temple of God do you not know that your body is the temple of God? Paul keeps on speaking about the believers as the temple of God and that is consistent in Paul and I give some notes here, some references also like 1 Corinthians 3, Ephesians 2 .21, 2 Corinthians 6 .16 where Paul speaks about the believers as the temple of God so it is in the midst of the believers going on what scripture, interpreting scripture that this man of sin appears and that is remarkably clear that it could not be more clear unless we were trying to somehow deny the very word of God that the temple of God is among the believers.

Now, Rome also has some commentary to make on this verse 4 and it is quite interesting that Rome actually claims unto herself what is spoken of here in verse 4 and I want to show you this in Rome's own words but before I get there I want to show that God's written word is of utmost importance so much so that in Psalm 138 the Lord says Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name the Lord magnifies His word above His name that is how important is the absolute truth of God's word because that is the whole standard it is the measure, it is the basis of truth and that's why the Lord magnifies His word even above His name and so we have to see that this is the very thing that the Antichrist is going to do he is going to claim to be as God and even above God sitting in the temple of God so we want to see this in Rome's own words Rome's assumed titles of His Holiness that the Holy Father and equivalent titles deny the Christ and deny the Holy Father in Heaven but that is not all.

I give an exact quotation here at the end of page 4 whereby in the Code of Canon Law for His Holiness is claimed this very distinctive attribute of God His infallibility that God exalts above His name.

This very attribute of God is claimed in the official teachings of Rome which is also Her official law that you must bow to in Rome's own words that fulfill this verse she says, quotation the supreme pontiff in virtue of his office possesses infallible teaching authority when as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful he proclaims with a definitive act that the doctrine of faith and laws is to be held as such.

That's Canon 749 claiming the divine attribute of infallible teaching authority. And this then officially fulfills verse 4 of 2 Thessalonians sitting, calling himself God exalted above all that is called God again, the exactness of the Lord's word but in the exactness of Roman Catholic teaching seeing how the Catholics fulfill the very word of God and how ridiculous it is that this is done in black and white and people who call themselves biblical scholars don't see that Rome is actually in its official decrees fulfilling the exact words of scripture claiming the divine attribute of God's word unto themselves and therefore exalting themselves above all that is called God at the resurrection by Christ's earned righteousness all power was given to him in heaven and on earth.

The papal official decrees claim this as well. They claim this unto the Pope and I give this in their own words and this is from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. They say the following words. The Pope enjoys by divine institution supreme, full, immediate and universal power in the care of souls that is immediate, full, absolute power in the care of souls.

All power on heaven and earth is given only to Christ Jesus and it takes him as the God man to fulfill that. And so we see then the horrendous claim to be as God and this is done sitting in the midst of the people of God.

How much blasphemous official talk is needed before somebody has the common sense to say, here sit at the Antichrist. How much has got to be said in blasphemous official words before people realize what has been said and put it alongside of scripture extravagantly and without trembling.

The papacy fulfills the definition of the Antichrist because the Greek word simply doesn't mean simply against Christ but more significantly aping or substituting for him. And the papacy as it teaches and as it is lived out fulfills this truthful meaning of the Greek word it is against by presuming to take his place and usurping his offices as prophet, priest and king.

The full supreme Lord of the church is Christ Jesus and this is spelled out in such as Ephesians chapter 1. And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church which is his body the fullness of him that filleth all in all the Roman church purports to take to itself the divine position of Christ Jesus the Lord by claiming Christ Jesus' very attributes.

And so the New Catechism of the Catholic Church official first hand documentation says for the supreme pontiff by reason of his office as vicar of Christ namely as pastor of the entire church has full supreme and universal power over the whole church a power which he can always exercise unhindered.

The pope claims exactly the office of Christ and therefore claims to be as God. The wickedness that goes with this system shows the mystery of iniquity. And I am not going into that it's not simply that this is wicked teaching but it has an effect on the lives of men.

Just recently in Portland we had the wickedness again shown of huge court cases against a priest for molesting children. And this has gone on from state to state. It's gone on in my own native Ireland it's gone on across the world.

We have wickedness in a lot of the convents and a lot of the other places. I am not going into that that is the mystery of iniquity. I refer you here in the notes to iconbusters .com on the section of the wickedness and I would ask you to go to that web page just to see even the links to the Catholic web pages of how when this teaching is lived out how the mystery of iniquity is revealed in ordinary everyday life.

And that is a whole story in itself and our hearts should grieve in compassion for those who live under this type of teaching as it is lived out. Capitulation of mind and will. Where did I get such terminology.

You see this is official Roman Catholic teaching. Not simply does the Catholic Church say that he is the supreme holy father and that he has these divine attributes but it demands a capitulation of your highest faculties your intellect and will now we know that the cults say you check your mind at the door.

You are supposed to capitulate your mind at the door and the cults do that but they do not define as clearly as the Catholic Church does this capitulation. And I want you to read with me the exact words of Rome from canon 752 whereby you are to submit your intellect and will end of page 5.

A religious respect of intellect and will even if not the assent of faith it is to be paid to the teachings which the supreme pontiff or the college of bishops enunciate on faith and morals when they exercise the authentic magisterium even if they do not intend to proclaim it with a definitive act.

Therefore the Christian faithful are to take care to avoid whatever is not in harmony with that teaching submit your intellect. And will your highest faculties now if you think that that is not enough in actual fact in 1998 there was added a just penalty that's in recent times I said 1998 is October it caused havoc and a lot of dissension on the East Coast here in the United States because canon 1371 will bring just penalties against anyone who doesn't submit.

So it's not simply that this is a teaching but it has teeth that you are to be punished if you do not. If you do not submit your intellect and will and I give the exact words of the canon in the footnotes.

So to presume to take the place of Christ himself as prophet, priest and king is tantamount to sitting in the temple of God showing forth that he is God. And this is exactly what papal Rome documents for herself and that claims is a law and that one can be punished if one does not submit to it.

Now what are the purposes and the intentions of the son of man. I beg your pardon, the man of sin the one who is against the son of man the one who stands against him and the one who purports to take his place.

What are his intentions as described in the word of God. It is interesting that the words that Paul uses to describe him are the exact same words that Paul uses to describe the Christ revealed, coming in mystery are spoken beautifully of who Christ is.

He is revealed, he is the mystery of godliness. And the one who is to replace him Satan replacing him with his own man. Paul uses the exact same terminology only showing how he opposes him. So Paul says in verse 4.

Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he sitteth in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. This is the son of iniquity the man of sin and his purposes are even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and lying wonders his purpose is to deceive with power and lying wonders in all this deceivableness of unrighteousness.

So again it is hypocrisy, deceit. It is not that Satan appears in a satanic form but as an angel of light as the scripture says and he is appearing in the garb of righteousness to deceive and it is with all type of lying wonders that he takes on to himself as it were the garments of Christ to stand against Christ.

And this type of lying wonders is what he is about so that he deceives it is by hypocrisy and deceit by claiming to be Christian that he nullifies the very gospel of what is of the Lord. I give an example here again from this year that I have alluded to at the beginning of the paper where on the 13th of May the Pope endorsed a lying wonder that is what happened at Fatima in 1917 when three young children were deceived in thinking that they were to do reparation and atonement for their sins which is the message of Satan.

And there were and still are lying wonders as at Lourdes, Fatima, Medjugorje and of course here in the States Lubbock, Texas, Denver, Colorado and in Conyers just outside Atlanta we have lying wonders here in the States as well.

But this lying wonder is endorsed officially by the Pope and he also gave officially the Roman Catholic message of salvation that is in line with the message that was given there at Fatima all endorsing a lie and this is an example of how the man of sin works.

I want to read from the Pope's own words there at Fatima earlier this year according to the divine plan a woman clothed with the sun Revelation 12 .1 came down from heaven to this earth to visit the privileged children.

She asked them to offer themselves as victims of reparation saying that she was ready to lead them safely to God and behold they see a light shining from her maternal hands which penetrates them inwardly so they feel immersed in God.

So it's a woman leading them to God her maternal hands and feeling immersed in God. And this is all by atonement or self-sacrificing way by which you atone for your own sins which is a message of Satan.

I have a whole paper on that where I show the falseness of that message and the Pope endorsing a lie. It's on our webpage at bereanbeacon .org if anybody wants to check it out. So that is an example of what the intentions of the man of sin so that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to all that believe.

And this has been seen by the Valdois the Valdenses, the Laalads and many others throughout history being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. The gospel is for us today the end of the man of sin and why we preach the true gospel of grace and not any man-made gospel.

And also the final end will be the Lord will cut off the man of sin at the end with the breath of his mouth. None but God could have delineated the mystery of iniquity which is clearly the office of the papacy the Roman Catholic Church.

Man could never have anticipated it all. It's what God has foretold. It's he, the Lord of truth and of scripture has delineated this clarity that we could not have expected. It's just as the Lord himself was clearly shown in Isaiah 43 in 42 and Psalm 22 all the clear descriptions of who the Christ was in his glory and in his suffering.

And it says Christ explained chapter 24 of Luke to the disciples on the road to the mosque. It was the clarity to do with the Christ equally the clarity to do with the Antichrist in this passage Revelation 17 and 18 and many other passages in the scripture where the Antichrist and his whole system Revelation 13, the conglomerate beast and the three powers there collaborating together and on and on the clarity of God's word.

And so the Lord clearly shows in the scriptures by the truth of his word who he himself is as he fulfills all righteousness. He dies in the place of his chosen of the one who he is called he fulfills all righteousness.

He is the one who fulfills all scripture of the prophecy spoken about himself. And he is the one who in his word portrays the woman sitting on the seven hills of Rome. He is the one who portrays her colors her golden cup who portrays that she is a city who is also a system who is also a religious power who is also a civil power the intimate details all fulfilled precisely as is this second Thessalonians 2 passage.

I remember even as a priest in 1964 going to the Vatican standing outside the Vatican as the three thousand bishops, cardinals and palates were flooding out of the square and I was seeing with my own eyes and this was more beautiful than Hollywood could ever do.

This is for real. And what was before my eyes scarlet and purple. And I even as a priest I said, oh no could this be Revelation 17 even as a priest. And I put that out of my mind because the preciseness of the colors and they are the official colors from the Monsignori up purple and of course the scarlet of the cardinals and it's the only city that is also a system that is also a religious power and that sits physically on the seven hills.

I don't know if you know but the Vatican has official residence on the seven hills and not just on Vatican Hill. She has official power from 1927 from the Lateran Concord made with Mussolini. She has official power from the Lateran Concord made with Mussolini on the seven hills of Rome.

And that is another story in itself. But this passage is abundantly clear. Who is the man of sin who sits in the temple of God calling himself the Holy Father calling himself the true vicar of Christ denying the Father and the Son.

Who is it that exalts himself above God the very attribute of infallibility where God exalts his word above his name. Who claims this attribute officially and in his own teaching. Who is it that deceives and pretends to be or aids Christ.

Who claims Christ's authority. There is only one and there has been only one throughout history. There has only been one who has done this and done it consistently. And the people who stood against him for 667 years he decreed persecution and the inquisition not six years of holocaust but 667 years of persecution drinking the blood of the saints.

And this is again history. It is the solid fact of history that this one who has claimed official authority demands mission of intellect and will sits among God's people calling himself God in the midst of the people of God.

And it is a system that goes back to what was genuine Christianity and fell away and officially to assume the pagan title in 538 where Justinian gave to him the Pope and to his system her, the one who sits on the seven hills gave the title of supreme high priest which was his pagan title.

And so he has been the summum pontifex the supreme bridge maker. Since then the official pagan title this was officially handed over to him. And all these things are documented. And so what more clarity could we have than God's word and God's word as it has been fulfilled by scripture.

I ask you to take these things before the Lord and pray about them because it is a serious matter that needs to be stood for in this day and age so that the truth of the gospel is proclaimed and that the Lord plucks from the fire many unto himself and that we see the glorious salvation of God's people by his grace and save from this wicked system unto the glory of our God.

Amen and Amen. Permission is given to copy this tape once it is done in its entirety. Richard Bennett, converted Catholic priest now evangelist presents Contrast. Your comments or questions are requested please write to post office box 55353 Portland, Oregon 97238.

Permission is given to record and copy the entire message.

And now here is Richard Bennett because I am a converted Roman Catholic priest I am often asked the question what is the center. What is the essential difference between Biblical faith and Roman Catholicism.

It's not only that I have been asked this question but many of the former priests who are now converted to Biblical truth such as the 50 that we have in the book just published Far From Rome, New to God the testimonies of 50 converted Roman Catholic priests.

Many of the men in this book are asked the similar question what is the essential difference between Biblical faith and Roman Catholicism. There are many, many external differences. There are many, many differences in doctrine.

But the essential difference is that of justification. In Roman Catholicism justification is made to look as if it were subjective and internal. Justification is made to look as if it were in us. Justification is centered in you, the person.

Justification by which you are made right with God the Catholic Church says is a personal righteousness inside you. And the terminology that the Catholic Church uses such as habitual grace sanctifying grace.

All the words that it uses to explain this justification that it says is in the person are such that they designate the being right with God as being inside a person. In the Bible it is totally otherwise.

Justification is objective legal and external. We are justified by Christ's work for us not in us. Justification is Christ-centered. Let your minds be on the heavenly things. A person that is justified that is justified has the righteousness of God credited to them.