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"...The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
I Timothy 3:15
A List of Heresies
And Human Traditions Adopted and Perpetuated by the
Roman Catholic Church in the Course of 1600 Years
Compiled by Rev. Stephen L. Testa
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free," Jesus in John 8:32.
Notice: These dates are in many cases approximate. Many of these heresies had been current in the church years before, but only when they were officially adopted by a church council and proclaimed by the pope as dogma of faith, did they become binding on Catholics.
And doctrine to be true must conform to the Word of God. "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it become there is no light in them." (Isaiah 8:20).
At the Reformation in the 16th Century these heresies were repudiated as having no part in the Religion of Jesus as taught in the New Testament.
1. OF ALL THE HUMAN TRADITIONS taught and practiced by the Roman Catholic Church, which are contrary to the Bible, the most ancient are the prayers for the dead and the sign of the Cross. Both began 300 years after Christ............................................................................................A.D. 310
2. Wax Candles introduced into the church in about............................................................A.D. 320
3. Veneration of angels and dead saints in about..............................................................A.D. 375
4. The Mass, as a daily celebration, adopted in...................................................................A.D. 394
5. The worship of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the use of the term, "Mother of God", as applied to her, originated in the Council of Ephesus in................................................................................A.D. 431
6. Priests began to dress differently from the laity in.............................................................A.D. 500
7. The doctrine of Purgatory was first established by Gregory the Great in about...................A.D. 593
8. The Latin language, as the language of prayer and worship in churches, was also imposed by Pope Gregory I 600 years after Christ........................................................................................A.D. 600
The Word of God forbids praying and teaching in an unknown tongue.
(Read I Cor. 14:9)
9. The Bible teaches that we pray to God alone. In the primitive church never were there prayers directed to Mary, or to dead saints. This practice began in the Roman Church about.................A.D. 600
(Read Matt.11:28; Luke 1:46; Acts 10:25-26; 14:14-18)
10. The Papacy is of pagan origin. The title of pope or universal bishop, was first given to the Bishop of Rome by the wicked emperor Phocas in..............................................................................A.D. 610
This he did to spite Bishop Ciriacus of Constantinople, who had justly excommunicated him for having caused the assassination of his predecessor emperor Mauritius. Gregory I, then Bishop of Rome, refused the title, but his successor, Boniface III, first assumed title "pope".
Jesus did not appoint Peter to the leadership of the apostles and forbade such notion.
(Read Luke 22:24-26; Eph. 1:22-3; Col. 1:18; I Cor. 3:11)
Note:- Nor is there any mention in Scripture, nor in history, that Peter ever was in Rome, much less that he was pope there for 25 years; Clement the 3rd, Bishop of Rome, remarked that "there is no real 1st Century evidence that Peter ever was in Rome."
11. The kissing of the Pope's feet began in.......................................................................A.D. 709
It had been a pagan custom to kiss the feet of emperors. The Word of God forbids such practices.
(Read Acts 10:25-26; Rev.19:10; 22:9)
12. The Temporal power of the Popes began in.................................................................A.D. 750
When Pepin, the usurper of the throne of France, descended into Italy when called by Pope Stephen II to war against the Italian Lombards, he defeated them and gave the city of Rome and surrounding territory to the pope. Jesus expressly forbade such a thing, and He Himself refused worldly kingship.
(Read Matt. 4:8-9; 20:25-26; John 18:38)
13. Worship of the cross, of images and relics authorized in...............................................A.D. 788
This was by order of Dowager Empress Irene of Constantinople, who first caused to pluck the the eyes of her own son, Constantine VI, and then called a church council at the request of Hadrian I, Pope of Rome at that time.
Such practice is called simply IDOLATRY in the Bible, and is severely condemned.
(Read Ex. 20:4; 3:17; Deut. 27:15; Psalm 115)
14. Holy Water, mixed with a pinch of salt and blessed by the priest, authorized in...................A.D. 850
15. The veneration of St. Joseph began in........................................................................A.D. 890
16. The baptism of bells was instituted by Pope John XIV in.................................................A.D. 965
17. Canonization of dead saints first by Pope John XV in....................................................A.D. 995
Every believer and follower of Christ is called saint in the Bible.
(Read Rom. 1:7; I Cor. 1:2).
18. Fasting on Fridays and during Lent were imposed in......................................................A.D. 998
Imposed by popes said to be interested in the commerce of fish (along with the selling of Bulls and Indulgences, or permits, to allow the selling and eating of meat). Some authorities say it began in the year 700. This is against the plain teaching of the Bible.
(Read Matt.15:10; I Cor.10:25; I Tim. 4:1-3)
19. The Mass, developed gradually as a sacrifice; attendance made obligatory in ...............11th Century
The Bible teaches that the sacrifice of Christ was offered once and for all, and is not to be repeated, but only commemorated in the Lord's Supper.
(Read Heb. 7:27; 9:26-28; 10:10-14)
20. The celibacy of the priesthood, decreed by Pope Hildebrand, Boniface VIII, in...................A.D. 1079
Jesus imposed no such rule, nor did any of the apostles. On the contrary, St. Peter was a married man, and St. Paul says that a bishop was to have a wife and children.
(Read I Tim. 3:2,5 and 12; Matt. 8:14-15)
21. The Rosary, or prayer beads, was introduced by Peter the Hermit, in ..............................A.D. 1090
Copied from Hindus and Mohammedans.
The counting of prayers is a pagan practice and is expressly condemned by Christ.
(Read Matt. 6:5-13)
22. The Inquisition of heretics was instituted by the Council of Verona in..............................A.D. 1184
Jesus never taught the use of force to spread His religion.
23. The sale of Indulgences, commonly regarded as a purchase of forgiveness and a permit to indulge in sin, began in................................................................................................................A.D. 1190
Christianity, as taught in the Bible, condemns such a traffic, and it was the protest against this traffic that brought on the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century.
24. The dogma of Transubstantiation decreed by Pope Innocent III in..................................A.D. 1215
By this doctrine the priest pretends to perform a daily miracle by changing a wafer into the body of Christ, and then he pretends to eat Him alive in the presence of his people during Mass.
The Bible condemns such absurdities; for the Lord's Supper is simply a memorial of sacrifice of Christ. The spiritual presence of Christ is implied in the Lord's Supper.
(Read Luke 22:19-20; John 6:35; I Cor.11:26).
25. Confession of sins to the priest at least once a year was instituted by Pope Innocent III in the Lateran Council in.........................................................................................................A.D. 1215
The Bible commands us to confess our sins direct to God.
(Read Psa.51:1-10; Luke 7:48; 15:21; I John 1:8-9)
26. The adoration of the wafer (Host) was decreed by Pope Honorius in...............................A.D. 1220
So the Roman Church worships a god made with human hands. This is plain idolatry and absolutely contrary to the spirit of the gospel.
(Read John 4:24)
27. The Bible forbidden to layman and placed in the Index of Forbidden Books by the Council of Valencia in..............................................................................................................................A.D. 1229
Jesus commanded that the Scriptures should be read by all.
(Read John 5:39; I Tim. 3:15-17)
28. The Scapular was invented by Simon Stock, an English monk, in.....................................A.D. 1287
It is a piece of brown cloth with the picture of the Virgin and supposed to contain supernatural virtue to protect from all dangers those who wear it on naked skin. This is fetishism.
29. The Roman Church forbade the cup to the laity by instituting the communion of one kind in the Council of Constance in.................................................................................................A.D. 1414
The Bible commands us to celebrate the Lord's Supper with unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine.
(Read Matt.26:27; I Cor. 11:26-29)
30. The doctrine of Purgatory proclaimed dogma of faith by the Council of Florence in............A.D. 1439
There is not one word in the Bible that would teach the purgatory. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sins.
(Read I John 1:7-9; 2:1-2; John 5:24; Rom. 8:1)
31. The doctrine of 7 Sacraments affirmed in...................................................................A.D. 1439
The Bible says that Christ instituted only two ordinances - Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
(Read Mt.28:19-20; 26:26-28)
32. The Ave Maria, part of the last half in .......................................................................A.D. 1508
It was completed 50 years afterward and finally approved by Pope Sixtus V at the end of the 16th century.
33. The Council of Trent, held in the year 1545, declared that Tradition is of equal
authority
with the Bible..............................................................................................................A.D.
1545
By tradition is meant human teachings. The Pharisees believed the same way, and Jesus bitterly condemned them, for by teaching human tradition, they nullify the commandments of God.
(Read Mark 7:7-13; Col. 2:8; Rev. 22:18)
34. The apocryphal books were added to the Bible also by the Council of Trent in..................A.D. 1546
These books were not recognized as canonical by the Jews.
(Read Rev.22:8-9)
35. The Creed of Pope Pius IV was imposed as the official creed 1528 years after Christ and the apostles in..............................................................................................................................A.D. 1560
True Christians retain the Holy Scriptures as their creed. Hence their creed is more than 1528 years older than the creed of Roman Catholics.
(Read Gal. 1:8)
36. The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary proclaimed by Pope Pius IX in..................A.D. 1854
The Bible states that all men, with the sole exception of Christ, are sinners. Mary herself had need of a Saviour.
(Read Rom. 3:23; 5:12; Psalm.51:5; Luke 1:30, 46, 47)
37. Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of Papal Infallibility................................................A.D. 1870
This is a blasphemy and a sign of the apostasy and of the antichrist predicted by St.Paul.
(Read II Thess. 2:2-12; Rev. 17:1-9; 13:5-8,18)
Many Bible students see the number of the beast (Rev. 13:18), 666, in the Roman letters of the Pope's title:"VICARIVS FILII DEI". - V-5, I-1, C-100, I-1, V-5, I-1, L-50, I-1; D-500, I-1 - Total=666.
38. Pope Pius X, condemned together with "Modernism", all the discoveries of modern science which are not approved by the Church...........................................................................................A.D. 1907
Pius IX had done the same thing in the Syllabus of 1864.
39. Pius XI, condemned Public Schools..........................................................................A.D. 1930
40. Pope Pius XI, reaffirmed the doctrine that Mary is "the Mother of God"............................A.D. 1931
This doctrine was first invented by the Council of Ephesus in the year 431. This heresy contrary by Mary's own words.
(Read Luke 1:46-49; John 2:1-5)
41. The Assumption of the Virgin Mary, proclaimed by Pope Pius XII in................................A.D. 1950
CONCLUSION
What will be the next invention? The Roman Church says it never changes; yet, it has done nothing else but invent new doctrines which are contrary to the Bible, and has practiced rites and ceremonies taken bodily from paganism. Some scholar has found that 75% of the rites and ceremonies of the Roman Church are of pagan origin.
Note:- Cardinal Newman, in his book, The Development of the Christian Religion, admits that..."Temples, incense, oil lamps, votive offerings, holy water, holidays and season of devotions, processions, blessing of fields, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure (of priests and monks and nuns), images....are all of pagan origin..." (page 359).
HERESIES are those doctrines and practices which are contrary to the Bible. They are also called "human traditions" or "doctrines of men". Both Peter and Paul predicted and warned that in the later times "false teachers" would rise within the Church and bring in "damnable heresies" and "doctrines of devils". (Read II Peter 2:1-3, and I Tim. 3:2-5).
Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, for they transgressed the commandments of God by keeping their traditions, "In vain", He said, "they worship me by keeping for doctrines the commandments of men" (Matt. 15:3,9).
The real heretics, therefore, are the Roman Catholics and the true orthodox are the Evangelical Christians.
BRETHREN! The Word of God commands us to get out of Babylon, saying: "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."(Rev. 18:4). All true Christians will remain faithful to the religion of Christ as taught in the Bible, and heed the warning of the Apostle Paul, who said: "But thought we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed."(Gal. 1:8).