Leaders are a very important component of the Church. However, Catholicism has chosen pagan examples to follow regarding the establishment and power of its priests. This has resulted in beliefs and traditions that contradict the Bible and God's plan for His people.
Power of the Priests
Catholic priests are considered to be very powerful. In fact, according to St. Alphonsus Liguori, priests are given the power to forgive sins, and God must obey their judgment decisions:
The priest has the power of the keys, or the power of delivering sinners from Hell, of making them worthy of Paradise, and of changing them from the slaves of Satan into the children of God. And God Himself is obliged to abide by the judgment of His priests, and either not to pardon or to pardon.i
During the 14th session of the Council of Trent (November 25, 1551), it was decreed that Christ, "when about to ascend from earth to heaven, left behind Him priests, His own vicars, as rulers and judges, to whom all the mortal sins into which the faithful of Christ may have fallen should be brought in order that they may, in virtue of the power of the keys, pronounce the sentence of remission or retention of sins."ii
The Bible tells us that only God can save us (Psalm 80:19, Isaiah 45:22, Acts 4:12), and He offers forgiveness through Christ alone (Matthew 9:6, John 10:9, Acts 5:31, Ephesians 4:32).
Claiming the power to forgive sins and claiming to be God are two instances of blasphemy. Daniel 7 predicted that Papacy would utter great things against God, and this is exactly what is happening.
Celibacy
Another mark of the Catholic priesthood is celibacy. Unfortunately, this is another practice that ignores God's words to His people and instead follows paganism.
Historian Alexander Hislop tells us that celibacy originated in worship to the goddess Semiramis:
Strange though it may seem, yet the voice of antiquity assigns to that abandoned queen [the goddess Semiramis] the invention of clerical celibacy, and that in the most stringent form...When the Pope appropriated to himself so much that was peculiar to the worship of that goddess, from the very same source, also, he introduced into the priesthood under his authority the binding obligation of celibacy. The introduction of such a principle into the Christian Church had been distinctly predicted as one grand mark of apostasy.iii
The prediction Hislop refers to here is 1 Timothy 4:1-3: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth." God created marriage as a gift for His people. The forced avoidance of marriage does not please Him.
The Tonsure
Celibate priests receive the tonsure when they are ordained. The tonsure is a "sacred rite instituted by the Church by which a baptized and confirmed Christian is received into the clerical order by the shearing of his hair."iv
Nowhere in the Bible are we told that leaders should shave part of their heads. However, the tonsure is connected to Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, the first-century Gnostic Simon Magus, and, even before him, the Babylonian worship of Bacchus and Egyptian worship of Osiris.v Read more about the tonsure
Biblical Leadership
Scriptures give us plenty of information about the right attitude, actions, and ordinations of Church leaders. Peter even calls all of God's people "a royal priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9-10). To learn more, check out these passages:
Isaiah 3:13
John 13:1-17; 21:15-17
Romans 2:6-8
1 Timothy 3
Titus 1:6-8
1 Peter 5:1-4
Read about the pagan origins of Catholic mass
i. St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Dignities and Duties of the Priest (1927).
ii. Rev. H. J. Schroeder (trans.), "Fourteenth Session: Sacrament of Penance," The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent (Rockford, IL: TAN Books 1978): 92.
iii. Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons (Cosimo, Inc., 2007): 219-220.
iv. Kevin Knight, "Tonsure," New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia.
v. Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons (Cosimo, Inc., 2007): 221.
It is our sincere desire to lay the clear Word of God before you, the truth-seeking reader, so you may decide for yourself what is truth and what is error. If you find herein anything contrary to the Word of God, you need not accept it. But if you desire to seek for Truth as for hidden treasure, and find herein something of that quality, we encourage you to make all haste to accept that Truth which is revealed to you by the Holy Spirit.
Creation and Evolution: Is Compromise Possible?
How Can We See Stars That Are Billions Of Light Years Away?
Geocentricity: It's Time to Face the Facts
The Rise of Evolutionary Thinking
Earth's History: Conflicting Paradigms
Lamarck Proposes Natural Selection
Age Of The Earth Is Carbon-Dating Accurate?
Flood Chronology
Read several authors' thoughts on papal Rome's history.
This article highlights quotes from historical and Catholic sources proving the Papacy's aggressive nature.
Persecution in the First Centuries
An Era of Spiritual Darkness The Waldenses
John Wycliffe Huss and Jerome
Luther's Separation From Rome
Luther Before the Diet The Swiss Reformer
Progress of Reform in Germany
Protest of the Princes The French Reformation
The Netherlands and Scandinavia
Later English Reformers
The Bible and the French Revolution
The Pilgrim Fathers Heralds of the Morning
An American Reformer Light Through Darkness
A Great Religious Awakening A Warning Rejected
Prophecies Fulfilled What is the Sanctuary?
In the Holy of Holies God's Law Immutable
A Work of Reform Modern Revivals
Facing Life's Record The Origin of Evil
Enmity Between Man and Satan
Agency of Evil Spirits Snares of Satan
The First Great Deception
Can Our Dead Speak to Us?
Liberty of Conscience Threatened
The Impending Conflict
The Scriptures a Safeguard The Final Warning
The Time of Trouble God's People Delivered
Desolation of the Earth The Controversy Ended
Is Revelation a Sealed Book?
Revelation 1 Commentary
Revelation 1: Jesus, The Heart of Revelation
Revelation 2 Commentary
Revelation 2-3: Letters to Seven Churches
Revelation 3 Commentary
The Lamb and the Sealed Book
Revelation 4 Commentary
Revelation 5 Commentary
Revelation 6 Commentary
Revelation 7 Commentary
Revelation 8 Commentary
Revelation 9 Commentary
Revelation 10 Commentary
Revelation 11 Commentary
Revelation 12 Commentary
Revelation 13 Commentary
Revelation 14 Commentary
Revelation 15 Commentary
Revelation 16 Commentary
Revelation 17 Commentary
Revelation 18 Commentary
Revelation 19 Commentary
Revelation 20 Commentary
Revelation 21 Commentary
Revelation 22 Commentary
Base