The active and passive role of the Roman Catholic Church and later, some Protestant churches in slavery, colonization, racism, eugenics, Apartheid, and the World Wars, are heartbreaking indeed! Is it any wonder, that Europe has suddenly become so anti-religious and highly atheistic, not believing in God? I cannot blame them: for if the Christian church, so-called, cannot maintain and promote the love, kindness, sympathy, morality, and mercy of humanity and the teachings of the Bible, then it is indeed a useless institution, a saltless salt, and a den of rotting bones! In his immortalized speech before that august assembly on Mars Hill in Athens, the Apostle Paul stated in Acts 17:26-27:
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
Yet, contrary to the Bible, the church supported and participated in slavery, eugenics, Apartheid, and all its evil. Why, if the church cannot live up to its ideals of being the conscience of the nation, preaching against evil, crimes, murder, oppression, suppression, injustice, slavery of fellow humans, racism against other humans made by God and who by no fault of theirs, were born Black or Asian, then what’s the use of it? The Christian church of today is as far from the Bible as night is from day. It’s just a repetition of the Jewish church in the time of Christ! Is it any wonder, that churches in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and America still congregate and worship according to race instead of worshiping together as one human family?
In Christ’s day, the church had left the Bible to teach and preach human philosophy and traditions, just as is happening today! The true and sincere Jewish leaders were either removed from authority or killed by Herod. They were replaced by puppets who were willing to do the bidding of Caesar and Herod. This is just what happened to the Christian church, especially under the Roman Empire and Hitler…
The Jewish church aligned itself with the State and did the State’s bidding. It had become so sunken in corruption and vice that it just could not purge itself. The Jewish leaders only focused on money and nothing else. Hence, they allowed the Temple courts to be turned into a marketplace for the sale of sacrificial animals. They respected the rich and glossed over their sins but disrespected the poor and ignored their sorrows and pleas.
They were angry that Christ should dare question their authority or have the people listen to him and follow him. They were so scared of losing their authority and influence over the people that they would rather kill Christ than reform the church and themselves. They succeeded in killing Christ, persecuting his followers, and later on, plunged the nation into a war against Rome. What happened? Jerusalem was burned down and the Jews were sold into slavery and scattered abroad.
This also happened during the French Revolution. The Roman Catholic Church looked on and even supported the King and aristocracy to massacre and persecute the protestants throughout France. These faithful Christians left France with the Bible and run away to South Africa, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, and the New World. When there were no more Christians to kill and a Bible to warn them, the nation gradually sunk into depravity. The King and Church ignored the pleas of the poor until they had enough!!
They stormed the Bastille, seized the weapons stored there, and marched on the aristocracy and the church. The King and Queen were beheaded by the guillotine. Thousands of priests, princes, the aristocracy, and later on, other innocent people were captured and equally beheaded! The French Revolution drenched France in blood! Again, the Catholic church had aided the State to plunder the nation into poverty and they were both overthrown.
The Vanquishers of the Bastille before the Hôtel de Ville, July 14, 1789. Found in the Collection of Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)
But for the works of John Wycliffe and Martin Luther in liberating the British and Germans from the abuses and extortion of the Catholic Church, they would have suffered a similar fate like France. Alas, the church that was established to bring light and peace has become a captive of Babylon. A trojan horse that has done worst than all institutions in degrading humanity. The most shocking of all is the role of the Catholic Church in slavery…this shall be addressed in the next issue. Have a Happy Sabbath.
