Papal Watch 2017: Two popes, two ethical,  world-views in one church yet one biblical Antichrist Function

 

Koot van Wyk (DLitt et Phil; Thd) Visiting Professor at Kyungpook National University, Sangju Campus, South Korea. Conjoint lecturer of Avondale College, Australia

 

It is the beginning of September 2017 and media is inundated with articles surrounding two popes. Before we enter into mentioning the status quo of the Catholic Church with a focus on these two popes: Ratzinger and Francis, it is worth looking at Revelation 13 and the historicist interpretation of 666, the First Beast, the Deadly Wound, the Second Beast, the recovery of the Deadly wound and the role of the Second Beast to set up an image for the First Beast to dominate the final scenes of World’s History.

 

The Image to the First Beast is not China nor is it Russia despite their own dreams, and dreams they have, so we all understand through their TV, their newspapers, and interpretations of it. The First Beast of Revelation 13 is the Holy Roman Empire that took over from the Fall of Rome, the real Fall in 538 A.D. when Justinian printed on his coins the emphatic public announcement that he is now Theologian and no longer soldier. He wanted to be a papal-caesar and troublesome years followed in which he had to build many churches to calm the ease. But the Catholic Church became the Holy Roman Empire and for 1260 years (from Daniel and Revelation) in the historicist interpretation of a day for a year, they ruled from 538 A.D. until 1798 when Napoleon arrested the pope and brought him to France giving that “Title” or “Office” or “Function” a “Deadly Wound” as the same pope in a letter cited Revelation 13 to describe his own condition and that of the church. The papacy function during this long period was that of caecaro-papist. There is nearly an article on every point made so far. This much we know already. The secular World Order of the USA kicked in and for some historicist interpreters like Uriah Smith, it was France in Daniel 11 at the end or whatever, but the USA is clearly the Second Beast of Revelation 13 already early in Seventh-day Adventist theology. The lamb-like beast. Soft is democracy and values of the consensus “biblical consulted” constitution that protected all kinds of freedoms as opposed to “iron-like” stances of dictatorships. And there are many examples of this. They do not care for their own citizens and not for those people they colonialize due to “landgrab” occupations since they have an never-ending thirst for war and self-enrichment by robbery and theft and piracy, none of which their ethics consider as wrong. Situational Ethics at play. If 50 can live better due to the theft then the theft is better than only one living better. So they rationalize their sins away.

 

Then the Vatican recover since 1923 and after Vatican II, the adoption of many USA values embedded in the constitution, they sat with a blueprint that could steer their Vatican political agenda helping Pope John Paul II to gain territory like never before.

In Revelation 13 the papacy has the number 666 since it refers to their title they used since earliest times, as Edwin de Kock’s 2011 study indicate [900 pages], showing that vicarius filii dei counts up to exactly 666 and it is not a case of a number that is “not perfect like seven is”. It is not 6999…. It is six [hundred] six [tens] one six. Not 6.6.6. This is not a Seventh-day Adventist invention since Andreas Helwig mentioned it first in three of his editions: 1610; 1618 and 1630.

What is wrong? Vicarious of the son of God is the role only of the Holy Spirit and no earthling can take over that position. Christ said that He will be send to be his vicarius filii dei or also vicarius Christi.  By saying that they have the bread that becomes Christ’s body in their hands and only they can give salvation by their hand to the believer coming to them, is blasphemy and non-biblical. Salvation is without any human agency or intermediary. Period. To make your Bible thicker adding some non-biblical or apocryphical writings to it, may help to reinforce your false doctrines but the original Bible does not allow polarity or disunity in doctrines. That is why apocrypha is left out of the Protestant Bibles. Is this a Protestant looking for a gap to backlash against the Catholics for whatever reason? Say what you like, we are talking about biblical exegesis with the historicist interpretation model. Not preteristic locking the Bible up in its own times. With Nero’s name counting to 666 and all that jargon of preterism.

Then Ratzinger took over from John Paul II and since he was a scholar-theologian he had trouble from day one to administer comfortably. Obama came in and this democratic liberal outlook, embrazing the LGBTQH, Woman Ordination open stance, Islam approaching while Ratzinger was Islam hesitant as his Regensburg talk in 2006 illustrates. 

On April 15, 2017, Ratzinger broke his silence and said:

“The contrast between the concepts of the radically atheistic state and the creation of the radically theocratic state by Muslim movements creates a dangerous situation for our age, one whose effects we experience each day. These radical ideologies require us to urgently develop a convincing concept of the state that will stand up to the confrontation between these challenges and help to overcome it.”( 1 )

The retired pope’s words contrast sharply with those of his successor, Francis, who argues that “Muslim terrorism does not exist’’ and it is not “right to identify Islam with violence’’.

Now here is the point. When Ratzinger was brought down to retire a lot of speculation surrounded this unusual action. Two sources from the USA and Italy maintained that Ratzinger was not only forced to retire due to a LGBTQH network in the Vatican, or the Financial Crisis of the Vatican Bank with moneylaudering or the same, but that Obama and Hillary interfered with the Vatican politics to get Ratzinger the conservative, pro-Russia, anti-Abortionist, more Islamo-phobic in speeches like the Regensburg speech in 2006, replaced with a pro-Islam pope, embracing LGBTQH, less stable on Russia, Francis in his place.

 

Currently in 2017 we sit with a Democratic party pushed out of USA government due to internet leaks just as Ratzinger was pushed out by Vatileaks in 2013 with the USA stopping their SWIFT4 account, blocked it, but switched it on just when Francis was elected, it is claimed.

 

Trump conservative, was approached by a Catholic group to investigate the role of Obama-Hillary in the retirement of Ratzinger and whether their pursuit on liberal values globally has made them mess around with the Vatican as well. Thus the media. (See 20 January 2017 “Open Letter to President Trump”).

As Rico points out, Pope Benedict at the time stood in opposition to President Obama’s collaboration with the Muslim Brotherhood, especially with the pope’s Regensburg address in which he criticized Islamist fundamentalism. The U.S., as Rico along with Dottori explains, was not in favor of a papal rapprochement with the Patriarch of Moscow which could further support a European rapprochement with Russia. A partial basis for this desired rapprochement could also be a rejection of the moral relativism of the West.”

Rico also recalls: “Strangely, this [SWIFT] function was re-established immediately after the resignation of Benedict XVI.”

Ratzinger was on the verge of creating a Christian block by uniting the Eastern Orthodox churches from Russia and Catholics when he was forced to retire.

The article goes on to say: “In other words, American policy was deliberately attempting to forestall the formation of what can only be called a "Christian bloc." If this seems farfetched, one should recall that Russia, prior to the Soviet era, played precisely this role in European and world geopolitics, as the protector of Orthodox Christians. The Vatican exercised this role through proxy states, most recently through Austria-Hungary, Italy, and various other Catholic regional powers.”

 

At that time Ratzinger was trying to swim against the Democratic stream of Obama-Hillary. He said that some kind of “mystical thought” came to his mind convincing him that he has to stop, which he ascribed to God.

 

Liberal pope, conservative pope, liberal USA or conservative USA, it does not matter. There is no right or wrong since they share values mixed anyway and Eucharist the vicarius filii dei style remains anyway unchanged.

 

Now the 11 cardinals who asked Francis to be pope is asking him to resign so that another one can be pope? One scholar said that the Vatican is experiencing a crisis that is worse than Luther and the Reformation. And this is the year of the remembrance of Luther and the Reformation after 500 years.

 

For Adventism and historicistic interpretation Revelation 13 remains, unchanged. Whether leftist or rightist, any pope is functioning in the 666 space as outlined above. Can’t escape it provided they resign as Ratzinger and in his silence secretly read Ellen White on the Life of Christ, secretly keep the Sabbath, secretly no longer pray for Mary or images, secretly do not take Eucharist from the hand of a priest trying to officiate in the Holy Spirit’s space, qualifying for the 666 number.

 

(1)             Filip Mazurczak, “Benedict XVI Warns of ‘Dangerous Situation’ With Radical Atheism and Radical Islam” 15 April 2017.

(2)             K. Mansfield, “POPE Benedict XVI reveals the reasons behind his resignation that shocked the world.” 25th of August 2016. Online at http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/703941/Pope-Benedict-XVI-reason-quit-Vatican-could-not-face-trip-Rio-age-health

(3)             J. P. Farrell, “Why did Pope Benedict XVI resign?” 4th of June 2017. Online accessed at https://gizadeathstar.com/2017/06/pope-benedict-xvi-resign/

(4)             T. D. Williams, “Archbishop of Italy suggest Obama caused Ratzinger to resign.” 8 March 2017. Online accessed at http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/03/08/italian-archbishop-suggests-pope-benedict-xvi-resigned-obama-pressures/

(5)             N. Donnelly, “Pro-Pope Francis Cardinals Seek His Resignation to Avoid Schism, Reports Times of London.” 2nd of March 2017. Online accessed at https://onepeterfive.com/pro-pope-francis-cardinals-seek-resignation-avoid-schism-reports-times-london/

(6)              George Weigel, “Review: Last Testament – In his own words, by Benedict XVI with Peter Seewald.” Translated by Jacob Phillips (London: Bloomsbury, 2016).  See  https://eppc.org/publications/why-did-pope-benedict-resign/

(7)             J-H. Westen, “Italian archbishop: Pope Benedict retired due to ‘tremendous pressure.’” 7th March 2017. News Catholic Church.

(8)             T. Livingstone, “Pope Benedict XVI condemns radical Islam as creating an ‘explosive situation.” The Australian (28 April, 2017). Online accessed at http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/pope-benedict-xvi-condemns-radical-islam-as-creating-an-explosive-situation/news-story/ad73144c880dcab3b5bca22a2db60218

(9)             T. Kington, “Ex-pope Benedict says God told him to resign during 'mystical experience'.” 21st of August 2013.

(10)        F. Mazurczak, “Benedict XVI Warns of ‘Dangerous Situation’ With Radical Atheism and Radical Islam.” 15th of April 2017.


Francis and Islam.jpg

Promotional image for his 2017 trip to Egypt indicating Francis’ closeness of the cross with Islam religion and the peace dove of the Holy Spirit hovering over both over the political zone of Egypt.

“Muslim terrorism does not exist’’ and it is not “right to identify Islam with violence’’.