PAPAL THEONOMY
AND AMERICA TODAY

theonomy
noun
1. The state of being governed by God or in accordance with divine law.

Preface

In this brief study I look at the religion of North America today. I try to examine the attempt of the Christian Coalition to bring America back to a Christian Culture. I look at the idolatry in the Roman Catholic Church; at the goals and power of the papacy; at the repudiation of the Reformation; at the impact of Jesuit teachings; and at the confusion which seems to exist among those who would class themselves as God’s people in America today.

This study is far from exhaustive. It is merely a few suggestions that should cause the reader at least to think again about what is going on in the United States in 1996.

Ronald Cooke
Manahath,
4927 East Lee Highway
Max Meadows, VA 24360

Reconstructionism and Mystery Babylon Religion

The great ecumenical potpourri which characterizes American Protestantism today is closer to what the Scriptures reveal as Mystery Babylon the Great, than to the ecclesia Christ spoke of to his disciples. Mystery Babylon religion according to the Bible is composed of abominations, filthiness, and spiritual fornication. It is also described as the habitation of demons, and a hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Certainly not a very complimentary description given by the Spirit of God.

God’s people then are commanded to come out of this unholy amalgam so that they will not be made partaker of her sins and plagues. The Lord God is said to be strong who judges her.

The modern theonomists spend a great deal of time trying to prove that Mystery Babylon fell in A.D. 70. They do this for several reasons:

1. If Mystery Babylon fell in A.D. 70, it certainly cannot be in existence now, nor at any time in the future.

2. If Mystery Babylon is not now in existence, nor coming into existence, we do not have to worry about it, either to oppose it, or to separate from it.

3. The predicted apostasy in II Thessalonians is also then now past. That apostasy, and the Man of Sin, all referred to something that happened around A.D. 70 so again it has no bearing on the church today.

4. Roman Catholicism then, is not the great historical apostasy the Reformers said it was. In fact, Roman Catholicism can become a co-belligerent with us (Reformed Theonomists and Evangelicals) to fight secular humanism.

5. The great hodge-podge, unholy, amalgam of the following movements then has nothing whatsoever to do with Mystery Babylon religion but is a help to fight evil and atheism: groups such as Evangelization 2000, Charismatic Renewal, Ecumenical Evangelism, Campus Crusade, Promise Keepers, Full-Gospel Christian Businessmen, the National Association of Evangelicals, Inter Varsity, Inter- Religious Federation for World Peace, Vision 21st Century, Lumen 2000, Reaching the World 2000, National Association of Religious Broadcasters, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, National Council of Churches, World Council of Churches, Dominion Theology, Opus Dei, Fatima Crusade, Vatican II, with all the various interfaith dialogues now going on between Lutheranism and The Vatican, United Methodism and the Vatican, United Presbyterianism and the Vatican, Southern Baptists and the Vatican, the Vatican and the Eastern Orthodox, and the various inter-religious dialogues between Roman Catholicism and Judaism, Protestantism and Islam, and other joint efforts at ecumenical cooperation; have anything whatsoever to do with the rise of Mystery Babylon the Great for, according to the theonomist, it already fell and disappeared off the earth in A.D. 70.

Needless to say, we do not accept such a romanized eschatology. In fact, what some men see as the ideal theonomy — the church governing the state in Medieval times we see as the domination of false religion. What some would even call a “Reformed” theonomy, we see as much closer to the very papal theocracy, from which the Reformers DELIVERED us!

We extol the Reformation and the BREAKUP it caused to the Papal theocracy at that time. The Reformation DELIVERED Europe from a persecuting “theocracy” and all the attendant evils which accompanied it.

Modern “Reformed” theonomy, like the modern charismatic movement, has proven to be catch-all for many strange views. All these strange ideas and teachings are united to set up the kingdom of God in America today. This kingdom is going to be set up using the sword and the pen; using political coalitions; preaching, courageous lies, and by every means possible. How one is to differentiate this agenda from a papal agenda, particularly a Jesuit one, I have not been able to discover.

According to the Scripture Satan is at work to set up His false church. Therefore one must distinguish between the false and the true church. Any old religion does not necessarily qualify as a true church.

According to the Apostle Paul, Satan has beguiled those who preach another Jesus; those who receive another spirit; and those who accept another gospel (II Cor. 11:4). Paul also warns that there are some who are “false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness” (II Cor. 11:13-15).

This false religious amalgam will culminate in Mystery Babylon religion trying to dominate the earth. Rome is certainly central to this unholy conglomerate. The true believer is to stay separated from MYSTERY CONFUSION, and if for some reason he has become mixed up in it, he is to come out of it.

This great ecumenical hodge-podge is the glory of men; but the target of God’s righteous judgment. God calls his people to come out of this ecumenical CONFUSION, so that they will not be subject to the judgment which He intends to bring upon it.

The battle for truth and righteousness is primarily personal and theological. It is not sociological and cultural as Rome has always taught, and as many, who have swallowed Rome’s line, are teaching today. Today the battle to save America is seen primarily as political and cultural; theology is shunted aside.

When theology is ignored the purported cause of truth is then skewed. The door is opened to idolaters to become cobelligerents in the battle. Then idolatry must be ignored, so that the fight against some other imagined foe, can then take place. So then a false theology of Mariolatry becomes acceptable, at least for awhile, until some other enemy is defeated. In this way true biblical theology goes out the window and the devil’s logic becomes acceptable.

This is the reason why America will never be brought back to even a semblance of righteousness, by the agenda of the socalled “Christian Coalition.” Righteousness is built upon the TEN commandments, not seven or eight commandments. Roman Catholicism ignores the first and second commandments. Some Reconstructionists ignore the ninth commandment. So any theonomy produced by such a coalition as we have today in America, will have to be based on SEVEN commandments not the TEN commandments.

The battle for truth can never even be prosecuted, much less WON, by considering idolaters and mariolaters as co-belligerents in the battle for truth. The true battle for truth cuts down imageworship and Mary worship. And indeed, sees this smashing of idolatry in all its forms, as absolutely ESSENTIAL if any victory is to be won in the spiritual realm.

The Reformers proceeded on two main fronts in establishing the Reformation in Europe: they put an end to all images and image-worship, and called for the abolishing of the Mass. In fact, in Strasbourg, Bucer started the whole movement toward Reform by having the city council abolish the Mass. Farel tossed out the images wherever he found them. Zwingli abolished the mass and images in Zurich. Calvin and Luther abolished the mass and images. Bullinger and Beza also opposed images and even went further and called for the end of all genuflecting, kneeling at communion, and standing at the reading of the Scriptures.

Yet today all these reforms are forgotten, and common cause is made with mass-mongers, image-worshippers, and mariolaters, to supposedly “save” America. The Reformers viewed the salvation of Europe in terms of getting rid of all these evils. Today, the modern charismatic, theonomist, and Christian “conservative,” can see the salvation of America while retaining all these evils. How can these things be?

The amazing thing about the issue of idolatry and Mariolatry is the attitude of Rome toward these evils. Rome not only does not oppose the worship of Mary and Images, but teaches that those who do OPPOSE Mary worship are guilty of blasphemy.

A writer in the Fatima Crusader, who calls himself Brother Michael of the Holy Trinity, who writes under the Imprimatur of Archbishop Benedict To Varpin, given on June 5, 1995, states candidly:

Who are those who might commit this offence against the Immaculate Heart of Mary… In the first place and in general, the Protestant sects who refuse to receive the dogma defined by Pope Pius DC and who have continued to maintain that the Blessed Virgin was conceived with the stain of original sin and even personal sins. ¹

He calls this the first blasphemy against Mary. He continues:

The Second blasphemy: … the majority of Protestants (who) also reject the perfect and perpetual virginity of Mary “before, during and after giving birth”.

The Third Blasphemy: Although they theoretically accept the Divine Maternity of Mary defined at the Council of Ephesus, they refuse to recognize Her as the Mother of men in the Catholic sense, which implies Her coredemption and Her role as Mediatrix of grace.

The Fourth blasphemy concerns the perversion of children by enemies of Our Lady whereby they strive to inculcate indifference, scorn, or even hatred for the Immaculate Virgin, and the Fifth One by which they outrage Her in Her holy images. These last two sins are only the logical consequence of the first three… the obstinate rejection of Catholic theology on the holy images, is a long way from having disappeared.²

Here in the Fatima Crusader, in the summer edition of 1995, we have an up-to-date article on not only a defence of Mariolatry and Images; but a statement to the effect, that those who refuse Mariolatry and Image worships are BLASPHEMERS! Yet America is going to be saved by joining with such error. How can any kind of theonomy be set up working with those who break the law of God, and not only break it, but call those who seek to keep it, BLASPHEMERS! ?

It is interesting to note that the two key Southern Baptists who signed the recent Accord between Evangelicals and Roman Catholics, later withdrew their names. They did this, not because they had charged their minds about the Accord, but because they had received so much flak from certain ministers within the Southern Baptist Convention.

Chuck Colson said that he hoped their step would “eliminate the misunderstandings, and allow us to get on with the important work of DEFENDING THE TRUTH IN TODAY’S RELATIVISTIC CULTURE” ³ (emphasis added). This is the great emphasis today: defending the truth in modern culture.

We believe there is an even more important, and more pressing, issue today: defending the truth against the modern church. Surely this is more important. As Cowper wrote: “when a nation is to perish in its sins; tis in the church the leprosy begins.”

What is called the “church” today is a great hodgepodge of apostate ministers, idolatrous priests, and those who compromise with them. No culture will ever be saved by an apostate, idolatrous church. Until we recognize this fact, every effort to “Christianize” the culture will be absolutely futile.

Christ calls upon the Laodicean church to repent. This is the call which must go forth today. For until the church repents of its sins, the culture certainly cannot repent.

This generation in America needs to be saved from a lot more than a relativistic culture. It needs to be saved from a relativistic religion. Even in some of those churches which claim to be biblical there is still a lot of undetected relativism.

For instance, when a church can work together with the idolatrous system of Romanism, is that not treating the Second Commandment relatively? When some reconstructionists, who would want to be called reformed in their theology, say it is courage to tell an outright lie in certain circumstances, is this not treating the ninth commandment as relative and not binding?

As America prepares to enter the third millennium of the Christian era, it is singularly cursed with relativism in the church, not just in the culture. This accursed relativism is the MAIN REASON why the culture is lost in sin, and why the nation continues to flounder spiritually. There is no way that this nation can ever be helped, while the “church” treats God’s inspired ABSOLUTE TRUTH dialectically, or works with those who do.

The visible “church” flounders today, in a bog of little games (like the Promise Keepers), without ever REALLY addressing its tepid spiritual state before the thrice holy God of the Bible. The grotesque compromise of this generation (in which Bible-believers sign accords with idolaters), is without doubt, one of the MAIN problems which afflicts America today.

In fact, we could say, that of all the problems facing America today, this is undoubtedly the greatest of all. The compromise of God’s people with the great prostitute church of Mystery Babylon religion, is the worst evil afflicting America today. For every other evil flows from this one.

The Lord Jesus Christ said that if the salt has lost its savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. There is only one thing that keeps a culture from total corruption and that is the salt. i.e. Christ’s disciples. If these ones lose their savor, which means to become sluggish in mind, or play the fool, they are good for nothing. When the church conies to be identified with idolatry and apostasy, the culture in that nation goes down into total putrefaction. If the true believers then, refuse to separate from this apostate prostitute church, they also lose their ability to preserve the culture. This is the point we have reached in America today.

We are going to have to learn that any old harlot religion will not meet God’s holy standard. We cannot join with every religious whore and expect God to, accept us. He will judge us instead.

We believe that one of the main reasons why, some in the Reformed Camp, do not address the evil of compromise, is because of the false idea of theonomy which they have accepted, and which DENIES the rise of Mystery Babylon religion. One does not need to separate from something that is not there.

It is certainly a lot easier on the conscience, and as far as going outside the camp and bearing Christ’s reproach is concerned, it is much easier to just say Mystery Babylon religion (Confusion) fell in A.D. 70; so we do not have to worry about it at all in 1996. It is much easier to make common cause with some old whorish religion of idolatry to save America, than it is to take a stand against the harlot religion of antichrist and SEPARATE TOTALLY from her. Until we recognize that this is the COMMAND of Almighty God Himself, there will never be any trace of a revival of truth and righteousness in our time.

References

1. Brother Michael of the Most Holy Trinity, “The Fatima Crusader,” Summer, 1995, p. 19.
2. Loc.cot.
3. The Servant, Denver, Colorado, Vol. 10, No. 12, p. 1.

(To be continued.)