St. Peter's Cross, Part I.
You are Peter, and upon this Rock I will build my Church and the Gates of Hell will not prevail against it.
St. Peter's Cross is a Roman Catholic set of articles that emphasizes the distinctly Catholic traditions of the Maccabees along with the Roman Catholic Church's continued 2,000 year-old faith in the age-old Hebrew traditions which are described throughout both the Old and New Testament. Because of the detailed sophistication and complexity found in numerous sections of the Holy Bible, most believers may well find it impossible to understand them without interpretation and discussion from Biblical scholars. The Maccabee Catholic Church sees itself as the Temple of Jerusalem in exile, yet still managing to survive and prosper throughout the world until the Second Coming of Joshua the Messiah.
The Cornerstone of Catholicism
Probably the most important aspect of Catholic reality, the one that Protestants hysterically deny, is that the Roman Catholic Church was, and still is, the original and most authentic form of Christianity. It is Christianity. This comes from the Gospels themselves thus making Protestants not only wrong by tradition, but wrong by the very Word of God. Rabbi Jesus tells Peter that he is destined to found a Church that will eventually take over the whole world and that he, and he alone, not Paul, is to be known as the founder and leader of all Christianity.
I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give
you the keys to the kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven.
- Matthew 16:18-20
Nothing in the Gospels, absolutely nothing, predicts, foresees, or approves of such a thing known as Protestant Christianity. For Catholics, they are still heretics who must be reconverted to the one, true faith. Catholic reality is the dominant reality of the Western world. No other reality, except perhaps for Islamic reality, has as many adherents and fellow worshippers. Jewish reality, with less than 20 million, is only 2% of Roman Catholicism’s one billion people. Not to belittle it, but its numbers hardly signify as a competitor faith. There are more Roman Catholic Churches in more countries than any other Church or international organization ever known. For this reason, the Church is the most multi-racial institution in the history of the world. The foundation of Roman Catholicism consists of the Ten Commandments, the LORD’s Prayer, and the Apostle’s (Nicene) Creed. To begin with, the Ten Commandments, as understood by the Church, are as follows:
I. I am the LORD your God. You will have no other gods but me.
II. You will not use the name of the LORD in vain.
III. You will honor the Sabbath day.
IV. You will honor your father and mother.
V. You will not kill.
VI. You will not commit adultery
VII. You will not steal.
VIII. You will not lie.
IX. You will not envy your neighbor’s wife.
X. You will not envy your neighbor’s property.
The LORD’s prayer and the Apostle’s Creed also play a large part in the theology of the Church. The LORD’s prayer is considered to be the prayer most suited in celebrating the message of Rabbi Jesus and has, in time, become the most fundamental Christian prayer of them all. Indeed, it is these verses Jesus recites in the Gospels when asked for an example on how to pray to God. The Apostle’s Creed, similar to the much longer Nicene Creed, dates back to around the 3rd century A.D. and has been the basic set of beliefs for all Roman Catholics since that time. Both the Creed and the LORD’s prayer are listed as follows:
The LORD’s Prayer
Our Father, who is in Heaven, Holy is Your Name.
Your Kingdom come, Your will be done,on Earth as
it is in Heaven. Give us today our daily bread, and
forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One. AMEN
The Apostle’s Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. AMEN
Roman Catholicism also includes the Seven Sacraments, rituals used since the days of the early Church fathers. Each of them is considered holy and sacred aspects of the faith, which are permanent and not subject to change over time.
Jesus said unto all, 'If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.' Luke 9:23
Roman Catholics are taught to avoid the Seven Deadly Sins that may lead to damnation and to act according to the Seven Virtues that are necessary for salvation. These three parts of the faith, 777, can be listed as follows:
SEVEN Sacraments
I. Baptism
II. Communion
III. Confession
IV. Confirmation
V. Matrimony
VI. Ordination
VII. Anointing
SEVEN Deadly Sins (Latin), SEVEN Contrary Virtue (Latin)
I. Lust (Luxuria), Chastity (Castitas)
II. Gluttony (Gula), Temperance (Temperantia)
III. Greed (Avaritia), Charity (Caritas)
IV. Sloth (Acedia), Diligence (Industria)
V. Wrath (Ira), Patience (Patientia)
VI. Envy (Invidia), Kindness (Humanitas)
VII. Pride (Superbia), Humility (Humilitas)
The elements of the Church, which include the Ten Commandments (Law), the LORD’s prayer (Prayer), the Apostle’s Creed (Doctrine), the Seven Sacraments (Ritual), Deadly Sins (Evil), and Virtues (Good), provide the basic structure of Roman Catholicism today and in the future. Calls for changing any of them would be construed as blasphemy and heresy, not because they are hopelessly outdated, but because they don’t need to be changed. All of them are based upon Scriptures and are not simply ‘Roman’ traditions that are alien to the true Christian faith as some Protestants would have you believe.
Contemporary observers of the Church, some of whom remain unbelievably deluded and implacably hostile towards this institution, actually believe it is possible, or likely, that the Church will eventually change its position on fundamental issues such as abortion, euthanasia, sexual perversion, and female priests. They mistakenly believe that they have all the answers to these so-called problems and that their vision of the future, instead of the Church’s, will prevail. Given the fact that these critics have only been around since the 1960s and are going to die soon makes the Church highly confident that Catholic reality will triumph over any other alternative reality.
Today’s New Age values of tolerance for sexual degeneration and intolerance for female virginity does not scare or frighten the Church which is nearly 2,000 years old. The reason why is that the Church knows, for a fact, that true believers in God and Christianity will always out-reproduce nonbelievers. When it comes down to it, Christians will always outbreed the pagans, the agnostics, and the atheists. The future, as well as the past and the present, is Roman Catholic. Those who disagree should remember that, no matter what they say or what they do, they will always be outnumbered. In the end, Roman Catholic reality has already won.
