Monthly Archives: October 2014

Eschatology, Papal Infallibility

If the Light that is in Thee be Darkness (the Bowls, part 5)

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"When the Church makes something infallible, I wish they would just do it plainly and clearly." — Robert Sungenis, August 5, 2008
“When the Church makes something infallible, I wish they would just do it plainly and clearly.” — Robert Sungenis, August 5, 2008

This week we continue our series on the Bowls of Judgment in Revelation 16. The first four Bowls thus far are:

The First Bowl: The Stigmata (1224 A.D. – present)
The Second Bowl: The Plague of Scurvy (1453 – late 1700s A.D.)
The Third Bowl: The Dogma of Papal Infallibility (1870 A.D.)
The Fourth Bowl: Scorching by the Sun at Fátima (1917 A.D.)

The First Bowl was poured out “upon the earth” (Revelation 16:2), the Second “upon the sea” (Revelation 16:3), the Third “upon the rivers and fountains of waters” (Revelation 16:4) and the Fourth “upon the sun” (Revelation 16:8).

This Fifth Bowl is poured out directly “upon the seat of the beast” and the people “gnawed their tongues for pain” because of it (Revelation 16:10). We therefore note with no small interest that at the Third Bowl, when the Dogma of Papal Infallibility was proclaimed, the Pope was said to be infallible “when he speaks [with his tongue] ex cathedra [from his seat]”  (Vatican Council I, Pastor Æternus, chapter IV). The Pope’s seat, from which he claims to speak infallibly, is the target of this Fifth Bowl, and his kingdom is thereby plunged into darkness. Continue reading If the Light that is in Thee be Darkness (the Bowls, part 5) →

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Apparitions, Eschatology

“The Sun Came Down Upon Us” (The Bowls, part 4)

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"The sun came down upon us, we were all about to be burned alive!"
“The sun came down upon us. We felt the heat. We thought it was the end of the world!” — Mrs. Erminia Caixeiro, eyewitness.

This is our fourth week in the series on the Bowls of Revelation. The First Bowl of judgment is a weeping sore that afflicts the men who worship the Image of the Beast. We understand this to be the Stigmata, a weeping, bleeding sore that is highly correlated to eucharistic adoration. Francis of Assisi was the first recipient in 1224 A.D., and many eucharistic worshipers suffer from it to this day. Roman Catholics have historically considered the Stigmata to be a sign of God’s blessing, but it is in fact a curse from Him.

The Second Bowl is a plague in which all those affected by it die at sea. We understand this to refer to the plague of scurvy, which killed millions of men on the long-haul sea journeys around Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope in search of Indian spices between 1453 and 1800 A.D.. The Spanish and the Portuguese considered the discovery of the eastern and western sea routes to India to be a great blessing from God, but those long haul voyages became a curse to them and their crews.

At the pouring of the Third Bowl, all the “rivers and fountains” are turned to blood. Because we understand “rivers and fountains” both here and in the Third Trumpet to refer to the Word of God, we understand that the “rivers and fountains” became bitter with Wormwood in the Third Trumpet when Jerome produced the Latin Vulgate, but they turned to blood in the Third Bowl when the dogma of Papal Infallibility was proclaimed by Vatican Council I in 1870. By proclaiming the dogma, the Council had essentially subjugated the Word of God to the word of the Pope. Roman Catholics consider Papal Infallibility to be a great blessing from God through which the successors of Peter are alleged to guard infallibly the purity of the faith. In reality, by pouring out the dogma of papal infallibility on Roman Catholics, God “hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy” (Revelation 16:6).

The first three Bowls of Judgment are, thus far:

The First Bowl: The Stigmata (1224 A.D. – present)
The Second Bowl: The Plague of Scurvy (1453 – late 1700s A.D.)
The Third Bowl: The Dogma of Papal Infallibility (1870 A.D.)

We continue this week with the Fourth Bowl.

Continue reading “The Sun Came Down Upon Us” (The Bowls, part 4) →

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Eschatology, Papal Infallibility

They Hewed Out Broken Cisterns (The Bowls, part 3)

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"...they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." (Jeremiah 2:13)
“…they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:13)

This is our third week in the series on the Bowls of Revelation. Thus far, we have covered,

The First Bowl: The Stigmata (1226 A.D. – present)
The Second Bowl: The Plague of Scurvy (1453 – late 1700s A.D.)

As we have progressed through the Seals, the Trumpets and Bowls of Revelation, we notice that there are aids to interpretation provided within the text, aids that assist in the identification of each Seal, Trumpet and Bowl. It is our conviction that each Seal, Trumpet and Bowl is sufficiently described in Revelation that it is possible to identify each particular one particularly. Whereas there have been interpretations in the past that identify the Trumpets generally as a series of calamities, we believe each calamity can be identified. The same is true of each Seal and each Bowl, and even the fractions matter (i.e., 1/3 of the trees (Revelation 8:7), 1/4 of the earth (Revelation 6:8), etc…). Continue reading They Hewed Out Broken Cisterns (The Bowls, part 3) →

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Eschatology

The Plague of the Sea (The Bowls, part 2)

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Vasco da Gama's ship rounding the Cape of Good Hope en route to India in 1497.
Vasco da Gama’s ship rounding the Cape of Good Hope en route to India in search of spices in 1497.

Last week we began our series on the Bowls of Revelation 16, the first of which was the Stigmata, the “noisome and grievous sore” that fell “upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image” (Revelation 16:2). As we explained last week, the Papacy is the Beast, the Apparition of Mary is the False Prophet, and the Eucharist is the Image of the Beast of Revelation 13. The Stigmata, which is alleged to be an imitation of the five wounds of Christ, is known to manifest in those most fervently devoted to the worship of the Eucharist, and in some, their sores start bleeding at the mere mention of it. Padre Pio, one of the most famous practitioners of Eucharistic Adoration and now known as a patron saint of Eucharistic adorers, is the second most famous Stigmatist in history. Francis of Assisi is the first. In the 12th century, Francis of Assisi was one of the most vocal proponents of Eucharistic Adoration, a practice that had only begun the previous century, and as one of its early advocates he also became the first man in history to receive the “noisome and grievous sore” of the wrath of God for worshiping the Image of the Beast. In 1224 A.D., he received the Stigmata, a “noisome and grievous sore” that continues to afflict Eucharistic adorers to this day.

This week we continue with the Second Bowl. Continue reading The Plague of the Sea (The Bowls, part 2) →

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