The Plain Truth About the Unorthodox Protestants, acknowledgements, foreword, preface
This book would not have been possible except for the explosion of knowledge that made it possible for the hidden side of history to come to light. This is made possible by the Internet and the many authors who made their articles available to the public. To them and to all the authors cited at the end of the book, I acknowledge their fullest contribution.
The explosion of knowledge seems to confirm what Jesus predicted in Matthew 24:14: And the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. This is just another book that hopes to hasten His return. Every day of delay means more souls are being lost to the devil.
I would like to give thanks to the many who wrote and congratulated me concerning my earlier book, The Dark Side of Catholicism. They were much concerned about the future destinies of their fellowmen and were hopeful that the book would open the eyes of the Catholics and enlighten them. With their encouragement, I have come out with this new book which I hope will also enlighten the other separated brethrens before time runs out.
This book is more a work of history than anything else. Unfortunately, history is a record of people and events and it has been unkind to many people who exploited others with their persuasive power. It is on this premise that this book is written. There can be no compromise when dealing with the eternal destinies of the human souls. Any church claiming to be the one true church set up by Christ should be prepared to defend their doctrines in the face of adverse publicity concerning their teachings. It would be different if it were their own souls that were at stake.
FOREWORD
When I first came out with the book The Dark Side of Catholicism, it was well received by many, especially the Catholics who were surprised to find so many hidden sides of the Catholic Church. However, there were a few who questioned my motive in writing the book, even accusing me of being a rabid anti-Catholic. On the contrary, I am doing them a great service. They should read the book first before accusing me of something I am not. If the Church is sincere in the ultimate fate of every Catholics, she ought to enlighten them instead of suppressing the truth that may jeopardize their faith. The Church should allow the free flow of information even if the truth may hurt.
There is a serious lack of reading materials concerning the faith we take for granted as gospel truth. This is true with all religions. It is my desire to fill the gap because of the seriousness concerning the eternal destiny of our souls. The Catholic Church, and for that matter any church that loves her faithful followers should not be offended by any book that is critical of their teachings. Instead of trying to suppress the books, the offended church should try to refute any errors I wrote. The book is a labor of love and took me more than three years of painstaking research. It is a work of history and how some of the doctrines evolved. There is not one bad word about the individual Catholics. My intention is to set forth the truth against the teaching of the Vatican. People should be allowed to read the truth for themselves instead of being indoctrinated by their church teachings. The Catholic Church has many unfounded teachings, yet she cannot renege on them because she has through the centuries gave the impression that she is the only holy, true, catholic, and apostolic church founded by Peter and can do no wrong.
In some of the feedbacks I received, one of the questions being asked was whether I am a priest. Let me assure the Church hierarchy that I am not, and the work is purely my own initiative without any help from any priest or even the Protestant pastors. In fact, most of the Protestant friends were against the idea of writing a book critical of the Catholic Church. This is probably due to the ecumenical movement to unite all Christianity. The day the unity happened will usher in the end of the age.
In spite of what was written in the Bible about God's love, He will not hesitate to send anybody to hell for worshipping Him wrongly or glorifying others at His expense. In my feeble mind, I find it unacceptable for any church to teach anything that could jeopardize the soul for eternity of anyone. It would be wrong for me, and for that matter any Christian, who refuses to do what is the right thing to do, and that is to warn others of any wrong and false teaching. Some of the doctrines and dogmas of the Catholic Church may have grave repercussions on the faithful. It is their souls at stake and they should be allowed to judge for themselves what to accept and to reject before it is too late. If the Church loves and cares for the well-being of her faithful, she should not be afraid of losing a faithful to another faith. After all, the main purpose of the existence of the churches is not for popularity but for saving souls.
The Dark Side of Catholicism is the first part of the two-part series. I would like to beg the indulgence of those who may be offended by what I have written. Many have asked me why I wrote the book. One reason is I want to leave a legacy to my children and their children and to all Catholics who would like to be enlightened. It is a well research book meant to separate the truth from the myth.
There are two other reasons of enormous repercussions for the soul in case of wrongfully accepting a doctrine. The first one has to do with idolatry. Idols do not only consist of statues but also their relics. The Catholic Church has enriched herself through the sales of many statues and bogus relics and therefore cannot renege from this practice or look foolish in the eyes of her faithful followers. If there is one thing God hates the most, it is giving glory to graven images and will not hesitate to destroy the soul of anyone who worships them. The sad thing is that the Church knows it is wrong but is powerless to change her doctrine because of her infallibility. Yet it has on many occasions change her stand on other doctrinal issues. The biggest problem for the faithful is how to deal with God should the doctrine turned out to be a (mortal) sin against God. Is there a way out for anyone relying on the Church's teaching should God decides it is wrong and sent him to hell? Could the Church beg the Lord to change His mind? Everyone is responsible for his own soul and cannot and should not relied completely on the teaching of any church should it runs counter to the Word of God.
The second example has to do with Mary as co-Redemptrix. While most Church's theologians do not believe agree with this dogma, no one can stop the Pope from proclaiming her as co-Redemptrix. The repercussion of this dogma went beyond anything seen before. Many Catholics have been praying to God using Mary as the co-mediator and will not hesitate to accept her as co-Redemptrix. This could forever doom their souls. The Bible is very clear of this in Hebrews 9:22, And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. Other verses supporting this doctrine are 1John 1:7, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. And again in 1Peter 1:18-19, Forasmuch ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. Peter, the first pope, was very emphatic against accepting tradition from ordinary people. Even if Mary was immaculately conceived and without sin throughout her existence, she never sheds her blood for the sins of anyone and can never saved anyone. The Bible also warned that. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
Both doctrines have no real salvation value. The former has outlived its usefulness for the early church and should be done away with. The latter will soon be imposed on the faithful and can have great consequence on the soul of the faithful. Being a dogma, every Catholics must accept it or be excommunicated. It is not only unnecessary but people relying on her for salvation may be hoping against false hope.
Catholics are not the only one that may be wrongfully teaching unbiblical doctrines. There are a lot of unorthodox Protestants or cults or sects that have been proliferating around the world. The true Christians should not take this lying down. If a nominal Christian like me find the time to take up the cudgels for the Christian faith, what more should be expected of those who took up the cross to preach to gospel. I sincerely hope that both books would ignite Christians around the world to do what the martyrs had done in the past. They willingly fought and died for Christ instead of rationalizing their actions in the face of the enemies of Christ.
PREFACE
We call ourselves the only Christian nation in Asia, yet we are no better than those of other religious faith. Crimes are being committed every minute of every day with no end in sight. Is there no fear in our heart? It is obvious that something is wrong with the way Christianity is being preached. Or should I say that Christians have become only hearers and not doers of the Lord's will. They attend church services once a week as other do but only to go their merry evil ways the rest of the week. This is not surprising because the moral leaderships of many religious leaders are lacking or wanting. They have not live up to their Christian values that the ordinary people expected.
People are often unaware of the inner strifes within the individual church and the hidden animosity between the different churches. Some of these church leaders may sheepish outwardly, but they are ravaging wolves inside. They are like the founders of the Protestant Reformation. Many are so self-righteous, they think that they hold the key to the kingdom of heaven. What many do not know is their scandalous lives that have long been hidden from the public. This is the dark side of its history. This book is out to set the truth and is in no way trying to convince anyone to change their faith. After all, faith is in the heart of men and churches are only conduit for people to share communion with each other.
The reason for writing this book is the same reason for my writing the other book, The Dark Side of Catholicism. Everyone must be allowed to know the truth about what they believed in. There is nothing to fear for people are always willing to forgive and judge for themselves what they want to accept. It is essential that all be allowed to determine their eternal destination without coercion, distortion, manipulation, etc. as there is no other chance after making a mistake in this life.
Fear of the afterlife is one of the main reasons why people look to religion to seek their answer. Many have found their peace of mind by the messages conveyed by these religious leaders. They have often taken for granted that what they are hearing are nothing but the truth and the people who are preaching the gospel are motivated by their desire to save their souls from eternal damnation. Nothing is further from the truth. There may be some who are really doing the Lord's commission to preach the gospel to the end of the world, but there are more who are motivated for their selfish ends: money and power.
With their glib tongue and persuasiveness, they were able to enrich themselves at the expense of the many. What is worse is that many of them are not preaching the true gospel. Be mindful that many of them are out to get your money to maintain their lifestyle. They are willing to manipulate and distort biblical doctrines to suit what they have in mind. Some may have been led astray which is not surprising.
The bottom line is read the Bible on your own. Don't allow yourself to be sway by the preachers who may or may not be wrong. Some preachers may prefer to preach what the followers like to hear and not what is contained in the Book of Life. This made it imperative for the hearers to check what was heard against the Word of God and nothing can go wrong.
We are racing toward the end times, but for many it has been too late. It is only my sincerest hope and desire to see that everyone should be given a chance to learn the truth and decide his eternal fate on his own. A true church should never be afraid of her past history and should be prepared to change for the better and not to perpetuate the wrong. After all, the souls of the individual faithful are the prime consideration of the churches, if they are sincere in saving their souls instead of using them for their own ends.
As a final word, some Protestants may be offended by my use of the word Protestants in the title. For lack of a better term and since most of the founders have their origin in Protestant preaching, it is only fitting to use the term.