Biblical Church History
Following the Hand of God and the
Hand of Satan
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Revelation 2:18-29
c.500-1000 A.D.
“Odor of affliction”
(Rev 2:18) And unto the
angel of the church in
Thyatira write; These
things saith the Son of God,
who hath his eyes like unto
a flame of fire, and his feet
are like fine brass;
Thyatira
“Odor of
affliction”
“Appendage”
The other things
that were going
on in the
Thyatira Church
age
A. More
Councils
B. More
persecution
of the Bible
believers
C. The rise
of Islam
D. The
Establishment
of the Holy
Roman
Empire
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 After the reign of Constantine the
Roman Empire had lost its power.
 Around the late 700s Pope Leo III
was in some political struggles with
the eastern side of the kingdom
 Over three centuries after the fall of
the Western Roman Empire,
Charlemagne, king of the Franks, was
crowned by the pope in the year 800.
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 In 795 Pope Leo III was given
protection by Charlemagne after
accusations of adultery, perjury and
simony (attempting to buy one's way
into religious office) were made
against him. In November 800
Charlemagne presided over the trial
in Rome. After swearing his innocence
on a copy of the Gospels, Pope Leo
was cleared and reinstated on Dec. 23.
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Remaining in Rome, the king of the Franks
attended a nativity service on Christmas
Day, two days later. The central event of the
Middle Ages was about to take place! As
Charles knelt before the altar in worship,
there was a hush throughout the church. As
the king rose from prayer, the pope turned
suddenly and placed a golden crown on his
head, proclaiming him Imperator
Romanorum, "Emperor of the Romans."
More than three centuries after the fall of
the Roman Empire, the West once again had
its own emperor!
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 The Holy Roman Empire of the
German Nation was the First Reich
(reich is the German word for
"empire") and traced its origins back
to the time of Charlemagne, crowned
by the pope on Dec. 25, 800. The
coronation of Charlemagne was a
deliberate act on the part of Pope Leo
III. In crowning Charlemagne
"Augustus" (emperor), the pope was
effectively declaring the rebirth of the
Western Roman Empire, which had
collapsed in the fifth century.
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 It was name The Holy Roman
Empire to distinguish it from the
Pagan Roman Empire that killed
Christ.
 And for the next 700 to 800 years
the Pope will be the one to Chose the
next emperors
(Rev 17:1-2) And there came one
of the seven angels which had the
seven vials, and talked with me,
saying unto me, Come hither; I
will shew unto thee the judgment
of the great whore that sitteth
upon many waters: With whom
the kings of the earth have
committed fornication, and the
inhabitants of the earth have been
made drunk with the wine of her
fornication.
E. The great
split in the
Roman
Catholic
Church
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 Don’t forget Constantine builds
during his time a city in the east and
names it after himself called
Constantinople
 This city is the eastern capital of the
Roman Empire, just like Rome is in the
west.
 After years of battles and religious
disagreements, in 869 there were
basically 2 popes (1in west and 1 in
the east) calling each other the AntiChrist
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 This leads to a church split. The west
know as the Roman Catholic and the
eastern as Greek Orthodox
F. The
corruption
of the Papal
office
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Halley's Bible Handbook: wrote: "The
200 years between [the Popes] Nicolas
I [858-867 AD] and Gregory VII [10731085 AD] is called by historians the
MIDNIGHT OF THE DARK AGES...
During this time some of the Popes
where some depraved that people
who were not even believers, were
appalled by the things that the “Holy
Father” was doing
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 Sergius III (904-11)
Said to have had a mistress, Marozia.
She bare him many bastard children and
together they rasied these childern to be
the Popes and Cardinals She, her mother
Theodora, and her sister, 'filled the Papal
chair with their paramours and bastard
sons, and turned the Papal Palace into a
den of robbers.' Called in history “The
Rule of the Harlots” (904-963) Other
scholars have dated the period more
broadly or narrowly, and other terms,
such as the “Pornocracy”
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Pope Sergius III (904-11) enjoyed
sex with underaged girls. According
to the historian Baronius, Sergius III
was an “Monster” and "the slave of
every vice". When he was 45, Sergius
took a 15- year-old mistress
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 Pope John X (914- 928)
Was set in place by Theodora the
mother of Marozia whom he was
involved with. But Marozia had a
different man in mind, so she
smothered him.
 This was to make room for Leo VI
(929) He only last a year and Marozia
had him kill because he had given his
heart to a different women
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[Pope] John XII (955-963)
A 18 year old grandson of Marozia, was
'guilty of almost every crime; violated virgins
and widows, high and low; was bisexual and
turned the Lateran Palace into a brothel. He
was also into molesting female pilgrims in the
basilica of St Peter lived with his father's
mistress; made the Papal Palace a brothel;
was killed while in the act of adultery by the
woman's enraged husband'" a tribunal
eventually found him guilty of incest, adultery
and murder and was excommunicated
He held massive orgies and took particular
pleasure in defiling holy sites, like the tombs
of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, with his sinful
acts
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Pope Benedivt IX ( 1032-44, 1045
and 1047-48) this three term pope,
dabbled in bestiality, witchcraft,
Satanism and loved nothing better
than throwing wild bisexual parties.
He became pope at 12 but eventually
sold his papacy to his godfather
Gregory VI after marrying his cousin.
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Pope Anacletus (1130-38) had a
prostitute for a mistress, slept with his
sister and had a bad habit of raping
nuns.
 Pope Leo X (1313-21) was a
promiscuous homosexual he suffered
from shocking ulcerations of the rear
end and was often carried around on a
stretcher!
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Pope Boniface VIII (1294 – 1303)
Made the statement “To enjoy ones
self, and to lay carnally with women or
boys, is no more a sin than rubbing
ones hands together.
 At other times he called Christ a
hypocrite and professed to be an
atheist
In 1302 famous Unam Sanctam, which
essentially claimed all civil and
spiritual authority for the papacy.
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John XXIII (1410-15)
Some said “the most depraved
criminal that ever lived”
As a Cardinal he was sexually
involved with over 200 maidens, nuns
and married women
 After becoming pope he lived with
his brothers wife
 Guilty of Homosexuality
Openly denied eternal life
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Pope John XXI (1267-7) was believed
by some to be the anti-Christ. Pope
John from Portugal was the only doctor
to be elected pope. Before
proceeding to the head of the church
three popes died in quick succession
under his care, Gregory X, Innocent V
and Adrain V. Seems lettuce leaves for
toothaches and pig dung to stop nose
bleeds weren’t medical sound cures.
He died in an unfortunately accident
in which the palace roof caved in,
crushing him.
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Clement VI (1342-52) was so sinful,
when he died 50 priests said mass for
the repose of his soul for 9
consecutive days but after all was said
and done no one believed it was
enough to stop him going directly to
hell!
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Julius III (1550-55)
 Once he was elected pope, Julius III
looted the papal coffers to renovate
his mansion in Rome.
 Julius III was known to have a thing
for having sex with kids.
 That mansion of his was decorated
with statues and frescoes depicting
kids having sex with each other.
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Paul III (1534-59)
 He murdered relatives, including
poisoning his mother and niece, to
inherit the family fortune
The most famous story about Paul
III's ruthlessness revolves around a
theological dispute between two
cardinals and a Polish bishop. When
the argument wore on, Paul III had all
three men hacked to death with
swords.
• That Apostolic
succession is
found in the
Catholic Church.
• That none of the
separate
Churches have
any valid claim to
it.
• The first Christians had no
doubts about how to
determine which was the true
Church and which doctrines
the true teachings of Christ.
The test was simple: Just trace
the apostolic succession of
the claimants.
Apostolic succession is the
line of bishops stretching
back to the apostles. All over
the world, all Catholic bishops
are part of a lineage that goes
back to the time of the
apostles, something that is
impossible in Protestant
denominations (most of
which do not even claim to
have bishops).
862 "Just as the office which the
Lord confided to Peter alone, as
first of the apostles, destined to
be transmitted to his successors,
is a permanent one, so also
endures the office, which the
apostles received, of shepherding
the Church, a charge destined to
be exercised without interruption
by the sacred order of
bishops."375 Hence the Church
teaches that "the bishops have by
divine institution taken the place
of the apostles as pastors of the
Church, in such wise that whoever
listens to them is listening to
Christ and whoever despises
them despises Christ and him
who sent Christ."376