Biblical Church History

1. Biblical Church History Following the Hand of God and the Hand of Satan

2. ThyatIra “Odor of affliction” Revelation 2:18-29 c.500-1000 A.D.

3. (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;

4. Thyatira “Appendage” The other things that were going on in the Thyatira Church age “Odor of affliction”

5. A. More Councils

6. B. More persecution of the Bible believers

7. C. The rise of Islam

8. D. The Establishment of the Holy Roman Empire

9. ThyatIra • 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.

10. ThyatIra • 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.

11. ThyatIra • 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!

12. ThyatIra • 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.

13. ThyatIra • 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

14. (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.

15. E. The great split in the Roman Catholic Church

16. ThyatIra • 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 Anti- Christ

17. ThyatIra • This leads to a church split. The west know as the Roman Catholic and the eastern as Greek Orthodox

18. F. The corruption of the Papal office

19. ThyatIra • Halley's Bible Handbook: wrote: "The 200 years between [the Popes] Nicolas I [858-867 AD] and Gregory VII [1073-1085 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

20. ThyatIra • 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”

21. ThyatIra • 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

22. ThyatIra • 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

23. ThyatIra • [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

24. ThyatIra • 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.

25. ThyatIra • 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!

26. ThyatIra • 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 1302famous UnamSanctam, which essentially claimed all civil and spiritual authority for the papacy.

27. ThyatIra • 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

28. ThyatIra 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.

29. ThyatIra • 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!

30. ThyatIra • 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.

31. ThyatIra • 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.

32. That Apostolic succession is found in the Catholic Church. • That none of the separate Churches have any valid claim to it.

33. 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).

34. 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