MY SEARCH FOR THE CHURCH ON THE ROCK
CHAPTER 3
THE ANGLICAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
Have
you heard the old adage "from the sublime to the ridiculous"? This is how I feel when I go from the faith, courage
and sacrifice of Martin Luther to the reason why the next major denomination
was formed. While I never intentionally offend anyone it is impossible to study
the history of the Church of England without a sense of humor. Its formation
had nothing to do with the Word of God and since the strength of any structure
is no better than its foundation the reason for starting this new church is
important. Remember this scripture?
"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens,
but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built
on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as
the chief cornerstone."(1)
As we search for the church, which Jesus built on "the foundation of the apostles and prophets", we find that the Church of England only exists because of the godless immorality of its founder!
Our
story starts in England in the 16th century. It was the time of the
greatest upheaval in the history of the Christianity. For over 1000 years the
Roman Catholic Church had held absolute authoritarian control over the faith of
believers, but times were changing. In 1517 Martin Luther had the courage to
question the actions of his church. This was the start of the Protestant
Reformation. But the Catholic Church had a powerful ally in England, King Henry
VIII.
Henry, a staunch Catholic, was appalled by the actions of Luther and his challenge to the authority of the Pope. His response was to write a book called "On The Seven Sacraments" against Luther and the growing number of reformers. Pope Leo X appreciated Henry's support and proclaimed him the "Defender Of The Faith"; English monarchs wear this title even today.
Our story takes a turn not on religious issues but on Henry's personal life. His marriage to Katherine of Aragon was a political arrangement, as were most royal unions. She was not the most beautiful of women and because Henry had an eye for the ladies he knew beauty when he saw it. One of these women was Anne Boleyn.
Anne Boleyn
Anne was a young Lady In Waiting to Queen Katherine. We should note that Henry had already had an illegitimate child by Anne's older sister. In fact, historians are not sure how many illegitimate children Henry fathered but adultery was a way of life. When King Henry VIII died he had been married 6 times: 4 marriages being annulled; the other 2 wives were beheaded! But I'm getting ahead of myself. It seems that he actually fell in love with Anne and appealed to Rome to annul his marriage to Katherine so he could marry her.
Henry had every reason to believe that his request would be granted. The Roman Catholic Church was in turmoil even making concessions to the reformers. While they needed all the support they could get Rome was also trying to clean up the corruption that fueled the reformation fire. When Pope Leo X died he was replaced with the Catholics own reformer, Pope Clement VII, and he told Henry "NO DIVORCE!"
Pope Clement VII
What
arrogance, said Henry! Sure Clement was the Pope, the head of the Universal
Church and God on earth, but he was Henry VIII, the King of England! Hadn't
Pope Leo X called him the Defender Of The Faith? Was this any way to repay him
for keeping England in the Catholic fold? Didn't the Pope understand that
Katherine had failed to give him a male heir and this was more important than
the churches doctrine on divorce? Well, Henry would show him! He would simply
separate the church in England from the authority of Rome. And this is what he
did. He had Parliament proclaim that it was now the Church of England (1534
A.D.) and he was the head of the church.
Now
this is where many fail to understand church history. The Church of England was
not and is not a protestant church in spite of their claims today! (2) It is
Catholic in tradition, doctrine and worship. Henry's desire to make Anne his
queen was the only issue in the separation. Officially it is the Anglican
Catholic Church with the English
monarch as the Supreme Governor of the Church vs. the Roman Catholic Church with the Pope as its head. Both churches are
Catholic, only the boss is different! Members of the "Anglican Communion" understand this. The Communion is comprised of member
churches around the world that for political reasons wear different names. For
example it became unpopular during the American Revolutionary War to be
anything Anglican, especially to be a member of a church that had the hated
King of England as it head. In America the name of the church was changed to The
Episcopal Church. In fact the
Episcopal priest in our town likes to wear a polo shirt with this embroidery, "I
Am Anglican Catholic". While the two
churches have gone in different directions in the past 450 years (3) many
teachings of the Anglican Catholic Church (Episcopal in America) are still
those of the Roman Catholic Church.
Is this a Roman Catholic
Bishop? (4)
Let
me pause here to make this clear. I respect anyone who is honest and sincere
even when we disagree but if an individual or organization teaches a false
doctrine when they know the truth they deserve only distain. When King James I
authorized the translation of God's Word into English he ordered the scholars
to use words that would support Catholic doctrine! (5)
The word "bishop" was included to justify this office even though this
English word did
not correctly translate the Greek. The word "Easter" was used even
though that festival did not exist in the 1st century. The word
"church" was used to justify the Catholic eccleastical system instead
of the words "congregation" and "assembly", which were correct.When the translators
came to
the Greek word "baptizo" they proved that the Anglican Church had no
desire to
give the world the pure Word of God. (After the KJV became the standard
for
English Bibles it became impossible to correct this dishonesty in
subsequent
translations.)
Every
Greek scholar, living and dead, knows that the word "baptizo" has only one meaning. Mr. Thayer, the most respected
Greek lexicographer, says it means: "to dip, to plunge, to submerge, to
immerse." The King James translators
knew this but they were ordered not to use the word immerse in their
translation. (5) Knowing they could not go so far as to use the word "sprinkle" they transliterated the
Greek. This means to make an English word out of the Greek word. "Baptizo"
became "baptize". Does the English word baptize mean to immerse? No, it
means anything a church wants it mean! While the Holy Spirit was specific in
demanding immersion the English dictionary defines baptize as "to immerse
in water or sprinkle or pour water on in the Christian rite of baptism." (6) Of
course, this makes the "baptism" of babies easier!
Infant baptism is not taught anywhere in the Bible and was not
practiced by the 1st century church because babies are not sinners and
are not capable of obeying the prerequisites for baptism.The Scriptures clearly teach that the
candidate for baptism must believe, repent and confess their faith before they
are baptized. Try to get a baby to do any of these things!
In
spite of the dishonesty of the Church of England when they translated the Bible
into English we can still learn the truth even by reading the King James Bible.
Just look at these scriptures and see if sprinkling is taught.
"And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because
there was much water there." (7)
"And they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
And when they were come up out of the water ..." (8)
"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized
into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with
him by baptism into death:
that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father,
even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted
together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." (9)
Even the Roman Catholic Church admits that "baptizo" only means "to immerse" and was not changed to sprinkling until 1311 A.D.! Read the following quotes from books officially approved by the Vatican:
"Baptism took place by immersion in ancient times." (10)
"Catholics admit that immersion brings out more
fully the meaning of the sacrament, and that for twelve centuries it was the
common practice." (11)
"Baptism used to be given by placing the person to
be baptized completely in the water; it was done in this way in the Catholic
Church for 1200 years." (12)
"The church at one time practiced immersion. This
was up to the thirteenth century. The Council of Ravenna, in 1311, changed the
form from immersion to pouring." (13)
Just
imagine how easy it would be if the English translations would honestly give
the reader the word that the Holy Spirit used so they could know what God
demands!
"Whoever believes and is immersed will be saved." (14)
"Repent and be immersed, every one of you, in the
name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven." (15)
"And this water symbolizes immersion that now saves
you also - not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good
conscience toward God." (16)
Millions of people have been misled by the dishonesty of the Church of England and the King James translators but this does not excuse us. The truth is still in God's Word and salvation is still conditional upon our obedience:
"Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he
suffered and once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation
for all who obey him." (17)
My prayers go out to all of my friends who have been
lied to by a Church that began because of the immorality of its founder, a
church that intentionally hid the simple truths of the Bible from generations
of sincere people. Every honest person, when given the facts, must reject this
denomination, as they should all others that fail to require obedience to the
Word of God. I pray that they will learn, as I have, that the Anglican Catholic
Church is not the church that Jesus promised to build on the rock. I must
continue my search.
Footnotes
1. Ephesians 2: 19-20
2. The creed book of the Anglican Communion is the "Book of Common Prayer" which contains "The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion". The American version calls themselves the "Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America" however this is not true in England or Canada.
3. Celibacy, Transubstantiation, Purgatory and Praying to Saints are just a few examples of Roman doctrine that the Anglican's no longer believe.
4. NO! This is a Bishop in the American Episcopal Church!
5.
Preface to King James Version, 1st Edition
6. Webster's American Dictionary
7. John 2:23 (KJV)
8. Acts 8: 38-39 (KJV)
9. Romans 6: 3-5 (KJV)
10. New Interpretation of the Mass, p. 120
11. Question Box, p. 240
12. Adult Catechism, pp. 56-57
13. Our Faith and the Facts, p. 399
14. Mark 16: 16
15. Acts 2: 38
16. 1 Peter 3: 21
17. Hebrews 5: 8-9
Larry A. McKee
"The Parson"