THE ATMOSPHERE FOR A REFORMATION - Part IV
[How
the Catholic Church nurtured the seed of her destruction within her
own womb.]
Then
a genius, reflecting the pure intelligence of the prince of darkness
appeared in France. . .John Calvin. He would create a 'religion'
that had nothing to do with Martin Luther but would satisfy every
whim of the new businessmen. It was a religion patterned for
businessmen who had enriched themselves on stolen Church property.
Since the Reformation had been taken over by the businessmen with
business motives, it would take this learning and, from hence
forward, every Protestant sect would contain this Calvinistic
element. It would be the force that would be the common trademark of
Protestantism. All Protestant sects would have this Calvinistic
element. And this would seal permanently the division of Christendom
into the Catholic and Protestant sects.
Calvin's
basic doctrine that would tickle the looters of the Church wass that
man had a duty to grow rich. Suddenly every business practice, that
had been done by Catholics clandestinely because it was
considered evil, was now allowed, encouraged and even considered as
the most appropriate thing to do. Calvin's proposition was a
financial proposition that tolerated every unethical business
practice. Then he added a sprinkling of religiosity in his doctrine
by stating that this fact of growing rich was a sign of
predestination to heaven. It was a doctrine every corrupt person
would embrace unquestioningly. It was like having your cake and
eating it, too, sort of, having the world and heaven, too. Who can
refuse that? With this obligation, good works or almsgiving, the
singular mark of the Catholic Church was erased. Of course, if you
indulged in almsgiving, you would never get rich. The concept of
poverty was abrogated.
Calvin
refined further his doctrine by removing rationality, i.e. the right
to think and reason out, from Protestantism. He had to for if one
reasoned too much, their error would be obvious. Calvin did this by
introducing subjectivism; what one feels is right is right. What one
feels is true is true. Who could make a mistake with that? He had to
raise the authority of the subjective mind to counter the more
reasonable authority of tradition or an outside source, i.e. the
Pope and the Tradition of the Catholic Church. Without Tradition,
the Protestant sect has no similarity whatsoever with the Church
that Christ established, whose description is found in Tradition.
Furthermore, it does not have the official interpretation of
Scriptures which is also found in Tradition.
Then
he introduced usury, charging of interest on an unproductive loan.
Usury, once frowned upon by Christendom, was now legitimate business
practice. With these, Calvinistic Europe became an economic giant;
and through banking and trading would spur, what we call today,
Industrial Capitalism. Sadly, Catholic nations would gradually adapt
these unchristian business practices for their economic progress.
What the Protestant Reformation could not do to the Catholic Church
in the 16th century, it finally succeeded in the guise of Industrial
Capitalism. Every Catholic today, in observance of Calvinistic
doctrine, is trying to be rich. The only vestige of Catholicism left
in them is the little almsgiving they give out of the abundance of
their excesses.
(12-05-02) |