Intolerable Beliefs of the Roman Catholics

4 is greater than he 49”) did not recognise the second person of his God for as long as thirty years 50, until this second God became the follower of his servant, and so long as he did not perform baptism, and until the third God had descended on him in the form of a dove. When John saw this third one descending on the second God like a dove, he came to remember the word of God that the same will be his Lord, the creator of

the heavens and the earth 51. 11. Similarly one of the great Apostles, who is said to be a great thief, who is also supposed to have performed prophetic miracles, and who, according to the Christians, is superior to the prophet Moses and others 52, sold out his faith for only thirty pieces of silver. That is to say he betrayed his lord, the Messiah, and conspired against him with the Jews

and got him arrested and crucified 53. 12. The high priest, Caiaphas, who is considered by the Evangelist, John, to be a Prophet 54, issued the death sentence against his God, Christ,

believed in him and yet insulted him 55.

The above virulent imputations against the Prophets of God speak themselves of their falsity. We, however, express our absolute negation of these mythical allegations and totally disassociate ourselves from such sacrilegious

beliefs which are both irrational and ridiculous.

Intolerable Beliefs of the Roman Catholics

The major sect of the Christians, the Roman Catholics, still gives credence to some dogmas that are obnoxious and at total variance with human reason. The

49 This is a reference to Matthew 11:11: ”He that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” 50 This refers to John 1:32-34: “And John bare record saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.” 51 In fact, it is understood from Matthew 11:2 that John did not recognise him even on that occasion. During his imprisonment, he sent his disciples to ask him if he was the same that was to come or if they should wait for another one. 52 Matthew 26:14-47, Mark, 14:10-43, Luke 22:3-47, John 13:26, 18:2. 53 The famous Christian theologian De Quincy justified this act of Judas Iscariot by saying that he did not betray the Christ for any personal interest, but for making Christ manifest his powers of salvation. In this way he acquired salvation himself and redeemed the whole of Christendom through the death of Christ. (Britannica-Judah Iscariot). Apart from being illogical, this justification is contrary to vivid descriptions of the Bible. For example Luke 22:3 has said, “Then entered Satan into Judas, sur- named Iscariot.” The same statement is contained in John 13:27, and 6:70. The Acts 1:18 says: “Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity.” 54 John 11:51 55 Matthew 26:65, Mark 14:63, Luke 22:71 4 number of Roman Catholics, as reported by some priests, is two hundred million 56. Many shameful and abominable beliefs are still a part of their faith.

For example:

1. According to a recently expressed opinion of the Christians, Mary’s mother also conceived her without any sexual union with her husband.

2. Mary is the mother of God in the real sense of the word.

3. If all the priests in the world were to perform the sacrament of Eucharist at the same time, according to the Catholics, the millions of pieces of bread would be transubstantiated into an equal number of Christs, all

fully human and fully divine at the same time and born of Mary.

4. This single piece of bread, when cut into any number of pieces, is instantly transformed into an equal number of Christs 57. The physically observed process of the wheat’s progress from its growth to being baked into the form of bread does not preclude its divinity, as physical senses have no say in these matters according to the Catholic

faith.

5. Making idols, and worshipping them is an essential part of their faith

7. No salvation of a Christian is possible without having true faith in the Pope with no consideration as to his impiety, dishonesty and immoral

conduct 59.

7. The Pope is considered to be infallible and pure of all errors.

8. There is always a great treasure of wealth in the Temple of Rome owned and managed by the Pope. Among many other sources of money is the money paid to him by the people for absolution of their sins for which the Pope is supposed to have special powers. That is to say, the

56 According to later records, the number of the Roman Catholics in the world exceeds 400 million, to be exact it is 550357000 as reported by Britannica 1957 page 424. 57 The Eucharist has been the most debated question among Christian theologians. It was institutionalised by St Thomas Aquinas (1227 - 1274). He stated in his book Summa Theologica that every single piece of the bread turns into a perfect Christ. (Britannica- Eucharist vo1.8, p.797.) 58 Izalatu-Shakuk page 26 vol.l. quoted by Sale’s translation of the Holy Qur’an. Even today it is common in all churches that large paintings of Jesus and Mary are hung and worshipped by the Christians. 59 The Catholics believe that the Pope is Vicar of Peter the Apostle. He enjoys all the powers once possessed by Peter and all the holy attributes ascribed to him in the gospels are owned by him. For instance, in John 21:16. “Feed my sheep”, and in Matthew 16:18, “I will give unto thee (Peter) keys of the kingdom of heaven”. Misuse of these powers by the popes is the most sinister and obnoxious part of the history of Christian Church.

4 Pope has all the powers of forgiveness and absolution of sins, and he

gives this forgiveness for a considerable amount of money 60.

9. The Pope has absolute power to change the laws of the faith. He can permit any act that was previously prohibited. The Protestant teacher, Michael Meshaka, said in his Arabic book, Ajwabatu’l Injileen ’ala

abatil Attaqlidin:

Now it should be noted that they permit matrimonial relations with blood relations prohibited by the Holy Scriptures. They receive large amounts of money for permitting this, at their own discretion, an act that was prohibited by the sacred books and by the blessed compilers of the gospels. For example, permission for an uncle’s marriage (paternal or maternal) with his niece, for marriage with one’s brother’s wife who is the mother of one’s brother’s children. There are many additional prohibitions that they have imposed, and many dispensations that they have disallowed people without any religious

arguments.

He further says:

There are many eatables that were prohibited by them, and later on were permitted again. Eating of meat has been allowed by them during fasting,

that was strictly considered prohibited for centuries.

He also said in his book entitled Thirteen Epistles on page 88 of the second

epistle:

The French Cardinal Zabadella said that the Pope enjoys absolute power

to permit any prohibition. He is greater than God.

We seek refuge with Allah from such blasphemies and proclaim that Allah is

pure of all their imputations.

10. According to the Catholic creed, good souls remain in Purgatory 61 suffering the torments of the fires of Hell, until the Pope grants acquittal to them. Similarly priests are authorised to grant such deliverance of the dead from Purgatory, against payment of a certain amount of money,

through their suffrages 62.

60 The priest Khurshid Alam has written in The History of the Roman Church, “The trade in certificates of forgiveness was a common practice in the Church. The people were delivered of their sins by paying money to the Bishop.” (pagc 142. 1961. Lahore) 61 Purgatory literally means a cleanser or purifier, used by the Christians for the Hell, as they believe that the fire of Hell purifies the human souls. 62 Suffrages is the word used for prayers that are meant to purify the man from his sins.

4 11. Catholics can obtain certificates of salvation from the Pope and his deputies for payment. It is strange that the people do not demand acknowledgement of the dead, confirming their salvation, from the Pope who is believed to be “greater than God”. He should be able, through his divine powers, to get attestations from the dead that they have

attained eternal salvation.

Since the Papal powers are increased day by day through the blessings of the Holy Ghost, indulgences were invented by Leo X 63 and were sold to the people by him and his clergymen. These documents contained the following

words:

May our Lord Jesus Christ take pity upon and pardon thee, by the virtue of his sanctified love. By the power accorded to me by the Saints Peter and Paul, chief of the apostles, I absolve thee of thy sins whenever they are committed, and thy faults and transgressions and even the unremitted sins forgiven by the Pope. As far as the power in the hands of the Church of Rome can contend, I remit the miseries reserved for thee in the purgatories. And I will lead you towards the mysteries of the Holy Church, and its unity

and purity and innocence possessed by thee at thine baptism. The gates of Hell shall be closed to thee on thine death and those of Paradise shall be opened. If thou will not die at present, the indulgence will remain operative till your death. In the names of the Father, the Son and the

Holy Spirit, Amen. Written by Firtilium, agent.

12. They claim that the Hell is a space in cubic form situated in the centre

of the earth having sides of 200 miles in length. 13. The Pope makes the sign of the cross on his shoes while other people do it on their faces. Perhaps his shoes are more sanctified than the cross

and the faces of the people. .

Sanctification of the Cross

Christians in general hold the wood of the cross in great reverence, and prostrate in worship before the paintings or image of the Godhead, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, as well as making prostrations of reverence to the images of their saints. There can be any of the following reasons for consecrating the wood of the cross: because it had a physical contact with, or was touched by, the body of Christ at the time of crucifixion; or because it became a means for their

63 Pope Leo X was elected in 1513 and died in 1521. (Britannica), C.P.S. Clarke has written in his history of the Church, quoting Kidd, that the instant the Bishop heard the sound of the coins dropped in the box by the people for indulgence, the dead person was considered delivered from Hell.

4 atonement, or the blood of Christ flowed over it. Now if it is for the first reason, all the donkeys of the world should be held holier than the cross, as Christ used to ride on the back of donkeys and mules. They had more physical contact with the body of Christ and, contrary to the cross, they served the purpose of providing comfort to him. It was a donkey that carried Christ to the temple of Jerusalem. Besides, being animate, the donkey is closely associated with man as

opposed to the wood of the cross which is inanimate. As for the second reason, Judas Iscariot deserves more reverence and sanctification as it was through his betrayal that Jesus was arrested and then crucified by the Jews. Without his betrayal, atonement through the death of Christ would not have been possible. He, therefore, is the first and main cause of eternal salvation. If the sanctity of the cross is related to the third reason, the thorns that were put on the head of the Christ on the form of a crown 64 deserve more reverence and respect, as they too were coloured with the blood of Christ. We are unable to see any reason why only the cross is held in such great respect and reverence. Maybe it is another riddle like the trinity. The most abhorrent and abominable thing is the act of worshipping the image of the Father-God. We have already discussed with undeniable arguments that God Almighty is absolutely beyond the possibility of any similitude being made of Him. Visualization of Him is a physical impossibility. No human being can ever see Him. Is there any one to claim the ability to make an image bearing any degree of similarity to Him? Besides, it would be more logical for them to worship every human being as they are created in the image of God according to the

Torah 65. It is strange that the Pope prostrates himself before images made of stones, and humiliates and insults his human fellow beings by extending his feet to be kissed by them. We fail to see any difference between the Catholics and the

idolaters of India.

The Pope as Final Authority

The Pope is supposed to be the final authority on the interpretation of the texts of the Holy Books. This belief must have been added at a later period, otherwise Augustine and John Chrysostom could have not written their exegetical works, since they were not popes and did not seek permission from the popes of their time for writing their works. Their works enjoyed great

popularity among the Christians and in the Church of their time.

64 This refers to Matthew 27:29 which says: ”And when they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand.” (Taqi). The thorns deserve to be holier and more sanctified because they had physical contact with the head of Christ which is the most respected part of the human body and is the seat of wisdom and reason. (Raazi) 65 Genesis 1:26