We conclude this series with further examples of hyperbole from the Word of God.

Matthew 18:23-35:

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

^{23 “‘}Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.

^{24 “‘}And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.

^{25 “‘}But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.

^{26 “‘}The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, “Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.”

^{27 “‘}Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.

²⁸ “‘But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, “Pay me what you owe!”

^{29 “‘}So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.”

^{30 “‘}And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.

^{31 “‘}So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.

^{32 “‘}Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.

^{33 “‘}Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?”

^{34 “‘}And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.

³⁵ “‘So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.’”

In the website: learnreligions.com:

“In the New Testament, the term ‘talent’ meant something very different than it does today. The talents Jesus Christ spoke of in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:21-35) and the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) referred to the largest unit of currency at the time. For example, the ten thousand talents owed by the unforgiving servant would come to at least 204 metric tons of silver, reflecting an astronomical sum of 60 million denarii.

“Thus, a talent represented a rather large sum of money. According to New Nave’s Topical Bible, one who possessed five talents of gold or silver was a multimillionaire by today’s standards. Some calculate the talent in the parables to be equivalent to 20 years of wages for the common worker. Other scholars estimate more conservatively, valuing the New Testament talent somewhere between $1,000 to $30,000 dollars today.

“Needless to say (but let’s say it anyway), knowing the actual meaning, weight, and value of a term like talent can help give context, deeper understanding, and better perspective when studying the Scriptures.”

We can see the incredible difference in this parable – a man was forgiven what he owed – but he went to collect the debt that he was owed which was just 100 denarii after he had been forgiven his debt of 60 million denarii!

We should easily see the hyperbole used in this parable of Jesus to get across in the most graphic terms the need to forgive others.   There are those today who say that they will never forgive others for whatever they have gone through and this parable teaches that forgiveness is vital irrespective of the wrongs suffered.

Putting it in today’s terms, someone who is forgiven a debt of £1.2 million, chases a debt of just £20.   “Everyone,” C.S. Lewis writes, “says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until there is something to forgive” (Mere Christianity, p.115).

Matthew 19:24:

“And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (also in Mark 10:25 and Luke 18:25)

The website: biblicalstudies.org.uk explains as follows:

“Traditionally it has been said that there was a gate in the walls of Jerusalem called the ‘Needle’s Eye,’ through which an unladen camel could squeeze through with great difficulty. Unfortunately, this interpretation is simply not true, there was no gate in Jerusalem called the ‘Needle’s Eye’ and there never has been. The first reference to this is found in the writings of Theophylact, Archbishop of Achrida in Bulgaria in the 11th century.  Jerusalem had been destroyed twice by this time (in AD 70 and 134-136), but Theophylact had never visited it anyway. He simply made up the interpretation to get around the obvious meaning.

“After all, it is impossible for a camel to go through the eye of [a] needle, and that was precisely Jesus’ point. It is impossible for one who trusts in riches to enter the kingdom. It takes a miracle for a rich person to get saved, which is quite the point of what follows: ‘All things are possible with God.’

“Jesus was very fond of hyperbole, and used it frequently in His teaching.”

Matthew 23:24:

^“Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”

In the previous verse, Jesus berated the scribes and the Pharisees by stating that they “paid tithe of mint and anise and cummin, but neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.”

There is quite a difference between a gnat and a camel!   It has been estimated that it would take up to seventy million gnats to equal the weight of a camel!   The hyperbole used here is the difference of size and showed the religious leaders at that time had lost all sense of moral proportion.

Meyer’s NT Commentary opines:

“The Jews were in the habit of straining their wine in order that there might be no possibility of their swallowing with it any unclean animal, however minute (Leviticus 11:42). Figurative representation of the painful scrupulosity with which the law was observed.”

It is used in this passage as “straining out” or “filtering” gnats out of wine.  We should also note that gnats were unclean as mentioned above.   The Jews then should certainly have paid close attention to little things but were castigated for neglecting the important things, the larger issues, as we indeed must not overlook today.

Luke 9:25:

“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?”

We can see those who have set out to build businesses of which some have become very successful.   Many entrepreneurs succeed; others fail but they will all have great personal ambitions to succeed in business.  We ourselves may have had ambitions to become very successful in business before we were called into the knowledge of the truth.

Does it make people happy?   Many are always striving for their next success which could bring them millions or billions of pounds or dollars.   When the basis for living is purely on the physical but little or no thought for the spiritual, there can be no lasting joy or happiness.

The choice set before us when we are called is to be a disciple of Christ which is not an option but a necessity. We will either fully follow the true Christian way or the way of the world – there is no in- between.

It is impossible to gain the whole world – hyperbole at its highest level, in action – but it presses home the point that even if this were possible, the loss of the truth and the right way to live would be disastrous.   The physical life we have is for a short time but the spiritual things are eternal.  What real profit is to be derived from even aspiring to gain the impossible (the whole world) and lose out on eternity?

Luke 10:4:

“Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.”

Patently Jesus didn’t want them to ignore people on their travels, quite the reverse as those were the people to whom they were to take the message of the gospel of the coming Kingdom of God.   Further, to be rude to others was neither His way nor how He taught His disciples to deal with others—which was the way of love, kindness and outgoing concern.  Simply put, Jesus was emphasising that they had a really important job to do and were not to get caught up in the everyday things that can take up so much time and can be a distraction from the important work they were undertaking, and He taught that they were to concentrate on the vital matter at hand.

There are some very interesting comments by Barnes Notes on the Bible:

“Salute no man by the way – Salutations among the Orientals did not consist, as among us, of a slight bow or an extension of the hand, but was performed by many embraces and inclinations, and even prostrations of the body on the ground. All this required much ‘time;’ and as the business on which the seventy were sent was urgent, they were required not to ‘delay’ their journey by long and formal salutations of the persons whom they met. If two Arabs of equal rank meet each other, they extend to each other the right hand, and having clasped, they elevate them as if to kiss them. Each one then draws back his hand and kisses it instead of his friend’s, and then places it upon his forehead. The parties then continue the salutation by kissing each other’s beard. They gave thanks to God that they are once more permitted to see their friend – they pray to the Almighty in his behalf. Sometimes they repeat not less than ten times the ceremony of grasping hands and kissing.

“They would waste time, distract attention, and in many ways hinder the prompt and faithful discharge of their important mission. The salutation of friends, therefore, was a ceremony which consumed much time; and it was on this account that our Lord on this occasion forbade them to delay their journey to greet others. A similar direction is found in 2 Kings 4:29.”

John 12:19:

“The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, ‘You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!’”

The world has gone after Him – this is again hyperbole as this simply couldn’t have happened at that time.   Jesus spoke to large crowds in Judah but beyond those borders then, the world would have no knowledge of Jesus Christ until a much later time.   At that time, it was a localised “fame” that He had and on the Day of Pentecost a following initially of 120 (see Acts 1:15).   Of course, on that day there were about 3,000 people added to the Church (Acts 2:41), but even that number of people would hardly have put a dent in the hyperbolic statement that “the world has gone after Him!”

From Gill’s Exposition of the Bible:

“The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read, ‘the whole world’, and so Nonnus; the Persic version, ‘all the people’; that is, a very great number of people; for they could not mean, that all the inhabitants of the world, or every individual of mankind were followers of him, and became his disciples, nor even all in their own land; they themselves, with multitudes more of the same complexion, were an exception to this: but they speak in the common dialect of that nation,”

The final one that we highlight in this Q&A is one of the most famous in the Bible.

Matthew 18:21-22:

^{21 “}Then Peter came to Him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’

²² “Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’”

It appears from some sources that Jewish tradition limited forgiveness to three times, perhaps based on Amos 1:3, 6, 9 and Job 33:29-30, but the apostle Peter may have thought that he was going way beyond that which others may have mandated by suggesting seven times.   Jesus said “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20).   Here, Peter could be seen as going further than these religious teachers of the law at that time.   But Jesus meant something much more than he could ever have imagined.

The sheer logistics of forgiving someone 490 times is mind boggling.   In fact, you would have to wonder about someone’s sincerity if they asked forgiveness that number of times.  With the Jews of that time, they would count the number of times a person would seek forgiveness and put a very short limit on it, and Peter seemed to want to increase the limit that could be set.  Jesus would have none of that.  It was to be 70 times 7 if you want to put a number on it but that, in effect, meant a limitless number. It was clearly hyperbole, indicating that there is no end to forgiving others however often they seek forgiveness from us.

CONCLUSION

As we have seen, hyperbole is a figure of speech that is used to emphasize a point or create a strong feeling in the reader or listener – an amplification or magnification.

As Literary Devices state: “Hyperbole, derived from a Greek word meaning ‘over-casting,’ is a figure of speech that involves an exaggeration of ideas for the sake of emphasis.”

Hyperbole is mainly used to add emphasis and create strong impressions and it is helpful in seeing a far bigger picture, but it is not to be taken literally at this time.   The following are words that can sum up hyperbole in many ways and these should excite us to know how great God is and wonderful is His way and plan for mankind: cheerful, vivid, breathtaking, intriguing, dramatic thrilling, colourful, striking, compelling, dynamic, electrifying, gripping, stunning, galvanizing, astonishing and astounding.

Whatever words God uses are those which we can understand, but the reality of the future in store for us in the Kingdom of God is way beyond any description that we are given in His Word.   Even the most excessive hyperbole would simply not be enough to give us a full understanding of what is in store for us in God’s Kingdom and what a future is in store for the people of God!

Lead writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

In the first part in this series, we discussed and reviewed what hyperbole is and what its uses are in the Bible.

When it comes to Scripture, we have many examples which we will now review.

2 Samuel 1:23:

“Saul and Jonathan were beloved and pleasant in their lives, And in their death they were not divided; They were swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lions.”

The National Eagle Centre states that “Eagles can achieve 30 mph using powerful wing-beats and even faster when diving after prey (stoop). Bald eagles can dive at up to 100 mph; golden eagles at up to 150 mph.   However, “The fastest recorded human sprinter ever is Usain Bolt. At the World Championship in Berlin in 2009, he hit 27.78 miles per hour between meters 60 and 80 during the 100-meter sprint. Over the full 100 meters, he averaged 23.35 miles per hour, finishing in 9.58 seconds and setting a new world record.”

Obviously, there is no comparison between the speed that a man can run and an eagle can fly.   In addition, we read in Proverbs 30:30: “A lion, which is mighty among beasts And does not turn away from any.”

In Matthew Poole’s English Annotations on the Holy Bible, they explain as follows: “Swifter than eagles; expeditious and nimble in pursuing their enemies, and executing their designs; which is a great commendation in a prince and in a soldier. Stronger than lions, in regard of their bodily strength and the courage of their minds.”

Joseph Benson’s Commentary of the Old and New Testaments observes: “According to Agur’s observation, Proverbs 30:30, the lion never betakes himself to flight, but faces his foe to the last. Courage then seems the most remarkable property of the lion. And since David uses the same word here in speaking of Saul and Jonathan which Agur uses in speaking of this property of the lion, he evidently means to celebrate the courage of his heroes rather than their strength; and to say that, in facing the enemy and braving of danger, they were undaunted as lions.”

It is very clear that hyperbole was used in this verse to make or reinforce a point and to catch the reader’s attention.

Deuteronomy 1:28:

“Where can we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our hearts, saying, ‘The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.’’’

This was making the point that, in human terms, the walls were very high.   In the previous Q&A – “Doesn’t Psalm 139:8 show that we either go to heaven or hell at death?” we answer this question and refer to another Q&A that we have produced showing that the Bible speaks of three heavens.  The first two heavens — the physical heavens — can be divided into the earth’s atmosphere and the space beyond our atmosphere — commonly called the universe plus a heaven composed of spirit — the third heaven, where God lives.   Therefore, in Deuteronomy 1:28, this could only apply to the first heaven as the other two are way beyond the first heaven and any wall could be fortified only up to a certain level.

In Wikipedia, we read “The world’s tallest artificial structure is the 829.8-metre-tall (2,722 ft) Burj Khalifa in Dubai (of the United Arab Emirates). The building gained the official title of “tallest building in the world” and the tallest self-supported structure at its opening on January 9, 2010.”   As modern building techniques have improved exponentially in recent times, even this building in Dubai hardly makes a mark in the first heaven and the “walled cities of the Anakim” would have been substantially smaller than the current tallest structure in the world.

Again, hyperbole is used in this verse to make the point that, except for Caleb and Joshua, the other ten men returned from the land that God had wanted to give Israel and were terrified by the inhabitants and made out that the walled cities were fortified up to heaven to support their case.   God was not pleased by their words and actions and they were not allowed to enter the Promised Land.   Hyperbole in this case simply didn’t work!

Judges 20:16:

“Among all this people were seven hundred select men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair’s breadth and not miss.”

Matthew Poole’s Commentary opines as follows:

“Left-handed, Heb. shut up on their right hand, i.e. using their left hand instead of their right.

“Every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss; an hyperbolical expression, signifying that they could do this with great exactness. There are many parallel instances in historians of persons that could throw stones or shoot arrows with great certainty, so as seldom or never to miss; of which see my Latin Synopsis.”

Job 29:6:

“When my steps were bathed with cream, And the rock poured out rivers of oil for me!”

Gill’s Exposition of the Whole Bible states:

“…and the rock poured me out rivers of oil; another hyperbolical expression, like that in Deuteronomy 32:13, where honey is said to be sucked out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; as honey may be got out of a rock, because bees may make their nests and hives there, where it is laid up by them; so oil, in like manner, may be had from the flinty rock, olive trees growing on hills, mountains, and rocks, which yield oil in great abundance; near Jerusalem was a mount called Olivet, from thence: the land of Edom, or Idumea, where abounded with cragged mountains and rocks; and there might be in Job’s estate such on which olive trees grew in great plenty, as to produce vast quantities of oil.”

2 Chronicles 1:15:

“Also the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland.”

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible – Unabridged

“The king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as stones – in addition to the large amount of treasure collected and bequeathed to him by his father David. The great source of Solomon’s immense wealth undoubtedly lay in his trading speculations. For, as a monarch, he possessed advantages and enjoyed facilities for ending into trade, infinitely superior to any of his subjects. His vessels traded to distant shores, and returned laden with the gold and the treasures of every land. The multiplication of gold and silver was prohibited to the theocratic king as well as that of horses (Deuteronomy 17:16-17).”

E.W. Bullinger’s Companion Bible Notes

“as stones . . . as the sycamore trees. Figure of speech Hyperbole.”

Matthew 5:29-30:

^“If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.”

The right eye was generally regarded as the better one, just as the “right hand” is the stronger one for the majority of people. To gouge it out is a graphic hyperbolic equivalent of the apostle Paul’s exhortation to “put to death the misdeeds of the body” (Romans 8:13) or to “mortify (kill) therefore your members …” (Colossians 3:5). Either way, the idea is to refrain from using those faculties or abilities for sin.

This is not meant to be literally applied; it is hyperbole to forcibly make the point that we should do everything possible to make sure we enter the Kingdom of God and such expressive language is used to get our attention!

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible explains:

“Pluck it out … – It cannot be supposed that Christ intended this to be taken literally. His design was to teach that the dearest objects, if they cause us to sin, are to be abandoned; that by all sacrifices and self-denials we must overcome the evil propensities of our nature, and resist our wanton imaginations. Some of the fathers, however, took this commandment literally. Our Saviour several times repeated this sentiment.”

Matthew 7:1-3:

“Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?”

The Benson Commentary states that “The word here rendered mote, according to Hesychius, may signify a little splinter of wood. This, and the beam, its opposite, were proverbially used by the Jews to denote, the one, small infirmities, the other, gross, palpable faults.”

The Expositor’s Greek Testament makes these interesting comments:  “A beam in the eye is a natural impossibility; cf. the camel and the needle eye. This is a case of tu quoque (a retort accusing an accuser of a similar offense or similar behaviour) or rather of “thou much more”. The faults may be of the same kind: a petty theft, commercial dishonesty on a large scale—“thou that judgest doest the same things” (Romans 2:2); or of a different sort: moral laxity in the publican, pride and inhumanity in the Pharisee who despised him (Luke 18:9-14).— the contrast is not between seeing and failing to see, but between seeing and not choosing to see; ignoring, consciously overlooking. The censorious man is not necessarily ignorant of his own faults, but he does not let his mind rest on them. It is more pleasant to think of other people’s faults.”

The hyperbole used by beam in the eye is, as stated above, a physical impossibility – it can be described as a long, thick piece of wood, metal, or concrete – and very little is able to get in the eye because of its small size.  However, by mentioning a beam it brings an extravagant and exaggerated mental vision that can resonate and remain with the reader denoting, in vivid terms, the much greater fault which we overlook in ourselves.

(To be continued)

Lead writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

In the previous Q & A we discussed the question “Doesn’t Psalm 139:8 show that we either go to heaven or hell at death?” and showed that this was hyperbole.   Wordnik defines this as “A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, as in I could sleep for a year or This book weighs a ton.  In rhetoric, an obvious exaggeration; an extravagant statement or assertion not intended to be understood literally.”

We read on the pediaa.com website the following:

“Main Difference – Exaggeration vs Hyperbole

“Both exaggeration and hyperbole are representations of something in an excessive manner. Exaggeration is presenting something as better or worse than it really is whereas hyperbole is the use of exaggeration as a literary or rhetorical device. This is the main difference between exaggeration and hyperbole.

“What is Exaggeration?

“Exaggeration makes something worse, or better than it really is. It is the representation of something in an excessive manner. We all use exaggerations in our daily life. For example, if someone says, “I’ve heard it [a]million times”, he means that he has heard it many times. Therefore, he is using exaggeration. In such situations, we take the figurative meaning of the phrase, not the literal meaning. Given below are some common examples of exaggeration that are used in daily life.

“I’ve told you [a]million times to clean your rooms.

“He is slower than a snail.

“She is [a] thousand years old.

“I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.

“What is Hyperbole?

“Hyperbole is a literary device that deliberately uses exaggeration for the sake of emphasis.  Statements that contain hyperbole are often extravagant and are not meant to be taken literally.  Hyperbole, as mentioned above, is mainly used to add emphasis and create strong impressions. “

Your Dictionary online has this to say on the matter:

“Hyperbole from a Greek word meaning “excess,” is a figure of speech that uses extreme exaggeration to make a point or show emphasis. It is the opposite of understatement.

“You can find examples of hyperbole in literature and everyday speech. You wouldn’t want to use it in nonfiction works, like reports or research papers, but it’s perfect for creative writing and communication, especially when you want to add color to a character or humor to a story.

“Hyperboles are not comparisons, like similes and metaphors, but extravagant and even ridiculous overstatements, not meant to be taken literally. In literature, hyperbole will often be used to show contrast or catch the reader’s attention.”

Further interesting comments are made on the website: https://literarydevices.net/hyperbole/:

“Function of Hyperbole

“…In our daily conversation, we use hyperbole to create an amusing effect, or to emphasize our meaning. However, in literature it has very serious implications. By using hyperbole, a writer or a poet makes common human feelings remarkable and intense to such an extent that they do not remain ordinary. In literature, usage of hyperbole develops contrasts. When one thing is described with an over-statement, and the other thing is presented normally, a striking contrast is developed. This technique is employed to catch the reader’s attention.”

The addeigloriam.org website adds these helpful observations:

“The use of hyperbole is a perfectly acceptable form of language when shared by both writer and reader (otherwise, it would be deceitful).  For example, if the writer is using hyperbole and the reader is interpreting the text literally, miscommunication will inevitably result.   Obviously, we would not employ hyperbole when speaking scientifically or mathematically, but it is actually very difficult to describe certain things without using hyperbole, particularly the concepts of the heart (expressions of love, for instance).  For this reason, we find poetry, proverbs and prophecy containing hyperbole by their very nature.  Hyperbole is also a great tool for emphasizing an important point, and for use as a memory enhancer, helping the hearers or readers to remember the saying.

“Most folks are able to intuitively determine when hyperbole is being used in a passage.  There are two basic types of exaggeration, that which is literally impossible and that which is exaggerated but still literally possible.  The first type is obviously very easy to detect.  Mark quotes Jesus as saying “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Mk 10:25).”  This is a proverb, expressing the general truth of the difficulty of someone preoccupied with money entering the kingdom.  We easily detect this as an exaggeration since its impossible for the camel to go through the needle eye, and there are monetarily rich persons who are dedicated Christians.  The second type is usually obvious, but there have been cases throughout history that a certain group or individual has taken a hyperbolic passage literally with drastic results.  Every now and then, we hear of someone mutilating themselves due to a misinterpretation of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5:29-30, which speaks of gouging out one’s eye or cutting off one’s limb to avoid hell.  Jesus was not teaching self-mutilation, but that we should take whatever measures are necessary to avoid the sin of lust.”

Additional observations can be found at www.tentmaker.org:

“For example, “It is raining cats and dogs” is a figure of speech that would probably make no sense in another language if translated literally word for word. Even though the very words do not imply so, Americans know from past usage that this term means, “it is raining heavily.”

“Hyperbole, one of over 200 different types of figures of speech found in the Bible, is exaggeration for effect. If these figures of speech are taken literally, one will misinterpret what the scriptures say. Word-for-word literal translations are FULL of phrases and sentences which have NOT been faithfully translated. Even though they may have translated each WORD faithfully and correctly, they have not conveyed the true meaning behind the phrase or sentence.

“For example, this verse is a hyperbole, an exaggeration for effect:

“You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” (Matt. 23:24, NIV)” (to be discussed more fully later in the next Update).

“It is not too difficult to determine that this is a hyperbole, an exaggeration. Because the English language is full of Bible terms and phraseology, this Hebrew idiom has become part of the English language. Therefore most English speaking people know the real meaning of that phrase: “You pay close attention to little things but neglect the important things.”

“However, here is a hyperbole that the average Bible reader may miss and formulate doctrine from which may end up being harmful to themselves and others.

“Everything is possible for him who believes.” (Mark 9:23, NIV)

“The Bible is full of exaggerations like the one above which are NOT to be taken literally. Careful attention, comparing scripture with scripture, knowing the Bible and its author thoroughly, making certain not to necessarily apply things to ourselves which weren’t meant for us individually and some basics about the original languages are needed to prevent us from misinterpreting various scripture verses like this one. In this case, obviously, if something is against the will of God or if one asks with the wrong motive, no matter how much one believes for something, it won’t happen.”

We must remember that Jesus often taught through parables.   We read the following description of parables on the website: www.learnreligions.com.

“A parable is a comparison of two things, often done through a story that has two meanings. Another name for a parable is an allegory.

“Jesus Christ did much of his teaching in parables. Telling tales of familiar characters and activities was a favorite way for ancient rabbis to hold an audience’s attention while illustrating an important moral point.

“Parables appear in both the Old and New Testaments but are more easily recognizable in the ministry of Jesus.”

There are many instances of hyperbole in the Bible which we will review in the next Q & A.

(To be continued)

Lead Writer: Brian Gale

First of all, let us read this verse: “If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.”

This is a psalm that Church of God members will have sung many times as it features as hymn 105 in the Church’s Bible Hymnal.

In the previous verse we read: “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” which shows that king David understood that God had perfect knowledge of man which is the heading of the Psalm.   God knows our very thoughts (verse 2) which means that even if we are praying silently, He still hears.   Therefore, verse 8 sums up the fact that wherever we are, God knows.

However, this verse can be seized upon by some to say that at death we go to heaven or to an ever burning fiery hell, neither of which are correct.   In fact, the Bible speaks of three heavens and for those who are not aware of these facts, or those who may wish to refresh their memories on this subject, please see https://www.globalchurchofgod.co.uk/q-a-3756/

In the Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament we read: “God, however, is omnipresent, sustaining the life of all things by His Spirit, and revealing Himself either in love or in wrath – what the poet styles His countenance. To flee from this omnipresence (away from), as the sinner and he who is conscious of his guilt would gladly do, is impossible.”

On the website https://www.bible-studys.org/ we read that “The word translated ‘hell’ here refers to ‘the grave’ or ‘the place of the dead’ rather than the place of eternal punishment for unbelievers. David asserts that God is, in fact, everywhere. Death cannot separate the believer from Him (Rom. 8:38-39; 2 Cor. 5:8). And when His people worship, they have an incredible sense of His manifest presence (22:3).”

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible gives the following explanation: “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there,…. No man hath ascended or can ascend to heaven of himself; it is an hyperbolical expression, as are those that follow; none but Christ has ascended to heaven by his own power, who descended from it….”

However, having got the above brief quotation correct, the Exposition then goes on to explain heaven and hell in the terms mostly accepted by mainstream Christianity today, that is heaven for the good and hell for the damned.

There are many references in the Bible to Sheol (hell) in the Old Testament, for example: Numbers 16:31-34, Job 7:7-10, Psalm 88:2-10, 1 Samuel 2:6; 2 Samuel 22:5–19; Job 10:18-22, Psalm 30:3, Psalm 94:17, Psalm 143:3, Psalm 115:17, Jonah 2:3-8 and others, and this shows that a person, upon his death, does not go to hell in the way understood in mainstream churches today.

According to Sidney Brichto, a British Liberal rabbi, the early Israelites apparently believed that the graves of family, or tribe, united into one and that this, unified collectively, is to what the Biblical Hebrew term Sheol refers: the common grave of humans.

Joseph Caryl, a 17^th century English writer and preacher, wrote: “Hell in some places in Scripture signifies the lower parts of the earth, without relation to punishment: If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. By ‘heaven’ he means the upper region of the world, without any respect to the state of blessedness; and ‘hell’ is the most opposite and remote in distance, without respect to misery. As if he had said, Let me go whither I will, thy presence finds me out.”

To show that a Christian does not go to Heaven after death, please read the following Q&A: https://www.globalchurchofgod.co.uk/q-a-3756/

And so what is the answer?   Barnes mentioned that no man hath ascended or can ascend to heaven of himself; it is a hyperbolical expression.

Overstatement can be intentional or accidental. It’s usually considered hyperbole, but may also be used as idiomatic emphasis.

What is hyberbole?   E W Bullinger, a 19^th Century English clergyman, Biblical scholar, and theologian wrote a book entitled “Figures of Speech Used in The Bible” and showed that there were over 200 different types of figures of speech, and hyperbole was one of them.   It is, put simply, an exaggeration to make the point and not to be taken literally, and when applied to Psalm 139:8 it is showing the sheer impossibility of any such action being achieved.

There are many instances of hyperbole in the Bible which we will review in the next Q&A.

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

On the National Geographic website, we read: “Wolves are the largest members of the dog family.   Adaptable gray wolves are by far the most common and were once found all over the Northern Hemisphere.  But wolves and humans have a long adversarial history. Though they almost never attack humans, wolves are considered one of the animal world’s most fearsome natural villains.  They do attack domestic animals, and countless wolves have been shot, trapped, and poisoned because of this tendency.”

In Acts 20:28-30 we read: “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.  For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.   Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.”

Paul is here describing a flock, and shepherding, which means that the members of the Church of God whom the apostle was addressing were likened to sheep.   Wolves are the enemy of sheep and sheep can be part of their diet.  There are other Scriptures where this same analogy is used.   In Matthew 7:15 we read: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

In Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers, we read: “Which come to you in sheep’s clothing.  The illustration implies something like the conception of the wolf disguising himself as a sheep in order to gain entrance into the fold.”

The Benson Commentary observes: “All those are false prophets who teach any other way than that which our Lord hath here marked out.  Who come to you in sheep’s clothing — With a form of godliness and fair professions of love; but inwardly they are ravening wolves — Not feeding but destroying souls; feeding themselves by the destruction of the flock.  ‘A wolf in sheep’s clothing,’ says Doddridge, is ‘grown into a proverb for a wicked man that makes a great profession of religion, yet cannot dissemble so well as not to be discovered by attentive observation; which was just the character of the Pharisees in our Saviour’s days.’”

We know that the Church changed from apostolic Christianity to something entirely different within a relatively short period of time.   In the book “A History of the True religion” by Dugger and Dodd, the following is written at the beginning of chapter 5 which reviews the church between 100 AD to 200 AD:

“The first century closed with the death of the last of the apostles and writers of the New Testament, the Apostle John.  No sooner had the apostles and disciples, who had been with Jesus, fallen asleep, than a new order arose and a different class of writers began to pen religious epistles. Hurlbut says of this change, in his Story of the Christian Church:

“‘For fifty years after St. Paul’s life, a curtain hangs over the church, through which we vainly strive to look; and when at last it rises, about 129 A.D. with the writings of the earliest church-fathers, we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St. Peter and St. Paul’ (Page 41).”

In his editorial entitled “A Foundation to Endure” in our weekly Update No.724 dated 12th February 2016, Robb Harris stated that “Careless building techniques plague Christianity today, and have since deceit crept into the early New Testament church.  Many of today’s most popular Christian leaders have built opulent church organizations and buildings with ever increasing growth.  But all of these grand edifices invoking the name of God are built on lies and foundations conceived by man, not God.

“Christ spoke of those who falsely profess to know God because they refuse to heed His Word. ‘For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone build on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear’ (1 Corinthians 3:11-13). What man builds is based only on the physical, and physical cannot inherit the kingdom prepared for each of us (Matthew 25:34).”

The wolves have been at work, and the Truth that Jesus preached and the original apostles continued to preach after Jesus’s death was replaced by error, mainly by mixing truth with error and pagan practices (syncretism) which has been carried on down through the ages.   What we see today in mainstream Christianity is a far cry from apostolic Christianity.

Jesus knew when sending out the twelve apostles to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 10:6) that there would be problems ahead of them, and in Matthew 10:16 He says: “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”

In Luke 10:3 is the same admonition:  “Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.”

On the website whatchristianswanttoknow, we read an excellent description headed “The sneaky wolf. They hide until the time is right.”  Continuing:

“Wolves are sneaky.  They watch the prey and plan the attack.  The sneaky wolf [that is, a] false prophet is in the church watching and waiting. He is the one who calls secret meetings. He gains the trust of folks and then rises up to attack, taking innocent victims with him.  The Bible is clear about how God will deal with these sneaky wolves.”

We can read what action God will take in Matthew 7:21-23 which reads: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

Christ tells us in John 10:11-16 from where our protection comes: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.  But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.  The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.  I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.   And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.”

A hireling who is not a true shepherd. He sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees.   The end product is that the wolf catches the sheep and can eat them and scatter them.   False workers and teachers can do the same to church members in a spiritual sense; hence the reason why we have to be continually on guard.

We read in John 10:27: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”   Those who stick closely to God and His ways and His truth know Him from the written Word of God and are not distracted from the true path they have been called to.   There is a sober warning in Ephesians 4:14 which is vital for our spiritual well-being: “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.”   The phrasing of this verse clearly shows that some had been taken in by wrong and deceitful influences.

In the previous verses, Ephesians 4:11-13, we read about the ministry which is there for the protection of the sheep and the equipping of the saints: “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”   The true servants of God will be protectors of the brethren and of God’s Truth: the wolves will attack, disturb and disorientate the sheep by their false teaching and trickery.

Just before Jesus’s betrayal and arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed for His disciples, and for all believers and we read this in John 17:17: “Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth.”   In verse 20, He said, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”   If the teaching is in accordance with the Word of God then the teachers are themselves sheep and members of the flock and not wolves in sheep’s clothing.   The Word of God, the Bible, must always be our guide and will protect us against any wrong teachings of man.

Not only does God use wolves and sheep in analogies, but also sheep and goats (Matthew 25:32-33).   In addition “the devil walks about like a roaring lion” (1 Peter 5:8) and as a “serpent” (Genesis 3:1 and Revelation 12:9).   In analogy, lions and serpents or snakes are spoken of in less than complimentary terms.

Wolves and other beasts are also used in the Bible as metaphors to describe Gentile nations and their efforts to destroy the physical and spiritual Israelites or Jews. Norbert Link discusses this in great detail in the following three Q&As:

https://www.eternalgod.org/please-explain-the-biblical-metaphors-of-animals-used-to-describe-the-powers-prophesied-to-fight-and-destroy-the-modern-tribes-of-israel/

https://www.eternalgod.org/please-explain-the-biblical-metaphors-of-animals-used-to-describe-the-powers-prophesied-to-fight-and-destroy-the-modern-tribes-of-israel-part-2/

https://www.eternalgod.org/please-explain-the-biblical-metaphors-of-animals-used-to-describe-the-powers-prophesied-to-fight-and-destroy-the-modern-tribes-of-israel-part-3/

But in the Kingdom of God during the Millennium things will be completely different.

The good news is that Satan the devil will be bound for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:1-3) and then peace will reign with no more false teachers and without these malevolent influences that we now have to fight.   We read how it will be in the book of Isaiah: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6) and “‘The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, The lion shall eat straw like the ox, And dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,’ Says the LORD” (Isaiah 65:25).

The wolf and the lion will get on together and the analogy of wolves (false prophets and teachers) tricking the sheep (church members) will no longer be applicable.

But until the wonderful time just ahead of us, we need to make sure that we are on our spiritual toes so that we don’t fall prey to any false prophets and wrong teachers.   God has surely warned us about them in His Word!

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

In the previous parts of this series, we discussed many concepts taught by the Roman Catholic church, related to their doctrine of indulgences. We saw that indulgences are required, according to Catholic tradition and theology, to ensure that help and assistance is given in Purgatory (a place that doesn’t exist and has no validity from Scripture), so that humans can go to Heaven (which Scripture clearly shows is not the place for the dead, nor is Hell, as commonly understood in orthodox Christianity!)  We also pointed out that the idea of indulgences applies in different ways: It addresses those who are in “Purgatory” and for whom prayers and “indulgences” are given by the living or the “saints in Heaven”, so that they can be freed from Purgatory; and it can apply to people in this life who give indulgences (for themselves and others) so that they do not have to suffer in Purgatory (or Hell) for as long as they otherwise would have to.

We also discussed the concept of partial indulgences (removing part of the “temporal” punishment due to sin), and of plenary indulgences (removing all temporal punishment due to sin).

Let us look at a further explanation in the following Catholic website: https://douglasbeaumont.com/2019/04/01/indulgences-explained/

“Indulgences are not ‘Get Out of Hell Free’ cards, nor can one gain enough indulgences to earn entrance to Heaven. Rather, indulgences have to do with avoiding the sufferings of Purgatory for temporal sins prior to entering Heaven. Scripture supports the theology of indulgences in seed form, even though (like many doctrines) it is not stated as such. Finally, the Church has clarified the requirements for – and rewards of – indulgences throughout its history and tradition. By understanding this teaching more clearly, the animosity generated by 500 year-old misunderstandings can be avoided.”

In this short summary, we can glean the following information:

Entrance to Heaven, as we have proved, is not the reward of the saved. As Purgatory is a false supposition, avoiding the sufferings there “for temporal sins prior to entering Heaven” is a non-starter. Scripture does NOT support any theology of indulgences in any form. The requirements and rewards of indulgences are a figment of man’s imagination with no Scriptural basis whatsoever. As this teaching is not supported by Scripture, any “misunderstandings” are just not applicable.

For those dead and in Purgatory, as is believed,  it reduces the time spent there before entering Heaven. As we have proved previously, neither Purgatory nor people going to Heaven are biblical concepts, but as Catholics believe in these, they believe that they can pray for the dead and have an effect on the time they will spend in Purgatory.

A vital part of understanding is that an indulgence, if it was true (which it is not), would also negate for those alive, the sowing and reaping principle which we have already reviewed but is worth reiterating: We read in Galatians 6:7: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” In such circumstances, how would we ever learn lessons that God has in store for us?

Let us review the example of king David when considering the false concept of indulgences for the living. David became guilty of a terrible crime by committing adultery with Bathsheba and then having her husband, Uriah, killed. We can learn about this in 2 Samuel 12 where we read the story given by Nathan the prophet and king David’s confession (verses 13-14). There were consequences to David’s action and the child died.  The sowing and reaping principle was shown to be in action very quickly.  Cause and effect cannot be negated just because someone undertakes some action. Had the child lived, it could have been misconstrued that it was perfectly fine to commit such an appalling action with no consequences, as David was the king and a man after God’s own heart, and that God condoned such outrageous behaviour. Of course, God did not, and the reaping and sowing principle remained intact and is still applicable today in spite of Catholic indulgences giving a different and wrong impression of what can happen. In fact, David was punished further in that he would have wars until the end of his life, and in that he was humiliated publicly by the actions of his rebellious son Absalom who slept with David’s concubines in plain sight of the people.

We read in Leviticus 26 the promise of blessing and retribution, and in Deuteronomy 28, blessings on obedience and curses on disobedience are listed, showing that blessings would be given for living God’s Way, and curses for actions if they were disobedient. There is no hint that indulgences, or anything similar, would negate any wrong behaviour by the children of Israel. It was cause and effect; it was sowing and reaping. As we explained, sincere repentance of a person or a nation can avoid punishment and can lead to God’s supernatural intervention to diminish or abolish a certain effect, but “indulgences”—prayers for one’s self or others without any true repentance—cannot do that. And even with true repentance, some effects will still take place, as we saw in the case of David who truly repented and was sorry for his crimes, but they were so egregious that God would not abolish the effects and the punishment. No amount of indulgences could have changed that. Another example is Moses who sinned against God by dishonouring Him before the people, and God told him that because of that, Moses would not be able to enter the Promised Land. Moses pleaded repeatedly with God for a change of His mind, but God did not abolish the punishment.

In 1 Corinthians 10 we read about Old Testament examples showing that we are not to follow that wrong way and that “Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (verse 11).  Ecclesiastes 8:11 advises: “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” Some may be encouraged to sin if they see others doing wrong if they feel that there will no punishment for the evil committed. Without question, sowing and reaping is a principle that is fully operational and indulgences to mitigate their effect are unbiblical and unworkable.

There is no Scriptural evidence about indulgences being available or that someone, in this case, the Pope, could make them available as and when he thinks it is appropriate. It is all founded on a lie and, unfortunately, so many are “taken in” by such pronouncements.

As you will recall, this series of Q&As came as a result of the following quote from one of our Updates:

“Pope Francis invited everyone to receive the ‘Pardon of Assisi’, which can be obtained from the evening of 1 August until midnight on 2 August… ‘It is a plenary indulgence that may be received by partaking of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist and visiting a parish or Franciscan church, reciting the Creed, the Lord’s prayer and praying for the Pope and his intentions,’ the Pope pointed out. He recalled that the indulgence can even be obtained for a deceased person…

“The ‘Pardon of Assisi’ dates back to 1216, when Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and angels appeared before St. Francis. The apparition took place in the tiny Portiuncula, the chapel Francis had built in the Italian town of Assisi. When Jesus asked him [what] he desired for the salvation of souls, St. Francis asked for God to grant a plenary indulgence for all those who enter the chapel. The indulgence was later extended to anyone who visits a parish or Franciscan church on 1 August or 2 August.”

Our comment was: “This is so blasphemous and idolatrous”.

We have endeavoured to cover the original question with other inter-related doctrines and beliefs. We know that at the end of this current age, a great false church will exercise much power.

We have shown in this series that we don’t have an immortal soul; that the soul is the person; that the spirit in man goes back to God at death but that it does not have any consciousness when the person dies; that people don’t go to Purgatory, Heaven or Hell when they die; and that indulgences are simply a plan concocted in the mind of man under Satanic influence.

Further, “Catholic Answers” opines as follows:

“Catholics… recognize that the true ‘rule of faith’—as expressed in the Bible itself—is Scripture plus apostolic tradition, as manifested in the living teaching authority of the Catholic Church, to which were entrusted the oral teachings of Jesus and the apostles, along with the authority to interpret Scripture correctly.’  We read in https://amazingdiscoveries.org/ : ‘The fact that Scripture and Tradition belong together accounts for two rules that direct the way the Church approaches God’s revelation. The first of these rules is stated very simply by Vatican II in these words: It follows from what has been said that the Church does not draw its knowledge of all that God has revealed from holy Scripture alone. That is why both (Tradition and Scripture) must be accepted and respected with equal affection and honour. Secondly, the unbreakable bond between Scripture and Tradition accounts for the fact that for Catholics, Tradition is the context within which the Scriptures are interpreted, just as Tradition itself has to be understood and lived with reference to Scripture.”

This further shows they believe that “Tradition” is on a par with the Bible which is ridiculous, but such an approach certainly enables them to inculcate into their religious system non-biblical beliefs.

In the last Q&A, we quoted Christ’s condemnation that we worship Him in vain when we teach traditions and as doctrines the commandments or concepts of men (Matthew 15:9; Mark 7:9), while at the same time rejecting God’s Word and His commandments.

Let us finish this series quoting from our booklet “Is That in the Bible? The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation”. In chapter 20, “The Fall of Babylon the Great – Revelation 18,” we state:

“While in Revelation 17 the religious nature of the last resurrection of the Roman Empire is vividly depicted, Revelation 18 focuses more, but not exclusively, on the economic nature of that last resurrection.

“Let us quote again these interesting comments by the Ryrie Study Bible, in their annotation to Revelation 17:5: ‘In chapter 17 Babylon represents the false religious system that will center in Rome… In chapter 18 it represents more the political and commercial aspect of the revived Roman Empire…Thus the term stands both for a city and for a system (religious and commercial) related to the city (much like “Wall Street,” which is both a place and a system).’…

“God warns His people not to participate in this Babylonian system, by accepting the mark of the beast and becoming RICH thereby (compare Revelation 18:3–4…) Its merchandise even included ‘the bodies and souls of men’ (Revelation 18:13). Also in it, the blood of the saints was found (Revelation 18:24), and through its false teachings and sorcery all the nations were deceived (Revelation 18:3, 23).

“Lehman Strauss comments on modern Babylon’s wealth and religious persecution, as follows: ‘The wealth of the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant denominations combined adds up to many billions of dollars (p. 298)… The unscriptural doctrines of purgatory, the last rites, and masses for the dead have brought untold wealth into the treasury (p. 310)… Sir Robert Anderson, of Scotland Yard fame, estimated that Rome was guilty of the death of 50,000,000 Christians (p. 299)… She will be judged because of the untold number of victims whom she slaughtered in the inquisition and in St. Bartholomew’s Massacre. She must pay for those shocking murders and for the many bloody persecutions which followed (p. 314)’ [and which still will occur in the near future].

“God will destroy the modern city of Babylon (Revelation 18:10, 16, 18, 19, 21) ‘in one day’ and ‘in one hour’ (Revelation 18:8, 10, 17). God will totally wipe out that city, as well as the religious, economic, political and military system it represents, to become a habitation and prison for demons (Revelation 18:2).

“The warning and the lesson for God’s people is very clear: ‘Come out of her, My people,’ God says. Have nothing to do with her. Be and stay separate, and don’t touch what is unclean. Don’t participate in other men’s sins. There are always some who think that they need to remain within an apostate religious system and perhaps try to ‘reform’ it. It never works—and it is against God’s specific instructions!

“We will observe, very shortly, the final revival of the ancient Roman Empire in Europe. A most powerful world-ruling Empire will emerge, attempting to impose its religious and military ‘values’ on everybody. As we know these things, we ought to take very seriously Christ’s warning in Luke 21:34–36: ‘But TAKE HEED to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to ESCAPE all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man [at His return].’”

It will serve as a fitting conclusion to repeat what we said at the very beginning of this series, namely:

This series on indulgences and underlying concepts is focusing on just one example to show how incredibly unbiblical certain Roman Catholic teachings are. It is so sad that millions upon millions of people believe these ideas without even realizing the absolute absurdity contained in them. Very soon, the Roman Catholic Church, which is described in the Book of Revelation as a fallen church which has rejected God’s Truth, will impose the “mark of the beast” on people readily willing to accept it. This will be the culmination of satanic blasphemy. Protestants have for a long time identified the Catholic Church as the “Babylon” of the book of Revelation, without fully realizing that they are thereby including themselves in that description, as the fallen church is depicted as the “mother church” which has “daughter churches” or “harlot daughters.”

We have much more information on that famous mark of the beast. If you are interested, please read our free booklets, “Europe on Prophecy,” “Is That in the Bible? The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation”; “The Ten European Revivals of the Ancient Roman Empire,” and “Obeying God Rather Than Men.”

The purpose of this series has been to speak out for the Truth. We are not fighting against flesh and blood or any human organization, but against Satan, the god of this world and the prince of the power of the air, who has found an easy target in Roman Catholic and Protestant concepts which are really nothing else but pagan ideas which have been given a “Christian” mantle.

Satan has deceived the whole world, which does not know that it is deceived—for otherwise, it would not be deceived anymore. But God has opened your eyes and ears if you have read this series with understanding. Then, God expects your response in turning to Him with your whole heart and embracing His Word, while leaving behind the false ideas, concepts, doctrines and traditions of men.

Lead Writers: Brian Gale (United Kingdom) and Norbert Link

In the previous parts of this series, we began to discuss many concepts taught by the Roman Catholic church, related to their doctrine of indulgences. We saw that indulgences are required, according to Catholic tradition and theology, to ensure that help and assistance is given in Purgatory (a place that doesn’t exist and has no validity from Scripture), so that humans can go to Heaven (which Scripture clearly shows is not the place for the dead, nor is Hell, as commonly understood in orthodox Christianity!)  We also pointed out that the idea of indulgences applies in different ways: It addresses those who are in “Purgatory” (or “Hell”) and for whom prayers and “indulgences” are given by the living or the “saints in Heaven”, so that they can be freed from Purgatory (or Hell); and it can apply to people in this life who give indulgences (for themselves) so that they do not have to suffer in Purgatory (or Hell) for as long as they otherwise would have to.

We also began to discuss the concept of partial indulgences (removing part of the “temporal” punishment due to sin), and of plenary indulgences (removing all temporal punishment due to sin). We also saw that the Catholic church teaches that indulgences “cannot remit the eternal penalty of hell. Once a person is in hell, no amount of indulgences will ever change that fact. The only way to avoid hell is by appealing to God’s eternal mercy while still alive.”

With this background, we will continue to discuss the FALSE concept of indulgences and explain and prove further from the Bible WHY it is false.

On the website https://www.catholic.com/tract/myths-about-indulgences, we read the following:

“How many of one’s temporal penalties can be remitted?

“Potentially, all of them. The Church recognizes that Christ and the saints are interested in helping penitents deal with the aftermath of their sins, as indicated by the fact they always pray for us (Heb. 7:25, Rev. 5:8). Fulfilling its role in the administration of temporal penalties, the Church draws upon the rich supply of rewards God chose to bestow on the saints, who pleased him, and on his Son, who pleased him most of all.”

Both Scriptures mentioned above have nothing to do with indulgences [or the “saints in heaven” praying for the living or for those who are “suffering in purgatory or hell”]. Hebrews 7:25 is an affirmation of the fact that Jesus Christ is our High Priest and shows that we don’t need to use a Catholic priest to have access to God the Father. In 1 Timothy 2:5 we read: “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus…”

We read in Wikipedia: “Absolution is an integral part of the Sacrament of Penance in Roman Catholicism. The penitent makes a sacramental confession of all mortal sins to a priest and prays an act of contrition (a genre of prayers). The priest then assigns a penance and imparts absolution in the name of the Trinity, on behalf of Christ Himself, using a fixed sacramental formula.”

The Catholic church believes that a Catholic priest can give absolution to a dying person but this is not biblical. Only God can forgive sins upon true repentance (see Luke 5:21 and Mark 2:7). We read that absolution, in the ecclesiastical sense, implies a remission of sin or its penalties. In the Roman Catholic church the power to absolve is vested in the priest as we read above, and he assigns a penance! However, we are NOT to confess our sins to a priest, but to God.

Also, this absolution is made in the name of the Trinity which is yet another non-biblical error.  There is nothing biblical about this approach at all.

As we have seen, the Bible does not teach the Trinity. God is a Family, consisting of God the Father (the Highest in the Godhead), and of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Holy Spirit is NOT a Person or part of the Trinity, but the POWER emanating from the Father AND the Son, and it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that both the Father and the Son can live and dwell in a converted Christian. God wants to enlarge His Family, and those who have received the Holy Spirit upon proper baptism are BEGOTTEN children of God. They will become BORN AGAIN children of God at the time of their resurrection or change to eternal life. THEN they will enter God’s Family as immortal God beings. The Trinity, which is an unalterable and closed concept without the possibility of access into the Kingdom and Family of God, DENIES this important doctrine and is therefore blasphemous.

The above-cited website continues:

“The rewards on which the Church draws are infinite because Christ is God, so the rewards he accrued are infinite and never can be exhausted. The rewards of the saints are added to Christ’s—not because anything is lacking in his, but because it is fitting that they be united with his rewards as the saints are united with him. Although immense, their rewards are finite, but his are infinite.”

We don’t even try to “explain” this unintelligible babbling. Continuing:

“If the Church has the resources to wipe out everyone’s temporal penalties, why doesn’t it do so?

“Because God does not wish this to be done. God himself instituted the pattern of temporal penalties being left behind. They fulfill valid functions, one of them disciplinary. If a child were never disciplined, he would never learn obedience. God disciplines us as his children — ‘the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives’ (Heb. 12:6) — so some temporal penalties must remain.

“The Church cannot wipe out everyone’s temporal punishments because their remission depends on the dispositions of the persons who suffer those temporal punishments. Just as repentance and faith are needed for the remission of eternal penalties, so they are needed for the remission of temporal penalties. Pope Paul VI stated, ‘Indulgences cannot be gained without a sincere conversion of outlook and unity with God’ (Indulgentarium Doctrina 11).”

These “explanations” are likewise convoluted and confusing. As we pointed out in the last instalment, the Catholic church’s teaching on having to endure temporal punishment (the time a person is being tortured in Purgatory) is blatantly wrong. But what can be gleaned from them is this:

The Roman Catholic church takes too much upon itself, erroneously thinking that it has power to do such things which it does not. In our Q&A, “Was the Apostle Peter the first Bishop of Rome and the first Pope?,” we write as follows (where we also point out that Peter was NOT the first Pope but even if he had been, he would not have been given that kind of authority which popes are claiming for themselves):

“The word ‘Peter,’ i.e., ‘petros’ in Greek, means ‘a little stone.’ The ‘rock,’ on which Christ would build His church, is ‘petra’ in Greek, meaning a solid rock. Christ was not saying here that Christ would build the church on ‘Peter,’ but on THE ROCK — Christ Himself. It is CHRIST who is identified as ‘THE ROCK’ in passages such as 1 Corinthians 10:4. Peter, as well as the other apostles, in addition to the prophets, are part of the foundation, but Christ is the CHIEF cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20). The Church is built on Christ, who is the LIVING Head of the Church (Ephesians 4:15).”

Continuing:

“How does one determine by what amount penalties have been lessened?

“Before Vatican II each indulgence was said to remove a certain number of “days” from one’s discipline—for instance, an act might gain “300 days’ indulgence”—but the use of the term “days” confused people, giving them the mistaken impression that in purgatory time as we know it still exists and that we can calculate our “good time” in a mechanical way. The number of days associated with indulgences actually never meant that that much “time” would be taken off one’s stay in purgatory. Instead, it meant that an indefinite but partial (not complete) amount of remission would be granted, proportionate to what ancient Christians would have received for performing that many days’ penance.

“To overcome the confusion Paul VI issued a revision of the handbook (Enchiridion is the formal name) of indulgences. Today, numbers of days are not associated with indulgences. They are either plenary or partial.”

To be clear, the above “explanation” only attempts to confuse the Catholic church’s teaching even more. As we pointed out in our series, it is CLEARLY the Roman Catholic church’s teaching that indulgences are given for the purpose of shortening the TIME a sinner suffers in Purgatory. The above-cited “explanation” is hopelessly convoluted, and if it is supposed to convey that indulgences are not meant to shorten the time of suffering in Purgatory, it is incorrect, but it shows that even Catholics do not understand their own teaching.

The Catholic church and the Pope can continue to make explanations of an absurd doctrine which has no biblical basis and “blind” their faithful, but Purgatory and indulgences make a mockery of the truth which the Bible reveals to those with eyes to see.

Continuing with the above-cited Website:

“What’s the difference between a partial and a plenary indulgence?

“An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin (Indulgentarium Doctrina 2, 3). Only God knows exactly how efficacious any particular partial indulgence is or whether a plenary indulgence was received at all.”

Again, the same false and blasphemous concept is conveyed here that God tortures a person who died and dwells in Purgatory.

“Don’t indulgences duplicate or even negate the work of Christ?

“Despite the biblical underpinnings of indulgences, some are sharply critical of them and insist the doctrine supplants the work of Christ and turns us into our own saviors. This objection results from confusion about the nature of indulgences and about how Christ’s work is applied to us.

“Indulgences apply only to temporal penalties, not to eternal ones. The Bible indicates that these penalties may remain after a sin has been forgiven and that God lessens these penalties as rewards to those who have pleased him. Since the Bible indicates this, Christ’s work cannot be said to have been supplanted by indulgences.

“The merits of Christ, since they are infinite, comprise most of those in the treasury of merits. By applying these to believers, the Church acts as Christ’s servant in the application of what he has done for us, and we know from Scripture that Christ’s work is applied to us over time and not in one big lump (Phil. 2:12, 1 Pet. 1:9).”

What the above-cited statement misunderstands is the concept of giving an account to God, which DOES occur after a person has been resurrected back to life. But this has nothing to do with remaining penalties after sins have been forgiven. For a thorough explanation, please read our free booklet, “Punishment for Our Sins.”

A key concept in the quoted statement above is that “Indulgences apply only to temporal penalties, not to eternal ones”. The Bible reveals, when properly understood, that “temporal penalties”, the sowing and reaping principle, is something that a true Christian has to be cognisant of in this life now. No intervention by a large church can countermand this. When we have fallen short and sin, as we often do, we repent personally, not through some human church representative, but to God to ask for forgiveness. It is a personal matter as repentance can only come from the individual concerned.

Continuing:

“Isn’t it better to put all of the emphasis on Christ alone?

“If we ignore the fact of indulgences, we neglect what Christ does through us, and we fail to recognize the value of what he has done in us. Paul used this very sort of language: ‘Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church’ (Col. 1:24).

“Even though Christ’s sufferings were superabundant (far more than needed to pay for anything), Paul spoke of completing what was ‘lacking’ in Christ’s sufferings. If this mode of speech was permissible for Paul, it is permissible for us.

“Catholics should not be defensive about indulgences. They are based on principles straight from the Bible. Pope Paul VI declared, ‘[T]he Church invites all its children to think over and weigh up in their minds as well as they can how the use of indulgences benefits their lives and all Christian society. . . . Supported by these truths, holy Mother Church again recommends the practice of indulgences to the faithful’ (Indulgentarium Doctrina, 9, 11).”

We have already explained WHY much of what is written above is blatantly wrong. But one aspect needs our comment. The statement above claims that indulgences benefit all involved, as they somehow relate to completing what is lacking in Christ’s suffering. Apart from the fact that this concept would be totally contradictory from a Roman Catholic teaching’s standpoint (as indulgences would prevent such completion), Paul is drawing an analogy, stating that as Christ suffered, so he must too, and that he has to complete the suffering allotted to him, also for the sake of the members—he would stay a bit longer with them rather than dying soon–—but he refers to THIS life, not to some sort of an “afterlife.”

Continuing:

“How to Gain an Indulgence

“To gain any indulgence you must be a Catholic in order to be under the Church’s jurisdiction, and you must be in a state of grace because apart from God’s grace none of your actions are fundamentally pleasing to God (meritorious). You also must have at least the habitual intention of gaining an indulgence by the act performed.

“To gain a partial indulgence, you must perform with a contrite heart the act to which the indulgence is attached. To gain a plenary indulgence you must perform the act with a contrite heart, plus you must go to confession (one confession may suffice for several plenary indulgences), receive Holy Communion, and pray for the pope’s intentions. The final condition is that you must be free from all attachment to sin, including venial sin. If you attempt to receive a plenary indulgence, but are unable to meet the last condition, a partial indulgence is received instead.

“Below are indulgences listed in the Handbook of Indulgences (New York: Catholic Book Publishing, 1991):

“An act of spiritual communion, expressed in any devout formula whatsoever, is endowed with a partial indulgence.

“A partial indulgence is granted the Christian faithful who devoutly spend time in mental prayer.

“A plenary indulgence is granted when the rosary is recited in a church or oratory or when it is recited in a family, a religious community, or a pious association. A partial indulgence is granted for its recitation in all other circumstances.

“A partial indulgence is granted the Christian faithful who read sacred Scripture with the veneration due God’s word and as a form of spiritual reading. The indulgence will be a plenary one when such reading is done for at least one-half hour [provided the other conditions are met].

“A partial indulgence is granted to the Christian faithful who devoutly sign themselves with the cross while saying the customary formula: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

“In summary, the practice of indulgences neither takes away nor adds to the work of Christ. It is his work, through his body the Church, raising up children in his own likeness.”

However, the concept of indulgences CLEARLY DESTROYS the Work of Christ, both adding to or taking away from the Truth. We can see how much ridiculous human thinking and reasoning has gone into coming up with a non-biblical doctrine. First, one must be a Catholic to gain any indulgence (It does not matter to us as indulgences are a human invention anyhow and in contraction to God’s Word.)  Apart from the ridiculous distinction between plenary and partial indulgences, just looking at the listed indulgences above is an apt testimony to (ungodly) requirements that have just been arbitrarily thought up by some human being without any underlying biblical instruction or godly understanding or authority. For example, the place and circumstances of praying the rosary (an ungodly and pagan practice) is to decide whether one receives a plenary or partial indulgence. Also, the last one quoted above talks about signing with the cross [a pagan symbol and a pagan practice] while saying a prescribed formula. There is nothing in God’s Word that approves such an approach but is simply concocted out of the mind of man. In fact, Christ condemns such kind of “worship.”

In Matthew 6:7, Christ warns us against meaningless repetitions (like praying the rosary which is also vain and meaningless as Mary is dead and in the grave): “But when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many [repetitious] words.”

Christ also told us this, in Matthew 15:9: “And in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” In Mark 7:9, He added: “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.”

How can one honestly deny the fact that the concept of indulgences is a human tradition which is contradicted by God’s Word and which rejects God’s commandment to worship Him in spirit and in TRUTH (John 4:24)?

(To be continued)

Lead Writers: Brian Gale (United Kingdom) and Norbert Link

In the previous parts of this series, we began to discuss the concept taught by the Roman Catholic church that the “immortal souls” of departed ones may be in Hell or Purgatory, and that “indulgences” or prayers for the dead can allegedly remove, partially (“plenary”) or completely (“in full”), punishment for sin, so that their souls can be freed from Purgatory or even Hell to go to Heaven. In order to answer the question regarding indulgences, we reviewed, among other questions, related issues such as the fact that we do not have an immortal soul; that we neither go to Heaven (where we, as immortal saints in Heaven, could allegedly receive prayers from the living and intervene on their behalf), nor do we go to Hell (as defined by orthodox Christianity) or Purgatory when we die.

We also discussed the spirit in man and showed that it is not just another concept for an immortal soul; but that the spirit in man has no consciousness when a person dies. We then began to review the Roman Catholic church’s teaching on Purgatory and showed why this concept is wrong.

With this background, we will now discuss in much detail the Roman Catholic church’s teaching on indulgences.

Indulgences are required, according to Catholic tradition and theology, to ensure that help and assistance is given in Purgatory, a place that doesn’t exist and has no validity from Scripture, so that humans can go to Heaven which Scripture clearly shows is not the place for the dead, nor is Hell, as commonly understood in orthodox Christianity! However, understanding the mind of man at work in setting up an elaborate and unnecessary system in an apostate church, which it has been throughout its existence and which it will continue to be at the end of this age, the enemy of true Christians, helps us to realise where many of our future problems will emanate.

To better understand the concept of indulgences, we should point out that it applies in at least three different ways: It addresses those who are in “Purgatory” (or “Hell”) and for whom prayers and “indulgences” (see below) are given by the living or the “saints in Heaven”, so that they can be freed from Purgatory (or Hell); and it can apply to people in this life who give indulgences (for themselves) so that they do not have to suffer in Purgatory (or Hell) for as long as they otherwise would have to.

On the website https://www.aboutcatholics.com/beliefs/indulgences/ we read the following:

“The History of Indulgences

 “Indulgences have a controversial place in the history of the Catholic Church. The buying and selling of indulgences is what helped to launch the Reformation.

 “Indulgences began in about the ninth century A.D. as a means to substitute a set of tasks for a difficult to fulfill penance. Since the time of the early Church, penance for sins was usually long, difficult, and severe. Someone might do penance for years. So sometimes praying a particular prayer or performing an act of piety could substitute for a penance altogether or take some time off the assigned penance. This type of practice created a sort of Church currency by which people could exchange a difficult penance for a calculated number of prayers or alms. Indulgences showed the mercy of God, exercised through the authority of the Church.”

It is interesting to read that “people could exchange a difficult penance for a calculated number of prayers or alms.” We read in Matthew 7:13-14: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Those who are looking for an easier way out are not those who expect to live a difficult way of life because of the opposition to the true Way of God.  It is a reduced “opt-out” clause which cannot be sanctioned by the correct reading of Scripture!

Christ asks the timeless question, in Matthew 16:26: “… what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” The answer is, he cannot buy himself or others out of their destiny. David adds: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require… I delight in Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:6, 8). In Psalm 51:16-17, we read: “For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, you will not despise.” Again, the thought is conveyed that one cannot buy himself or others out of punishment by giving God (or the church) money or “sacrifices.”

“During the Crusades under Pope Urban II (1088-1099) Christians who could not participate in the Crusades personally could do so vicariously by almsgiving. Those who personally took part received a plenary indulgence upon death.

“In 1343 Pope Clement VI officially sanctioned the view that Christ had left the Church a treasury of satisfactions that Church officials could dispense (an indulgence) for the remission of the temporal punishment due to sin. By this point indulgences usually were associated with time in Purgatory rather than public penance on earth. One obtained an indulgence, usually granted by the Pope, by performing some good work, sometimes a donation of money. Official doctrine always required internal repentance by the recipient, even if the practice of donating money was often abused.”

Our good works do not save us from death, nor do they abolish punishment. Eternal life is a gift from God—we do not receive it because of our works—and punishment for sin (eternal death or physical consequences because of sin) can be mitigated or avoided upon deep and sincere repentance of the wrong which we might have done.

There is no biblical evidence “that Christ had left the Church a treasury of satisfactions that Church officials could dispense (an indulgence) for the remission of the temporal punishment due to sin.”  This is simply the Catholic church taking to itself power that it has not received in the first place and Scripture has to be manipulated to make this an official doctrine.

“The Controversy Surrounding Indulgences

“Martin Luther objected to indulgences because the common practice of his day did not fit well with his view that good works could not take away the punishment due to sin. Indulgences also set up the Church as a mediator of God’s grace, a role that Martin Luther thought the Church could not and should not play. Furthermore, although Catholics would disagree with Martin Luther’s theology, it is undeniable that abuses were occurring at the time.

“With the abuses of indulgences in his day, often the only thing that was officially preached by Church leaders was offering indulgences in exchange for making a donation to the church. Often there was little emphasis on Christ’s sacrifice and the forgiveness of sin which only comes from God. Luther did not initially seek to strike down indulgences altogether (although by the end of his theological career he was entirely against indulgences), but he challenged the common practice at the time.

“The practice of trading indulgences for money wrongly de-emphasizes the need for interior conversion and repentance. Although donating money is a pious action, it is easy to see how this practice devolved into people believing they could buy their way out of Purgatory.”

It is true that ONLY the supreme Sacrifice of Jesus Christ can free us from eternal death, upon our repentance and belief in His Sacrifice. In addition, donating money is not necessarily a pious action; it can be given for personal enhancement.  People could not buy their way out of a place that didn’t exist in the first place (Purgatory), but it helped the finances of the church, a very rich church, to increase their wealth through an unproved and unscriptural way.

“The Council of Trent, which was held to respond to the challenges of the Reformation, addressed indulgences. The Council affirmed that the Church has the right and the power to grant indulgences. However, the Council agreed with the Protestant reformers that there were many abuses surrounding indulgences that needed to be corrected.”

The concept that “The Council affirmed that the Church has the right and the power to grant indulgences” shows that this was a self-serving council who either had no real biblical knowledge or were complicit in deceiving their membership. No wonder they didn’t want the Bible to be available to the masses, in English or in any other “common” language spoken and understood by the people, as their fraud could have been discovered by those with sufficient learning at that time. It is abhorrent, but true, to realize that the Catholic church FORBADE their members to possess or read the Bible and that even today, Catholic priests do not have to study the Bible to become priests.

“Later History of Indulgences

“Pope Paul VI changed the norms around indulgences by seeking to eliminate the commercial aspect they had acquired over the centuries. He described it as a treasury of merits. Indulgences are now designed to spur Christians to spiritual tasks such as devotion, penance, and charity.”

The concept of “penance” is another false idea. The Bible does not speak of penance, but of repentance. It does not require certain actions–such as going on a pilgrimage—but a change of heart and mind—a deep recognition as to how wrong one has been and has acted, and to acquire a new heart, to leave the false way behind and to go the Way of God.

We then read about the types of indulgences from this same website.

“A partial indulgence removes part of the temporal punishment due to sin.

“Some ways to gain a partial indulgence are by

     “Praying the Magnificat or Hail, Holy Queen;

     “Praying the Acts of Faith, Hope, and Love, and the Creed;

     “Making the sign of the cross;

     “Visiting the Blessed Sacrament; or

     “Visiting a cemetery.

“A plenary indulgence removes all temporal punishment due to sin.

“The conditions for a plenary indulgence are

     “Receive the sacrament of Reconciliation;

     “Receive Holy Communion; and

     “Say a prayer for the Pope. 

“Some ways to gain a plenary indulgence are through 

     “Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for at least one-half hour;

     “Reading Scripture for at least one-half hour;

     “Reciting the Way of the Cross; or

     “Praying the rosary in a church or with a family group or religious community.

“There may be other ways not listed here that the pope or a local bishop could authorize as a means to gain a partial or plenary indulgence. Often plenary indulgences are attached to actions Catholics can do appropriate to particular feast days.

“Note that the ways to obtain an indulgence all involve prayer or an act of piety. This is because our sins hurt the world, and our prayers can help the world heal from the hurt our sins cause.”

When you read some of the requirements as above, it would be humorous if it were not so serious! Making the sign of the cross, visiting a cemetery, saying a prayer for the pope, reading Scripture for at least one-half hour, praying the rosary, plus much more! All made up from the mind of man – and no Scriptural references whatsoever. In addition, many of the concepts associated with the way as to how to obtain indulgences are blatantly blasphemous—such as praying to Mary, “the holy Queen” (whereas the true Mary, the mother of Jesus, is dead and in her grave).

There was a comment from someone who had read all of these “rules and regulations” as above, who wrote:

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23). Only God can forgive sin, and only by his grace through Jesus Christ – nothing that we can do. Making up all these rules to ‘pray this’ and ‘read scripture for at least a half hour’ makes a mockery of the free gift that Jesus gives.”

We will address the concept of the removal of “temporal” punishment below.

On the website: https://www.catholic.com/tract/myths-about-indulgences we can read about a number of myths that the Catholic church address. We will quote just a few of these.

“Myth 1: A person can buy his way out of hell with indulgences.

“Since indulgences remit only temporal penalties, they cannot remit the eternal penalty of hell. Once a person is in hell, no amount of indulgences will ever change that fact. The only way to avoid hell is by appealing to God’s eternal mercy while still alive. After death, one’s eternal fate is set (Heb. 9:27).”

Again, we see that the Catholics believe that people go to hell which we have proved by our many writings over many years is not a biblical concept.

In addition, it is not true that when a person dies, his or her fate is sealed. This is only correct for those who died in Christ (as true Christians)—they will be resurrected to eternal life in the Kingdom and Family of God—and for those who have committed the unpardonable sin. They will be cast in the Third Resurrection into the lake of fire, to be burned up. The parable of Lazarus and the rich man shows that at that time, nothing can be done to change that fate; no amount of prayers or indulgences will save the unrepentant sinner from total annihilation.  But for those who were not called in this life and who did not commit the unpardonable sin, they will be resurrected to a physical existence in the Second Resurrection, and then they can determine their fate—whether they are willing to live God’s Way of Life, or whether they are willing to die the eternal death. But again, indulgences won’t help them in regard to their fate.

“Myth 3: A Person can ‘buy forgiveness’ with Indulgences

“The definition of indulgences presupposes that forgiveness has already taken place: ‘An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven’ (Indulgentarium Doctrina 1, emphasis added). Indulgences in no way forgive sins. They deal only with punishments left after sins have been forgiven.”

The belief is that indulgences can be for people still alive and who are “in purgatory,” neither of which have any Scriptural support.

When the Catholic church speaks of “temporal” punishment, they mean the time of torture in Purgatory. This concept is blatantly false and blasphemous. But it is true, of course, that sins can have physical consequences. We discuss this in great length in our free booklet, “Punishment for Our Sins.” A person who drinks and drives might have an accident and lose a leg. His sin will be forgiven upon true repentance, but the physical consequence—the lost leg—is something he will have to live with, and indulgences won’t restore the person to his former state in this life. (Of course, certain physical and spiritual consequences can be mitigated or even eradicated in this life, due to prayer and faith in Christ’s Sacrifice and in God’s almighty power, subject to the Will of God, such as the consequence of depression due to sin or the contraction of a disease due to sinful conduct.) On the other hand, once a person dies and then is resurrected, he is NOT resurrected with only one leg if he lost the other leg prior to his death, due to his sin. This kind of “temporal” penalty does not exist, either.

“Myth 5: An indulgence will shorten the time in purgatory by a fixed number of days.

“The number of days which used to be attached to indulgences were references to the period of penance one might undergo during life on earth. The Catholic Church does not claim to know anything about how long or short purgatory is in general, much less in a specific person’s case.”

As there is no Purgatory where the soul will suffer, the whole concept of trying to figure out as to how long the person (the “soul”) would suffer in Purgatory without indulgences, and how to shorten that time through indulgences, is just ludicrous. It would also certainly compound a grave error if the Catholic church were to claim the length of any case of [a non-existent] Purgatory. By propounding such a doctrine makes it an opponent of true Christianity.

“Myth 6: A Person Can Buy Indulgences”

“The Council of Trent instituted severe reforms in the practice of granting indulgences, and, because of prior abuses, ‘in 1567 Pope Pius V canceled all grants of indulgences involving any fees or other financial transactions’ (Catholic Encyclopedia).”

At least the Catholic church acknowledges abuses although it would be difficult to do otherwise as history shows that Martin Luther made a great play of their unscriptural basis.

(To be continued)

Lead Writers: Brian Gale (United Kingdom) and Norbert Link

In the first three parts of this series, we began to discuss the concept taught by the Roman Catholic Church that the “immortal souls” of departed ones may be in hell or purgatory, and that “indulgences” or prayers for the dead can allegedly remove, partially (“plenary”) or completely (“in full”), punishment for sin, so that their souls can be freed from purgatory or even hell to go to heaven. In order to answer the question regarding indulgences, we reviewed, among other questions, related issues such as the fact that we do not have an immortal soul; that we neither go to heaven (where we, as immortal saints in heaven, could allegedly receive prayers from the living and intervene on their behalf), nor do we go to hell or purgatory when we die.

We also discussed the spirit in man and showed that it is not just another concept for an immortal soul; but that the spirit in man has no consciousness when a person dies. Rather, upon death, the entire human being—spirit, body and soul (1 Thessalonians 5:23)—ceases to “live” or have any conscious “life” in any manner, shape or form.

In part 4, we began to review the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching on purgatory, and we will continue to show in this part why this concept is wrong.

We again quote from the website of https://www.catholic.com/tract/purgatory in regard to this Catholic teaching, falsely attempting to “prove” that the early Christian Church believed in it:

“Why No Protests?

“A study of the history of doctrines indicates that Christians in the first centuries were up in arms if anyone suggested the least change in beliefs. They were extremely conservative people who tested a doctrine’s truth by asking, Was this believed by our ancestors? Was it handed on from the apostles? Surely belief in purgatory would be considered a great change, if it had not been believed from the first—so where are the records of protests?

“They don’t exist. There is no hint at all, in the oldest writings available to us (or in later ones, for that matter), that ‘true believers’ in the immediate post-apostolic years spoke of purgatory as a novel doctrine. They must have understood that the oral teaching of the apostles, what Catholics call tradition, and the Bible not only failed to contradict the doctrine, but, in fact, confirmed it.

“It is no wonder, then, that those who deny the existence of purgatory tend to touch upon only briefly the history of the belief. They prefer to claim that the Bible speaks only of heaven and hell. Wrong. It speaks plainly of a third condition, commonly called the limbo of the Fathers, where the just who had died before the redemption were waiting for heaven to be opened to them. After his death and before his resurrection, Christ visited those experiencing the limbo of the Fathers and preached to them the good news that heaven would now be opened to them (1 Pet. 3:19). These people thus were not in heaven, but neither were they experiencing the torments of hell.”

There are several matters to address in the above statements.

The following assertion is patently wrong: “A study of the history of doctrines indicates that Christians in the first centuries were up in arms if anyone suggested the least change in beliefs.”   The Catholic Church brought in the change of Sunday worship instead of the weekly seventh-day Sabbath and we don’t read of protests at all at that time.

In an old Global Church of God booklet from 1995, we read about what happened to the Church.

“When we look at the story of the mainstream, professing Christian church throughout the centuries, it appears to be a vastly different church from the one described in the pages of your New Testament. In the book of Acts we find that God’s church celebrated ‘Jewish’ holy days (Acts 2:1; 13-14, 42, 44; 18:21), talked about the return of Jesus Christ to judge the world (Acts 3:20-21; 17:31) and believed in the literal establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth (Acts 1:3, 6; 28:23).

“Yet, less than 300 years later, we find a church claiming apostolic origination, but observing the ‘venerable day of the Sun’ instead of the seventh-day Sabbath. When that church assembled its bishops to discuss doctrinal matters at the council of Nicea, the meeting was presided over by, of all people, a Roman Emperor – Constantine! How could such an amazing transformation have taken place? What happened?

“Protestant author Jesse Lyman Hurlbut acknowledged the dramatic change that took place in his book, The Story of the Christian Church. He wrote, ‘For fifty years after St Paul’s life a curtain hangs over the church, through which we strive vainly to look; and when it at last rises, about 120 A.D. with the writings of the earliest church-fathers, we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the day of St Peter and St Paul” (page 41).

“The story of the Christian church between Pentecost of 31 A.D. and the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., almost 300 years later, is an amazing story. It is the story of how yesterday’s orthodoxy became today’s heresy and how old heresies came to be considered orthodox Christian doctrine. It is the story of how church tradition and the teaching of the bishops came to supersede the Word of God as a source of doctrine. It is a story that is stranger than fiction, yet it is very much historically verifiable.”

That explains why this heretical church changed the weekly Sabbath day to the first day of the week and why there were no protests. The fact of the matter is, the true Church became persecuted and had to go into hiding, while the false church produced and published a narrative to its liking. Dissenting viewpoints were systematically suppressed and dissenters declared to be “anathema” and killed. However, the true Church of God remained intact keeping the doctrines that had been given to it and has remained faithful down through the ages. Although small, apostolic Christianity is today taught by the Church of God which is comprised of those who have the Holy Spirit after repentance and baptism (compare Acts 2:38).

We also need to address the assertion that “After his death and before his resurrection, Christ visited those experiencing the limbo of the Fathers and preached to them the good news that heaven would now be opened to them (1 Pet. 3:19).” This is in error. This cannot be a reference to dead human beings as Jesus went to preach to the spirits in prison who were the angels who sinned. In 2 Peter 2:4 we read: “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment.”

We say in our Q&A, “Does the Bible teach character development in angels?”:

“We are told in 1 Peter 3:19–20: ‘… by which [the Spirit] also he [Christ] went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water’ (Authorized Version).

“The correct understanding of this passage is that Jesus Christ preached to the spirits in prison—the demons—at the time of Noah, when God was about to protect Noah from destruction. Christ used this example to show that the demons who had sinned ‘sometime’—before the creation of man—were still awaiting their judgment.”

This was not after Christ’s resurrection but more than 2,000 years earlier and it is talking about “in the days of Noah”. As we explained in previous instalments, when Christ died, He was in the grave for three days and three nights without any consciousness. He—or His “soul”—did not keep on living. Christ could not have gone anywhere after His death and before His resurrection. He could not have gone to “spirits” to preach to them about the past or the good news that “heaven was open to them” or the coming judgment—because we read that those who are dead know NOTHING. To try and say that this describes the limbo of the Fathers AND that heaven would now be opened to them is a blatant twisting of Scripture. As we proved earlier, no one ascends to heaven after death.

There is also no hint that any “oral teachings of the Apostles” and the Bible confirm the concept of purgatory and/or limbo. As we have seen, the Bible totally rejects the concept of limbo and purgatory. And God’s true apostles would not have preached something which is so diametrically opposite to foundational biblical teachings. The “tradition” of the Catholic Church is just that—human ideas which deny the Truth of God. These traditions, as so many others, have been adopted, as we saw, from paganism and are strongly condemned by God. Compare Matthew 15:3, 6; Colossians 2:8.

Again, returning to the website: https://www.catholic.com/tract/purgatory and reading the explanation “Purgatory Not in Scripture”:

“Some Fundamentalists also charge, ‘The word purgatory is nowhere found in Scripture. This is true, and yet it does not disprove the existence of purgatory or the fact that belief in it has always been part of Church teaching. The words Trinity and Incarnation aren’t in Scripture either, yet those doctrines are clearly taught in it. Likewise, Scripture teaches that purgatory exists, even if it doesn’t use that word and even if 1 Peter 3:19 refers to a place other than purgatory.”

The existence of purgatory has never been a part of the teaching of the true Church of God and is not mentioned in Scripture, although the great false church has adopted this as they have in many other areas. The trinity is not mentioned in Scripture either as they rightly say because it has never been a doctrine of the true Church of God. For a thorough explanation on this subject, please see our booklet: “Is God a Trinity?” 

The third area they mention that is a teaching but not mentioned in Scripture is Incarnation. Wikipedia gives this explanation of the word Incarnation: “Incarnation refers to the act of a pre-existent divine person, the Son of God, in becoming a human being.” Also, in the incarnation, as traditionally defined by those Churches that adhere to the Council of Chalcedon, the divine nature of the Son was united but not mixed with human nature in one divine Person, Jesus Christ, who was both ‘truly God and truly man’. This is central to the traditional faith held by most Christians.”

The concept of the TRUE incarnation is indeed taught in Scripture, but not the concept of the false incarnation, as erroneously taught by the Catholic church and most Protestant churches. We have already addressed the impossibility that Jesus was fully God and fully man.  It is impossible to be both at the same time, when both concepts are in opposition, in spite of mainstream Christianity’s belief that it is so.

The Truth is that Christ was fully man. He became fully flesh and blood. This is explained in our Q&A, titled, “Who was Jesus Christ when He was here on earth about 2,000 years ago?”. We also explain there what the biblical concept of the Incarnation means. Simply put, it teaches that God became Man:

“Jesus Christ was God before He came to this earth…  He was and had to be God–the ‘Immanuel’ or ‘God with us’–when He came to this earth during His First Coming. God clearly tells us that the Word—Jesus Christ—who was God before His human birth, BECAME flesh. Christ came in the flesh by BECOMING flesh. This means that He became totally and fully flesh and blood, like you and I! This is CRUCIAL for you to understand! When Christ BECAME flesh, He was no longer Spirit. He was no longer fully God, because He had become fully man!…

“When Mary became pregnant with Jesus, how did that happen? We read that the Holy Spirit of God, the Father, came upon her—that the power of God overshadowed her (Luke 1:35). From this we can understand that through the Holy Spirit, God, the Father, changed the all-powerful Spirit being, Jesus Christ, into a tiny physical human sperm, fertilizing the egg in the womb of Mary, thus impregnating her. The fetus grew within Mary’s womb like any other human fetus. Jesus was born as a little baby like every other human baby. He was fully flesh, just like you and I are fully flesh…

“The Bible teaches clearly that Jesus Christ–the God of the Old Testament–‘emptied’ Himself and became a human being… It was absolutely NECESSARY for Christ to become FULLY MAN, because only in that way could He become the Savior of man… The only way that Christ—who had been GOD since all eternity—could die, was to become flesh. When He became flesh, He was totally human!… When Christ became flesh, He gave up all of His divine attributes and powers. Simply put, He became a man so that He could die! He was no longer a Spirit being, He was no longer God as we think of God, since God, a Spirit being, cannot die (compare Luke 20:35–36; Isaiah 57:15; 1 Timothy 6:16; 1 Timothy 1:17)…

“Christ became flesh so that He could overcome sin in the flesh. He had to prove that it is possible for man, with the help of God’s Holy Spirit within him, to overcome sin!… Christ was tempted in all points, as we are, but He stayed sinless (Hebrews 4:15, ‘[He] was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.’). He overcame sin in the flesh, resisting temptation (Revelation 3:21). God, a powerful perfect Spirit being—cannot be tempted (compare James 1:13). But we read that Christ WAS tempted. This proves that He was not the all-powerful perfect Spirit being when He was here on this earth that He HAD been prior to His birth as a human being…

“Christ had been an immortal God being. He was changed into a human being, but He was still the same personage He had been since all eternity. Christ, who became human, was still the personage He had always been. He was still the one who had previously met with Abraham, the one who created Adam and Eve, and the one who spoke to Moses face-to-face. He lived as a human being—growing as children do, developing into a young man, and then becoming a rabbi, or teacher, in Judah. But He was still the same individual that He had always been. He had been an immortal God being and He knew that He would become an immortal God being again, subject to qualifying by being and remaining sinless… Christ, when He was here on earth, was, quite literally, Immanuel, or, ‘God with us.’…”

Discussing the concept of purgatory, we read the following on the website https://www.equip.org/article/is-purgatory-a-biblical-concept/ :

“The interpretation of Scripture (called hermeneutics) is built on three preliminary laws. The first is this: Scripture interprets Scripture, called ‘the rule of analogy.’ The second law of hermeneutics is this: The plain meaning of Scripture is usually the true meaning. The third rule is this: Simple passages of Scripture help explain complex passages of Scripture—the simple informs the complicated. Roman Catholic hermeneutics concerning supposed proof texts for purgatory violate all of these laws of hermeneutics. There is no clear, plain, and simple text about purgatory, as there is about both heaven and hell. The Apocrypha cannot be placed equal to inspired Scripture. The Bible plainly speaks about life, death, and judgment: ‘And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment’ (Heb. 9:27)… There is no mention of postmortem purgation at all. Purgatory is an extrabiblical idea, imported into the church in the Middle Ages—a product of tradition but not Scripture. And the Catholic efforts at grasping for hermeneutical straws to support this false belief—‘fire,’ ‘the age to come,’ ‘souls in prison’—betray a lack of clear, precise, and biblical evidence for that place called purgatory.”

With this extensive background, we will now begin to show the connection between the erroneous concept of purgatory and the erroneous concept of indulgences. We will address this connection in much detail in the next instalment. To conclude this part, let us quote from Wikipedia, as follows:

“Catholic doctrine on purgatory is presented as composed of the same two points in the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, first published in 2005, which is a summary in dialogue form of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It deals with purgatory in the following exchange:

“‘210. What is purgatory?

“‘Purgatory is the state of those who die in God’s friendship, assured of their eternal salvation, but who still have need of purification to enter into the happiness of heaven.

“‘211. How can we help the souls being purified in purgatory?

“‘Because of the communion of the saints, the faithful who are still pilgrims on earth are able to help the souls in purgatory by offering prayers in suffrage for them, especially the Eucharistic sacrifice. They also help them by almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance.’”

Wikipedia also states the following under their comments on “the history of purgatory”:

“The idea of Purgatory as a physical place (like heaven and hell) became Roman Catholic teaching in the late 11^th century. Medieval theologians concluded that the purgatorial punishments consisted of material fire. The Western formulation of purgatory proved to be a sticking point in the Great Schism between East and West.  The Roman Catholic Church believes that the living can help those whose purification from their sins is not yet completed not only by praying for them but also by gaining indulgences for them as an act of intercession.”

If there is no purgatory, there is no need for indulgences. In fact, indulgences would be worthless and a waste of time (and money). This will become much clearer in the next instalment.

(To be continued)

Lead Writers: Brian Gale (United Kingdom) and Norbert Link