The Corruption Of The Roman Church — A Timeline

A Woman Rides the Beast

Surely, this is not the “true Church of God” as they proclaim themselves to be! If you’re Roman Catholic, I encourage you to read this and see for yourself how far removed from the true teachings of God these traditions of men are! Refutations to these man-made traditions follow immediately after each event, and are taken directly from Scripture.

300 A.D.: Practice of praying for the dead and “signing with the cross” introduced.

375 A.D.: Veneration of dead people and use of statues and images as part of worship introduced.

500 A.D.: Doctrine of purgatory first preached by the Roman Catholic Church.

500 A.D.: Priests adopt a different form of dress than the laity. The costumes were copied from that of Roman government officials.

600 A.D.: Pope Gregory I mandates that only Latin is to be used in church worship, a language that practically none of the laity could understand.

610 A.D.: Pope Gregory the Great mandates the practice of baptizing infants.

750 A.D.: Papacy changes from a church office to a state office. The pope was seen as the head of the “Holy Roman Empire.”

754 A.D.: Alarmed by the then common practice of laity kissing and worshiping religious statues and pictures, Pope Leo III bans them from the church.

788 A.D.: Worship of statues, images and supposed relics of dead “saints” was reintroduced into the Roman Catholic Church, this time to stay.

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Exodus 20:4-6

850 A.D.: “Holy water” was introduced into worship. Its use was believed to scare away demons.

965 A.D.: “Baptism” of church bells was introduced as a Roman Catholic Church practice.

995 A.D.: Pope John XV decreed that only those that he “canonized” could be called saints.

998 A.D.: Fasting on Fridays was imposed. The exception made for fish during this fast is said to be because profits from fishing contributed a great deal to the Pope’s treasury at the time.

1050 A.D. (approximate): Mass evolved into a ceremony where Christ was said to be sacrificed again and again at the command of the priest (each time the ceremony was performed). Attendance at Mass was made mandatory in all Catholic countries.

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit

1 Peter 3:18

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

John 19:30

even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’” “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.”

Romans 9:24-28

1079 A.D.: Pope Hildebrand, Boniface VIII bans marriage among priests (married priests were common until then).

This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus

1 Timothy 2:3-5

1090 A.D.: Rosary beads were introduced into the church. The church got the idea from their Islamic and pagan neighbors who had used them in their worship.

1096 A.D.: Practice of selling “indulgences” to raise money for the church instituted. According to the church, by purchasing an indulgence, one’s time in purgatory was shortened.

But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!

Acts 8:20

1215 A.D.: Pope Innocent III made confession of one’s sins to a priest at least once a year mandatory.

1215 A.D.: Roman Catholic laity banned from drinking the wine during communion (only priests were granted this privilege).

1215 A.D.: “Transubstantiation” made a part of Roman Catholic doctrine. Transubstantiation is the doctrine that the communion bread and wine magically turns into the actual flesh and blood of Jesus Christ during the mass.

And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Acts 1:9-11

1220 A.D.: “Adoration of the wafer” instituted by Pope Honorius; literally the worship of the bread used during communion.

I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

Isaiah 42:8

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

John 4:23-24

1229 A.D.: Roman Catholic laity were forbidden to own or read a Bible; reading the Bible was declared to be a mortal sin. Getting caught violating this decree could lead to a death sentence. Bible verses and concepts were only to be passed down to laity through the priests’ sermons and church ceremonies.

1245 A.D.: The Roman Catholic Church declared that a sinner can not be pardoned unless he confess his sin to a priest and receive “absolution” from that priest.

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus

1 Timothy 2:5

“Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Mark 2:7

1287 A.D.: Use of the scapular comes into practice in the Roman Catholic Church. The scapular was an undergarment that acted as a lucky charm, warding off disease, lightning, fire, storms, enchantments and evil spirits.

1302 A.D.: Pope Boniface VIII declares that only those in full obedience to the pope can be saved from hell.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Colossians 1:15-20

For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 3:11

For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.

Ephesians 5:23

1439 A.D.: Doctrine of purgatory was made an article of faith (a mandatory belief for any Roman Catholic).

1439 A.D.: Roman Catholic doctrine of seven “sacraments” introduced. Sacraments are religious acts that supposedly help one work his way towards forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

1545 A.D.: Roman Catholic teachings were declared to have authority equal to that of the Bible. In actuality, church teachings had long been held to have more authority than the Bible, because by then most of them were clearly contrary to what the Bible taught.

Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. 6 Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.

Proverbs 30:5-6

thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.

Mark 7:13

1545 A.D.: The Council of Trent decreed that all Roman Catholic Church members had to agree that priests “remit sins as God” and that they are “justly called not only angels, but also God, holding as they do among us the power and authority of God.” Failure to agree was a mortal sin and grounds for excommunication.

This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Hebrews 7:22-28

But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.

Matthew 23:8

1546 A.D.: In response to the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church added the Apocryphal books to the Bible. Until this point, these books were considered suspect, of dubious authorship and error-prone by the scholars and theologians of the Roman Catholic Church.

1558 A.D.: Ave Maria prayer (”Hail Mary…Mother of God…” etc.) instituted in the Roman Catholic Church.

Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.

Isaiah 45:22

1713 A.D.: Pope Clement XI reaffirms the ban on possession of the Bible by the laity.

1824 A.D.: Pope Leo XII condemns translators who were translating the Bible into languages where a translation did not previously exist. This position was reaffirmed by popes in 1844 & 1878. 1854 A.D.: Despite the many Biblical references that refuted this assertion, Pope Pius IX decreed that Mary bore no child other than Jesus (so-called doctrine of “immaculate conception”).

1870 A.D.: Pope Pius IX declares himself and all popes before and after infallible when officially speaking on matters of church doctrine.

1907 A.D.: Pope Pius X condemns all scientific discoveries which are not recognized or officially approved by the Roman Catholic Church.

1950 A.D.: Pope Pius XII declares that Mary did not know death, but ascended directly into heaven (so-called “assumption of the Virgin Mary”).

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Romans 3:23-25

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned

Romans 5:12

1964 A.D.: Roman Catholic Church reverses the use of only Latin in church worship and some restrictions on owning and reading the Bible in one’s own tongue. Just one of thousands of examples of “infallible” popes reversing the doctrines of previous “infallible” popes. Timeline published by Puritan.